Must corals come before fish?

[nanoman4]

I have a minibow 7 thats about 7 weeks old and I added the cleanup crew last week, all my leevels are 0 except nitrate 5-10ppm. Some people tell me that the corals should come before the fish, but is it possible that I add my fish now (a single ocellaris clownfish as the only fish) and then wait a while before I add corals? I want to add my clown first and later add corals, but if its not good for my system ill do it the other way around.

thanks:)

[Nateair]

im sure corals dont HAVE to come before the fish because there are some people who just have fish in the tank. however your fish is typically more healthy with the corals in there, especially the clown fish. having coral gives the fish a place to hide and host, therefore being less stressful and looking a lot more healthy.

 

just my $0.02

[Cameron]

I had fish first and then added corals. Its OK. Just be sure that your nitrates are still at a really low level before adding any corals. Keep up on your water changes.

[zzpw3x]

There are plenty of places in the LR for a fish to hide, I see no reason why the order matters either way.

[ProFlatlander15]

i put in my fish first because it didnt want my tank to go through a mini-cycle with coral in there...i dont kno if that would really affect anything, but i didnt want to take chances

[Cellenzweig]

Order doesn't really matter. Most people suggest corals first because they don't really create much waste, giving the tank more time to stabilize without large spikes.

[ReefDiver]

I have read that coral aids in photosysthesis and nutrient

uptake, this makes the water more stable for fish. I just

recently started adding fish and so far they are doing great.

Several people have gone with fish first, but I don't know

how much success they've had.

 

RD

[Cellenzweig]

I have read that coral aids in photosysthesis and nutrient

uptake

I guess that makes sense too - never thought of it that way. I assume any oxygen produced by photosynthesis is beneficial to the fish as well...

[nalbar]

it does not matter at all. not even a little bit. it would only matter if you;

 

a) add several fish at once.

 

have not given the clean up crew long enough to do their job. make sure the tank is cleaned up!

 

 

 

 

even if you added a clown and NEVER put corals in, you would still have a 'reef' tank. its the live rock that does that.

 

 

 

nalbar