When to ad what???

[MyBoxOfWater]

I have had the tank set up with Saltwater in it for 7 days.
I added live sand 2 days ago and added live rock yesterday.

How long do I want to wait before introducing live animals like snails, stars or fish?

 

[Dingo Dog]

At this point, I'd recommend a bit more patience. Definately no stars, and I doubt snails would live. If you just have to add something, damsels or chromis. However, based on what fish you wish to add later, the damsels/chromis might cause 'social' issues as they can be a bit aggressive.

 

[91yota]

throw a raw table shrimp in there and start monitoring ammonia... when you get a reading, take the shrimp out and start testing for nitrites and nitrates... once the nitrites are gone, do a water change (around 25% or so) and let the tank run for a few days... after that, you should be good to go... just go slowly and you'll be fine

 

[91yota]

and dont add damsels/chromis unless that's what you want to keep long term and understand their needs and behavior... using them to help cycle a tank is cruel to the fish... all you are trying to do with the cycle is introduce organic waste (dead shrimp) so that the denitrifying bacteria have a food source and can populate the substrate and equipment/tank walls

 

[luther1200]

There are many was to go about it. I just put in a pinch of flake food every day to get the cycle going. Just like you were feeding fish. Because that is what you will eventually be doing anyway.

 

[MyBoxOfWater]

There were a couple of small snails on the live rock tha I got. Should I take them out and give them away or will they be OK?
Do they need any food that I can add?
No damsels... too aggressive in the end.
Will only be adding a couple of clowns, an anemone, a yellow watchman goby, some snails and a brittle star.

 

[91yota]

you can leave the snails in there... add the YWG first then the clowns... in a tank that small i would personally skip the anemone and let the clowns host in euphyllia or similar... just my $0.02