Proper Stocking

[KLehman72]

I have a new 30 gallon bow front with 60 pounds of live sand and 25 pounds of live rock. I'm wondering what would be an appropriate balance if snails, hermits and fish? I don't want to over populate...

 

[austinsdad]

Welcome to AA

have you cycled your tank yet and how? Populating the tank with fish depends on species and relative size, swimming habits, etc. Your snails and hermits are referred to as a clean up crew (CUC). That population depends on the tank's age as a CUC needs growth on the rocks in addition to food leftovers that fish can't get to to survive. New tank = small CUC. In your case, maybe 2 snails and a handfull of hermits or less to start with.

 

[KLehman72]

Thanks for the warm welcome! The tank has cycled, Ammonia is at 0, Nitrite at 0, Nitrate at about 10 and ph is 8.2. The rock is Fiji and 4 of the 6 pieces have pretty good growth. I'm using LED lighting array with daylight/lunar settings.

 

[Gti_Leo]

Establishing up a Clean-up Crew in Your Saltwater Aquarium - Rate My Fish Tank

heres a good link on how to establish your clean up crew. don't stat with a full crew right away, start small and then once you start to see a little bit of a mess add more.

like austinsdad say with fish it depends on the different breads of fish. www.liveaquaria.com give you suggested tank sizes for each fish they sell