Will this work??? Need help adding fish etc..

[Seanem]

I have a JBJ 12 gallon deluxe.
Getting ready to order lr and start cycling.
I would like 2 clowns, a royal gramma(or firefish) and a cleaner shrimp or sexy shrimp, both if possible.
In addition, I would like bubble coral, star polyps and some mushrooms.
Will this work? Is the load too much?
What should I add first, aside from snails, and how long for each other afterwards?
Thanks.

 

[brandon]

Well, first finish off the cycle the tank.

I would recommend the firefish over the royal gramma because the grammas tend to get really territorial

The coral seem fine, but keep the bubble at the top closest to the lights because they are more light demanding.

Sure this will work, but it will be helpful to do water changes weekly, dont overfeed, dont add everything at once, and perhaps making the back of the nanocube into a fuge and stock it with chaeto.

First, rock and substrate (if any). After cycle, add cleanup crew such as snails, hermit crabs, shrimp. Then add coral/fish. just dont add too much at one time. I usually space 1-2 weeks in between fish additions, coral addictions usually dont add too much bioload.

Good luck
Brandon

 

[brandon]

Also, welcome to nanotank! :welcome

 

[Seanem]

Thanks for the help.
Also, do I remove the bioballs and carbon from teh JBJ Filter?
I am replacing one of the lights with a blue actinic bulb. They make timers for these right?
Seems that there is just so much to learn. I want to do this right.
Oh, My LFS said I shouldnt need a heater due to the heat the lights produce, but I want one just in case. How many watts should I get, and is there a specific brand?
Thanks.

 

[cbrownfish]

Definitely take it sloooooowly. Otherwise, you will sacrifice animals. Clowns are not technically recommended for less than 20 gallons. Perhaps one would be ok but I would not recommend it. Once you feel your tank reasonably stable, add some clean up crew. You will be surprised how feeding them with spike the ammonia initially. As the tank matures, it will handle more animal waste, uneaten food, etc. I would definitely add a heater, don't chance poor tempature regulation.

Be careful about swapping bulbs. Typically, your white high intensity lighting actually covers the actinic spectrum. When you swap for actinic, you lose some intensity of your lighting which could hurt some of the sensitive corals. Instead, consider adding a small actinic fixture if you like the "looks" of it (I do myself!).

 

[brandon]

ok, do remove the bioballs, those process nitrites way too fast and they become nitrates...good for freshwater, but way too fast for saltwater
The Nanocube comes with 2 50/50 bulbs, so replacing one of them will make the colors really pop for the coral, however, you would have to modify your tank to be able to run each bulb seperately, check out nanocustoms.com for that.
For the heater, i have a 50w one, just keep a thermometer and make sure its at a good temp, such as 76F or so.

I have to say cbrownfish is usually right with the clown, however, it is possible to keep certain clown species in tanks under 20g, alot of people do pairs of perculas or false perculas in nano cube 12s, they just have to keep up with the water changes and whatnot.

The bulb part, from what i have read, the coral uses the daylight to grow more, the actinic is more for our asthectic value. So you will probably see less growth from the coral, but their color will seem to pop more.

Hope to have helped
Brandon

 

[TimSchmidt]

One note on the bubble coral is that it has sweeper tentacles that may harm some other corals if they touch them. Give the bubble some space.