compatibility and substrate question

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banggaifish62658

New Member
hello, I am planning on getting into the saltwater fish hobby I recently bought a discounted 29 bioocube I have done my research on cycling the tank and the proper devices I need to maintain the optimal fish tank. I am planning on buying a hydor slimskim protein skimmer, a cobalt neo-therm 100W heater ( will be set to 77 degrees fahrenheit), I will have a in tank media basket with filter floss, seachem matrix, and i'm not sure what chemical filtration I should use. any help on that would be greatly appreciated. and a hydor 425 circulator pump. I do not plan on growing coral and just plan on having a FOWLR system. I have two questions for the experienced saltwater people. the first would be what is your chosen substrate I am unsure if getting all arag-alive carib sea sand or if I should do a mix of shells and sand. the only reason I am hesitant of adding shells to the substrate is because I read that they can become nitrate factories like the bioballs. the other question I have is about what fish I will stock in tis tank I know the max is 4-5 nano fish depending on the fish I decide on or of course one fuzzy dwarf lionfish which I am debating making this a single specimen tank. if I wasn't going to make this a lionfish tank then I was wondering if this combination of fish would be compatible and if not what fish would be I will put asterisk by the fish I want 100% in this tank.
2 percula clownfish*
2 bengaii cardinal fish
possibly if you think the bioload can handle it 1 purple firefish
I also bought an ro/di water system to be used for the tanks water supply. and plan on doing 7 gallon water changes each week. using a small power head to mix the water and salt. any other things you would suggest for my tank setup or changes to my currant plan would be greatly appreciated. and I do know that skimmers aren't 100% needed on nano tank I just chose to get one to add some extra filtration to the tank. and how many pound of live rock do you recommend I put in my tank?
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Hello, first sand is best. Doesn't have to be live sand tho. Dry sand is fine. Your going to have live rock so that will seed your sand bed.
2nd if you want a dwarf lion you can keep it with large clowns. Mine is w a maroon, yellow tail damsel and valentine puffer. No issues.
3rd 30-35lbs of varies sized live rock. Don't get 1 big peice
 
lmforbis

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
I agree with Jay. I’d nix other fish with the lion not so much because of the lion but the tank size and shape and the bioload contributed by the lion.
Unfortunately the lion you need large clowns which won’t do well in a 29 gal biocube. There just isn’t enough territory.
 
beaslbob

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
I would suggest you look into macro algae usually in a refugium. Which can be just a simple egg crate partition to separate the livestock from the macros.

If you establish your system right from the start and especially for a fish tank, live sand, live rock, RO/DI, big expensive lights, filters, skimmers, water changes, and a bunch of other stuff is optional. You can use tap water, play sand, decorative rocks from building supply stores, no skimmer, no filter, no water changes.

Just set it up with macros, wait a week, then add a single male molly and don't add food for a week. Then feed 1 flake per day for another week or two. At that point the tank should be fine for the expensive marine only fish.

The dirty little secret is that live thriving macro algae balances out, conditions, and stabilizes the system to be very forgiving of those things and my screw-ups.

my .02
 
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banggaifish62658

New Member
thank you all very much for your quick replies and information. ill look into how to make a refugium for macroalgae for my tank. also would the combination of the other fish be okay in the 29 gallon compatibility wise. the combination again is 2 percula clownfish, 2 bengaii cardinal fish and possibly one purple firefish or one royal gramma if the bioload can sustain the extra fish in your opinion.
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
2 percs is iffy bc they will get aggressive with other fish in a small tank. 1 clown yes np.
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
One clown w other fish. A pair of clowns will breed in a tank. While it's tough the raise the babies, they will still pay eggs. Once they do that they can get very aggressive w tank mates. I have 4 clowns in 3 diff tanks. Occ pair, maroon, and black occ. Honestly my maroon is the least aggressive . Shocking but true. My black bites me, but leaves new fish alone. The pair have there area, but are housed w much larger fish. They show no real aggression. However there in a big tank. 220gal.
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
One clown w other fish. A pair of clowns will breed in a tank. While it's tough the raise the babies, they will still lay eggs. Once they do that they can get very aggressive w tank mates. I have 4 clowns in 3 diff tanks. Occ pair, maroon, and black occ. Honestly my maroon is the least aggressive . Shocking but true. My black bites me, but leaves new fish alone. The pair have there area, but are housed w much larger fish. They show no real aggression. However there in a big tank. 220gal.
 
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banggaifish62658

New Member
okay, thank you very much I was unaware that clownfish were a species that became aggressive during mating. I just read that they thrived best in pairs and thought I should probably get a pair, didn't think to research breeding aggression for them. and how large of a clean up crew would you suggest I looked on some saltwater websites for premade clean up crews but the one for a 30 gallon seemed very large to me.
 
jay0705

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Amount varies, but u want variety. Snails, shrimp, even the dreaded bristle worms are helpful. Personally I would do cerith, rhino, astrea snails. A pep shrimp or 2 and a skunk cleaner shrimp. But only once the tank is fully cycled. Add shrimp last
 
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