:lol: I have a 45 gallon tank with a maxi-jet power head on each side pointing down at two different degrees in the tank for water movement, 196w power compact with 96w 10,000k/96w atinic, aqua c remora protein skimmer, 40 lbs of ls, and 35 ish lbs of lr........my cycle just ended...........i want a minor reef tank not the hard to keep stuff.........whats next should i get the clean up crew????fish????inverts?????corals?????how long should i wait for each thing?????i dont want to waste money and kill something
here is what i got .....whats the next step
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I would personally have more rock in there than that. Do you have a sump? If so you could put some rock in there. If all your levels are good, I guess I would start with either a few inverts, or some mushrooms. Hardy fish are a good starter only problem is, the hardy ones like damsels, are often the bain of your existance in a few short months.
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For the most part, sounds like you're okay. You are a little light on the LR, but provided you don't overload your tank with critters right now, that's something you can deal with later.
yes...for now, I'd start with a clean-up crew. Wait a week or so after that before adding anything else...and when you do add fish, add them one (or no more than two) at a time. Being a little light on the LR as you are...I think adding too many critters at once will cause a bigger impact on your tank...so take it slow. (which shouldn't be a problem, as it sounds like you've been patient thus far).
Lighting seems pretty good...probably can keep anything except clams with that amount. (SPS's would need to be higher up in the tank).
My advice is clean up crew...wait a week or two, get one fish..wait a week or two more, get another.
I wouldn't add any corals for a couple months. Zoo's, Star Polyps, and other easier corals would probably be okay earlier than that...but keep in mind...the easier corals are usually fast growers and/or aggressive. And while it's nice to start with them...they can take over a tank pretty quickly. (i.e. Keep the future in mind).
What fish are/were you thinking of getting? Any corals your intersted in?
What's that ONE critter you want, more than any other? Figure that out, and center your tank around that one guy...and your chances of a successful tank go WAY up!
Not sure if I already welcomed you or not...but just in case, Welcome to TRT!!
yes...for now, I'd start with a clean-up crew. Wait a week or so after that before adding anything else...and when you do add fish, add them one (or no more than two) at a time. Being a little light on the LR as you are...I think adding too many critters at once will cause a bigger impact on your tank...so take it slow. (which shouldn't be a problem, as it sounds like you've been patient thus far).
Lighting seems pretty good...probably can keep anything except clams with that amount. (SPS's would need to be higher up in the tank).
My advice is clean up crew...wait a week or two, get one fish..wait a week or two more, get another.
I wouldn't add any corals for a couple months. Zoo's, Star Polyps, and other easier corals would probably be okay earlier than that...but keep in mind...the easier corals are usually fast growers and/or aggressive. And while it's nice to start with them...they can take over a tank pretty quickly. (i.e. Keep the future in mind).
What fish are/were you thinking of getting? Any corals your intersted in?
What's that ONE critter you want, more than any other? Figure that out, and center your tank around that one guy...and your chances of a successful tank go WAY up!
Not sure if I already welcomed you or not...but just in case, Welcome to TRT!!
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oh...and on the subject of adding a little more LR later....
Ideally, you'll want at LEAST another 10lbs of LR, if not a little more (depending on how pourous/bumpy/holey the LR is).
You can always cycle the additional rock in a small bucket/tub with a heater and a powerhead. Leave it in the bucket for a couple weeks until the cycle is over...then just plop it in your tank. And since you'll have your display up with critters in it...those couple weeks won't seem NEARLY as long as the couple weeks you had to wait to get this far!
But note...until you get some more LR, I'd keep your bioload considerably lower than normal.
Ideally, you'll want at LEAST another 10lbs of LR, if not a little more (depending on how pourous/bumpy/holey the LR is).
You can always cycle the additional rock in a small bucket/tub with a heater and a powerhead. Leave it in the bucket for a couple weeks until the cycle is over...then just plop it in your tank. And since you'll have your display up with critters in it...those couple weeks won't seem NEARLY as long as the couple weeks you had to wait to get this far!
But note...until you get some more LR, I'd keep your bioload considerably lower than normal.
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i will keep the fish down for now becuase being a fish only tank person for so long that is one thing i do know because i screwed that up before.........the one thing i do love eventhough you are right they take over the tank is the Polyps...........i think they look cool and from what i hear they are the easiest coral to take care off.............the one thing i do not understand is everyone says my 196w power compamct with 96w 10,000 and 96w atinic is kinda ok............before metal halids this is what was used and they worked fine then .......and i dont want the hard to keep corals just the eay ones:lol:
i will keep the fish down for now becuase being a fish only tank person for so long that is one thing i do know because i screwed that up before.........the one thing i do love eventhough you are right they take over the tank is the Polyps...........i think they look cool and from what i hear they are the easiest coral to take care off.............the one thing i do not understand is everyone says my 196w power compamct with 96w 10,000 and 96w atinic is kinda ok............before metal halids this is what was used and they worked fine then .......and i dont want the hard to keep corals just the eay ones:lol:
I wouldnt get a clean up crew just yet because there isnt anything really to clean up!
ME personally........ this is what I did..... not sure if this is the right thing to do but it worked for me..
I bought a 65g tank and i bought about 40lbs of LR. I let it sit till it cycled ( 2 months) i had a small fish too. after the 2 months I bought a finger leather coral... it did well so the next week I got some green star polyps. ( every week getting another nice pc of LR too )
another weeek went by and i bought some snails and some hermits. the same week I got some shrooms. after 3 months I got 2 nice fish.... I waited and made sure everything was alive and well and I went and got a few peppermint shrimp and a cleaner shrimp. so now I was feeding things in my tank so I got a bullet goby to keep the 1" of sand clean. everything is still alive and healthy except my hermits are killing my snails for the shells even though i have like 10 empty shells on the sand!
this is just me though, everyone has their methods so what worked for me MIGHT work for you.... do what works for you.... trial and error.
you can ask 10 people and you WILL get 10 different answers what to do first. take your time and just do it. NOBODY is PERFECT!!
ME personally........ this is what I did..... not sure if this is the right thing to do but it worked for me..
I bought a 65g tank and i bought about 40lbs of LR. I let it sit till it cycled ( 2 months) i had a small fish too. after the 2 months I bought a finger leather coral... it did well so the next week I got some green star polyps. ( every week getting another nice pc of LR too )
another weeek went by and i bought some snails and some hermits. the same week I got some shrooms. after 3 months I got 2 nice fish.... I waited and made sure everything was alive and well and I went and got a few peppermint shrimp and a cleaner shrimp. so now I was feeding things in my tank so I got a bullet goby to keep the 1" of sand clean. everything is still alive and healthy except my hermits are killing my snails for the shells even though i have like 10 empty shells on the sand!
this is just me though, everyone has their methods so what worked for me MIGHT work for you.... do what works for you.... trial and error.
you can ask 10 people and you WILL get 10 different answers what to do first. take your time and just do it.
NOBODY is PERFECT!!
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I'd get more rock,in a 45 without a sump,you should have 67.5 - 90 lbs of rock.
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