getting started...sorry so long

[sogreene]

OK-so I posted yesterday about my extreme lack of judgement with the anemone (he did not make it, but the second one is still in my qt tank and seems to be doing well-fat tentacles, rich brown color with green/yellow tips, and bright pink base)

BioCube specs:
14gal
20lbs live sand
13lbs live rock (fiji and tonga) w/tons of coralline algae, a ton of small red mushroom things that I think are zoanthids (these open and close at throughout the day), a very small bubbly coral that sucks itself skinny when I first walk up to the tank, and slowly inflates again, about 20 "cone" shaped bony structures that feather duster like guys poke out of and sweep about 20 times in a minute, some hairy green/tan algae, and one piece of what I think is living coral that is white, rounded, and pimply-it's about 1.25"x1" and sits in a crevice of rock
Ammonia:0, Nitrite:0, Nitrate:0, pH:8.4, sg:1.024, temp:79-80 daytime, 77-78 nighttime
I have one 15-30gal powerhead that pushes current along the back wall and down, in addition to the outflow of the filter system that pushes along the left side and up.

It has been running since last Sunday, the 15th, and the only biological starter I added was Saltwater Biozyme-at the recommendation of the lfs I got my live rock from (+ the live sand). I saw an initial ammonia spike, then nitrite, then nitrate over the first 3 days, and parameters have been on target since.
We use purple-up in both tanks, along with kent essential elements, and strontium& molybdenum--all are added following the directions on the bottles. ; ) I also put 15 drops of microvert food in both tanks 4 times a week. The damsels in the qt tank get marine morsels, and frozen baby brine daily. I initially had the 2 damsels in the biocube for cycling, until I read about how the live sand/rock that I already had did it on it's own, so I didn't have to risk the damsels!
My coralline algae has already started to spread to the sand/walls on the biocube.

How long should I continue to cycle before adding any soft corals--from what I've read, that's all the lighting system in the biocube will support--and whatever small fish you recommend? I will not be putting the other anemone in this tank, it will stay in my qt tank (29 gal bowfront), which will be a FOWLR (+anemone) after the biocube is stocked.

I really like xenia and stars, and had hoped for a clown/bta combo--other than that, I am really open to suggestions-or "not-to's"
(common names rather than scientific so googling is easier, please )

We already do 25 gal water changes on our 125gal A.Cichlid tank (10 mos old), and 5gal changes on the 29gal qt tank each week (this has been up for 3 mos), along with gravel/sand vaccuums once a month, so the maintenance is already habitual for us--the biocube plans are 3gal changes once a week, and vaccuum once a month as well.

Thanks in advance for ready my lengthy message--I hope I provided you with enough info-- tee hee --and thanks as well for your suggestions/concerns!!
I am sooo excited!

 

[laniard]

Hi - I have had a 14 gallon biocube since November of 2007. I have a tomato clown and a yellow-tail damsel in it. The clown hosts a somewhat long-stemmed mushroom colony (not sure of the ID of the mushrooms). I have a couple of yuma ricordeas, some blue discosomas, a condylactis anemone and a sebae. Lots of stomatellas and colonista snails. I have a couple of nassarius snails, a serpent star, and a peppemint shrimp. My tank cycled very quickly. I have a biocube-size skimmer in one of the chambers. I grow chaeto and fern caulerpa in the tank. I have tried to add a third fish several times, but they just don't seem to last long (neon goby, rainford goby, six-line wrasse), so I decided that was probably a sign to stop at two fish. I do a 2-2.5 gallon water change every week or so - have never vacuumed the sand. Good luck!

 

[sogreene]

laniard~
Thanks for sharing your setup with me! Do you have any pictures? I 'd like to see them!
With my fw tanks, it was always 4-6 weeks to see that initial amm-nitri-nitra spike combo, but I have already seen that in this one. I just don't know if it's "finished" or not with the live sand/rock factor.
The book I read, and am re-reading, suggests starting out with leather corals, zenia, mushroom corals, and zoanthids, along with numerous "nano/reef" safe fish, and invertabrates. My biggest concern is which to add first, and how long between specimens to add the next...my book says a lot on what to stock, but not how...more googling for me ; )
Thanks again!
~Sarah

 

[laniard]

No problem. I do have some pictures, but they're mostly of when the tank was overrun by aiptasia - lol! I have that pretty much wiped out and now I need to start tackling the coraline that is growing on the hard to reach areas (the front corners, near the power head).

I'm a bit embarrassed to say so, but within a week of setting up when parameters looked good I bought a yellow damsel and then within a couple weeks after that I bought the yellow-tail. I eventually returned the yellow as it was so aggressive/territorial (no surprise); in fact, I think that's probably what caused the six-line wrasse to commit suicide. But I still have the yellow-tail. I then tried a pair of false percs but one of them kept jumping into the return flow chamber and eventually ended up under the pump, dead. So I returned the remaining perc and that's when I got the tomato clown. As far as inverts go, I'd recommend a porcelain crab, an emerald crab (contrary to their reputation, mine has never eaten any bubble algae) just because they're pretty and fun to watch.

I probably added one specimen every couple of weeks, whether it was the fish, rics, mushrooms, clean-up crew, etc. I've found mushrooms to be quite hardy; haven't tried zoas and such, although I'm sure they'd do fine.

 

[sogreene]

Honey, I'd say after the murder I committed to that anemone, you have no reason to be embarrassed!
cmore170d recommended doing a 20-30% water change now and watching parameters for another week, so I will do that, and go to my better lfs (much longer drive, but wasn't money hungry like the one that had me get all of the supplements) to start stocking!
I've read on quite a few threads to start with cleaner crews (which would benefit me with the hairy algae on two of my rocks)
He's really picky on what he will/will not sell to anyone, and keeps tabs on what projects are going/how long, so I have a feeling he will be my best bet to remain patient. He's helped me tons with my A.Cichlid tank (10 mos old, 125gal, and still only 11 fish)
Anyway, thanks agin for the post, and I hope to talk to you later!!
~Sarah