New 24g Nano Cube Planning

[Annahra]

I'm in process of setting up my first aquarium in over ten years. It's a 24g Nano Cube (older style with 72 watts of CF and the 266 gph pump with overflow). Would appreciate some suggestions on timeline/stocking!

I set up the tank about a week ago with 40 lbs. of bagged live sand and 10 lbs. of "live" rock from my LFS. Had initial bacterial bloom for a few days. Added a bit of bread crust to start cycle (rotting food is rotting food, lol) then a few days later a piece of shrimp. Got very small ammo/trite spikes with shrimp (about .25 and .25, back to 0 within 36 hours) immediately followed by a dusting of diatoms.

Added a 1" captive-bred neon dottyback yesterday and water values continue to check out: ph 8.0, ammo/trite 0, trace nitrate, 77°, 1.024 sg.

On Sunday I'm going to be adding 20 lbs. of live rock, 10 lbs. of live sand, and a small clean up crew from Tampa Bay Saltwater (am hoping for minimal/no curing since they package in saltwater and it will be only 24 hours from their system to mine).

Next month I'd like to add another fish or two (unless my dottyback is too much of a jerk--he's already bouncing around the rock pile like he owns the place). Anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking about something else with an attitude like maybe a Talbot's damsel.

Whenever I start to get really strong coralline growth (or in July, whichever is longer) I want to add a few small corals. I was thinking mushrooms first and then if those do well maybe xenia. Do I have enough circulation? I bought a powerhead with the tank but I've been using it to circulate my water change water and I feel like it would take up a ton of space in the aquarium...

Does this all sound reasonable? Am I missing any major pitfalls? TIA! [emoji4] I'll post new pics next week as I'm sure it's going to look very different once I get that fancy new rock!

 

[Annahra]

Better pics of tank boss. Such a cool fish --hopefully he doesn't eat all my shrimp and crabs.

 

[Texas Reefer]

Hi! Glad you're back. My first opinion is you already have more than enough sand, and you will definitely need that power head in the tank. You can get another pretty cheap to circulate other water.

 

[Annahra]

Thanks for the feedback! Am wanting the additional sand more for the critters as it will be true aged live sand instead of the bagged stuff I started with. The bed is a little lower in the back (closer to 2" than 3") which is hard to see in the pic.

The powerhead is a Marineland Maxi-Jet. Would it be better to set it up for laminar flow? Looks like that creates more turbulence which is the goal, right?

 

[Annahra]

Picked up my care package from Tampa Bay Saltwater Sat and got everything settled in yesterday! I was not prepared for the scale of that project. So much stuff!

I confirmed this AM that all "macro" life is still kicking (did not count snails or baby hermits though, lol). Am getting trace or no ammonia about twelve hours after adding everything (color is hard to read but is between 0 and .25ppm). Will continue to monitor and change water as needed. Am getting some bubble and sediment from substrate so gonna grab a turkey baster today to spot clean where excess debris has settled.

Am a little concerned about sponges as it was pretty much impossible not to expose the two larger ones to air when letting out in a system this size (tried but the tips were definitely out a little bit). Larger two are not connected to substrate but the smaller orange ones are so crossing my fingers. I know the sponges and scallop aren't easy keepers. Am doing some more feeding research so I have a strategy in place in the next few days once everyone settles in.

Here are current specs:

24g Nano Cube
266gph pump running in overflow with ceramic rings/bio balls
160gph powerhead
20 lb. Gulf live rock
10 lb. "live" rock from my LFS
40 lb. bagged live sand
10 lb. Gulf live sand
Neon dottyback (captive-bred)
Stippled clingfish
Flame scallop
Decorator crab
Larger brittle star
Tiger tail sea cucumber (only critter I haven't seen this AM but he was definitely still alive a couple of hours after being added to system)
~12 blue leg hermits
~12 hermits I'm still trying to ID (the white ones)
Various snails, some Nassarius, maybe Turbo?
Larger sponges
Green finger algae

 

[Annahra]

Found my sea cuke! And my peppermint shrimp that I forgot to mention but he's hiding under a rock still.

 

[Annahra]

Well it's been almost a week and I have confirmed all macro life and most micro are still going strong! Water has been testing out well (ammo/trite 0, nitrate 5-10ppm) other than pH being a little low at 7.8 (started adding small amounts of Seachem buffer last night). Going through a diatom bloom but that's to be expected this early on. Both fishes still super happy--Pseudochromis is so fat from eating off the rocks! Clingfish seems to be getting darker to match the back of the tank which is really neat.

Slender decorator crab is now named ******* Crab after deciding to wear some of my tunicates as a hat. He may end up getting removed but he sure is fun to watch. Sea cuke hasn't been very active at all but apparently this is normal when they are new to a tank.

Started spot feeding all the filter feeders twice a day with Coral Frenzy, Reef One, mysis, and some pellets (all put through the blender). So much excitement in the tank when I feed this with all the barnacles, sponges, feather dusters, etc. I also ordered some live pods and phytoplankton to seed the tank--all arriving tomorrow.

I was super excited to see this guy climb up out of the sand tonight! He came in my live sand and I hadn't seen him since I added it to the tank. I've tentatively IDed him as a marginella snail--he's HUGE, like 2".