small saltwater aquarium setup?

Question

I'm going to be getting one of those 12 gallon bio cube, nano cube or aquapod setups; not sure which one though yet.

What I want to ask is what kind of small and easy to keep marine fish is there that doesn't pay a lot of attention to its owner. I mean like a fish that isn't all up on the glass, I want a fish that is kind of shy and "minds its own business." Also, I want it to be compatible with the scooter blenny because I want to get that fish because it looks so cool.

Would keeping corals and anenomes be ok in these little compact tanks, what kind of inverts should i keep?

ps-really excited to make a perfect little ecosystem

i want like a slow, peaceful moving fish, but not a drifter. Damsels move to fast, you really can't enjoy its beauty

Answer 1

In my experiance, Most SW fish will eventually want to eat out of your hand.
I would recommend some type of Shrimp gobbie.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/scateg.cfm?pCatId=1852
They tend to be solitary and will live good with a pistol shrimp which is funny to watch.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=702
You could also add 1 royal gramma which are Very colourful and solitary.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=53
And LAST add a Scotter Blenny, BUT I would wait about 4 months before adding the Blenny.
They usually eat ONLY what grows in your tank (Not what you feed them) so they need a Very mature tank to thrive.
As for Anemone's and Corals???
Go for the tank that has the MOST and BEST lighting, But most of the tanks that you have mentioned do NOT have suitable lighting for an Anemone but can sustain SOME SOFT corals.
A good example for a NANO tank that has Good lighting for Anemone's and a Lot of different corals is my 15gal that has 130Watts which is 8.6 wats per gal.
I would recommend at least 6watts per gal. for anemone's
My 75gal Reef tank (Mostly Corals with a couple of fish) has 9.5Watts per gal (500watts are metal halides (the best lighting on the market$$$$) 2X250what)

As for inverts in a 12gal.
I personally would START with 8-12 small Blue leg hermits, 8 Astrae snails, 1 Common Skunk cleaner shrimp and 2 Scarlet hermits, All of these will do a very good cleanup job for that tank.
After a couple of months, I would add mix of about 4-6 EACH Cerith and Nassarius snails, They will do a Very good job of cleaning your sandbed (You will hardly ever see them but they are there To do a JOB)
There are a lot of corals and Inverts that you can add to a SMALL (Nano) tank that will add VERY littile if anything to your bio load but REMEMBER when adding Fish, KEEP IT SLOW.
Add 1 or two fish to a small tank and wait for a couple of weeks to add more.

Answer 2

AquaPod has a 24 gallon nano with a metal halide fixture. You could keep most corals in that system. I think 12 gallons is on the small side for an anemone, but if you maintain your water quality, a small one should be okay. Mushroom corals and Zoanthids are perfect for nano aquariums. They are hardy, compact, and come in many different colors.

As far as fish go, a Yellowhead Jawfish would be a great choice for what you are looking for. I would stay away from the Scooter Blenny though. Unless you are fortunate enough to find one that will eat frozen food, 12 gallons will not be big enough to support one long-term. They constantly hunt for live food, like Copepods, which makes up almost all of their diet. They can quickly deplete the pod population in an aquarium that small, unless you plumb in a separate refugium to harvest micro-fauna from. Shrimp Gobies and Pistol Shrimp also make a nice team in a nano.

Regards

Answer 3

It extremely relies upon on how long you have left your tanks working. micro organism won't have the capacity to shield to plenty doo-doo and nutrition that falls to floor. i could attempt waiting slightly so as that the ammonia ranges do no longer upward push to severe around 4-6 week for the reason which you started out working the tank must be ok. additionally do no longer upload thank you to plenty fish and persist with the single inch. consistent with gallon rule. Oh, and the micro organism is what's battling the ammonia ranges down

Answer 4

Corals and anemones are hard to keep alive for beginners. A shrimp or crab is generally easy. Gobies are easy to keep alive... some anyway.

Answer 5

Go for Damsel fish they are great to start with and most of them look cool and are very colorful