What to do - thoughts appreciated

[Slick Fork]

If (when) I start another tank from scratch someday I think I would start by putting all my liverock in, seeding some more life into it with a nice big ball of chaeto and then letting it run for a while, adding coral and a smallish clean up crew. It's hard to resist adding fish, but I do think there's something to be said for letting all the micro-life get established in the tank before introducing fish that will act as predators to it.

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by subman

I'd treat it like a 20g tank for the amount of liverock for stocking

I wouldn't be afraid to add a mushroom or inexpensive poylp as well.

I like clowns as a first fish they are hardy, captive bred and are a staple in any marine tank

These are my thoughts too

[daplatapus]

Originally Posted by subman

I would't QT the first fish in IMO. I think QTing is great later when adding to an established tank but kinda pointless in a new one like yours. If it was me I'd get a fish.

Sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree. If you get a fish and put it into your tank, what if it has ich? The parasite will live it's life cycle, drop into the substrate be reborn 1000 fold and start again. Those young parasite will find the 1st fish, live their life cycle, drop off into the substrate and keep multiplying. If your fish is healthy and able to fight the invasion you may not even see it or know it's in your tank. Until, that is, you buy that really nice hippo tang or something, a couple fish get stressed and holy cow, how'd I get ich? I QT'd all my fish. No you didn't.

Your tank is the most pristine it's going to get. Don't be impatient and add a fish in there unless you are absolutely sure it is disease and parasite free. And the only way you are 100% sure is if you QT and/or treat. Some people prophylactically treat with copper, prazi, and/or a handful of others. What's worked for me so far is just the tank transfer method to deal with ich and close observation for anything else. Granted, I've only got 9 months under my belt, so it is only my experience and reading.

The only thing that sucks more than having a fish with ich is having a tank full of ichy fish. Then you will need to QT all of them and let your tank sit fallow for 8-10 weeks.
If it were me, I'd start ghost feeding the tank. A bit a day. If your NH3/NH4, NO3 and NO2 are remaining low after another week or so, I'd add a a couple hermit crabs if you personally have nothing against them (some don't like any). You've already got algae growing, add a couple snails then too. While this is going on, QT a couple nice hardy fish. Watch them every day, how they eat, how they react to you. When you finally get them into the tank you'll sort of know what's normal behaviour for them.

You are setting the stage for what should be a long and happy environment for your little fishies. Don't put anything in there you don't want in there for the long haul.

But, again, just my opinion....

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by PurpleMonkey

I'd think to grab some more rock...

I got my tank started with some cocktail shrimp. I did use MB7... Don't know if it made a huge difference but it was about 2 weeks.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Tapatalk

I agree Harp that I need more LR
I added Stability for the first week and am going to add some more if need be
More LR in the sump .... more LR in the sump