Once the cycle is over, what is next?

I have a strong feeling my tank will complete it's fishless cycle within the next few days. My tank is a only a ten gallon tank. I understand that I cannot have fish that will not survive in a ten gallon tank so Tangs and the like are not acceptable and I knew going into this that I would only be able to have two fish at most (more than likely only one though).

My end goal is to maybe in the future have a few easy to care for corals, as well as a clown fish. I know that I will more than likely need some type of cleanup crew. I was just wondering what some suggestions would be and which order to start adding things in slowly?

To give more insite, currently there is about an inch of dead sand, ten pounds of BRS rock, and two pounds of live rock acquired from my LFS. I have been doing a lot of reading on the forums and I know a lot of people mention that they have added pods to their setup.

 

Well you wanna check all your levels and once you have 0 ammonia and nitrites you can do a water change to bring down nitrates probably for you around 2 gallons. Then recheck parameters in a day or so and if all is well you can order a really cheap and nice cuc from reefcleaners including pods. Then I would probably add them and wait a few more days to a week and if all is well maybe another small water change and add your fish.

 

I would start with a clean up crew..get some snails..a couple of a few varieties, Turbo, Cerith, Nassarius etc....maybe a couple hermits, the small ones...a skunk shrimp..whatever..but IMO that would be my next step.
what are the params... diatoms cleared up yet?
Got a pic?

 

I will post some pictures over the next few days. The water is tending to be very clear at the moment. I did a fishless cycle and am fairly certain that the cycle is complete as after adding 1 ppm ammonia, over the course of 24 hours the ammonia and nitrite both go to zero.

Can the pods be added at the same time as the clean up crew? This might be a dumb question, but will they produce enough waste with the cleanup crew to have an adequate source of ammonia for the cycle to continue?

 

you can add pods with cuc without a problem, and I would just add a shrimp or fish in a few days it sounds like your cycle is over if you add ammonia and 24hrs later it has zeroed back out.

 

What should I add as a food source for the cleanup crew since they will be going into a new environment without anything to actually cleanup? Is it a bad idea to add the cleanup crew, fish, and pods all at the same time?

--Eric

 

I'd say just add your whole CUC at once to save on shipping since you're not gonna have much. And you can get some crab pellets and algae wafers to supplement their food till ya get some algae growing.

 

Will the CUC produce enough ammonia to keep the cycle going? I won't be able to add them until Monday, so should I dose with a bit more ammonia and then do a water change on Monday before adding them if the nitrates are high?

 

I would not add any more ammonia, I would just let it sit until the water change then add the CUC and a few sinking pellets or flakes. Dealing with such a small tank I'm unsure if adding a fish right away would be kosher but IMO I would, or a coral at least. Just to keep it interesting.