Some begginer questions regarding a new 12g NC...

[sophia101]

Hello Everyone,
I finally purchased my 12g NC from www.drsfostersmith.com about 1 week ago along with the cabinet stand and right now i have it set-up with 1 inch of LS and seawater. On wednesday i will have abot 15 lbs of LR in the tank also. I just have a few questions that maybe you guys could help me answer.

1. What 2 fish would you reccomend putting together in a 12g nano? I really want maybe an ocellaris clown and a small goby/blenny...what do you think? Depending on the fish, should i add them at the same or split it up?

2. I purchased Prime Reef flakes, Freeze-dried Brine Shrimp & i plan on also getting frozen mysis shrimp...does that sound good? How often do i wanna feed the fish?

3. What specific gravity range is ideal for a 12g nano cube? What temp?

4. When doing water changes (normally 10% each week) would you reccomend mixing the saltwater the night before or just mix it up when i decide to do a water change and put it right into the tank?

5. What should my light cycle be for the tank (day & night)? It does have lunar lights and daytime lights...

6. What inverts should i have in my tank? (snails & hermits only please). How many of each? Should i add the inverts before or after the fish?

I will not be having corals in my tank in the beggining..maybe some softies like mushrooms, polyps, zoos etc.
Sorry for all of the questions!! If you have any other advice for me, please let me know!! Any help is much appreciated

~Sophia G.~

 

[ycrazyy]

Don't be sorry for asking so many questions, it seems like you have actually done your research a bit to know what questions to ask. Better you get it right at first than end up killing a lot of stuff in your tank.

Anyway, on to some answers (IMO at least). Everyone has different opinions, so just take everyone's answers with a grain of salt and do your own research as well.

1. Your fish choice is fine for this tank and I don't think it really matters which you add first. However, I'd only add one at a time since it is a small tank and let the tank settle for 2 weeks before adding another fish.

2. Your food choice is also good. I feed frozen brine and Cyclop-eeze freeze dried flakes about every other day. Some people feed everyday, others once a week so just find a happy medium and make sure not to over feed.

3. SG you will want around 1.024 - 1.026 and temp around 78

4. I always mix my salt water the night before to give it time to really mix well, just remember to get the new water up to temp before putting it in and make sure the SG is the same as whats in the tank.

5. My light cycle on my 24g cube is 8hrs on (I do 2pm - 10pm)

6. I'd recommend an assortment of astrea snails (approx. 10), 3 scarlet hermits, 10 blue legged hermits, 2 nassarius (sp?) snails. I would let the cleanup crew go in before the fish, but make sure your cycle is finished (i.e. ammonia / nitrate / nitrite levels have spiked and receded to normal levels)

If you have 12g DX, the lighting on it will be fine to keep those types of corals. Remember, asking questions is your best friend and people are more than willing to help out. Good luck with your tank, post some pics!

 

[noschmo]

Don't rely entirely on a forum. Make the small and wise investment in some of the many quality books like Michael Paletta's etc. This is where you will get the basics and a lot of great info that you would not even think of asking! This is the best advice anyone could give you and as I recall, not the first time I made this recommendation to you. Good luck.

 

[Henry22]

Hermits kill snails and other hermits so I would go with less and maybe some cerith snails which are really good at eating detritus which is decaying organinc matter and algae. I would also up the level of nassarius snails that ycrazyy suggested because they stir the sand and also eat detritus. I would get 10 astrea snails because when they fall on the sand they cant recover themselves and they die(like mine did) so I would say 6 ceriths, 2 astreas, 4-6 nassarius. You can also just go all snails but sometimes hermits are fun to watch. You also dont need to add all the cleanup crew at once because they may starve if the tank isnt mature and there isnt enough food to eat so maybe add half when your cycle is done(wait a week or two to make sure) and then if you get some sort of algae bloom add the rest. The best advice anyone will ever give you is this hobby takes patience and to not rush things. After you have added your cleanup crew you are probaly safe to add fish but I would wait a month.

 

[sophia101]

Thanks for all of the help, guys!! I will keep doing reserach..and LOTS of it One other question..i will be recieving my LR for my 12g NC tomorrow or on Wed. and my tnak is already set up with the sand and seawater. When i get my LR should i add it directly to my tank or put it in a bucket with seawater and scrub it with a new tooth brush to get the dibre of of it and then after (right away) put the LR into my tank? I wanna be safe...this LR is all fully cured...thanks!

 

[HAMsmith]

I stuck my cured LR right into my tank. In hindsight I wish I had done the bucket/seawater method to remove unwanted algae and most of all fine debris stuck in the rock.

Good luck and keep asking questions! Don't rely on one source, read the web, read books, talk to your LFS, see if you have a reef club in your town, etc.

I like shrimp gobies and a randall's pistol shrimp in small tanks. They can get lost in a big tank so the 12g is a perfect showcase for their wacky antics.

 

[Sardaukar]

As someone mentioned, for the basics of the aquarium (ph, salinity, etc), there are a number of fantastic books out there. I started with "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" by Robert Fenner as my first book. While I ended up buying quite a few more books over the past few years, that one answered most of the normal questions. Definately do as much reading as you can before you do anything more than cycle your LR

 

[sophia101]

Yes, i will definietly read more about this hobby and keep asking questions While cycling my tank with the LR in it, do i want to do any water changes during this period of time? Liveaquaria told me to do 100% water changes twice per week..but im not sure if thats true. Let me know your opinions. Thanks

 

[HAMsmith]

I've seen/read/heard many different opinions about water changes during the cycle.

To me if you use cured live rock and you don't see a big spike of ammonia/nitrite/nitrate then it doesn't make sense to do such huge water changes. If your readings do spike then I'm not sure if my advice still applies.

I used well cured live rock and never saw any spikes. After a week I just started doing normal weekly water changes of 15ish percent. It has worked well so far.

 

[noschmo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7939617#post7939617 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sardaukar
As someone mentioned, for the basics of the aquarium (ph, salinity, etc), there are a number of fantastic books out there. I started with "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" by Robert Fenner as my first book. While I ended up buying quite a few more books over the past few years, that one answered most of the normal questions. Definately do as much reading as you can before you do anything more than cycle your LR

Well said, this is also one of the many books I have. Although similar in approach, all the books seem to have a few great tidbits that the others don't have. I think that many of those who post here would rather rely entirely on incessent questions rather than taking the time and investment in books then turn to the forum.

 

[Brian5280]

My 12g nano cube has worked out really well over the past 2 years. I put my lr directly in the tank. I think it's fun to watch the outbreaks of random animals and algees, they all seem to go away with time. I started water changes about a week after I put the liverock in. I still do weekly water changes and drain the water down about an inch an a half from it's normal level. Be careful about overfeeding, I learned this the hard way. You really don't need to feed more than 2 or 3 times a week, and not much food ether. Also, I would stear clear of blue leg hermits, they get bigger and start killing other things.