Starting 30 gallon Fish only setup

[puppy]

I am staring a 30 gallon fish only setup. I dont have any special lighting for coral or anything. What is the best way to cycle a tank? I am thinking of using a couple of damsels. how long should I wait to add them? What type of fish will i be able to keep in the 30 gallon along with a few snails and starfish. Would a clown fish and a lemon peel angel do okay? What type of filtration wou;ld work best? would I need a sump for the tank, considering it is only a few fish?

 

[carrie1429]

You can use damsels to cycle although I wouldn't reccommend it because its really hard on the fish going though the nitrate and ammonia cycles. You could use dead shrimp from the grocery store I've heard to start the cycle. In a 30 gallon you couldn't have too many fish at all. I would say maybe a pair of clownfish (or just one), you could have a dwarf angel (lemon peel) but I would add the lemon last since they get aggressive once established. Royal grammas are nice too, they are colorful, hardy and they stay small.

 

[jdl/dayton]

Damsel's will be fine for cycling. The cycle will not start until you add fish or some live rock. The waste products of these organisms fuel the cycle. Bacteria will grow to use this "food" and produce Nitrate which is less toxic. Notice I said less toxic. You need to change the water in your tank to keep this nitrate from building up.
I would add 3 blue damsels. They stay fairly small compared to the Domino types which get mean as they get big. Expect a ammonia spike after 48 hours. This ammonia is the "food" for the bacteria. After 4 to 6 weeks the bacteria will population will catch up and your ammonia levels will drop. Ideally to undetectable limits.
Feed lightly till ammonia drops

 

[tru conch]

personally i would not add the damsels b/c you will want to remove them later, and that is a pain. use the shrimp from the store. lot less hassle really. yeah its not cool to look at, but the saltwater game is one of slow going. as far as fish go, a pair of clowns and a pygmy angel would be ok. like its stated above, add the angel last. for the clowns either perculas or seabe clowns, they dont get as large or as mean as tomatoes or maroons. hth and good luck.

 

[fshhub]

i agree with carrie, grocery store shrimp DoES WORK WELL, this i am saying from experience
I have also used lr, but ifit is not in the cards, then use the shrimp, it will start the cycle without fish and without lr; the dead shrimp adds bacteria to the water
a sump will not hurt but is not needed
for fish, yours sound fine
and as for the filtration, a good skimmer, and a dsb(i prefer with live rock) and adequate circulation; these all work together very well for filtration(natural filtration+skimmer= IMO is the best)