Returning to fish

[wildnfree]

After a 5 year break I have returned to the hobby. I am starting small this time with a 12 gallon nano cube. I plan on staying this size until our room mate is gone and I can use the room for a fish room. I really hope he is gone soon.

This weekend I decided to set it up. I got the sand and rock done. I also stripped the hood in preparation of LEDs from reefleds.com. I put in a simple CFL light for now just to see what it looks like lighted and redid the rock work until I liked the bright areas and shadow areas. All rocks are drilled, dowled, and fastened with epoxy.

Water parameters: ammonia, NO2, NO3 are at 0 which is to be expected. PH is 8.1. 80.1 degrees fahrenheit. Ca 400 ppm, 10 dKH, specific gravity at 1.025. Phosphates is at 0.01.

There was a small dead blue hippo tang in the tanks when I got the salt and test set which they gave to me. I added it to start the cycling. Figured it will do the job of a shrimp. I still have to get a piece of live rock from an established aquarium to seed the dry rock I have. Hopefully next weekend I can install the LEDs.

Now for a question, when can i add the CUC?

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/rodneys_photos_bucket/Mobile%20Uploads/2013-12-08_22-37-19_zpsd6606570.png (http://s134.photobucket.com/user/rodneys_photos_bucket/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2013-12-08_22-37-19_zpsd6606570.png.html)

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q116/rodneys_photos_bucket/Mobile%20Uploads/2013-12-08_22-38-36_zps2fe9b184.png (http://s134.photobucket.com/user/rodneys_photos_bucket/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2013-12-08_22-38-36_zps2fe9b184.png.html)

[wildnfree]

Need some advice with seeding the dry rock, how much should be enough to seed it with higher lifeforms like segemented worms, copods, etc. I want to just get some rubble and add it to the rear compartment but not sure that it will be enough.

[fpv930]

For this size tank one or two small pieces of LR should be fine to "seed" the system. Doesn't look like you have much room for additional rock. You can also add the "rubble" to the rear of the display tank.
I would check out Reef Cleaners or Reefs2go for a cleanup crew. They will get you hooked up with the correct crew for your tank size.

You can also check out IPSF.com. They have a mix and match special for 99.00. A bit more expensive than the others but good stuff IMO.