Stocking+Filtration

O

OneJun

AC Members
Jun 15, 2010
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Long Beach
Hi, so im going to start a nano reef and just wondering if these fish would be good. I also plan to keep soft corals like mushrooms and button polyp, maybe xenia or anthelia.
I have a 12g Cube master and plan about 11-12lbs of live rock and how deep should my sand bed be?
I got interested in the pistol shrimp and goby thing so would it be ok to put a yasha/YWG with a candycane pistol shrimp? or would i be better of with a O' Clownfish and some other goby? would it be ok to have all 3 or would i be pushing the bioload a little?
The other things that are going into my tank are
2 red hermit crabs 1 blue leg hermit crab
Some astrea snails?
If the shrimp is ok, do i need to dose calcium for it or would weekly water changes be good?
Lastly im wondering about the filtration. I've read that cube master is just a copy of another cube. Since it has 4 chambers instead, i cant fit a pump like those mj1200 or 900. The stocking pump that came however, was 500/l an hour(110g i think) would that be enough for a 12g or should i find a way to add a second pump to it? and if i put Chamber 1 as filter floss and chamber 2 as a chaeto, would that be fine or should i go with 2 filtration chambers with the 3rd being chaeto. As for the chemical filtration, i can fit that anyway on the chambers sicne thiers enough space. Sorry for all the questions :P
 
Sanded should be shallow, no more than 2" and if you want a goby/pistol get a good mix of sand grains and/or throw in some rock rubble that they can build with. Crushed coral should not be used with these animals. I have the exact same goby pistol pair and they are great, good choice! Yes, you can add a clown to the mix but a 12 gallon is really at the limit for them. An Occelaris will eventually push 3 to 4". I would cap it at those 2 fish however and don't slack on weekly water changes.

No reason to dose for the shrimp (or corals for that matter). Regular water changes using a goodwill keep up with the demand. Now, if you end up with a full blown SPS cube, you may need to dose.


Astrea are fine but they can be lazy :). Small mexican turbos and red banded trochus would be good additions as well for rocks and glass and nassarius for the sand. ceriths are good cleaners but also a favorite prey of hermits. Variety is the key to a good cleanup crew IMO.

Can you easily cut one of the chamber walls to make it larger and allow a bigger return pump? If not i wouldn't worry too much about upgrading teh pump since you should have 1 or 2 powerheads in there anyway. The Koralia Evolution 425 or 550s would be a good powerhead to consider unless you are willing to spring for something like a Vortech MP-10.

I have never been able to keep chaeto alive in a cube chamber because its difficult to light the entire length of the chamber. Do you have a way to do this? One of the best things I did when I had a cube was to make a media rack out of eggcrate (light diffuser panel from Lowes or HD) to fit in the firts overflow chamber. This would cut back on the amount of filter floss I had to use. Google "inTank" to get the idea. I doubt they make racks for your specific cube but it might help you get some ideas. Eggrate is easy to cut with a pair of wire snips.
 
It would be pretty difficult for me to cut the chambers because their basically 1 whole piece silicone to the wall. For the power heads, is Koralia needed or could i just use the fountain style pumps? Sorry, im a little cheap when it comes to similar things i own :P
Anyways, i can probably make my own media rack for the first chamber. as for the chaeto, i plan to make some waterproof leds for it. if the light doesn't reach it, i can always bring the chaeto a little higher if thats an option.
 
Turbos can be bulldozers but I have 2 monsters in my tank and they have never knocked over anything that was glued down. I can say that they are extremely good at their job :).

Not sure what you mean by fountain pump but if its just a single stream output it will work but probably not nearly as well as a wide flow powerhead. If it's a maxijet that you have, they do make a propeller housing that fits onto the standard MJ.
 
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