stocking my nano cube

spammy

HI everyone!

i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on stocking my 12g nano cube. its been set up for a while. i work at a pet store and we had it set up there for a good period of time, and i have had it now for about 4 months. i currently have live rock, 2 cleaner shrimp, snails and hermit crabs, a scooter blenny, and an arrow crab (just added today). i would really like to get an anemone and clown pair, a feather duster (maybe 2), a small coral or polyp, and a horseshoe crab.

i'm not sure if this would leave my tank overstocked and i'm not sure if the arrow crab would get along with all of these guys. if anyone has any info or suggestions on setting up a pretty tank, lemme know.

THANKS! :D

bettababy

Hi, and welcome!!!
Let me start by warning you about your arrow crab. As it gets bigger, it will likely kill your blenny. You may want to remove the crab now, before there is a conflict. With that said, here's what you could do, considering water quality is good, maintenance is kept very regular, and feedings not too heavy....
1 clownfish (that tank is 2 small for 2 of any species of clown). If it's an ocellaris or percula clown, it will stay small enough for that tank. The others will outgrow it rather quickly. If you're thinking about an anemone, probably the only 1 I can suggest would be a bubble anemone, and I'd start it out as small as possible. It will take up quite a bit of space in your cube, but shouldn't have too much impact on water quality unless you overfeed the tank.
Horseshoe crab, no way! They get HUGE!!!!
2 Feather dusters would also be fine. (the other important note is that the arrow crab will eat feather dusters and other worms)
As for corals, that will depend on water quality, lighting, and temp. If you can post your water params including ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, calcium, and salinity/specific gravity... then I can help you to choose some safe corals for your tank.
If you decide to keep the arrow crab, I'd get rid of the blenny and forget the feather dusters. Be forewarned, the arrow crabs get extremely large, and 1 of those will outgrow your tank pretty fast. The smaller the tank the easier for them to catch fish and create havoc in your tank. They are an ambush predator, and it's impossible to tell when they're big enough to start eating tankmates... it just happens. By the time you figure it out, it's too late. I'd hate to see that happen to your cube.
Let me know if you need more help.

Melissa

This tank is to small for an arrow crab, as Betta Baby said. And I wouldnt recommend getting an anemone for it either as they will grow rather large. Anemones also like to move alot and will possibly sting any corals that you put in this tank. The anemone and corals also depend on if you have the proper lighting for them to thrive.

trreherd

betta baby i have seen this one species of horseshoe crab that maxes out at like 3 inches but i that my still be too big for that tank.
for that tank i would take the crab out get a pistol shrimp and a watchman goby and watch them form a relationship. or you could do a mantis shirmp tank. one pecock mantis shrimp,few pounds of lr,coulple hardy cheap corals too add color,and a spare tank to hold your live foods to feed him(fish,shrimp,crabs,ect.)

spammy

ok, thanks for the advice. i've decided to bring the crab back to work since i like my blenny a lot and i'd hate to lose him.
ok, heres my new wish list...tell me if its too much:
the scooter blenny, crabs, snails, and 2 cleaner shrimp,
a small bubble anemone (they stay pretty small and i think i could keep it alive)
a watchman goby
a pistol shrimp
a feather duster
and an oc. clown

thanks :D

bettababy

That's still an awful lot of animals in that size of a tank. You'll be doing water changes at least twice/wk to keep it stable.
As for the bubble anemone, don't count on it staying small... they start out small (babies) and grow quite large (adults). I have seen bubble anemones that span 12 inches across after only a couple of years.
As for the pistol shrimp, some species of these will also get quite large, so be sure to do research before buying one and mixing it with cleaner shrimp. The larger species of pistol will tend to kill other shrimp (and sometimes hermits) once they're large enough and mature.

usmc121581

You couldn't be more right on that one, as mine on a good day has at least a 9" span and can strech for a good 6-8".