Hi everyone,
I'm brand new to saltwater tanks, but have several years of experience with freshwater. I just got a used BioCube 14 setup today, and I've been doing some reading. It came set up with live sand and filled with water but I'm not sure it's "live" anymore if it hasn't been provided with an ammonia source recently? It's aquascaped with plain rocks.
My questions are:
- I was thinking of getting a bit of cured live rock to help speed up the cycling process, and then using "ghost feeding" for as long as it takes to cycle the tank. Is this a good plan, or should I hold off on the live rock?
- I was thinking of stocking a Yellow Watchman Goby/Randall's pistol shrimp pair, along with a Royal Gamma. Do you think these would be okay? I'm open to different fish suggestions, but I really like the idea of the goby/shrimp pair. I'm not a huge clownfish person.
- How far into the process of starting the tank does one add corals?
- Would it be a good idea to add macroalgae to the tank right away to compete with pest algae?
Don't worry, I'm doing research, and haven't bought any livestock yet, but I thought it would help to ask more experienced keepers too. Thanks in advance!
I'm brand new to saltwater tanks, but have several years of experience with freshwater. I just got a used BioCube 14 setup today, and I've been doing some reading. It came set up with live sand and filled with water but I'm not sure it's "live" anymore if it hasn't been provided with an ammonia source recently? It's aquascaped with plain rocks.
My questions are:
- I was thinking of getting a bit of cured live rock to help speed up the cycling process, and then using "ghost feeding" for as long as it takes to cycle the tank. Is this a good plan, or should I hold off on the live rock?
- I was thinking of stocking a Yellow Watchman Goby/Randall's pistol shrimp pair, along with a Royal Gamma. Do you think these would be okay? I'm open to different fish suggestions, but I really like the idea of the goby/shrimp pair. I'm not a huge clownfish person.
- How far into the process of starting the tank does one add corals?
- Would it be a good idea to add macroalgae to the tank right away to compete with pest algae?
Don't worry, I'm doing research, and haven't bought any livestock yet, but I thought it would help to ask more experienced keepers too. Thanks in advance!