coralife biocube 29 questions - stocking & other

[captaincaiti]

hi everyone! i've been researching and wanting a saltwater tank for years now and finally decided to just go for it since no matter how much research i do i'll probably still feel in over my head. i have a coralife biocube 29 gallon that i just set up today with nutri-seawater, 40lbs of caribsea arag-alive sand, and just 9lbs of live rock for now so i can see what it looks like and such once all the sand finally settles before i buy more. i did remove the bioballs in the back and will be putting in a large piece of live rock instead most likely, though i'd love other suggestions!

definitely not going to add any livestock for at least a week, obviously more if any of the water parameters aren't in check, but i'm still researching what to get as far as clean-up crew/first fish/overall stocking limit/etc. a little overwhelming without any one answer to be found! i figured i'd post and at least get an answer that fits what i have and want better than what google gave me.

as far as clean-up crew, i honestly have no idea how many of each i should get. i really like spiny star astraea snails but other than that i don't have a preference for what kind of snails, i just want whatever is best suited for the tank. and i'd love opinions on types of shrimp as well!

for fish, this is a basic list of what i want, recognizing i wouldn't be able to add some of them right away/some need certain requirements/obviously i can't keep all of them together in a tank this small/etc:
2 snowflake ocellaris clownfish
1 purple firefish
1 diamond watchman goby
1 hi fin red banded goby
2 ruby red dragonets
some type of starfish (chocolate chip maybe? my sister really wants one, i haven't done a lot of research on them yet but will before getting one)

i'm super open to other recommendations as well! especially as far as a first fish goes. i was thinking of getting a regular firefish instead of a purple, simply because of price difference, to put in as my first fish after inverts are in. but i love looking at types of fish, my list of favorites is always growing.

basically i'd love any and all advice/help/tips and tricks/etc. even with all the research it's amazing how much i feel like i still don't know. thank you in advance!

[GimpyFin]

Congrats on getting started with your first tank! There are a lot of good starter threads here too for getting stuff setup for the first time.

I'm a firefish fan and they add some nice color to a tank, big or small. I have both a purple and a helfrichi and they are awesome. I'd say if you want to splurge, get a helfrichi, but that's just me.

I'd definitely wait a while on the watchman goby. Without a good established sand bed, they will starve. Ruby reds are similar to mandarins. In my experience, they are a little easier to keep and get eating prepared foods. Otherwise, they rely on scouring rocks for pods and a small tank will probably do them in fairly soon.

For starfish, a chocolate chip is ok if you don't plan on having a reef tank down the road. Like the watchman goby, though, I'd wait until you have a good established tank and sandbed, especially being 29G. Other easier keeping options would be an orange lickia starfish, or possibly a sand sifting sea star. Again, once your tank is well established.

Anyway, good luck on your new setup. Cheers!

[Ztous]

I currently have the same tank and my total clean up crew is

12 Trochus snails
6 blue hermits
4 scarlet hermits
2 mexican turbos
2 astrea snails
2 black brittle star
cleaner shrimp
emerald crab

I picked these up 2-3 at a time sort like an excuse to hit the fish store. I didn't aim for a number just got them till the tank looked stocked.

I mostly got the other snails for variety I prefer the trochus snail since they don't die as often. Scarlet hermits haven't killed anything in my tank while the blue hermits kill every snail they can. Get scarlets. I don't really recommend the emerald crab while mine has been fairly docile he does eat the star fish legs from time to time. You can't get a chocolate star and coral so think about that.

I have nearly as many fish as your wish list and with a protein skimmer rated for a 75 gallon tank I still need to do 5 gallon water changes every week to keep nitrates below 10ppm.

[MMacro]

Originally Posted by captaincaiti

hi everyone! i've been researching and wanting a saltwater tank for years now and finally decided to just go for it since no matter how much research i do i'll probably still feel in over my head. i have a coralife biocube 29 gallon that i just set up today with nutri-seawater, 40lbs of caribsea arag-alive sand, and just 9lbs of live rock for now so i can see what it looks like and such once all the sand finally settles before i buy more. i did remove the bioballs in the back and will be putting in a large piece of live rock instead most likely, though i'd love other suggestions!

definitely not going to add any livestock for at least a week, obviously more if any of the water parameters aren't in check, but i'm still researching what to get as far as clean-up crew/first fish/overall stocking limit/etc. a little overwhelming without any one answer to be found! i figured i'd post and at least get an answer that fits what i have and want better than what google gave me.

as far as clean-up crew, i honestly have no idea how many of each i should get. i really like spiny star astraea snails but other than that i don't have a preference for what kind of snails, i just want whatever is best suited for the tank. and i'd love opinions on types of shrimp as well!

for fish, this is a basic list of what i want, recognizing i wouldn't be able to add some of them right away/some need certain requirements/obviously i can't keep all of them together in a tank this small/etc:
2 snowflake ocellaris clownfish
1 purple firefish
1 diamond watchman goby
1 hi fin red banded goby
2 ruby red dragonets
some type of starfish (chocolate chip maybe? my sister really wants one, i haven't done a lot of research on them yet but will before getting one)

i'm super open to other recommendations as well! especially as far as a first fish goes. i was thinking of getting a regular firefish instead of a purple, simply because of price difference, to put in as my first fish after inverts are in. but i love looking at types of fish, my list of favorites is always growing.

basically i'd love any and all advice/help/tips and tricks/etc. even with all the research it's amazing how much i feel like i still don't know. thank you in advance!

7 fish is A LOT for a biocube. I would say that you should shoot for 2-3 and take it slow. Cycles generally take longer than a week to complete. Also, I would skip the dragonets as they usually require larger, established tanks. Another thing to keep in mind is that chocolate chip starfish can grow over 15" so they are not suitable for any biocube.

[homer1475]

I would start with reading the setting up sticky at the top of this forum. Then have a scroll down to the nano section. There are plenty of biocube build threads there that can give you ideas on what equipment will work, what livestock will work, to what lighting will work with what corals.

FYI I have 5 fish in my biocube(2 snowflake clown, flame angel, neon dottyback, citron clown goby, and a war paint goby), and trust me when I say they are cramped! I would rethink your stocking list. If it were me, I would skip the dragonets(you'll never be able to sustain a big enough pod population for them to thrive), and CC star(if you plan on having corals).

Good luck and happy reefing!

[username in use]

Some good suggestions above. I would suggest not adding live rock to the back chambers. It just creates a place where junk can accumulate and it makes it difficult to clean. If you want to add more rock then add it to the display, and if there looks to be enough in the display visually you realistically have enough overall.

[captaincaiti]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I mentioned it in the first post but I guess it wasn't clear, I definitely won't have all of those fish in the biocube! It's just a list of "these are the fish I'd want at some point" and I'm currently researching which would be best together in a smaller tank so that I don't overload the tank. And the dragonets, if I did end up getting them, would be waaaaay down the road probably with a larger tank. I just put them in because they're a fish I really want eventually, and don't want something that won't get along with them.

Thanks for all the info on the clean up crews and chocolate chip starfish! Definitely going to do way more research on starfish before actually thinking of putting one in the tank

[MMacro]

Originally Posted by captaincaiti

Thanks for the advice everyone! I mentioned it in the first post but I guess it wasn't clear, I definitely won't have all of those fish in the biocube! It's just a list of "these are the fish I'd want at some point" and I'm currently researching which would be best together in a smaller tank so that I don't overload the tank. And the dragonets, if I did end up getting them, would be waaaaay down the road probably with a larger tank. I just put them in because they're a fish I really want eventually, and don't want something that won't get along with them.

Thanks for all the info on the clean up crews and chocolate chip starfish! Definitely going to do way more research on starfish before actually thinking of putting one in the tank

IMO
Dragonets won't thrive in systems under 100 gallons.
As for stocking for the biocube I would just stick with a pair of clowns and maybe one of the smaller gobies.

[michellejy]

I saw a full sized diamond watchman goby in an established tank the other day. They get much bigger than I realized. Obviously, they are fantastic sand sifters, but I don't think I would put one in a cube.

[Nina51]

when i started out with a 29g biocube, i had 2 snowflake clowns, 1 longnose hawkfish, 1 orange spotted goby and lots of inverts including a couple of brittlestars. it was a nifty little tank, very easy to care for. after a year, i upgraded to a 75g.

[homer1475]

Nina51 your sig line always makes me laugh!

"Never hold your farts in. They travel up your spine into your brain, and that is where crappy ideas come from. "

[captmilkchoco]

I'm currently cycling my 29g Biocube. I checked out Reefcleaners and sent them an email with my tank dimensions (custom clean up crew page). They responded (before the end of the day!) with a recommended starting CUC, and I'm going with that. It's just snails for now and I'll add scarlet hermits later, emerald crab if I start getting any bubble algae.

As for fish, I'm planning on maxing out at 4: pair of clowns, goby, and something else (maybe a royal gramma, but still doing research).

[sde1500]

Dragonets most likely will die in your tank due to the amount of pods they eat. Better as a newbie to get the other fish on your list, but not those two.

Cleaner shrimp, or blood shrimp are both cool shrimp additions. No star fish would really work in that small of a tank either.

For clean up crews those snails are pretty good, add a few scarlet hermits too. They aren't killers, others will kill snails for fun, these wont. Just make sure to get a few empty shells for them to grow into.

Also 9 lbs of rock is not nearly enough.


Welcome, and good luck. as others have said, check out the stickies and read them all. They are all helpful.

[Nina51]

i should add that hawkfish are not shrimp safe. my single one did fine, lived with a cleaner shrimp for a year. when i upgraded, i added a second hawkfish and my shrimp was history.

Originally Posted by homer1475

Nina51 your sig line always makes me laugh!

"Never hold your farts in. They travel up your spine into your brain, and that is where crappy ideas come from. "

it's true!!

[Justintegra]

Originally Posted by sde1500

add a few scarlet hermits too. They aren't killers, others will kill snails for fun, these wont. Just make sure to get a few empty shells for them to grow into.

I just got rid of all my blue legged crabs because after two months of peace they decided to MURDER all of my snails over the course of about three days. It was like someone flipped a switch. I couldn't believe it.

I want to believe that scarlet hermits would be different, but I just don't have the confidence. No hermit is a good hermit as far as I am concerned.