Thanks @Paul B !
I'll be picking up some live rock from the LFS this weekend. I wondered if I should give it a bit of time to allow whatever is going to die off the rock to die and stabilize a little before the first fish go in. Say a week or so. Based on your suggestion to feed the rock, it sounds like that waiting period is a good idea.
Fresh clams don't seem to be a thing in my area, but I'm looking into getting some white worms going along with whatever fresh seafood I can track down. Seems like mostly fish and shrimp.
I think my scape does an OK job of giving things a place to hide. I will have to re-arrange a bit when the live rock goes in anyway. I have more sand going in too.
Waiting for "bad" wasn't what I meant. Just not arbitrary. If nothing else just to record and see how everything behaves before settling into a regular schedule. Once I've established some kind of pattern I can make the most of water changes. Particularly early on when I'm only supporting a couple of fish. If that makes sense.
Granted, I'm a dummy with no experience , but being systematic about it makes intuitive sense to me. Rather than changing out 10-20% a week just because.
I'll be picking up some live rock from the LFS this weekend. I wondered if I should give it a bit of time to allow whatever is going to die off the rock to die and stabilize a little before the first fish go in. Say a week or so. Based on your suggestion to feed the rock, it sounds like that waiting period is a good idea.
Fresh clams don't seem to be a thing in my area, but I'm looking into getting some white worms going along with whatever fresh seafood I can track down. Seems like mostly fish and shrimp.
I think my scape does an OK job of giving things a place to hide. I will have to re-arrange a bit when the live rock goes in anyway. I have more sand going in too.
I would consider doing water changes regularly - as compared to 'when the tests are bad'. The purpose of water changes is to prevent the 'test from getting bad'.
Waiting for "bad" wasn't what I meant. Just not arbitrary. If nothing else just to record and see how everything behaves before settling into a regular schedule. Once I've established some kind of pattern I can make the most of water changes. Particularly early on when I'm only supporting a couple of fish. If that makes sense.
Granted, I'm a dummy with no experience , but being systematic about it makes intuitive sense to me. Rather than changing out 10-20% a week just because.