New Nano stocking questions

[latuttle]

Hi everyone. Thanks to a lot of helpful advice from everyone here, I've gotten my Aquapod 24 up and running. I bought cured live rock at a LFS and it's been in there 2 weeks; I had a small ammonia and nitirite spike a few days after adding it, but both have read zero for a week now. Today, I'm adding a clean up crew (one cleaner shrimp, one fire shrimp, 4 small hermits and 5 snails) and thinking ahead to what comes next.

First question: do I count the two shrimp I'm adding in my "fish inches" when I decide how many fish I ultimately want in this tank?

Second: if I decide the next addition is a coral, how long should I wait after adding the cleanup crew? Do you think a coral should be next, or should I add a fish first?

Third: during the time between adding the shrimp and the eventual arrival of fish, I assume I should feed as though I had a fish or two in the tank so the hermits and shrimp have something to work with? Or will they be busy in a newly established tank with things from the live rock? I don't want to overfeed, but I also don't want to starve the shrimp/crabs.

Thanks for any advice

 

[blue_eyes53813]

How much light do you have?Yes I would add the shrimp as livestock.. I would hold off on corals until it establishes more...Get a hardy fish and waite for a bit.

To feed the hermits you could use some sinking food of some sort or put a piece of algae strip on the bottom of the tank. Remove all uneaten food.. I would prob only do it once or twice a week.

 

[latuttle]

Thanks for the reply. The lighting is 70 watt HQI metal halide - I am leaning toward some leather corals, maybe a stoney eventually, but this will be my first time trying corals and I want to start with something fairly indestructable. Any recommendations for a good beginner coral while I'm asking questions?

 

[blue_eyes53813]

mushrooms and zoos can add alot of color and are hardy...

 

[lcstorc]

Ditto BlueEyes.
i started with mushrooms and still have them. They were very easy for someone who knew next to nothing about reefkeeping.

 

[phil]

i have a 24 gal nano and i started with zoas and mushrooms and all are doing fine and reproducing, a very easy and great coral for the beginner.