Is it time?

[W1ngz]

I'm not completely new to aquariums, having started with a fairly successful planted tank last December. In June I picked up a free 75G tank and stand (abandoned before someone moved). Decided it would make a great starter reef, got it home, wiped, rinsed and leak tested with tap water and vinegar. Drilled it 4 times to make a BeanAnimal overflow, and had water flowing through a 25Gal sump by mid July. Added salt, and then landed about 80Lbs of live rock from a tank shutdown someone was doing. Spread out the rocks to see what crawled out, and saw nothing but a few bristle worms.

After leaving it alone for 3-4 days in the dark, then testing ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to guage how much (if any) dieoff happened in the rock things looked good (0 NH3, 0 NO2 and just barely some NO3). What small amount of dieoff seemed to be taken up by what lived. I decided to dose ammonia up to 5ppm to check the cycle, and in about a day and a half was back to 0, and up considerably on NO3. I never saw any NO2 at all.

From there I re-stacked the rocks, added a mix of crushed coral and coarse sand to make about a 1" substrate, and had the skimmer, heaters and circ pumps going. With plenty of tubeworms, sponges and coraline already on the rocks, I started with a few hermits. I gradually brought it up to 5 scarlet hermits, 5 blue legged, 2 emerald crabs, a peppermint shrimp and a cleaner shrimp. 2 weeks since my last addition, everything is still alive. Nitrates have slowly come down from 40ish to about 5 as of now. Coraline is starting on the glass, overflow and return nozzle. I see small filter feeders on the glass, and even a copepod or two late at night. I still need to add some snails.

Current water params I've tested:
Temp 26C
salinity 1.024
pH 8-8.2 depending on time of day
NH4 - 0
NO2 - 0
NO3 - 5
dKH - 9

So my question is this. I think I'm right where I want to be to start introducing fish at a rate of 1 or 2 every 2 weeks. Is there anything I've missed?

My stocking plan is this, not counting more inverts as things progress along the way.

Week 1 Six Line Wrasse
Week 2 Blue/green Chromis (3)
Week 4 Black Clownfish (2)
Week 6 Bangaii Cardinal
Week 7 Royal Gramma Basslet
Week 8 Black Sailfin Blenny
Week 9 Watchman/Pistol shrimp pair
Week 10 One Spot Foxface -OR- Tomini Tang

[DDon]

Looks like you did your research and from your parameters ready to add. I would encourage you to quarantine your fish before adding. Keep diseases out right from the beginning.

Just so you know, the 6 line can get mean and chromis tend to kill each other off until 1 left.

[Gibsh]

My 6 line BATTERED my gramma when they first met (6 line 2nd after a purple firefish) but now the gramma has found a hiding place he's fattening up and now keeps the wrasse away with a massive mouth display. Anyway, all looks good, nitrite can pass that quickly it's easy to miss so I've been informed in here. Also, any snails?

[Fish Biscuit]

I personally would skip the 6 line or add it to the tank second to last or the last fish.

+1 about the chromis

Check your list with Steve, he is a wealth of information on here.

[kw22]

I would swap the wrasse for a cherub angelfish

And +1 on the chromis,You will end up with either a male and female or a single fish.

[W1ngz]

Originally Posted by Gibsh

Also, any snails?

They're on the shopping list. Somehow all the LFS are out. I haven't started feeding other than a few pellets and dried algae to make sure there's something for the crabs while waiting for some algae to gain a hold, so I don't need them yet.

I understand about the wrasse sometimes being aggressive, it's there to hopefully keep a lid on the brisleworm population. The rocks have been stacked so that every space, cave and crevice possible is between each without them being unstable, so everyone should be able to find their own hole to hide in. Maybe I'll move it down the list a little.

[kw22]

Royal Grammas and other dottybacks tend to eat bristleworms.So do coral banded shrimp and hawkfish if you don't have any shrimp

[W1ngz]

Thanks! I'll keep an eye out for a coral banded shrimp next time I make a trip to the store!

[Silvergryphon]

Are you planning on quarantining any of these fish? If not I'd space them out at least a week apart to allow the bacteria time to adjust to the changing bio load

[RocketCityNano]

Just to echo the above, I'd say you should quarantine and space out the additions a bit more. Good luck!

[W1ngz]

Originally Posted by Silvergryphon

Are you planning on quarantining any of these fish? If not I'd space them out at least a week apart to allow the bacteria time to adjust to the changing bio load

If you look closely, the list is sorted by week number, one fish per week, two weeks if more than 1 specimen of fish. I haven't got a quarantine tank at the moment.

[W1ngz]

Originally Posted by RocketCityNano

Just to echo the above, I'd say you should quarantine and space out the additions a bit more. Good luck!

You would suggest more than a week per fish?

[W1ngz]

On the subject of quarantine, the main reason I hadn't planned for it isn't lack of patience, but lack of another tank. Walmart here has 5 gallon LED/filter starter kits for just 25$. Toss in a 12$ 25w heater and I'd be good to go. It's a bit small, but just to observe a fish for a week or so before it goes in the main tank, it should suffice? I could keep spare filter media in my sump and have an instantly online treatment tank, that was small enough to easily store.

[DDon]

5 gallon might be small for some of those fish. A week or 2 of quarantine isn't really going to do much for you as it takes longer for some diseases to manifest, especially if the fish store you buy from uses low dose of copper (non treatment level). You would be looking at 4 - 6 weeks.
I used to not quarantine correctly and suffered the consequences, but sure do it now. Saltwater diseases, especially when dealing with reef tanks, are tougher to handle once in the tank than freshwater is.

[DDon]

W1ngz,
I just noticed you were from Montreal. Had the opportunity to visit there (a long time ago) what a wonderful city.

[W1ngz]

I've actually gone over quarantine with my preferred LFS before. They have dozens of QT tanks, and the simultaneously fantastic/frustrating practice of quarantining new arrivals for a week before allowing them for sale. They don't treat/medicate anything unless they have to, and that's done in yet another separate rack of tanks. A week or two was their suggestion, based on their own practices.

5gal seemed a little small. Unfortunately there's no dirt cheap 10gal kits around. I'll keep looking. I don't have storage space for anything bigger than a 10.

Glad you enjoyed the visit!

[Silvergryphon]

Never trust a LFS, their ultimate goal is to make money.

[Curt Boswelll]

A week of quarantine is basically useless. You should be quarantining for 4-6 weeks. Maybe longer if something pops up.

[kw22]

I would recommend 31 days of quarantine.

[W1ngz]

May as well get into good habits from the start, so I've made arrangements to acquire a bare bottom 10gal, HOB filter and a heater. I have a few PVC joints. I already have some chunks of filter floss and bio-media brewing in my sump to make sure there is cycled media ready.

Any comments on the order? I've moved down the 6 line to hopefully reduce aggressive tendencies, but every time I see one, I want it. Leaving it off the list isn't something I'm willing to do. When possible, I want captive bred fish rather than live capture.

1 Blue/green Chromis (3). I'm betting on a M/F pair if they end up killing each other.
2 Black Clownfish ORA (2)
3 Bangaii Cardinal ORA
4 Royal Gramma -or- Bibolor Dottyback ORA
5 Six Line Wrasse
6 Black Sailfin Blenny -or- other ORA available Blenny
7 Watchman Goby ORA /Pistol shrimp pair
8 One Spot Foxface -OR- Tomini Tang