# 29g biocube fish only (FO) salt setup questions



## sericinda (Jan 9, 2010)

Soo...I've had my biocube set up as a freshwater system for about 6 months now. The fish I had in there are moving to a larger tank. I had planned to simply get some neons and rams or something for it, but now I'm debating getting my feet wet in saltwater....

HOWEVER....

I want a fish only setup. No liverock. No corals. I like the tank as its decorated now and there is no room for liverock. 

Right now the tank has a deep sand bed (non-live sand) and all the decor is fake corals and whatnot. 

How would I go about making this a saltwater tank? It's cycled for freshwater, but I'm not sure how that translates over to salt as I'm a total newbie in salt.

Would I just simply add marine salt to the tank as it is (once the fish are moved of course)? What is different when testing for water params in comparison to fresh? I have a marine test kit.

Any stocking suggestions? I need to research whatever is suggested, so I need some suggestions on where to start researching. I am very fond of shrimp, crabs and things like that. I love clownfish but is it possible to keep an anenome in such a setup? Do clownfish NEED anenome? 

I have no problem with spending a lot of time maintaining my tanks so lectures on how much "work" a non-live-rock setup would be is not necessary. I'm ok with the time and work. I also research things to death so...any nudges in the right direction would be appreciated.


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## toonyace316 (Mar 19, 2010)

> Do clownfish NEED anenome?


No, and anemones tend to be very hard to keep. Clownfish are very hardy, and do perfectly fine. With an anemone, clownfish can even be WAY more aggressive.


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## wake49 (Jul 2, 2008)

With regular maintanence and Water Changes, I do not see any reason why this can't be done. In FOLWR and Reef tanks we rely on Live Rock and the Protein Skimmer to provide the only means of filtration. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but in a FO tank you can run it like a common freshwater tank. They do offer Skimmers for these biocube units that might come in handy to remove DOCs before they break down into Nitrates. Your filter pads will get dirty faster than in freshwater tanks, so you will have to rinse them more thoroughly, and more often. 

Clownfish do not need an anenome, like toonyace said. They will get along just fine, and actually do better in a pair than they do alone with an anenome. I have a Rose Bubble Tip that just split twice, and a rock anenome and my Clowns host neither. They are just fine in a hammer coral that I have had forever.

For the Puffers, you are limited to a few species considering the size of the aqaurium. I have heard that the Valentini Puffer (Saddle Puffer also, I think) is a very personable fish. And this species would do fine in a 45 gallon tank IMO. For tank mates, I wouldn't put anything with elegant fins, as puffers have a tendency to nip at those. Maybe a pair of clowns and a small wrasse, like a mystery wrasse would be good comapnions for the Valentini.


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## sericinda (Jan 9, 2010)

I have 2 puffer tanks so not so much interested in more puffers. 

I'm trying to remember what my LFS has...damsels, clowns (not sure what type so need to find that out and see how big they get), something that had 'chocolate chip' in the name...

I really like clowns though...I'm hoping in my research I will find a type of clown pair I can keep in a 29 as well as some crabs and shrimps.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## sericinda (Jan 9, 2010)

Here is a list of what the LFS has for saltwater....I am slowly researching them, but any advice on what would do well in a 29g biocube together would be great.

Percula Clown
Valentini Puffer
Lawnmower Blenny
Firefish Goby
Coral Catfish
Emerald, Red and Hermit Crabs
Sea Slug
Strawberry Pseudochromis
Peppermint Shrimp
Royal Gramma
Blue and Jewel Damsel
Yellow Tang
Psychedelic and Green Mandarin Goby


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## toonyace316 (Mar 19, 2010)

Of those, you could easily get the Percs, Firefish, Blenny, Crabs, Peppermint shrimp, Royal Gramma, Strawberry Pseudo, and the Blue Damsel, but not all together. 

Maybe 2 Percs, a CUC including crabs, Firefish, Peppermint Shrimp, and maybe a Royal Gramma (Somebody correct me if this is overstocked).

Fish to *AVOID* in that tank: 
Yellow Tang (Size)
Mandarins (Specialized diet on live pods, need larger tank to hold LR)
Jewel Damsel (Size and Aggression as a damsel)
Coral Catfish (Size)
Sea Slug (Hard to care for unless it is a certain kind, hard to tell)
Valentini (Nipping and size)
*MAYBE * Blue damsel (Aggression)


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## sericinda (Jan 9, 2010)

I'm trying to figure out what kind of sea slug it was, I forgot to ask. It had a lot of orange and red in it. 

I'm hoping to do 2 percs, a royal gramma, lawnmower blenny and the CUC. REALLY love the mandarin but no dice in a non-liverock tank as you said, so that sucks. Oddly enough the fish store doesn't have the mandarins in a liverock tank so no sure what she feeds them...


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## toonyace316 (Mar 19, 2010)

If there are corals in there, they import pods on them, which they eat. They also survive in numbers in the gravel but that's beside the point.


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## sericinda (Jan 9, 2010)

toonyace316 said:


> If there are corals in there, they import pods on them, which they eat. They also survive in numbers in the gravel but that's beside the point.



Ah, gotcha, yes there were corals in the tank and a very deep crushed coral bed.


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