ready to (re)stock 12g nano

[scubasteve20]

Here's the recent and tragic history of my tank:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=934724&highlight=established

Well, all is good now and I'm ready to start restocking. I'd like some suggestions for livestock. I originally wanted an anemone/clown and maybe a shrimp or something but now I'm not sure I want to put the anemone through that kind of torture. I thought about a pistol shrimp and a goby but I want something I can see, that's the whole reason for this hobby right? I would like anyone's input on how much I can potentially have in here and some unique fish and inverts that will do ok. I'll post a pic pretty soon.

Thanks in advance,
Steve

 

[sir_dudeguy]

why cant you keep an anemone in there? I mean ya, you'll have to wait a long time before adding one because they need well established tanks, but why would it be torture? Some will grow large yes, but when it does, just move it either to a bigger tank, or sell it for a smaller one. And also, theres NO guarantee that the clowns will even take to the anemone. Some go for other corals, like i've seen hammers, brains, leathers, and like mine, my aquaclear powerheads lol.

But i dont really know what type of fish you like, but look at liveaquaria.coma and look under their nano fish section. They've got a lot that can go in smaller tanks.

 

[scubasteve20]

I don't really have a reason why I "can't" put one in it. I am a little unsure about how established the tank has to be, Like I said in my other post the rock, sand, zoanthids and even the water(minus regular 10-20% changes) has been in there over a year. It just finished a very heavy cycle when the last stuff died off but would it be ok to put an anemone in now? On the first try I had a Hatian pink tip with a black & white clown, (I don't know the scietific name) and they took together really well after a couple days. Thanks for the tip on Liveaquaria too, I figured someone had a section for nano's but haven't had much time to look. Also, I'm running a 24w powercompact and was wondering if this is sufficient lighting for soft corals. Any more ideas?

Thanks again,
Steve

 

[sir_dudeguy]

24w pc is prolly just gonna be enough for softies like xenia, mushrooms, all those guys....also check out liveaquaria's soft coral page...they got the list there lol.

But so you tried getting that anem to grow under that light, correct? and how long did you say it lasted? Thats nowhere near enough light for an anemone imo, so that could have been your problem

But as a general "rule" i'd wait till a tank is at least like 6 months before adding an anemone.

 

[scubasteve20]

The anemone lasted about a week but I think it died from the massive nitrate spike before the lights ever had a chance to have any effect. I don't really want to do any lighting upgrades to it as I'm already planning a larger setup. My LFS is getting a live shipment tomorrow so we'll see what they get.

Thanks,
Steve