I apologize in advance if these questions have been asked before, but I just want to make 100% sure I do things right before I start investing money in it. I also dont want to do things wrong and have a helpless fish die as a result. My intention is to do a fish only with live rock tank in my 24 gallon nano cube. First is live sand a requirement(the tank is currently set up for fresh water and has sand in it)? How much live rock would you suggest? What should I put in the filter part(currently i have a few shells but I know that will not suffice)? How long realistically should I cycle it before putting in live fish(the guy at the LFS said a week but I was skeptical)? What testing supplies would I need? What type of lighting do I need(it currently has lights in it but I am going to replace them to make sure they are all good)?And do I need a protein skimmer? Thanks in advance, I really appreciate it.
Starting Nano Cube Questions
- Thread starter mark23adams
- Start date
Congrats on the nanocube. Well to start off, no sand is not absolutely neccessary unless you plan on keeping certain fish that like/need to burrow, like jawfish. I've seen a few people run barebottom reefs but I've never done it. When I had my 24gal nanocube up it had maybe 25lbs of live rock but it was pretty porous, and light. I'd say anywhere in the 20-30lb range for liverock should do you well. In the back I had live rock rubble and purigen but a lot of people mod them and make the middle chamber a mini refugium. Cycle just like a fw tank. Use your tests and time will tell. It really depends on how much die off you have in your live rock. I would usually then find a good clean up crew before looking into fish. If you're only doing a FOWLR setup then you don't need to upgrade lighting and you could use a skimmer but if you don't overstock a skimmer shouldn't be needed but I'm sure it would be appreciated. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
I hear ya - Saltwater tanks are a money pit, no worries, cycling with LR or Aqua-cultured takes 4-8 weeks tons of time to get your head around stable salinity. The use of testing kits is the ONLY way to know if your tank is cycled.
Live sand is only real if collected from the ocean in a very timely manner, the stuff sold in bags is an ammonia bomb to jump start cycling. If your using old sand from fresh - throw it away - start anew with sterile sea sand no added silicates like those found in pool filter and general purpose sands. Agronite is another option. Your old sand is probably loaded with live and decaying stuff - this will take a longer time to cycle thru.
24 gal isn't alot of fish room, start slow with the LR - maybe 5-10 lbs to get it cycling
and then ad to your liking. LR is porous and far lighter than you might think, if you throw 30lbs in your fish will have NO room.
As for the rest - just go slow, take your time, your opinions on what you want to keep will change then adjust accordingly.
Live sand is only real if collected from the ocean in a very timely manner, the stuff sold in bags is an ammonia bomb to jump start cycling. If your using old sand from fresh - throw it away - start anew with sterile sea sand no added silicates like those found in pool filter and general purpose sands. Agronite is another option. Your old sand is probably loaded with live and decaying stuff - this will take a longer time to cycle thru.
24 gal isn't alot of fish room, start slow with the LR - maybe 5-10 lbs to get it cycling
and then ad to your liking. LR is porous and far lighter than you might think, if you throw 30lbs in your fish will have NO room.
As for the rest - just go slow, take your time, your opinions on what you want to keep will change then adjust accordingly.