Begginer Questions

[dvons]

My husband and are planning on setting up our first SW tank around the first of the year but we have a few questions that I haven't been able to find in any of our books so far. We are planning on starting with a 100g.
This is the fish list we are interested in:
Banggai Cardinalfish (pair)
Percula Clown (pair)
Royal Gramma
A dwarf Angelfish of some sort (probably a Coral Beauty)
After the tank cycles, when does the clean-up crew get put in? How many of what is reccomended for a tank our size?
How many fish at once do you put in?
What order should the above get put in?
Is this too many or are there any others we should consider?
Thanks!
Deb

 

[chipper]

Hi Deb,
I would suggest a clean-up crew so there is less work for you. I believe that SFW.com has clean up crews as well as ***********.com and fishsupply.com to name a few. I personally have not ordered online from ***********, but I have had a good experience with ordering from SFW and fishsupply. I would look at all the web-site as possible, so that you can have a good idea of what kind of clean up crew you need and compareable prices.
As far as the fish you want I have a Banggai Cardinal and a Royal Gramma both are good hardy specimens, but need lots of rock work. My Royal Gramma has several caves picked out in my aquarium and hangs upside down in them and has become territorial. I would put the more aggressive fish species in last, so that the docial fish can establish their territory.
When adding fish or any invert to the tank you want to start out very slowly and wait at least two weeks. Then check your water parameters and if everything is okay you can add another fish. I would recommend getting a quarintine tank and put the fish you would like to add in that before adding to the main tank. When I first started I did not have a quarintine tank and my main tank got ICH and everyhting died. Hope this info helps.

 

[cnlight]

I am glad you chose a great size for your aquarium. Add your live rock and start your filter, don't do an under gravel filter, too much work. A wet/dry filter is a good choice, and unless you don't want corels and anenemes, your lighting doesn't really matter. You will want to cycle the tank, say with a raw shrimp, let that sit in there for a couple days, or until your levals go way up. Once you ammonia is way up, then take it out, and let the cycle begin, the nitrites will go up and then the nitrates. When the nitrates comes down to a low leval, and you have algae growing, then you could add you crew. You won't need too many at the start so just add 10 scarlet hermits, 10 snails. I am sure others will say add more, but its good to see how these do and then add more later.
Checking your water levals is really important, making sure everything is good. The list of fish you have is good, and you could probably add them in that order, one at a time. Wait three to four weeks before adding another fish, so you don't stress the bioload of the tank. You could add more fish later on down the line, like a tang or a puffer would be fun. Do some research on the fish that you like and see what people say about how compatible they are with your fish. With a 100 gallons, there is a lot you could do and also can't do. Anything else just ask.

 

[elan]

i agree with everything except for taking out the raw shrimp after a few days.. I would leave it in to keep your ammonia supply from going away.

 

[dvons]

Thanks everyone! We were going to have a small quarantine tank set up so that should help some. I am sure we will have more questions as the time gets closer but for now we are doing research.
Deb