need advice on stock and corals

raygamer · 07/04/2020, 01:26 AM

hello!! im new to the hobby. and planning to start a reef tank soon. im planning to start with a 16 gallon nano tank. i know most people say not to when starting out but i think i can do it. i do have years of experience already on fw and know about testing water and cycling and been doing research on reef for years

so im planning to keep 1 hi fin goby and a pair of ocellaris clownfish.

my question is.
first off, would that be a too much of a bioload?

second, i dont really know how much cuc i need or what species to get. im planning pf getting 1 nassarius snail and 1 trochus snail and a hermit crab. would that be good?

third, the corals im planning to get in the future are, zoanthid, blastomussa, maybe frogspawn and i also would like BTA in the future and a sexy shrimp with it probably.

i am getting a medium - high lighting
and using A strong HOB as a flow maker and also change it into a refugium and do a diy protein skimmer if that would help

so.. would all of those would be good together? would it be safe? if not what are the suggestion that maybe i should change or add? and are there maybe other fish i could add? if there are what would be good?
and would a diy protein skimmer helped abit?

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Alex114 · 07/04/2020, 04:39 AM

First, two clowns and a hifin goby should be ok in a 16 gallon. I wouldn’t add anything else though. Second that is not enough cuc. 3 to 4 of each snail and 5-10 hermit crabs will be good for a tank that size. Third, blastos, zoas, and frogspawn are all fairly easy corals. But do not use the filter as your flow. I highly doubt you will get near enough flow coming out of that to support corals. There will be many dead spots in the tank that receive no flow. Get a small power head around 200-300 gph. You can go with a cheap one but something that can create variable flow will be better. They are more expensive but worth it IMO. Lastly a protein skimmer on a tank that small will more than likely not be worth it. Just use the filter as is. The tank is only 16 gallons so water changes will be very easy and your main nutrient export. The skimmer will not be doing a whole lot compared to the water changes since a mere 5 gallons is 30%. As for lighting an AI Prime would be a great option for a tank that small

Sk8r · 07/04/2020, 09:29 AM

Mushrooms and other softies have a chance. Mushrooms like low flow. I'd advise against stony coral in a 16 for 2 reasons. 1) calcium supplentation could be done with kalk in the topoff, but... 2) the light level requisite for stonies is up around 13,000 in metal halide terms. LEDs can do it, but that's a lot of light to shower down on your softies and fish with no distance downward available for them.

smilet98 · 07/04/2020, 09:45 AM

You can always buy a powerful light and lower it down, and as for the clean up crew
By a little and work your way up to a bigger clean up crew if you need it
Maybe 2 of each, that way the won’t die and create an amonia or nítrate spike, you only need enough to deal with already existing or future problems like fw,
Also keep in mind nems move a lot more than you think and can get huge! Likely to sting a lot of corals unless isolated, and the goby might move around or toss sand on some of your sand placed corals!
No need for all that extra filtration of you keep up with your weekly water changes

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07/04/2020, 01:26 AM	#1
raygamer Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2020 Posts: 6	need advice on stock and corals hello!! im new to the hobby. and planning to start a reef tank soon. im planning to start with a 16 gallon nano tank. i know most people say not to when starting out but i think i can do it. i do have years of experience already on fw and know about testing water and cycling and been doing research on reef for years so im planning to keep 1 hi fin goby and a pair of ocellaris clownfish. my question is. first off, would that be a too much of a bioload? second, i dont really know how much cuc i need or what species to get. im planning pf getting 1 nassarius snail and 1 trochus snail and a hermit crab. would that be good? third, the corals im planning to get in the future are, zoanthid, blastomussa, maybe frogspawn and i also would like BTA in the future and a sexy shrimp with it probably. i am getting a medium - high lighting and using A strong HOB as a flow maker and also change it into a refugium and do a diy protein skimmer if that would help so.. would all of those would be good together? would it be safe? if not what are the suggestion that maybe i should change or add? and are there maybe other fish i could add? if there are what would be good? and would a diy protein skimmer helped abit? Sent from my SM-A305F using Tapatalk

07/04/2020, 09:29 AM	#3
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Mushrooms and other softies have a chance. Mushrooms like low flow. I'd advise against stony coral in a 16 for 2 reasons. 1) calcium supplentation could be done with kalk in the topoff, but... 2) the light level requisite for stonies is up around 13,000 in metal halide terms. LEDs can do it, but that's a lot of light to shower down on your softies and fish with no distance downward available for them. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

07/04/2020, 04:39 AM	#2
Alex114 Registered Member Join Date: May 2019 Location: Northeast Ohio Posts: 162	First, two clowns and a hifin goby should be ok in a 16 gallon. I wouldn’t add anything else though. Second that is not enough cuc. 3 to 4 of each snail and 5-10 hermit crabs will be good for a tank that size. Third, blastos, zoas, and frogspawn are all fairly easy corals. But do not use the filter as your flow. I highly doubt you will get near enough flow coming out of that to support corals. There will be many dead spots in the tank that receive no flow. Get a small power head around 200-300 gph. You can go with a cheap one but something that can create variable flow will be better. They are more expensive but worth it IMO. Lastly a protein skimmer on a tank that small will more than likely not be worth it. Just use the filter as is. The tank is only 16 gallons so water changes will be very easy and your main nutrient export. The skimmer will not be doing a whole lot compared to the water changes since a mere 5 gallons is 30%. As for lighting an AI Prime would be a great option for a tank that small

07/04/2020, 09:45 AM	#4
smilet98 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2019 Posts: 102	You can always buy a powerful light and lower it down, and as for the clean up crew By a little and work your way up to a bigger clean up crew if you need it Maybe 2 of each, that way the won’t die and create an amonia or nítrate spike, you only need enough to deal with already existing or future problems like fw, Also keep in mind nems move a lot more than you think and can get huge! Likely to sting a lot of corals unless isolated, and the goby might move around or toss sand on some of your sand placed corals! No need for all that extra filtration of you keep up with your weekly water changes Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk