I have a compatability question

[maintman02]

I am very new to the hobby. I have bought a new 180 gallon tank (I heard that bigger tanks are easier to maintain and I was also told to go as big as I had room for) I have bought live sand and live rock, I have cured the live rock. I also cycled the tank with the raw shrimp. This process has taken me about 2 months or more. Am i ready to add fish? and if so what fish? I have no clue what to add to my tank, as a start. Can someone give me a starting point.

 

[fedukeford]

Originally Posted by maintman02
I am very new to the hobby. I have bought a new 180 gallon tank (I heard that bigger tanks are easier to maintain and I was also told to go as big as I had room for) I have bought live sand and live rock, I have cured the live rock. I also cycled the tank with the raw shrimp. This process has taken me about 2 months or more. Am i ready to add fish? and if so what fish? I have no clue what to add to my tank, as a start. Can someone give me a starting point.
check you pareimeters, as long as amonia is 0, natrits and nitrates are cloes to 0, you can add fish, id suggest a pair of clowns to start

 

[maintman02]

All my test are at zero. The main reason I'm asking is because i live in a very small town and there isn't a lfs close by so most of my buying of fish will be through the mail and internet. Thanks for the info.

 

[wax32]

¡Hola! Welcome to the boards!

The problem with adding your first stuff from the net is, to make it cost effective you usually have to order a lot at once. And this is something you don't normally want to do, especially with a new tank.
I'd say you could order a small clean up crew (don't go nuts, they'll starve if you don't have a lot of algae) and a HARDY fish or two. Make sure to follow the guide for DRIP ACCLIMATION (the acclimation button on this site).

 

[maintman02]

Thanks for the info. I will follow the acclimation guide. I've already enough time into this, i dont want to lose any fish.

 

[joe 09]

you could start with a couple of blue green chromis,or blue chromis they are peaceful and active.do a lot of research on your fish and add the less aggressive first.like the yellow tang should be one of the last fish.

 

[dogstar]

Great suggestion so far and I will add that you should think about what kind of community you are going to want. If an agressive system with triggers and puffers and lions or a peacefull one with corals/reef safe, ect. As you seem to know, there are many speceis that can not be put in certain systems if there are critters already in it that dictate what the rest of the community will be. IMO stay away from aggresive damsels....haha

 

[unleashed]

well you need to decide what type of tank you prefer agressive or passive to semi agressive your def not reef ready yet.I would start with hardy maybe schooling fish such as the chromis .stay clear of your tangs and ich prone species for a while until your tank has been astablished for a while.I also do not reccomend very small young fish to start with if ordering fom online try the med sized species they tand to have a bit more durability than the large and very young fish.if you find a LFS within an hr or so of driving time a battery opperated bubbler and a bucket insted of bags will make the travel much easier on the fish.ps have a quarentine tank avail for all new fish before adding them to the main tank.I make it a habit to dose my tanks with melafix for the 1st 3 days of aclimation to reduce stress on the fish.to set up a quarentine tank just use water from the main tank that you will be placing them into this will also get them adjusted to that water a tad easier.qt is very important to start off with it will ensure the health of your display tank if any medical treatment is needed for new fish its much easier to dose in a smaller area than dosing 180 gal of water.here is a very good web site to research anything you need to set up and maintain a healthy marine tank(ps the melafix has a mixed oppionion reputation but I have had very good good success using it)
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/index.htm

 

[maintman02]

Thanks for the info, I love this sight. It is a real haven for new guys like me when it comes to info. I have gotten all my info from this sight and now I have a really great reef tank. Thanks everyone for the info.