Biocube 14, fish sizing issues

[iDream]

Okay so i'm relatively new to saltwater, but believe me i did my research before i started this. I have a Biocube 14 that i've have up for like.. 2-3 months? Right now i have 10lbs live rock, 1 blue damsel, 1 clarkii clown (got him because i love yellow =]) 5 turbo snails, and i think 6 blue leg hermits.

I'm wanting to know if a firefish goby will be too much on the tank, and possibly some extra LR from a friend's tank he's breaking down. i think the three will be fine if they're the only ones in there. and later on, much later on, once i get my tank more established, adding a green mandarin (that was the reason for my whole dive into saltwater). i'm thinking i'll need to remove my damsel (he's a meanie anyway) to add the mandarin. What do you guys think?

oh, and about adding live rock to an established tank from an established tank. i've read online how to add new cured LR from a lfs to an established tank, but not tank to tank, how would i go about doing that?

and last, what are some good starter corals to add, i've seen stock biocube lighting isnt powerful enough for anemones, so i need some good hardy corals, soft or hard

thanks to everyone who helps in advance!

 

[misskeeter2766]

Someone can correct me if Im wrong... but Im pretty sure you need a MUCH bigger tank for a mandarin... I think it would starve in 14 gallons, since they only eat copepods, and he'd plow through anything you could establish in there in a matter of a few weeks.

I think they are awesome, and I can't wait till I get a tank big enough for one... (not my reason for going into saltwater... but I found them way early into my research.... )

 

[iDream]

well i'm prepared to add copepods whenever i need to, but again this is much farther down the road for me

 

[misskeeter2766]

hmmm... I'll let someone else answer your question then... lol. Im new too.

 

[austinsdad]

Seems like a lot of work to add copepods to keep a mandarin alive in a 14g tank. You sure we can't convince you to do other cool small fish??? mandarins need a LOT of rock work to hunt and feed, and survive .

You should be able to simply take the rock out of one tank, keeping it in a bucket of SW and drop it into yours. Nothing special.

What are your nitrate readings? Over stocking can be one of the reasons that goes up. There are others, but I like to make sure they are lower when stocking considerations are made. I'd like to see you consider adding the firefish or any of the other smaller gobies and drop the mandarin.

 

[austinsdad]

Also, seen this post/profile of mandarins?

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f28/mandarins-123776.html#post1073445

 

[iDream]

Yeah i know it'll be a lot of work, but it's really the only fish i want. If i had to i'd take everything out of the tank and just have a mandarin, it's just the only thing i want.

I am prepared to take the measures necessary to keep him, adding rock, more copepods each month, etc.

thanks for the LR info, that's what i was planning on doing, but i didn't want to totally screw over my tank and have to buy another $20 clown. as far as nitrates i haven't checked in a while, but if i can i am going to do a 30% water change(my first since the 50% change after it cycled).

but yeah i know the mandarin isn't the greatest, but then again this is my first experience, and i do plan to keep up the hobby later, but as a 17 year old with no income, this is all i can do for now.

as for corals i still need some ideas, and specifics, not just classes/species of corals. specific good hardy corals and others opinions on anemones with the biocube's stock lighting, i really don't want to mod my tank

 

[iDream]

that water change i mentioned is today by the way, the 10

 

[austinsdad]

Don't do an anenome in such a small tank. Look into mushrooms and smaller leathers.

 

[Zer0]

And if the biocube you have isn't an HQI series then i doubt you will have enough light to support an anemone. I think you would definitely have to switch up the lights. Anemones are cool and all.. but what's the fascination with them that everyone seems to have? They're such bad candidates for tanks because if anything minute goes wrong, the nem will be the first to know.

I blame Finding Nemo lol.

 

[AdamHorton]

I have a mandarin, he's got 250 lbs of LR to graze on, but he also eats frozen brine shrimp. I didn't have to train him to do that, he just ate it when I put them in the tank. Most of the time he goes over all of the rocks, and the moment he sees me, he hides. I guess I'm saying it's possible to feed your mandarin something other than pods.

I guess with that being said, you'd probably have a lot of work ahead of you if you wanted a mandarin in that small of a tank. I consider myself lucky to have scraped by with one mandarin who eats stuff other than pods, at 150G tank, and 250 lbs LR. He's still pretty skinny.

 

[iDream]

well for the anem its because of course i have a clown and want it to host, though i doubt it'll happen since i stole it from it's host anem in petco lol

but what about the mandarin's in my lfs? the keep 2-3 in a tank about 10G, and they're small, but are quite lively. how do they keep them but i can't?

btw added 3 more pieces of LR to my tank with my 30% PWC and have seen no problems yet. my birthday is sunday so i should be getting money and i plan to add a firefish, and if i can get some suggestions, a hardy coral to add

 

[AdamHorton]

Your LFS can keep mandarins until they starve to death. They try to sell the fish before that happens and they usually do.

 

[Zer0]

LFS's are able to keep them because they usually have an unlimited supply of copepods, which is what mandarins eat mainly. The LFS may try to ween them on to prepared foods.. but i don't know how many do that because that would just be going out of there way to help the customer.. and we all know how far that rope extends.

 

[thominil]

Might want to ditch the clarkii too and trade him to your LFS for an ocellaris clown. The clarkii will get close to 6" which is way too big for that tank. I say skip the mandarin too. Unless you train it to eat frozen food, you are moreover heading to disaster. A mandarin would eat any amount of pods you stuck in that tank in a matter of days. I would go with a pair of ocellaris clowns and either a firefish or a yellow watchman goby and say you are done. HTH.

 

[Innovator]

I agree with Thom. As for lfs', they simply don't expect to have any one fish in their tanks for more than 3 days so they basically feed enough to keep the animal alive until sold. Most lfs systems are well devoid of copepod or other fauna reproductions. Even a large refugium more than likely would not be able to harvest the amount of fauna required for most reef fish and probably better off being harvested in a separately contained system...though I'm far off topic now XD

 

[iDream]

like i said before, i definitely won't be adding a mandarin soon, if i do. it'll be after atleast a years establishment.

about my clarkii, is it normal for him to turn brownish? he was bright yellow when i got him, and the others at petco still are, but he's now turning brownish

and i was thinking of adding another clown, but i already had my clown in there before i thought about it, but my lfs told me clarkii's are wimps, could i add another clown then? and the damsel is most likely going to go, he just isn't nice, i only got him to cycle the tank anyway, i would've bought a clown, but it was easier to have a $4 fish die than a $20 clown

... still looking for coral suggestions? anyone? plz?

 

[misskeeter2766]

"i only got him to cycle the tank anyway, i would've bought a clown, but it was easier to have a $4 fish die "
^that makes my heart hurt. ^


anyway... as far as corals go... I just got a toadstool leather... man is it COOL..

I'd suggest that... and some really cool mushrooms.
saltwaterfish.com has great stuff... the best price I've found on shipping, and if you need to call them for anything, just dial 100 and you can speak to kim or mary and they are amazing and patient with questions.

 

[thominil]

No matter how long your tank has been established, a mandarin would pick a 14g clean in just a few days. The mandarin would eat the pods faster than the pods could reproduce. A mandarin can't be properly supported in a 14g without it eating prepared foods IMO. The clarkii may just be turning brown due to color enhancers in the food that you feed it. Please read into fishless cycling as it is more humane and responsible than putting the fish through the stress of cycling which could kill it. I would wait on coral until your tank has had time to stabilize which is about 2-3 months after the cycle finishes.

 

[iDream]

okay, well since the mandarin is way out of the question, how would a royal gramma, firefish, my clarkii, and maaaaybe(highly doubtful) keeping my damsel? too much? not good compatibility? i'm reading my compantibility chart from liveaquaria.com and i see no bad signs on that. my only question is the bioload


and OT i have a few mushrooms from my friends tank, they came on the LR i got, he wanted to get rid of some for him(take them for my tank) because they're spreading like wildfire in his, they dont seem to be doing any harm, they're quite small, maybe a half in when spread out during the daytime.

also OT i found what i think is to be a small anemone. i'd take a picture but my camera is bad, it's small right not, but a clear white-ish color with white tips, and it looks like i think it's a pink tipped anemone? but again clear with white tips, anyone have clues? thanks for the coral suggestion, finally someone got to that lol