finally cycled!!! adding livestock question!!??

[comfort_racing]

well my tank finally cycled!! woooohooooo! now it is time to add livestock. what is the rule of thumb for this? do you slowly add fish to build up the bio load or just buy the recommended amount right off the bat? i wanted to buy some cleaning crew inverts and maybe like a school of 5 blue/green chromis this weekend. see how they do and then start adding the hippo tang and anenome and clowns later with the rest of the fish i want. i have a very large protien skimmer (etss 600 pro), in a 15 gallon acrylic sump, and plenty of water movement and oxygenation.

any advice would be hugely appreciated.

thanks,

chad

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[Village Idiot]

Your biological filter is fragile now, and can only handle the bioload in your tank right now. You have to slowly build it up. Start with a cleaning crew, wait a week or two, then add 1-2 fish. Adding 5 fish at once is courting trouble.

 

[comfort_racing]

any recommendations for the cleaning crew? when i look at these package deals they have like 125 critters for a 75 gallon! i was thinking something like 4 shrimp and a crab or two. maybe even a star but not sure yet.

 

[TrueblueNY]

a little at a time... one or two fish here, wait a week or two.. etc....

 

[Village Idiot]

I put in a mix of turbos, cerith, nassarius, and margarita snails over 2 weeks. Maybe 10-15 of each. There's also 3 hermits in there. The hair algae seems to be slowing going away as they eat it...I guess I could add more to get it done quicker but I'd rather spend my money on fish and corals and not escargot.

 

[TrueblueNY]

as far as the cleaning crew... imho... one or two shrimp... the majority should be snails (a mix)...a few hermits..... maybe an emerald crab...

 

[comfort_racing]

good point! ok thanks for the advice. i am going to go to the lfs today and see what he has in stock and hopefully pick them up this saturday.

 

[comfort_racing]

thats what i was thinking too Trueblue. thanks for the advice.

 

[Nano Chris]

BTW the tank looks good.

 

[comfort_racing]

thanks!