Starting to Cycle, What Next?

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ericsze

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Sep 20, 2003
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The tank is a 29 Gallon, with power filter and powerheads overturning the water about 12 times per hour. pH is stable at 8.2 and the SG is 1.022. Temp is also constant at 76 degrees. I dropped in a jumbo raw coctail shrimp this morning and look forward to seeing it decompose.

Since I'm waiting a few weeks, I'd like to think about the next steps. After ammonia and nitrites drop back down to zero, I assume I add the "clean up crew?". For a tank this size, what combination is appropriate? I would like to see a shrimp and a crab or something. I've read some material on hermits and snails, but don't know too much. I also don't know how many critter's is too much.

Once those guys are in, I figure I can add fish a week or so later. I'd like to put in 4 fish or so. Can I put in two clowns with an anenome? How much light do they need, and are there any that don't require that much light? Right now I have a 24" 18K 20W bulb. I want to do everything right the first time.

Also, what else goes well with clownfish? I'd like to have another fish about the same size, and one larger fish. Please let me know what you recommend!
 
Are you planning on getting live rock? That'll make a difference in what you have for a clean up crew. For something that size, I'd thinking about 1-2 shrimp (skunk, blood, peppermint), a half dozen decent sized snails or so (like margaritas), a couple of hermits, maybe two scarlets and one blue legged, and an emerald crab if you have a bubble algae outbreak or a run in with brush algae. A pair of clowns would be fine in a 29, but that'd be about it if you want to see full parental behavior. Anything else may cause too much stress for the parents, causing them to either kill the offender or be quite hard on each other, all depending on the species. I would bother with the anenome, as your lighting isn't really good enough for any of the hardier species. I'd recommend going with only one clown, and limiting yourself to three fish total. Maybe a gramma, fire goby, chromis, benthic gobies like the watchman, less aggressive dottybacks, basslets, small wrasses, all of which should be ok. Pick up Scott Michael's Marine Fishes book. Well worth the admission price. Best of luck to you!
 
Yes, you should add the clean up crew after the cycle has completed, and prior to adding the fish. The general recommendation is to have cleaners = gallons, but I have found that you can get away with less than that. In my 46 gallon tank, I have about 15 scarlett and blue legged hermits, an emerald crab, a cleaner shrimp, a sea urchin, and 4 different species of snails (Cerith, nerite, astrea, and Mexican turbo) totaling about 12 snails. They do a pretty good job on keeping the tank clean. That doesn't mean I don't have to do some cleaning on my own, but they keep the crud down for the most part, and keep my live rock clean.

I would highly suggest getting some live rock. Fish love live rock. It provides them ample hiding spaces, as well as lots of denitrifying bacteria for your tank.
 
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