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Starting Member
 
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 2:50:09 PM
Posts: 179,
Visits: 278
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| I'm new to saltwater tanks and I was wondering how long and what order to put in my fish. Here is a list of aquatic life I am putting in: Invetabrates: Carribean Live Sand, Fiji Live Rock, Banded Coral Shrimp Fish: Ocelarris Clownfish (2), Chalk Basslet, Pajama Cardinalfish I wanted to know what I should put in first, second, third, etc. and how long to space it out. Also, how long should I have the tank running before I put anything in? 
10 Gallon Planted Freshwater:
3 Balloon Mollies (Hugh + Clementine + Bri)
6 Harlequin Rasboras (The Bike Gang)
4 Kuhli Loaches (Jamal + Lashawna + Devontae + Dex)
3 Otocinclus (The Maids)
4 Gallon Planted Betta Tank:
1 Male Veiltail Betta (Kobe)
2.5 Gallon Betta Tank:
1 Male Crowntail Betta (Colin)
1/2 Gallon Live Plant Aquarium:
Water Sprite
Amazon Sword
40 Gallon Rubbermaid Balloon Molly Grow-Out:
100s of Balloon Mollies (mostly juvenilles to adults)
10 Gallon Birthplace and Nursery:
100s of Balloon Mollies (mostly fry to very young) Other Pets:
0.2.0 Leopard Geckos
1.0.0 Crested Gecko
1.0.0 Chinese Hamster
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Fishkeeping GURU
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 10/8/2008 4:09:27 PM
Posts: 11,953,
Visits: 5,445
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In that group I would add the clownfish last (they are damsels after all, and can be a bit territorial) but I'm not sure on the other two fish which should come first...probably the cardinal. The rock and sand can go in the first day and you can cycle the tank with them in it (I recommend the cocktail shrimp method of fishless cycling). Are you adding any corals or anemones? If you are, I would do all of those after the tank is cycled, but before fish. There are lots of reasons for adding corals first (they grow better with no fish, they are very little bioload so a young tank is not as much an issue, and adding fish as late as possible will help head off any algae outbreaks), so I would try that if you are going the reef route.
If you won't be going reef, I would just hold off as long as you can handle on getting fish. A saltwater tank is not really considered established until it is a year old, and in the time before that many things can go wrong. There's a steep learning curve in those first few months, and if you have the patience to wait six months before adding the first fish, you will save yourself a lot of headaches, and possibly fish lives as well.
Just as an example, I started my 72g reef tank with three fish (they came with it...it was all already set up), and there were some issues right off the bat. I got them under control in a few months and no fish were lost, but the next fish I added was secretly sick and killed them all off. From the week I lost the fish it was over six months before I introduced the next fish, and in that time I saw so much in my tank. The corals took off, the pod population grew like crazy, I saw all kinds of hitchhikers that normally hide when there are fish, and I learned how to keep my tank healthy and stable. Then I started adding fish months apart, and all has been well. I have now had my reef tank for a year and two months and have only four fish, some corals and anemones, and a clean up crew. I will be adding three more fish, but I will probably take the next year ti add them all.
The moral of the story is take it as slowly as you can. This hobby is a great patience builder, since hasty mistakes can be very costly.
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