stocking my 14 gallon biocube

[classklown90]

my biocube has cycled and so far this is what i have:

1 1/4-1 1/2 inch live sand bed
10 lbs of live rock
button polyp colony(small)
2- blue legged hermit crabs
2- small hitchhiker starfish

i was thinking of doing this(over time of course)
5-8 more lbs of rock
1-Kardinal fish(are these okay in this size tank? ive seen many in biocubes but then again alot of ppl dont research well)
1 watchman goby
OR
1 cave goby
1-yellowhead jaw fish
OR
1-some type of clown fish

now as for inverts and corals, I have no idea. any suggestions? im not a fan of the mushroomy look, i like the "typical" reef look with loads of colors. As for the inverts, id like different ones then the normal choices if possible.

thanks for the help guys

 

[iDream]

well i have a 14 biocube so i can help out a bit with it, mines been up for about 8 months or so.

for a CUC you could add more blue legs and snails to keep algae down, addition of rock is okay as long as its cured or you might have another mini cycle.

yeah pajama and bangaii cardinals are okay for the tank size though they prefer groups so idk how they'd do in a 14G alone. most watchmans are good for nano tanks.

the cave goby (if i'm looking at the right one on liveaquaria.com) is good, but they jawfish needs a deeper sandbed and they are notorious jumpers, i see one in my LFS constantly trying to leap out of its tank (so much so they put a piece of plastic on top with a rock to keep it in the tank)

oscellaris and percula clowns are good for nanos as well, i had a pair and they were great!

you could do a clown, watchman, and maybe a peppermint or cleaner shrimp too, just look around liveaquaria.com for fish and look at the tank size requirements and needs etc. about 3 fish/larger inverts are what you can keep

i have a firefish goby(Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Firefish) and a starry blenny(Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Starry Blenny) in mine

as for corals with the stock lighting i'm assuming you have you'll have to stick to mostly softies like mushrooms, zoanthids, polyps, ricordeas, and xenia.

right now i only have some pompom xenia and two different color mushrooms, just read the requirements as well on liveaquaria, low to medium light is jsut about all you can keep (medium light being corals you can only keep at the top of the tank really)

green star polyps, tons of colors of zoas, tons of colors of mushrooms and ricordeas, all good for a biocube reef

hope i helped, and good luck! my biocube has been a ton of fun for me, dont listen when people say nanos arent for beginners! they just take more work!

 

[classklown90]

thanks! that was alot of help and it meant more coming from a biocube owner. i think ill go with a kardinal, watchman and shrimp, just love the goby and shrimp combo and i love the kardinals looks. can i ask what your stock is?

 

[iDream]

i have a firefish goby(Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Firefish) and a starry blenny(Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Starry Blenny) in mine

i believe i have about 6 or so blue leg hermits, and i think 5-6 turbo snails.

as for corals i have a frag of a red and blue mushroom (red has already produced another shroom) and some pompom xenia that started as a little frag and has grown to about 5 nice stalks and they aren't stopping, people say its like a weed and whatnot but its definitely one of my favorite corals always pulsing and waving back and forth

but as you see for my fish they're kind of hiders (firefish usually only comes out when he knows its feeding time), i would buy a smaller oscellaris clown again but i just dont have the money to spend on that. but my starry blenny is hilarious always swimming and chomping my rocks for algae

i've been meaning to finally take some pictures of my tank and i cleaned it up all nice yesterday so it looks good maybe i'll get that done today

btw your stock list sounds good, make sure to post pics (people on here LOVE pictures)

 

[classklown90]

your pom pom sounds great, ill have to pick up a frag of that! ill get picture up today of what my tank looks like so far, stock is pretty small right now(3 blue legged, 2 red legged hermits and 2 nerite snails plus the button polyps) let me know if you get pics up. thanks for the comment

 

[iDream]

yeah hermits and snails usually dont count toward a bioload so you're doing okay, i might nab some pictures tonight, but i wont post them until tomorrow

 

[classklown90]

okay sweet. after my order comes in, i should have about 15 snails/hermits total. thats okay for a 14 gallon?

 

[classklown90]

Are these hermits reef safe? these are what i could recieve in my order from reefcleaners.org(i realize the red and blue are fine)

• White Claw Hermits

• Left Handed Hermits (pictured)

• Blue Leg Hermits

• Thin Leg Hermits

• Jade Hermits

• Red Leg Hermits