Stocking ideas

[Noah707]

Hello, I was wondering if there's any modifications to my tenative stocking list I should make. I think the tank I'm getting is going to measure 36x8x9 or something like that, and holds 12 gallons. I'm likely going to add a 10 gallon sump and am using leds for lighting. Ok, to the stocking list:

X1 possum wrasse
X1 yellowstriped cardinalfish
X1 blood shrimp
CUC

Ok, so I know that probably fully stocks or overstocks such a small body of water, but is there any peaceful mid-dwelling fish I could add? I'm also planning on fishless cycling and then adding a damsel to keep it cycled, which I'll return the same day I decide to get LR or fish.

I was thinking since the tank is 3ft I might be able to get away with something that needs more swimming room than what is in the normal 10-20 gallon tanks.

 

[gemini9]

"which I'll return the same day I decide to get LR or fish."

Don't people usually start out with LR? I could be wrong... but I thought the LR was one of the first purchases for a reef tank. Doesn't it assist the cycle process? I duno.. I'm pretty new myself. But I really do TRY to help! hmm.....

 

[Noah707]

Yeah I thought about that, however I'm not exactly sure when im going to take the plunge so I'd rather have a tank ready without having to worry about die off on the LR. After I cure it of course.

 

[Noah707]

I also really like the look of swissguards however they're too expensive at the moment and it would eat my shrimp (?)

 

[geckoejon]

you don't need a fish to cycle the tank. you can ghost feed. you also don't need to worry about "die off on the LR. After I cure it of course." i would suggest reading a bunch more before adding anything...

a 36x8x9 tank? was it a display tank for a store or something? i saw a couple like that around the desk at a lfs, and it looked kind of cool. he had a couple of clowns and a pipefish in it. i would be worried about nutrient export. i would suggest a small nano goby, if anything. they will sift sand, and look cool.

in a 9" high tank there isn't much in the way of mid water column room. i think you might end up with issues quick. they might box off and stay at different ends. with with that size tank, it would not leave much swimming room....

 

[Noah707]

Allow me to clarify what I meant, as I said before I'm going to fishless cycle, I'm aware that you don't need and shouldn't use fish to cycle. The reason I'm not going to use LR to cycle is because I'd like to get everything set up and my parameters stable before adding anything I plan on keeping. Also if I cycled with LR id have to do more WCS on the display to keep the rock from becoming dead rock, right? Anywho when it comes time to cure the rock I'll be purchasing local cured rock so hopefully that'll help keep the die off down. And the damsel would be to keep the already cycled tank cycled while I'm deciding what to do with the tank. I realize I could simply add ammonia like I do on my FW tank but it's be nice to have some life in the tank.

I agree that the tanks height is a issue, I may end up just going with a goby or two and a shrimp. I'm more interested in corals anyways

 

[gemini9]

Actually, the rock won't "die". You won't have to worry about that. Once the live rock is cured, it will stay that way, as long as you keep your power head on. The only way you would kill off your rock is if you were to remove it from the tank. Just keep your salinity around 1.021-1.024 and you're live rock will be fine. I honestly don't think tank will cycle properly without the live rock. And even if your tank does cycle, and you add your live rock later, there is a chance you will jump start a mini cycle. You rock has to cycle with your tank. If I'm correct.

Steps to cycling your tank, are to first add your water, get your salt mixed right and bring your temp up to about 77ish, then add your sand. Will take a few days for the cloudiness to settle. Then add a powerhead and/or filter. After that, put in your live rock. The live rock may even actually start your cycle. After youve got your rock in, start your ghost feeding and watch your ammonia. It should spike up, then fall back to zero. That that point, your nitrites will come up, then down. then your nitrates will come up. When the nitrates come up, you will start to see some algae and diatoms in the tank. They eventually clear up. Here, you should start on your water changes to get the nitrates down. when they come down to around 20, you can start to slowly add fish and get yourself a skimmer too btw.

But yeah... you should definitely get the live rock first. Because even after it cycles, as I said already, when you add it, you may start another mini cycle. Last thing you'll want, is another cycle.

 

[Noah707]

??im confused, so what you're saying is that everything that comes on the rock (corals, worms, invertebrates) can survive the inevitable cycle (even if it's minimal with LR) that I would have? I'd feel much better introducing it into a fully cycled tank. I don't see how cycling a tank without rock is impossible.. Although I've only kept FW fish I assume you can fishless cycle without LR. I see the reasoning behind there being a mini cycle if you introduced LR into a already cycled tank, but surely that's be less of a cycle than adding the rock initially into new water?

 

[tyler1503]

You need a place for the bacteria to live, which is usually the rock work. Do you have a place in your sump or something that will house the bacteria? A lot of people new to the hobby believe the bacteria lives in the water, but it actually lives in the rockwork or similar structure. I recommend using the live rock to cycle. It will prevent any mini cycles later when you do add the rock, even if it's already been cured.
During the initial cycle, water changes only need to be done after ammonia and nitrite have dropped to and hold steadily at 0 for a few days. These water changes helps stabilise things and reduce nutrients. But not doing these water changes won't harm the rock, the bacteria or anything in the tank (unless nitrates or phosphates are high, which could harm hitchhikers).
Your rock won't die off if you don't do water changes, but you still need to do them (especially in a newer tank) regardless of the rock. It just helps keep things healthy.
The main issue I see with that sized tank isn't so much stocking, but evaporation. You have a huge surface area for small amount if water and will probably lose quite a bit if water each day. Just something to consider
For that tank I'd stick with the goby or two and shrimp like your planning.
Sounds like a fun tank!

 

[tyler1503]

Sorry Gemini, I just typed up that long reply before I realised you already said pretty much the same thing first lol.

??im confused, so what you're saying is that everything that comes on the rock (corals, worms, invertebrates) can survive the inevitable cycle (even if it's minimal with LR) that I would have? I'd feel much better introducing it into a fully cycled tank. I don't see how cycling a tank without rock is impossible.. Although I've only kept FW fish I assume you can fishless cycle without LR. I see the reasoning behind there being a mini cycle if you introduced LR into a already cycled tank, but surely that's be less of a cycle than adding the rock initially into new water?

It could possibly be less of a mini cycle if the tank has already been through the initial cycle phase. But the issue is, how do you plan to cycle the tank without a place to house the bacteria? It's not impossible, but it's not ideal.
Some hitchhikers do survive the initial cycle, some don't. People get everything from corals to inverts to fish to things the average person doesn't even know exist surviving the cycle. Not everything will live, but what does die off will feed the cycle even more and you probably won't even know that whatever died off was in there in the first place. What does survive will either become food for your livestock, teach you about getting rid of pests, or be a really cool new pet
Good luck with the tank and keep us posted!

 

[Noah707]

I was thinking the sand and canister filter would house some of it, but I may just go with LR to cycle the tank first. I was mainly concerned about doing a lot of costly water changes but I realize since I'd be curing it anyways it wouldn't make much of a difference cost wise. Also it seems like I wouldn't have to worry as much about a mini-cycle later on if I cycled with LR initially. Thanks for the advice!

 

[tyler1503]

No worries.

Canister filters can work really well, but need to be cleaned religiously on a weekly basis or more often. They can produce a lot of nitrate quickly, but if it's well looked after it can work wonders
You shouldn't need to do too many water changes while cycling. You shouldn't do any while there is ammonia or nitrite in the water as this can slow the cycle down. Maybe just a few after nitrate has spiked, which should help keep costs down.
Your right, if you cycle with live rock now you won't have any issues with mini cycles later down the road unless something goes wrong.

 

[Noah707]

Yeah that all sounds good but it seems like if there was ammonia in the tank it'd kill anything on the live rock.

 

[tyler1503]

Yeah that all sounds good but it seems like if there was ammonia in the tank it'd kill anything on the live rock.

It will kill some stuff but that will help progress the cycle along nicely.
It won't kill everything though. We always talk about how delicate our systems are, but to be honest, they're a lot hardier than we give them credit for
I've had crabs, sponges, corals, fish, shrimp, baby jellyfish and all sorts of goodies come out of live rock and survive the ammonia phase of the cycle.