help on some questions for my 14 biocube please!!

[yusniel]

Hey guys im new here and fairly new at this wonderful hobbie. i have some questions and i need some advice please, i have a 14 biocube running only 4 days and my cycle is done i only had my ph low but everything looks great with 16 pounds of live rock, a clown and a pygmy angel so far with all stock lighting and filtration. I want to get another clown, a yellow clown goby, and a cleaner shrimp. i also would like to have an anemone but ive heard and researched that my tank is too small a employee at a fish store suggested id get a bubble tip anemone it was small. ive also heard clowns host in soft corals and my stock lighting is good for soft corals but that they leave burn marks on them. i dont know what i should do and also im worried with my pygmy because ive also reasearched that he picks at corals please give me some advice and suggestions thank you!

[shottsy]

I am also somewhat new to the hobby, but am lucky enough to live close to Inland Aquatics, so someone else may have a little better answer. First I have never heard of a cycle being complete in four days. I would keep a close eye on parameters a little longer. As far as anemones, I wouldn't recommend them until your tank is a little more established and parameters have proven to be constant. Bubble tips will get too big for your biocube eventualy. If you want to get into anemones I would recommend a Maxi Mini, which host Sexy Shrimp. They can eat your fish though, but not likely. Most fish are smart enough to stay away. Grazers are the most probable to accidently have a run in with the Maxi. I've had mine for three weeks and still have all of my fish. What you heard about the clowns is true. Not sure about your lighting. I've not heard of any type of lighting leaving burn marks on any coral, just bleaching or turning them white. If your lighting is not good for stony corals then you don't have to worry about bleaching. Keep the pygmy well fed and you shouldn't have any trouble. Qestions, research, and a ton of patients will serve you well in the hobby.

[Kmoriarty]

In my opinion your cycle could not possibly be finished in 4 days. It may not have even started if your nitrites are still at 0. Nitrites will be your indicator so look for an influx of them. After a couple weeks, nitrite will slowly decline and nitrate will spike. After you start seeing the nitrate come to a close, your cycle will be coming to a close. Watch for ammonia spikes during this period too. I would HIGHLY reconsider adding anything to the tank until you actually see this cycle occur over a period of AT LEAST 4 weeks. I know how excited you are to get some animals in the tank, but if you add anything now, you're setting your tank up for failure. Just sit back relax and do lots of research during the cycle time thinking and planning your livestock!

[yusniel]

yea i wouldnt think it would be cycled eihter but i checked my water today and also they told me everything is fine and is showing my cycle is over. i was asking many questions about soft corals and which one would be good for my biocube and clowns and they told me a plate coral long tentacles would do good since clowns can host and they are hardy and easy to maintain but im worried about the clowns getting burn marks. i plan on getting other soft corals as well how many should i get that will be fine? im only having 2 clowns, pygmy, and a yellow clown goby

[Original Fin]

Yes it is a wonderful hobby!

Now I'm sorry to be a wet blanket but there are several things I find troubling with what you're saying and what you've been told.

First, your tank didn't cycle in 4 days. It just doesn't work that way. Did you test levels on all four of those days? If so, please provide us with the results, so we can better explain what's going on.

Next, fish selection...It's really too many fish for that size tank. Even if your biofiltration can keep up with that amount of ammonia production, you will be hard pressed to keep up with water changes to make it habitable for corals with as much nitrate and other waste as they'll be producing in such a small space.
The yellow Clown Goby is the only good fit IMO. A Pygmy Angel is too agressive to be housed in something that size with other fish, and the minimum tank suggested tank size for it alone is 30 gals...and they are very iffy with corals. Clownfish, depending on type, need from 20 -30 gals, so two in a 14 gal is really pushing it.

Lastly, a plate coral is an LPS, not a soft coral. It is also quite agressive as corals go, so you'd need to give it a wide berth from other corals in that tank, and you don't have much real estate to begin with. Plate Coral, Long Tentacle A clown (depending on the type) may decide to make it's home there regardless, but I'm not sure what your concerns are with burns..how were you thinking that would that happen? Corals can sting most fish, if that's what you're thinking of? Anemonefish though have evolved to be symbiotic and immune to most corals stings.


As far as coral suggestions in a biocube...I really like the look brightly colored mixed zoos, with a couple slow growing, less agressive LPS or two in the sandbed (Buttons, Pagoda, Acan Brain, etc) Should be easy to care for too, as corals go.

[FoMoCo Master Tech]

+1 on Fin's assessment of you stocking list in relation to the size of your tank. 14 gallons would not make a suitable size for even the smallest species of anemonefish, let alone 2 plus the additional fish.
Gobies seem to be the most fitting fish for a tank that size. Lots of people house pistol shrimp/ gobie pairs in nano tanks. Marine tanks and fish are much more demanding of both water quality, and territorial space.
The cycling can take as little as a few weeks, to a few months but 4 days would be record breaking. Even after the cycle is complete ( verified by the proper test results) the tank should stay fishless for at least 2 weeks to ensure no additional perameter fluctuations.
Take it very slow and do more research on the fish selection and set up of your tank. Moving too fast or acting without the needed knowledge will inevitably lead to disaster. A great place to start is here: Setting Up a FOWLR Aquarium
Good luck and I hope you have great success in this humbling hobby!

[twisted]

what the h is wrong with these fish stores? for a store to tell someone the tank is cycled after 4 days! dude, do some real research and stop relying on the lfs you deal with. they are full of it. please, spend some time reading so you can understand what your tank and livestock is about to suffer through and then find a new fish store.

[reefhead]

Your stock lighting is also not enough for lps corals.

I think your fish will probably die, you added to much stuff to quickly.

Lets see those test results, make sure your using quality tests and doing the tests yourself.

Can't test yourself?
You might be in the wrong hobby.

Test results and brand of the kit you used will help us to help you.