My new 14g Biocube!!! Check it out!

sunkenship

sunkenship

New Member
Hey guys,
I decided to start up a 14g nano reef. Here it is:
20lbs Live Sand
18lbs Live Rock
Black Perc (he doesn't get along with his reflection)
2 Mexican Turbo snails
5 Nassarius snails
1 Crab (I think its some kind of emerald crab, he hitched in on the LR)
Hammer Coral
Tank has been up for about 2 weeks and I'm going to look at more corals on friday. The hammer coral I picked up earlier today has already opened back up and seems to be happy.




 
clay12340

clay12340

Member
Looking good so far. Hammers are some of my favorite corals. Any idea on what other corals you plan on adding?
I don't think that is an emerald crab. They are interesting little guys, but from the look of that claw he is probably predatory. Keep an eye on him just to be safe.
 
nietzsche

nietzsche

Active Member
that crab is cool but might be bad. try to find out about it. if you notice it looks like it has teeth inside the claw.
did you do any mods to your tank? like upgrading the light, adding a fuge light to the back, changing the pump, maybe adding a skimmer?
i still havent set mine up since i have no stand, but i just finished scraping off the paint from chamber 2 on the back so i can attach a light and put chaeto in there
 
clay12340

clay12340

Member
Bad is a relative term. As long as you know the crab is there and plan accordingly he can be a cute addition to the tank. One of the best things about a nano is that you don't have all that much rock to search if you need to remove him. In a 200g you'd likely not get another opportunity to remove him for months if ever.
If you've got your heart set on decorative shrimp or slow moving fish, then it is probably a good idea to remove him to a different tank or see if your LFS wants him. Reefdiver on these boards keeps a mantis and would probably be glad to have the little guy as food if the lfs won't take him. If not just observe him for now and see if he bothers anything.
 
nietzsche

nietzsche

Active Member
Originally Posted by Clay12340
Bad is a relative term. As long as you know the crab is there and plan accordingly he can be a cute addition to the tank. One of the best things about a nano is that you don't have all that much rock to search if you need to remove him. In a 200g you'd likely not get another opportunity to remove him for months if ever.
If you've got your heart set on decorative shrimp or slow moving fish, then it is probably a good idea to remove him to a different tank or see if your LFS wants him. Reefdiver on these boards keeps a mantis and would probably be glad to have the little guy as food if the lfs won't take him. If not just observe him for now and see if he bothers anything.
i said might be bad because it may not be reef safe. reading from melev's id site i see this for one of the crabs with teeth in its claw:
"This is a Black Fingered Mud crab - Xanthid crab. He arrived on a coral when small, but has grown quickly. This guy is black in real life; this picture is misleading. His pinchers remind me of a Mithrax crab, but it has 'teeth' within the claws. Because he can't be trusted, he's been transferred into my refugium where I hope he'll be happy and trouble-free. Xanthids are Not Reef-safe."
just try to ID it and see what you get from that
looks similar to it but who knows:
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
Nice tank I like the LR placment.. Good luck with it keep posting pics on your progress.. and oh thats a B&W ocellaris FYI. Amphiprion ocellaris. Although on this site they call them B&W percula's. I have seen all types of names for these guys to B&W false Perc, B&W Ocellaris etc... just wanted to mention it in case you plan on getting a tank mate for him. You would be best suited to get another ocellaris breed and not not true perc. I had an orange and white with a black and white they got along good.
 
clay12340

clay12340

Member
Originally Posted by nietzsche
i said might be bad because it may not be reef safe. reading from melev's id site i see this for one of the crabs with teeth in its claw:
"This is a Black Fingered Mud crab - Xanthid crab. He arrived on a coral when small, but has grown quickly. This guy is black in real life; this picture is misleading. His pinchers remind me of a Mithrax crab, but it has 'teeth' within the claws. Because he can't be trusted, he's been transferred into my refugium where I hope he'll be happy and trouble-free. Xanthids are Not Reef-safe."
just try to ID it and see what you get from that
looks similar to it but who knows:


I fully agree with you. The reason I said it is a relative term is that typically if you tell someone something is bad it gets sacrificed to the porcelain god. It seems like a shame for this little guy to meet that end after managing to live through being transported half way around the world in anything but ideal conditions.
As to the crabs actual ID who knows. Identifying a hitchhiker crab at the species level is all but impossible in most cases. That guy also seems to be uneven clawed in the original posters picture and the one you linked seems to have symmetrically sized claws.
I'd say it'll eat just about any mollusk or shrimp it can get ahold of regardless of its actual species. That heavy cracker claw looks like it was designed to get through tough shells.
 
sunkenship

sunkenship

New Member
Thanks for the info guys. I will definately be keeping an eye on the crab and do some research and see if I can figure out exactly what he is. I haven't seen him in the past couple days, he seems to be pretty shy, and I may have unknowingly trapped him when I moved my LR around a bit... Everything is still looking good and I am thinking about adding a new coral or two on friday.
I know that every clown is different and there is no guarantee that they will host in anything, but what types of corals do they seem to host most often?
Also, its about time to do another 10% water change, is it best to do that before or after adding (and acclimating) new corals to a tank?
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
I had a B&W Ocellaris that liked my BTA.. and my power head. But now I have 2 true perc's and they seem to like my torch coral and have reciently shown interest in my hammer coral. Its always a gamble as to what they will want to choose for a host.
IMO I would do a water change first and then add corals. The are already going to have to get used to their new environment when you place them into your tank. when that happens you will notice they wont open for a while maybe even a couple of days. That being stressful enough, coupling that with a water change right after you add them could stress them out even more. If your water was changed before hand they only have to adapt to the new tank as it is. just my 2 cents.
 
sunkenship

sunkenship

New Member
Thats what I was thinking, just wanted confirmation. I still haven't been able to find out any more about that crab, and I haven't seen any more of him either lately. I picked up a piece of Nori today, the LFS I frequent said that might entice him out of the rockwork and they also said they would be happy to take him if I don't want him.
I'm going to do a 10% water change tonite, and go coral shopping tomorrow...YAY!!!
 
sunkenship

sunkenship

New Member
Just picked up a few more things...
Torch coral
Blue mushrooms
Yellow Watchman Goby
Sally Lightfoot crab
Porcelain Crab
I'll post some picks of all of them soon. They are already feeling right at home, the torch coral is already extended, the sally lightfoot is going right to work on the algae on the rocks, and the porcelain crab is right out in front of the mushrooms absorbing all of the attention...
 
oceansidefish

oceansidefish

Active Member
Thats alot of new stuff in a two week old tank.... You may have a few things that won't make it. I would be very very cautious and let it sit for a few weeks before adding anything else. Keep an eye on your water
 
weaselphd

weaselphd

New Member
Originally Posted by Oceansidefish
Thats alot of new stuff in a two week old tank.... You may have a few things that won't make it. I would be very very cautious and let it sit for a few weeks before adding anything else. Keep an eye on your water

I just started mine up last night, and im wondering is there anything outside of the live rock that i can add? i.e. coral, shrimp, snails...
i also (off-topic) have a 3000 gal koi pond in my yard, and it runs on a similar biological filtration system, HOWEVER. with the pond i can add live or bottled bacteria to get the system running faster is this available for saltwater?

i hope im not sounding too stupid, i know it took me 3 years to master the pond...
thanks
Michael
 
ballet ninja

ballet ninja

Member
Um, I am not sure if there is something that will speed things up. I have heard of some people jump starting the system and that is to put a dead shrimp into the tank, and that will help trigger an ammonia spike.
Also, the rock over a short period of time will also cause a natrual cycle.
Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I do belive that is right.
Another method is using a damsel fish, but that is incredibly cruel. (You are basicly putting the fish in poison.) I would highly suggest against this method.
~Ballet Ninja
 
perfectdark

perfectdark

Active Member
Until your cycle is complete there is nothing you should add. There are a number of different ways of cycling your tank. Some include letting it happen naturally with your LR and sand, with a raw shrimp placed in the tank, using damsels (not recomended IMO) and BioSpira or some other packaged backteria, (also not the recomended way) In either case IMO before you add any live stock to the tank its important your cycle be complete and testing for amonia is key.
 
weaselphd

weaselphd

New Member
Agreed, i do not want to do anything cruel using fish to kick the bacteria into cycle. so at least im learning the terminology here... this tank cycle, is what im looking to encourage along... agreed though im not doing anything cruel or using a "test fish" to get things going that just not worth it. so i will just wait i have added more live rock, and some liquid bacteria suppliment for the rocks etc, and i will test the water every other day to see where it goes. again the last thing i want is to be cruel to the fish, afterall im creating a habitat for them i just want to make sure im doing everything i can to make it kick off correctly. after spending 2 years getting my 3000 gal koi pond running i just thought going into this hobby i would find very conflicting information and as a researcher i like to ask every question and figure out what works best for me with the input of other professional...
thanks everyone!
Michael
 
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