So what do I do now....

[mrjayd]

OK, I have my Nano24 all set up. Live sand, live rock (nice little cave setting in the middle), & heater. I have removed the balls and the bag of little ceramic tubes and the pumps have been running now for about 6 hours.
The water is pretty much cleared up. Just a very little film floating on top that I hope will filter out.

Funny thing though. I thought this is supposed to be a 24g tank but I only put about 3 1/2 of my 4 5g jugs of water in and it is full to the rim.
What's up with that?

So now what? How long do I need to cycle the water before adding any live critters? Should I remove some water first and top off with regular water at some point before adding anything? Should I also keep the temp around 80 degrees?

Sorry for all the questions but I want to get it right and I am anxious to start adding things. I have been reading and reading but so much out there. I wanted to get some first hand suggestions.

I just want to start of with maybe a couple clowns and some coral. Any suggestions on coral and some type of cleaner critters? Shrimp, crabs, etc?

[XxMutedYouthxX]

the reason you only had to add 3 and a half jugs is because the rock displaces the water... basically now what your gonna do is just kick back and relax and let the tank do its thing for anywhere from 2-4 weeks while it cycles, you could do biospira as well which basically instantly cycles your tank. If your gonna go that route id let the rock and sand run for about 3 days and then get the biospira... you will need to add prob 2 fish when you biospira the tank. This stuff works pretty well id reccomend it if you cant wait for the cycle heh. I personally run my tank at 76 degrees because thats where coraline thrives 80 is a lil warm if you wanted to run it warmer than 76 id say like 78 or so would be good. As far as live stock goes for your first corals i would reccomend sticking to zoas and mushrooms they are really hardy. Clownfish should be a good starter fish for ya and as far as invert/clean up crew goes... what I personally do on my tanks is get 1 hermit crab per gallon and then piece some other critters around that possibly a emerald crab I like my sally lightfoot as well... prob like 3 or 4 turbos should take care of the glass for ya... just get some diversity for clean up crew because some things eat certain stuff that others dont eat and vise versa.

wow that was a long post

[swissfish]

now read about cycling the tank and wait.