First fish to add after cycling

[Ekia]

Need some advice... after i complete cycling... what fish should i add in first. Mine is 4x2x2... currently thinking of having 3 tangs.. 2-3 clowns... and some other small fishes like anthias or chromis.. since its a very 'young tank' What do u guys think should i add in first? i noe we shld add in those that are less aggressive first... but those that are less aggressive would not be less hardy..

[clownman]

Chromis ...

Supposed to be peaceful and hardy

[siglap]

common clown also can.

[Guinness]

3 tangs? ................. Good luck

[DeepBlue]

Take your time with the tangs....it is possible..just support with a good skimmer.

for a newly cycled tank...if you intend to have clownfishes in the long run...can add them in...

Tangs ---> choose slowly ....plan and decide which one goes in first...consider their size as well...

Why?

1) avoid adding tangs from same family..like zebrasomas (YT and PurpleT) unless you are ready for

a) add them together,

let them fight it out for few days, they will ironed out isssues eventually...if the new guy survives

c) the later tang bigger in size than the established tangs..

2) PT and certain acanthurus family tangs like PBT tend to have ich outbreak easily if introduced to an aggressive environment. Sometimes may wipe out existing fishes in your tank. So may want to add them first...downside..they are fierce as well...esp fishes like PBT, AT, Clown Tang, Sohal.....

If you are interested in keeping bottom dwellers...like a goby...do be careful their tankmates....avoid adding bullies... (like dottybacks, even certain wrasse)

Anthias are good...but I wont recommend as they need regular feeeding, not sure you want to bum up your phosphate and nitrate level in a young tank. Chromis are fine..but pple get bored with them rather fast and drive themselves nuts trying to catch them later.

wow..didnt realise there's so many things already.....

btw...these are from my reefing exp....me no expert..take advice with caution

Hope it helps a little though

[IcecruncherZ]

Some pple might not agree with me, but I like to add the blue tang as the first fish of the aquarium. Several reasons for choosing this fish:

1. Its an ich magnet, as we all know, and hence perfect for testing water conditions. If the blue tang's fine, you're likely to be able to do well with most other types of fishes... ie. pygmy angels and zebrasoma tangs (not acanthurus though)

In the event of an ich breakout you can perform drastic measures ie hyposalinity whilst doing corrective measures to your water parameters. Such measures are difficult and inpractical after the tank is 'more established' ie with inverts...

2. Its docile temperament makes it the ideal 'first fish' of the tang. Most all other tangs, once established will reign over any newcomers (regardless of size, colour, species). Damsels, dottybacks and even some clowns can be nasty bastards as well, causing unnecessary stress when we add delicate fishes in the future.

3. Stupid point... they're nice to look at!

Of course, I do not recommend adding these delicate fish into very freshly cycled tanks. Give it a few more weeks/ months than normally recommended, and introduce them into pristine water conditions and they'll do just great.

Cheers~

[Domino]

Definetely CHROMIS first!

Hardy, not teritorial, not shy...

I started with them and the tank has been running great.

Starting with a Blue Tang... Hum delicate fish, harder to feed, prone to diseases if conditions are not good... I got one in a 3.5 months old tank after 3 weeks QT. very very shy. It took more than one month for it to swim freely... Got a few white spots, but they disapear by themselves. I would not start with a Tang unless you are really an experienced reefer already.

[heman]

i suggest u can start off with mild but hardy fish. I mean, it always good to have a good start. So, better to avoid fishes that are more difficult to take care of.

goby, chromis, clown, blennies are good choices in my opinion.

[spawns]

Hi

Just want to say, if you decided to add clown, try Fire Clown! My fav clown of all and being with me for a year. Need no host anemone. It so use to me that it even can be hand fed(only by me).Anyway, i just sharing mine thoughts. Bye!

Pros- very hardy and beautiful fish and eat like pig(not choosey eater)

cons-quite aggr towards other clowns and grow quite big.

attach is my FAT Fire Clown.

[spawns]

ooops!

[terryansimon]

my first lifestock was fireshrimps believe it or not. and they are still around. since December. hehz.

first fish was a pair of true percula clownfish and a flame angel. (=

[Ekia]

flame angel? can add flame angel to such a young tank?

[terryansimon]

it wasn't me who chose the fish by the way. my mum chose it and she wanted it....and its a fat bugger now. although I wouldn't advice you to tempt fate.

[FuEl]

One of my first livestock are pipefish. Still living to this day..Anyway, gobies and chromis would be good fishes to start out with. The bad point about gobies are once you add them they will be almost impossible to catch out unless you tear down your rockwork. Good point about chromis is that they can easily be caught out using artificial fishing bait. Suggest you start out with small fishes (anything but damsels and basslets) as to give your tank time to adjust to the bioload. A lawnmower blenny could be a potential first fish as it will help to control initial algae outbreaks.