Tank almost cycled-A couple of questions

[SWNewbie]

Ok my 27 gallon hexagon tank is almost done cycling and my skimmer and MH light should be arriving soon. I have a couple of questions on my stocking options at this point. I would eventually like to have an algae cleaner crew, a couple of fish (clown, goby, and royal gramma), and some corals in my tank. Does it matter the order of which I add these things. I thought the best order would be intertebrates, fish, and then corals, but I read an article on liveaquaria that said to add corals before the fish.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=206

I am just a beginner but I thought you should add corals last because they are the most sensitive to water chemistry and thus should be added to an established tank. So who is right?? If the correct order is corals after fish, what would be a good time period to wait after I'm done adding my fish that I would want start adding corals?
A couple more questions What would be a good size for my initial clean up crew keeping in mind that my sand bed does not have the same surface area as other tanks of similar volume due to the shape and also there is limited open sand bed due to the 30lbs of live rock. Next I would like to get all the equipment up and running before I add anything, but if there is prolonged period of time after the cycle before I add any species (2-3 weeks) will the biological filter die off?? Lastly, the first species besides the clean up crew that I would like to add is a clown and cleaner shrimp, can I add these before the clean up crew or is it advisable to add the clean up crew first? Any answers to these questions would be appreciated

TIA

 

[austinsdad]

am just a beginner but I thought you should add corals last because they are the most sensitive to water chemistry and thus should be added to an established tank. So who is right??

You are on that one for sure IMO. Wait until you can maintain a stable chemistry or potentially sacrifice expensive coral while you get it right. Honestly, if it were me, I'd probably still add a $20 mushroom or ricordia or something. They are pretty hardy and can take small chemistry swings. Maybe the sight of might help you know when something may be off with the water and its time to test and do PWC's

Didja cycle w/rock? If so, I'm thinking there is enuf residue for may 5 reef safe hermits for now. I like the scarlet reef. Snails may starve if insufficient algae growth is present, so maybe only a handfull of small ones, like astreas or something to start with. Shrimp can't tolerate high nitrates, but if you're vigilant on your water during this initial phase, you might wanna try a skunk cleaner, or a couple of peppermints (cheaper too) to get that food that falls in the cracks and stuff.

Of course, this is my opinion without seeing the rock and your tank to determine if food is present for a cleanup crew, but most likely it will be when the cycle finishes.

IMO, you can add the clown before or after the cleanup crew. The crew will eat die off from the cycle and they will be feed by leftovers the clown won't catch when feeding.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

 

[SWNewbie]

Thanks for the response, just for reference I did cycle with the live rock

 

[tecwzrd]

You are right corals need a stable environment to thrive. Starting with hardy “beginner” corals after 3+ months can be done but I usually recommend 6+ months for your system to stabilize better.

Fish can be added at any time but keep in mind that if not added shortly after your cycle the bacteria that was just created will die off from lack of an nh3 source. If adding at a latter date your tank could have another mini cycle.

That article only gets about half right. Let’s start with this:
“Creating a beautiful reef ecosystem doesn't require specialized skills or advanced knowledge, and won't break the bank”

Not having the knowledge and money to do a reef right will end up in a crashed tank and money wasted. The equipment/lr/corals alone are going to run $2500+ plus so I’m not sure what they mean by “won’t break the bank”. This hobby is expensive and even more so if you want a reef setup. The tank alone that they recommend is $650.00

No mention of test kits anywhere but they do say it’s ok to add life after 4 weeks but what if the lr has not cured yet and the tank still has nh3/no2? Towards the end they mention adding all kinds of additives but nothing on the test kits to measure the additions so you don’t overdose.

Fish list is a joke, a Yellow tang doesn’t belong in a 36” long tank, the coral beauty is not very “reef safe”, and the Flame Hawkfish isn’t invert or reef safe. Plus they say “choose any 6 total of the fish below” Just about any 6 fish you pick from you would have a total of 25+” of fish which is about twice as many inches of fish a beginner should even attempt for a 46 gal tank.

The coral list is decent but they recommend the Spaghetti Finger Leather Coral which requires more light then what they recommend in the beginning.

Live aquaria usually does much better then this in their articles but IMO this is more predicated by wanting to sell you stuff versus educating.