I just got live rocks now what?

[razor vampire]

Hey,

this is my first time starting salt/warm water tank, so sorry if I asks "dumb" questions.

Anyway, I just brought lives rocks for my 12 gallons tank. Everything seem to be going right, sand, a heater, needed to put together my protein skimmer, filter working ect.

My question is, what's next? The owner of the fish store said I need to let the rocks have 8 hours of light for about 3-4 days, then start with an easy to care fish. Before the anemones.
Also how many fish can my tank hold? I was thinking for maybe 4 1-2in size fish?
What's your option?

 

[dragonzim]

Was the live rock cured already when you bought it? You will need to cycle the tank before you can put any fish in it. Did you get water test kits? If not you are going to need to get kits to test for Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, and Ph just for starters. Do a search on the board on cycling a new tank and that should answer a lot of your questions.
Oh, and welcome to the board!

 

[razor vampire]

I don't know what you mean by cured. They were in warm/salt water. Kinda purple looking.

 

[m0nk]

I wouldn't trust a LFS to tell you if the rock was properly cured or not any way so you should probably just expect that you're starting the tank at the beginning of the cycle. There's a sticky in the New Hobbyists section that has great links to other threads to help people setup tanks for the first time. Here's a great one for starting the cycle:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/116184/saltwater-aquariums-101-the-cycle
Make sure you buy some test kits for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH, and possibly others based on what you'll end up adding. Also, 4 fish will be too many for a 12 gallon, you could probably get away with 3, though most people stop at 2. And be sure that you don't add them until the cycle is complete. Hope that helps.

 

[razor vampire]

Originally Posted by m0nk
I wouldn't trust a LFS to tell you if the rock was properly cured or not any way so you should probably just expect that you're starting the tank at the beginning of the cycle. There's a sticky in the New Hobbyists section that has great links to other threads to help people setup tanks for the first time. Here's a great one for starting the cycle:
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...hreadid=116184
Make sure you buy some test kits for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH, and possibly others based on what you'll end up adding. Also, 4 fish will be too many for a 12 gallon, you could probably get away with 3, though most people stop at 2. And be sure that you don't add them until the cycle is complete. Hope that helps.
Raw shrimp? Can I get one in the food market? Or does it have to be special order, in a pet store?

 

[razor vampire]

Now . . . add a RAW, peeled shrimp. Drop it in the tank and let it sit there. As the shrimp decomposes it will add ammonia to the system to jump start the nitrogen cycle. You could accomplish the same goal by feeding the tank as if there were fish in it, you would also accomplish the same goal by adding some hardy fish but you take a gamble with that approach. You stress the fish which can lead to ICH, possibly kill them, wasting money. Why bother with that when a raw shrimp will work just as well.
Can I get one at the Food market?

 

[m0nk]

Originally Posted by Razor Vampire
Can I get one at the Food market?
Yeah, you can get one at your local grocery or something along those lines. The post specifically means something like one you'd steam for cocktail shrimp. Make sure it's raw though.

 

[m0nk]

BTW, you might want to test your ammonia and nitrite before getting and adding the shrimp, you're cycle may have just started from the live rock....granted that might take a little longer to finish overall but that's all up to you how you want to proceed.

 

[razor vampire]

What should I add first after the cycle/shrimp? Fish or anemones. I would really love to start with bubble tip kind of anemones for my clown fish. I thought fish were last to add?

 

[mcbdz]

Originally Posted by Razor Vampire
What should I add first after the cycle/shrimp? Fish or anemones. I would really love to start with bubble tip kind of anemones for my clown fish. I thought fish were last to add?

Please make sure your cycle is complete first, then your clean up crew. Different snails, maybe a cleaner shrimp.
What kind of lights do you have? Anemones need an established tank, very stable water conditions, and the clowns may never even host it. They don't need one in captivity and sometimes host other things like power heads and corals.
Main thing is PATIENTS!!!

Good Luck.