Hello from PA ... Nano Cube questions

I just picked up a 24 Nanocube by JBJ. I started with some live sand and a few pieces of live rock. I understand I need to cycle the tank. What's the best way? I have heard that you can just let it do it it's self, the live rock and live sand will start to cycle. I have heard to use a piece of shrimp and let it decompose. I've heard about peeing in it?!?!? or lastly using a cheap fish ( I won't do this, doesn't sound right). Also I'm wondering home much live rock I'll need and how many fish? I was thinkin 25-30 lbs of rock and 3-4 fish? A clown, a goby of some sort and perhaps a wrasse (I hear they can be territorial). But before I get a head of myself is there anything I should be doing that I'm not or Am I on the right track??? Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

 

yes just live rock and sand will cycle the tank fine, and 25-30lbs. of live rock is a perfect number. however depending on the fish 4 could be a bit much. if your wanting a reef i would probably be comfortable putting a clown pair and a small goby or blenny in the tank. or a cardinal, a wrasse, and a goby. i think with this size tank 3 fish is the magic number. 4 small fish could work but no more than that.

 

Thanks for the input! I set up the tank last night, I didn't really care for the live rock at the place I purchased the tank and sand, There's a great place about an hours drive away. I'll pick up some more next weekend. I currently have 7 lbs of it in the tank now. As far as fish I really think the 6 line wrasse are awesome but I also am thinkin about a blue mandarin but I hear they kinda have issues with each other in some cases. My kids won't let me not get a clown. Is there a benefit to paying extra for tank raised fish??
Also what kinda invertabrates should I be adding and when?

 

Add the wrasse last if you get one it will make things difficult to add fish once it is established. Mandarins need a huge amount of copepods to survive normally and your tank does not provide enough rock to keep a large enough colony going.

Tank bred are better as they are acclimated to eating foods we provide and the unique environment of a tank.

 

Is there one type of Goby that are better? Would a firefish be a good replacement for the Mandarin? Also should I add Corals before fish or vice versa?

 

best way to save on live rock is add a few large pieces of live rock and add the rest as dry rock. some great places to get dry reef rock are

reefcleaners.com

marcorocks.com

they are both fantastic sites with great service and rock. they also sell live. as for the six line thats a great choice perfect size for that tank. skip on the mandarin, very picky eaters, require live pods until they are weaned onto frozen foods, many refuse to be weaned however. there is a good thread on the site about mandarins in nanos. however as a beginner i can only advise to stay the heck away! haha.

as for tank raised clowns they do tend to be a bit easier to keep, however any clown you get is going to be extremely hardy. captive breds are simply more used to being in captivity and also it doesnt strain the wild clown population when you buy the CB. i myself dont really care i have had my fair share of wild caught and captive breds. as for inverts you will have a clean up crew which will consist of snails and hermit crabs, maybe a brittle star or two. you can always get a decorative star however they are a little hard to keep except for the chocolate chip and they will eat corals. as for corals depending on your lighting there are many options. a simple florescent strip light will keep some shrooms and a kenya tree or two alive, power compact will keep all softies and a few lps. t5 depending on amount of bulbs can keep softies lps and most sps. if its 6 bulbs or more it can keep anything. metal halide can keep anything, and then theres led's.

led's are difficult because it really depends on the fixture and they are a bit pricey. youll want between 1-3 watt led chips. most expensive fixtures have 3 watt cree chips. and many like the panorama fixture or panorama modules will have 1 watt chips. i would recommend the new panorama strip light that just came out. fantastic price as well.

Panorama Marine LED System

other inverts include anemones, which you shouldnt add until your tank is established anywhere between 6-14 months.
then theres clams which are very tricky and require very intense lighting.

for clowns youll probably want to get percula or occelaris, as both look like the typical "nemo clown"
other clowns include saddleback, tomatoe, clarkii, and skunk. only a few there there are much more. heres a good place to buy clown pairs.

CLOWNFISH - iBluewater

 

The firefish would be much better than the Mandarin. You can add them how ever you want but the best recommendation I have heard is adding 3 corals for every fish. I would alternate the purchases. One fish three corals and repeat until you have reached your fish max and then keep adding corals until you reach your max for them.

 

I have a 24 nano for about 7 months now. IMO 4 fish is the magic number look wise but three seems very comfortable. I have 2 clowns and another that I wont say lol not to cause drama.
What I have experience is that u have to use ro or else you will be going up against green hair algea forever.
Don't be tempted to buy Xenia its beautiful it moves it grows sounds good right. Well let me tell u its a gift and a curse I have it in bottom right corner and it has taken over grows on the glass and every where else. I have to pick it of the rocks all the time and I just dump it in that corner and iT just grows and never dies lol I even have a snail with a huge piece growing it and he just waves around every where. Our tank is to small for it.
IMO if u have good lights you can place corals anywhere tank is not that deep and the light shines great. I have a 150mh with 9rb leds from rapid led. Everything grows.
My tanks parameters are great I dose once dialy 2part and mag I top off with ro from supermarket and it will go through about a gallon more or less in a week I live in miami so its a little warm out.
I have Sps lps softies clams sponges feather dusters all type of stuff and it good to go. Growing and what not.
Equipment I would not over do it but I mean if u can afford a Benz you buy one right lol but on mines I don't have anything really all Bio I have 30 or more pounds of rock I have my version of a sump in the back on the right side I have mangroves rock rubble at the bottom lots of cheato in the section I'm the water. On the left I have just the return a maxi jet 1200 I use filter floss all across the top except where it overflows in on the inside for flow I have to korilla nano 240 and a marineland 550 and the return is a maxijet 1200 think it does like 250 so don't be scared sand will blow up I don't have any sand I know water is flowing decent all over

Take your time don't by to many fish and IMO don't over do it. Give u all my tank info just so u have an idea my tank is far from perfect but I love it and u will love yours too

 

thanks for all the great info, I'm really excited about this. I've done lots of freshwater stuff but nothing like this, There's a place within an hour of my house that has TONS of stuff. It's in Lancaster PA, its call thatpetplace ... Dunno if anyone has heard about them or there rep. I also talked the fish girl at LFS and she said she can get me whatever I want ... I like supporting the local biz but I don't know if the stuff they get is quality or not? Also my Light is a 36w fluorescent half 10k / half 7100k actinic blue .. NO clue what that means?!? Can I grow corals?

 

with that i would stick with softies, so mushrooms, leathers, kenya trees, polyps, and xenia and a few others. maybe an lps or two if your lucky.