12 gallon Nano

[keithb7]

Hi. I just got my 12 gallon nano and i set up live rock and live sand and on the second day i have had what i believe is to be called 3 polups growing. The JBJ has awesome lighting and looks great at night and day with the different settings. I know i still have some time to wait before adding fish but i was wondering if anyone had suggestions on the fish i could add and the clean up crew and i have been doing my research. I also will eventually want a reef in there so this is what im thinking let me know what you guys think thanks
Fish
1-Clown
1-Catalina Goby
1- yellowtail damsel
Inverts
1-emerald crab or Sally light foot
1-cleaner shrimp
and i was wondering what to do as far as hermits are concerned. I also read about a cleaner clam that helps lower nit levels.
Thanks for the help.
P.S some of you have bad ass tank pics posted i hope mine can look like some of those one day

 

[devmax]

hmm...
Clown would be okay for a while but could eventually out grow your tank (depending on the species, some clowns get about 5-6")
The Catalina is a cold water Goby and nano's run warm...He might not be the best choice.
The Yellow tail is a Damsel...That's enough for me to say no (they're too agressive for my taste). But, on the other hand the Yellowtail is one of the more passive damsels so it could work if you like them

I personally love my cleaner and my Emeralds. I like that some Emeralds will eat hair algea (though not all will) whereas I don't think Sally's touch the stuff.
As far as Hermits go get 4-6 and I would recommend Scarlet legs...they stay smaller than blues or reds generally
Snails...Go with Nasarrius (6 or so). Not the prettiest but the best members of my cleanup crew.
Good luck with the tank...My GF and I are co-running a 12 aquapod and love the thing

 

[keithb7]

what is the best clown species to have. Also since you think those other fish might not be the best chioce what d o you recommend.
BTW replying on this forum really blows it does not let me backspace. i will try to post pics today when i ghet home

 

[peef]

You can definetly backspace on here. I would say thats your cpu... Percula would be a nice clown for you.

 

[devmax]

You're on the right track with gobies. Most of them stay small (most, mind you). I personally like the Yellow watchman Goby and they stay small while being a tropical climate fish.
for the clown I'd say a Perculla or Occelaris (Black and white for the win!). Juvenile's are about an inch and they generally don't get any bigger than 4 inches.
I don't know if I'd do any more fish than that especially if you plan to do corals as well. They generally say 5 gals of water per 1 inch of fish and I'd say it would be important to stay close to that with your nano. It's a little difficult to keep excellent water quality in a tank so small.
I'd say just study study study. What little I know I've learned the hard way...the boards here are awesome and I'll tell you right now, the search function is your best friend.

 

[keithb7]

Well here is my pic. When i am doing a water change where do i go to get the extra water. I am trying to learn how to add the water without throwing off all the levels of ammonia and nitrates

 

[keithb7]

New tank setup. got more caves for the future fish and alot more flat surfaces for future ciral

 

[peef]

When you add water it should NEVER add ammonia or nitrates!!!! What kind of water are you using. I am hoping that you aren't going to say tap water. If you go to a grocery store they should have a RO/DI water machine, or just RO. You want to use VERY pure water only. If you use tap water it can put in all kinds of different toxins into your tank water. Any time that you do a water change it should ONLY lower nitrates. Also if your tank is cycled you should have NO ammonia or nitrite in there.

 

[keithb7]

NO i know i need to use RO to add water. But my question was when i am doing the acclimation for a new fish eventually what would i do to replace the water that was lost in this process. Do i add water from the LFS or do i add RO water.

 

[perfectdark]

Stay away from the catalina goby they are a cold water species and will die in your tank.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by Keithb7
NO i know i need to use RO to add water. But my question was when i am doing the acclimation for a new fish eventually what would i do to replace the water that was lost in this process. Do i add water from the LFS or do i add RO water.

There are a number of different ways to acclimate your fish. People like the drip method, others like to acclimate in the bag and slowly place water from the tank into the bag over a 1 hour period and some people temp acclimate only. Definatly dont add the LFS water to your DT, you should net the fish and then add it to your tank. FYI when you purchase any new fish its always a good practice to add it to a Quarantine tank first for about 3 weeks not your DT. In either case you should have on hand a small amount of premixed SW to replace any you might of lost during this process. It wont be significant in fact if it was 3 cups I would be suprised.

 

[keithb7]

Thanks for your help.

. I bought some more LR at my LFS because originally some rocks i bought were to big and it did not look good in the tank and now the rock have some sort of plant looking thing that comes out when the light is on and when i move the magnet cleaner they go back into the tube thing. Any insight into what this is?

 

[perfectdark]

Feather duster or tube worm of some type... common hitchiker, filter feeder. If you want a positive ID the best thing to do is get a pic of it and post it.

 

[kanicky]

As far as gobies go, I'd say go for one you don't see very often, such as a Highfin Banded Goby. I have one in with my seahorses, and he is such a character, and gorgeous to boot!

 

[keithb7]

Wow it does look sort of like a feather duster, but i must say i was a little worried reading things about aptasia. I wish i had a good camera to take the pics with but my camera sucks. Thanks alot for the advice

 

[kclester]

if i were you id look into getting a royal gramma i think they are great