chipz Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 Hi everyone, I am looking for advice on what to stock in my newly cycled 29 biocube, and in what order. I was originally thinking: A pair of clowns A tailspot blenny A royal Gramma Possibly a pair of Banggai cardinals I kept seeing 4-6 fish as the limit for the biocube 29, but after doing some more reading it sounds like that would be overstocked, and 6 fish is more for if you have smaller gobies. In addition, I saw a rather alarmingly large bristleworm in the tank last weekend and one of my LPS corals subsequently got munched 😒 so now I'm reconsidering my stocking list in the hopes that I can include a pest control species. The clowns and a blenny are non-negotiable, but I would consider other blenny species beside the tailspot. Alternatives I'm considering are an orchid dottyback, a sixline wrasse, a crytic wrasse, a Melanurus wrasse (spelling?) or??? I know the first two have bad reputations, but when I had saltwater tanks years ago I had sixlines several times and never had any problems--and wasn't even aware of the potential for them to be bullies. They were always the smallest fish in the tank, though, so that might have helped. I also like that the orchid dottyback can be tank raised. My original plan was to stick with all tank-raised, but I'm a sucker for comb tooth blennies and the royal Gramma is an old favorite. So, if I went with the dottyback (instead of the Gramma) or the sixline would a tailspot blenny work, or is there a different blenny you'd suggest? Would a crytic wrasse eat bristleworms enough to keep them in check? (And yes, I know bristleworms can be helpful cuc members, small ones are fine, I just don't want any that get too big). Is there a different combination of fish you would recommend? And then, importantly, is there a particular order I should be stocking them in? My LFS has clownfish BOGO this week, so I'm tempted. On the other hand, I maybe shouldn't rush out to get more stuff this week because my local club had its annual frag swap/expo last weekend and I maybe went a little bit overboard with all the awesome deals, plus a couple of freebies, plus two pretty unexpected but fabulous raffle win-corals 😁 A couple of final thoughts--any fish must be shrimp safe. And no crabs allowed in the tank. Thanks for your advice! Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 Bristle worms are beneficial. If it munched on your coral, either it wasn't a bristle worm or the coral was decaying and it was doing its job getting rid of dead matter. Shrimps and dotty's don't generally work well. Some have lucked out with Orchids not going after shrimps and then vice versa. Same thing with its personality. Some have noted aggressive orchids and others haven't The 6 line can become aggressive so you would want to keep fish that can hold it's own. Quote Link to comment
chipz Posted November 3, 2018 Author Share Posted November 3, 2018 1 hour ago, Clown79 said: The 6 line can become aggressive so you would want to keep fish that can hold it's own. So if I went with a 6 line, would a midas, bicolor, or starry blenny be a better option than the TSB? I'm assuming a pair of ocellaris clowns would be fine...my grandparents had one that killed everything else that went in the tank and lived for 16 years (they decided to gift it and the tank to me 13 years in, and thus I got started in the hobby). 1 hour ago, Clown79 said: If it munched on your coral, either it wasn't a bristle worm or the coral was decaying and it was doing its job getting rid of dead matter. I have definitely considered the possibility it was one of the peppermint shrimp that ate the coral. I'm considering pulling the peppermint shrimp but they did such a great job eating the aiptasia. I've been feeding them mysis shrimp since, and if any other corals start looking harassed I will at least relocate the shrimp to my QT. Quote Link to comment
chipz Posted November 5, 2018 Author Share Posted November 5, 2018 I went to the LFS this weekend and couldn't resist this pair from the same tank (please excuse the poor quality of the photos, apparently I need to read up on photographing marine tanks). They are currently hanging out in my QT, and eating like pigs. The tailspot blenny has been hanging out in the shells and peeking out. Very cute! I think I will try to find a cryptic wrasse eventually, but not until these guys are through with quarantine 4-6 weeks from now. 1 Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.