what to stock my tank with...

[HoCkEyGmC]

okay im cycling a 28gal nanocube and i know that i have to wait until it is over to add stock. i also know that the list of fish that i am leaving would overstocked so i am leaving it here to be refined. this will be my first saltwater tank and i plan on it being a reef tank. for now i just am listing the fish and i would like to know which are the easiest to keep, will all eat the same food, eat pests, get along, and not eat my coral or other delecate defenseless things?
possible fish:
false perc
fuzzy dwarf lionfish
6 line wrassie
firefish
flame angel
kauderns cardinal
scooter blenny

okay so any suggestions?

 

[Ziggy953]

If you are doing a reef tank I would forgo the Lion. The Lion can and will eat anything it can fit in it's mouth.

The scooter blenny depends on a diet of live copepods and will not survive in a new tank. They are fish for an established tank usually one with a lot of LR and a refugium to keep the pod population up

The Flame angel will work in the size tank but can nip at corals. (30g minimum usally recomended for this fish)

The sixline is an interesting fish and will be fine in your tank.

The Clown also a common and interesting fish that will do well in your tank.

The firefish another good choice for your tank. (not with the lion though)

How much LR do you have in the tank? What kind of lighting came with it?

 

[HoCkEyGmC]

28 gal nanocube, metal halides, and about 35 pounds of LR.
could i have them all on a flake food and some freeze dried stuff?

 

[Ziggy953]

Excellent you should do fine with corals. After your cycle is complete I would wait a month or so before adding corals. Allow your tank to mature a bit and things to settle and you will be off and running.

 

[HoCkEyGmC]

what could i add to settle it? clean up crew? or like what?

 

[Ziggy953]

There really isn't anything you can add to settle things. It just takes time. After you cycle is complete you can add your clean up crew and start adding fish slowly. I still wouldn't add any corals for the first few months.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

When Ziggy is referring to your tank "settling", he means the water parameters need to settle down. There's a lot of biological activity going on in the early months of a tank which can cause water parameters to swing around until they reach some type of equilibrium. There's also the fact that folks are usually still trying to figure out their maintenance routine, or seem to want to add "stuff" to their tank to speed growth, feed things they don't have, or because their LFS told them to. Those things, early on, also cause water parameters to roller coaster. Once you get a routine down, and things stabilize, then you can feel pretty safe introducing corals. I usually recommend 4 months or so. Yeah... it seems like eternity but it gives you good time to practice the patience you need to have a great SW tank!

 

[cmor1701d]

The best advice I ever received here was "nothing good ever happens fast in a salt water aquarium"

That's the basic advice given above. In addition to what Ziggy said I think a pair of kauderns cardinals would do well in that tank They are a low bioload fish too.

 

[HoCkEyGmC]

so how would this be adding this stuff in this order? (not all at once obviously)
false perc
firefish
flame angle
kauderns cardinal
6-line wrassie
scooter blenny
Sound good?
What would be a good food for all this stuff?

 

[HoCkEyGmC]

sorry, im getting close to adding fish (in a few weeks) so im just refreshing this thread. my main question was would all ^those fish^ be ok in that tank?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Short answer... No - all those fish together is too much.

Long answer...

While the 6-line and Flame Angel normally have a minimum tank size given as 30g, that still just seems too small to me. Personal opinion, I guess. But it just seems like the wrasse needs room to run and the flange angel needs a lot of rock to nibble at. Maybe someone that actually owns those fish can comment about putting either of those in a 28g.

I'd say you'd be safe putting in the perc, cardinal, and firefish. More than that might be pushing it.

{Edit: Just noticed that you plan on doing corals also. The Flame Angel is hit and miss as to whether or not it will nip at corals. Just FYI.}

 

[HoCkEyGmC]

k, ill figure it out from here, i figured that it would be overstocked like that with 6 freekin fish in a 30. thanks!