mooric Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Can someone recommend a small & HEARTY fish for my new 28g. I have mostly DRY rock and a couple small frags of LR (Thanks prof!) in the new tank, and I want something small and hearty to help kickstart the nito-cycle. Thanks, Moo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Just put a raw shrimp from the grocery store in the tank. It is better than killing a fish. Leave the shrimp in until it gets a film on it and then remove it. Also some people here use Stability to add the bacteria to their tanks. I would say to do both the shrimp will give the bacteria some thing to eat and multiply Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzobob Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 +1 to not cycling with a fish. This was quite popular years ago but has become less popular since. I've used both frozen shirmp and stability with good results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooric Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 Thanks for the input. Any idea how long it would take to cycle the tank using the method you described. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wryknow Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 My general recommendations would be 1) wait until you are starting to get some significant film algae growth (3-5 days typically) 2) add some hermit crabs and feed 'em a small bit of pellet or raw food daily (small chunks of fresh shrimp are great) for a few more days 3) add some snails to help with the algae (make sure that you acclimate them very carefully)wait a week 4) after two weeks you should be ready to introduce a fish IMHO since you had some starter live rock to kick everything off What species are you planning on keeping in your tank? You would want to pick something that is relatively hearty and small but I wouldn't introduce anything that I wasn't planning on keeping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Just put a raw shrimp from the grocery store in the tank. It is better than killing a fish. Leave the shrimp in until it gets a film on it and then remove it. Also some people here use Stability to add the bacteria to their tanks. I would say to do both the shrimp will give the bacteria some thing to eat and multiply +1, don't sacrifice a fish, even a "tough one". Most of what is recommended to do this are damsels which turn aggressive as they age. Plenty of members will tell you first hand about having an old damsel in their tank that 1) they can't catch 2) that terrorizes their other fish 3) that they'd love to get rid of. Go the shrimp and stability route and you'll be fine, you can even just use fish food if you like. Make sure to avoid using tap water and you can minimize your algae spikes as well. Do the shrimp, Stability, and then slowly add a CUC (clean up crew). Our sponsor, John at Reefcleaners, is great at recommending a custom CUC for your tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooric Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 What species are you planning on keeping in your tank? You would want to pick something that is relatively hearty and small but I wouldn't introduce anything that I wasn't planning on keeping. Species plan is not complete. I am looking to do a mixed reef, but not with a lot of SPS. Would like to include some of the following: Fish: Blue Green Chromie Clown Goby Watchman Goby Percula Clownfish Would be great to get an angler in there too but I would have to wait till the other fish are too large for it to eat, or get a really small one. Inverts: Small Maxima Clam Flame Scallop Assorted Crabs/Shrimp/Snails Corals: No idea yet. Moo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeeperKeeper Posted December 19, 2009 Share Posted December 19, 2009 Watchman gobies can get kinda big IMHO for a nano, and I think the chromis are a type of damsel and subject to the same aggression issues mentioned above. I love the little Clown Gobies though, and Percs are so cute. Have you thought about a firefish? Of the 6 fish in my tank, the firefish is the only one who is always out front instead of hiding, and he always stays in the same spot so he doesn't seem to need much room. If I had a nano, I would make most of the coral in it zoas. I'd get all different colors: pink, blue, green, orange, etc. Good luck! It'll be fun stocking your tank, but make sure you're patient and don't introduce more than one or at the most two new organisms at a time so your bacterial bed can keep up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted December 19, 2009 Share Posted December 19, 2009 If your set on a fish then a blue green chromis would be good. I prefer just dropping a table shrimp in the tank or a dead fish from an LFS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddybluewater Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 I would not use a dead fish from any where else. You do not know what killed it and you might be adding something to your tank that could cause problems later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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