live stock advice!

[Rod18844]

I have a 12 gallon nano cube that has been cycling for about 2 weeks now and the readings show that It's already cycled; A = 0,n=0,n=0 and ph=8.2. I have 10 lbs. of liverock and about 16 pounds of Arag-alive reef sand. Can I add two small true perculas and maybe a blood shrimp in there? I already have 3 red leg hermits and 2 turbo snails. And also I would like to add a soft coral. Which one would guys recommend. Any advice highly appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, and welcome to reefs.org. I hope I'm not steppin' in on any toes here, but I'd advise you to put your inverts in first. They tend to offer a much lower bioload, and animals like the blood shrimp tend to be a wee bit shy.

Also, honestly, I worry about the percs growing rapidly, outgrowth in a system that size is a real concern. What about something more along the lines of clown or neon gobies, with say.. a Centropyge argi? (That little fish will likely not "let" you introduce much else besides small gobies.) I think a Royal Gramma might be pugnacious (and slow-growing) enough to stand its ground with C. argi (this is also one of the toughest little angels you can find).

At this point, I think that if you want to add something like a soft coral, you'd be better off deciding what you want first (green star polyps and some mushies can be nice), and go from there. If your heart is set on those percs, then I suggest you either be sure you can sell them back to the shop (for credit if they're fair), or you'll have a bigger system to move them to when the time arrives. Remember, if you're good at this stuff, the time will be sooner rather than later.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd wait another 2 weeks at least, regardless of what your test kits tell you.

 

[noobreef]

Speaking of Livestock...i m newbi too, and been doing a lot of research but as far as type of fish i dont know where to start. Can someone reconmend me some fish besides the two mentioned above that goes well in a 12gal JBJ nanocube reef?
thanks