Some Questions from a Newbie!

kY_Wildcat23 · Mar 30, 2017

Hey all,

Need some advice on a fish addition to my Oceanic BioCube 29 with inTank media basket and fuge basket. Nothing in the fuge except a few bioballs left that I am slowly removing. In the media basket is the filter floss, purigen and Chemi-Pure Elite. Currently I have the following:

1 - Clownfish
1 - Lawnmower Blenny (who is awesome!)
3 - Turbo Snails
3 - Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit Crabs (1 seems to be missing, but they tend to disappear from time to time)
3 - Nassarius Snails (2 are smaller and the 1 is much bigger)

I was thinking of adding a Diamond Watchman Goby to help clean up the sand, but I've been reading about them and now I am concerned this won't be the right type of Goby. My sand bed is only about an 1"-2" deep. I've read there are other types like the Pink Spotted Goby don't go to town on your sand bed as much. My main reason for thinking of wanting a sand sifting Goby was to help keep the sand clean. I have some algae and debris build up on the sand and figured it would help, but I don't want it to destroy my tank. When I first got the tank I wasn't aware of the water changes and I had a Cyano outbreak. Treated it with two treatments of Phosguard and ChemiClean. It helped. I still see some left over, but I believe I have everything under control now since I started doing 5gal water changes weekly. I am still learning on tank maintenance and what to do but I feel I'm picking it up.

So main questions:
1) What Goby do you recommend? Or should I steer clear and go with another type of fish? The idea is to help keep the sand bed cleaner but not go too crazy.

2)Is my CUC sufficient or should I add more to help with the algae growth?

Thanks for taking the time to read this and help out!

AllSignsPointToFish · Mar 30, 2017

1. Diamond and sleeper gobies will not destroy your tank, but they can put sand EVERYWHERE. It is a constant chore to move the sand out of locations that you don't want it. You can also use sand-sifting starfish, Nassarius snails, and even conchs to turn over the sand bed if you don't want the fish putting sand all over the place.
2. The algae will be more effectively controlled by moderating your lighting schedule (if excessive), elimination of sunlight leaking into the tank (if applicable), and nutrient control. I started carbon dosing shortly after the tank fully cycled with live rock and sand, and I never had a nuisance algae outbreak to deal with. Make sure you don't overfeed, and look into ways to control nitrates and phosphates.

40B Knasty · Mar 30, 2017

A nassarius snail and fighting conch will clean your sand bed. I can not recommend any fish with a maroon clown fish since it will grow to 8" and they are meanest of clown fish when it comes to territory.

kY_Wildcat23 · Mar 30, 2017

AllSignsPointToFish said:
1. Diamond and sleeper gobies will not destroy your tank, but they can put sand EVERYWHERE. It is a constant chore to move the sand out of locations that you don't want it. You can also use sand-sifting starfish, Nassarius snails, and even conchs to turn over the sand bed if you don't want the fish putting sand all over the place.
2. The algae will be more effectively controlled by moderating your lighting schedule (if excessive), elimination of sunlight leaking into the tank (if applicable), and nutrient control. I started carbon dosing shortly after the tank fully cycled with live rock and sand, and I never had a nuisance algae outbreak to deal with. Make sure you don't overfeed, and look into ways to control nitrates and phosphates.

I currently have 3 Nassarius snails. They don't seem to move a whole lot. I was worried they died but I do see them in different spots, sometimes half buried and sometimes can't find them. I think I will look into adding some Conchs as well to help. Someone also recommended adding some Ceriths. I've noticed it getting better since I've been doing 10% weekly water changes. When I first got the tank (received from family member who bought bigger tank), I wasn't aware of all that until about a month in when I saw cyano starting to cover everything.

Currently I feed every other day, replace filter floss every 3 days, and rinse the biocube sponge in the 3rd chamber every 3 days. The media baskets have only been in for about two weeks. I planned on replacing the Purigen and Chemi-Pure a month in to media basket addition and then going forward changing every 2months. I currently do not use RO/DI water. I've been using regular tap water and adding Seachem Prime, which is probably part of the problem. I did order an Aquatic Life Buddie 4 stage RO/DI unit though.

kY_Wildcat23 · Mar 30, 2017

40B Knasty said:
A nassarius snail and fighting conch will clean your sand bed. I can not recommend any fish with a maroon clown fish since it will grow to 8" and they are meanest of clown fish when it comes to territory.

He is only about 2-2.5" long. He gets along with my Lawnmower Blenny great. At times it looks as if they enjoy being around each other.

AllSignsPointToFish · Mar 30, 2017

kY_Wildcat23 said:
I currently have 3 Nassarius snails. They don't seem to move a whole lot. I was worried they died but I do see them in different spots, sometimes half buried and sometimes can't find them. I think I will look into adding some Conchs as well to help. Someone also recommended adding some Ceriths. I've noticed it getting better since I've been doing 10% weekly water changes. When I first got the tank (received from family member who bought bigger tank), I wasn't aware of all that until about a month in when I saw cyano starting to cover everything.

Currently I feed every other day, replace filter floss every 3 days, and rinse the biocube sponge in the 3rd chamber every 3 days. The media baskets have only been in for about two weeks. I planned on replacing the Purigen and Chemi-Pure a month in to media basket addition and then going forward changing every 2months. I currently do not use RO/DI water. I've been using regular tap water and adding Seachem Prime, which is probably part of the problem. I did order an Aquatic Life Buddie 4 stage RO/DI unit though.

Tap water is definitely part of the problem. Regular water changes with DI water will help a lot.