First Post...Picture of my 'newbie' tank

[Undrpsi]

Hello All !
This is my first post. I am new to saltwater (but not aquariums). My wife got me a Biocube 29g for Christmas. It's about 5 weeks old now. Did my 2 week LR cycle. Got the brown diatoms. Waited for the bloom to fall off to add my cleanup crew and a few hardy fish. Made one newbie mistake (that LFS should have caught) by also adding a anemone (which, of course, promptly died). Otherwise tanks is running fine with all readings at normal levels.

Here's what I have so far (Picture below)

Biocube 29g
No bioballs - LR frags in well 2
Oceanic brand Protien Skimmer in well 1
Everything else basically stock
30 pounds live sand
20 pounds live rock (I will be adding more)
10 pounds coral rock (the 'dead' kind)

Fish
(2) Common Clownfish (@ 1-1/4")
(2) Yellow Tail Damsels (@ 1")

Cleanup Crew
(4) Turbo Snails
(4) Red Legged Hermits
(1) Chocolate Chip Starfish
(1) Banded Boxer Shrimp

Questions:
1. The tank is slightly cloudy (deritus or organisms..don't know) I am running a bag of carbon in first well to clean it...good idea? (I know it's not good to run carbon 24/7 due to it cleaning the water too much)

2. My readings are dead on...I have only done one 20% water change since after the last cycle. My LFS said I should be good for another 4-6 weeks...that seems like a long time?? My long established freshwater tanks need @ 30% every 4 weeks (except my cichlid tank...that's an every weeker right there).

3. Yeah, got a leather anemone (sebo?) and it promptly died. Except for tank maturity...can the biocube (with standard lighting and flow) keep an anemone alive? (some say yes...some say no)

4. Speaking of lighting. How 'good' is the biocube's? I am planning on getting a BFT (big freaking tank) in the next year. If I wanted to set this up for just coral would I have to mod the lighting? (I have heard conflicting posts)

5. AND...Finally a 'fish' question. What kind of 'cool' fish (easy to care for) is the most popular? I have the ubiqiuos clown and damsel. What about a sand dwelling Goby? or a Leopard Wrasse? Inputs? (and yes, I know it's subjective)

Thanks...included is a crappy low-bandwidth picture of my biocube

Jay

[Undrpsi]

Also...
The shrimp and starfish...ok with other fish? They are called 'oppurtunistic' but others have said they WILL eat other inhabitants. So far everyone's leaving everyone else alone.

Jay

[leebca]

In general, your tank is overstocked. More info on that as I reply to your concerns:

1. Too soon for putting in any life forms. You should be following this guideline: Setting Up a FOWLR Aquarium Carbon can be run 24/7 or less. If the quantity of carbon is chosen properly no 'over filtration' should be a concern.

2. Water changes should match bioload and waste production with what you need or want to export. In an overcrowded tank such as yours I would do 20% per week.

3. Anemones require a lot of lighting (depending on the type one gets). Your tank, however is overpopulated AND under matured. Time to read more:
Fish Stocking Limit - for FO and FOWLR
and
The Mature Aquarium

4. Depends on what corals you want to keep. Go to Reef Forum for help with this one.

5. Your tank is overcrowded now. No more fishes. Remove starfish (should only be in tanks that are 75 gallons or larger); remove three fishes -- tank is good for only one of those fishes.

You'll be routinely killing fishes and marine life forms if you pursue this stocking strategy and go this fast. I suggest you do a lot of reading and starting with the above suggestions.

[Ninong]

Be A Host To Your Anemone by Dr. Ron Shimek.

The chocolate chip sea star is risky with small fish and it is a known corallivore.

The damsels will be aggressive toward the clownfish in that size tank. I think you should consider removing the damsels.

[Undrpsi]

Be A Host To Your Anemone by Dr. Ron Shimek.

The chocolate chip sea star is risky with small fish and it is a known corallivore.

The damsels will be aggressive toward the clownfish in that size tank. I think you should consider removing the damsels.

Ninong..thanks for the info.

The damsels are half the size of the clowns (I understand that with damsels that doesn't matter). 5 days and so far the damsels avoid the clowns like the plague. The will retreat into the 'hidey holes' when the clowns pass by. No darting or chasing.

The starfish is doing laps around the tank. So far (fingers crossed) he has left everyone alone.

Funny...I was on another reef site (too many critics not enough helpers) and they (about 7 or 8) weren't worried about the starfish but did harp about the shrimp eating anything that moved.

Will keep an eye out on the starfish...

Jay

[Ninong]

I think you will find that sooner or later you will have a problem with damsels and clownfish in the same 29-gal tank. The damsels will eventually become aggressive toward the clownfish. It's really just a matter of time.

The chocolate chip sea star is usually only kept in fish-only tanks with larger, more assertive fish -- what might be described as a predator tank. It may not bother your fish as long as it is well fed but you should remove it before placing corals in the tank with it.

The banded coral shrimp, which we discussed recently in this thread, is an aggressive shrimp, so that part is correct. If it is a large individual, then it may eventually pose a threat to small fish but that's actually rare. It's more of a threat to other shrimp. I wouldn't put any other shrimp in a 29-gal tank with it.

[cdearing]

Hi Jay,

Don't get frustrated with the critique of your tank. You will learn as you go. I'm glad you are on reefland now because you will learn a lot here from people who know and who care and aren't out to make a buck. I have a 29G and got lashed for going too fast with my tank. It is now a year old. I started to have an algae problem so purchased one turbo snail to handle it. Once the algae is gone, he won't have anything else to eat so either I target feed him (at night when he is busy) or I find another larger tank to transfer him to. You have several in a brand new tank. Not much for them to eat. One of the hardest things to see is one of your large creatures starve to death under your care. Please heed the advice of the moderators of this forum and learn to be patient. I wish you the best of luck. Please keep us posted with your progress.
Cyn