13.5 gallon evo stock list thoughts

[Flatearth]

This is my first time doing a reef smaller than 30 gallons so I had some questions.

My first question is about maxi-mini anemones, how many can I keep? I have four in one of my 30 gallons waiting to be moved over, could I get a few more or is four already too many for a 13.5?

For coral I am going to get a leather with a bit of height to make a center piece then probably fill the rest of the space on the rocks with mushroom corals.

For the stocking:
6 sexy shrimp
5 scarlet reef hermits
1 pom pom crab
1 porcelain crab
1 skunk cleaner shrimp
1 fire shrimp( Would a pair of skunks be better or just 1 skunk and no fire shrimp?)
A few of the standard CUC snails(astrea, cerith ect)
1 small shrimp goby like a yasha or randalls
1 small pistol shrimp to pair with said goby probably a candy cane pistol shrimp

I want something for the upper water column as well so I was thinking a damsel from the Chrysiptera complex, although I am open to other suggestions. Something with more character would be cool if a compatible fish exists...

 

[TX_REEF]

I think that's a great stock list. you could definitely add a damsel if you wanted, just add it last to reduce aggression/territoriality. You could do 4 or more maxi nems, the only thing to consider is that they may harm corals as they move about the space. If it were me, I'd have 3-4 max, unless you skip the corals, in which case you could certainly have more.

You should consider trochus snails in lieu of astrea. They can more easily flip themselves if they land upside down, and are more active.

Curious to hear what equipment you'll be using!

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I agree, your stocking list looks fine!

 

[fishy103]

This is my first time doing a reef smaller than 30 gallons so I had some questions.

My first question is about maxi-mini anemones, how many can I keep? I have four in one of my 30 gallons waiting to be moved over, could I get a few more or is four already too many for a 13.5?

For coral I am going to get a leather with a bit of height to make a center piece then probably fill the rest of the space on the rocks with mushroom corals.

For the stocking:
6 sexy shrimp
5 scarlet reef hermits
1 pom pom crab
1 porcelain crab
1 skunk cleaner shrimp
1 fire shrimp( Would a pair of skunks be better or just 1 skunk and no fire shrimp?)
A few of the standard CUC snails(astrea, cerith ect)
1 small shrimp goby like a yasha or randalls
1 small pistol shrimp to pair with said goby probably a candy cane pistol shrimp

I want something for the upper water column as well so I was thinking a damsel from the Chrysiptera complex, although I am open to other suggestions. Something with more character would be cool if a compatible fish exists...

I think this a great stocking list I would add margarita snails, and nassarius snails in replacement of the astrea snails. The fire shrimp and the cleaner shrimp should be fine technically I would get smaller ones bc I have experience with them rumbling a bit. But if I where you I would get one cleaner shrimp and a white spot anemone shrimp, go onto “live aquarias” shrimp section to see cooler species than the fire shrimp. Also they aren’t active and often hide, I’m not even going to mention their price… I love the goby and shrimp pair idea. 4 mini maxis sounds good maybe just make a island for them and keep an eye on them so they don’t kill and corals. There are lots of awesome fish for the water column, some ideas are: Clown gobies, masked gobies, the damsel should be fine, and in my personal opinion you should get a blenny I’m not sure what king or their minimum tank size. Just make sure to stay away from court jester gobies, mandarins, and other hard to feed fish.

 

[fishy103]

Also watch lots of YouTube videos like Dr plants, Serpa design, indoor ecosystems, and aqua splendor for aquascape ideas and for ideas for other creatures.

 

[Flatearth]

Well my sexy shrimp order was canceled due to them running out, and apparently they won't have any in stock for some time. I did look at some gobies and the randalls looked awesome but was kind of big(big enough to eat sexy shrimp I suspect) so I am going with a Yasha goby.

I decided to get a captive bred Kamohara Blenny as well, never had a fangtooth blenny and this one looks cool. I wanted something unique for the water column so I am happy about finding this.

Might snap some photos of the tank tonight. Of course no coral or anything added yet.

 

[Common Blevil]

This is my first time doing a reef smaller than 30 gallons so I had some questions.

My first question is about maxi-mini anemones, how many can I keep? I have four in one of my 30 gallons waiting to be moved over, could I get a few more or is four already too many for a 13.5?

For coral I am going to get a leather with a bit of height to make a center piece then probably fill the rest of the space on the rocks with mushroom corals.

For the stocking:
6 sexy shrimp
5 scarlet reef hermits
1 pom pom crab
1 porcelain crab
1 skunk cleaner shrimp
1 fire shrimp( Would a pair of skunks be better or just 1 skunk and no fire shrimp?)
A few of the standard CUC snails(astrea, cerith ect)
1 small shrimp goby like a yasha or randalls
1 small pistol shrimp to pair with said goby probably a candy cane pistol shrimp

I want something for the upper water column as well so I was thinking a damsel from the Chrysiptera complex, although I am open to other suggestions. Something with more character would be cool if a compatible fish exists...

You can add 2 very small Chrysiptera, or 1 big and 1 large. I had 2 azures (big male and smaller female) and they did fine and weren't aggressive. Hell, they even got their butts kicked by wheeleri gobies, the most timid fish. Just have places for them to hide and add them last. Won't recommend getting one, they seem to be more nervous and aggressive when alone. Unfortunately my female died when i transferred tanks, and my male was timid until i got him 2 new females. The key thing is getting a group of very small fish, so largest will turn into a male, or get a big male already and a smaller fish to him. They are very cute when spawning and do not attack any bottom dweller. You can get parasema, talboti or starki instead of hemicyanea, they are all supposedly the same. They do better in bigger tanks but 10 gallon is a minimum i might say. They are much more interesting than clownfish, smaller than them and clownfish can be aggressive too, so...

Also if you don't want damsels you can add a tailspot blenny, they are very cool, just make sure to feed it plant and meat foods and have tightly fitting lid! Mine jumped out through the tiniest gap in the lid...

Chrysiptera:
Female and male, only male, only female.

 

[Common Blevil]

Well my sexy shrimp order was canceled due to them running out, and apparently they won't have any in stock for some time. I did look at some gobies and the randalls looked awesome but was kind of big(big enough to eat sexy shrimp I suspect) so I am going with a Yasha goby.

I decided to get a captive bred Kamohara Blenny as well, never had a fangtooth blenny and this one looks cool. I wanted something unique for the water column so I am happy about finding this.

Might snap some photos of the tank tonight. Of course no coral or anything added yet.

Sorry, i didn't see that you had chosen a blenny already. Fanged blennies are cool, but i wouldn't keep one in a tank smaller than 30 g. Trust me, i kept a juvenile starry in 14 gallon, it did fine, but after transferring into a 30 g i understood that i will never keep a starry in tanks smaller than 30 g ever again.

 

[Common Blevil]

Also, look into clown gobies. Wouldn't suggest a pair in your volume, unless it's mated when you buy them, 1 will do fine. I tried to have a pair of yellows, one harassed another and then they kept on the different sides of the tank. After i sold yellows and tried greens the outcome was even worse - bigger green killed the smaller one. Now in 30 gallon i have the old green and the new green, itroduced simultaneously. Old green sometimes harasses the new one, but tank size and very structured rockscape(lot's of caves, crevices and hiding spots) provides enough cover for the new one. It will take it a few months to think about changing it's gender if the gobies are of different sex, but at least it feeds.

Also to add: some clown gobies do not eat frozen at the start and only eat live food. My yellows vere like that. My greens eat everything that moves, literally. They eat flakes and frozen, but if the food is not moving in the flow they don't react.
Also i read the scientific paper about how these gobies react to another goby added to them. They paired with mature individuals and harassed immature ones, so that was the reason for me to buy a big goby to add with an existing one to a new tank.

 

[SayrinaDVM]

Since clown gobies were mentioned, I wanted to add that we have a citron clown goby in our tank who is a very fun and personable "upper water column fish."

He (technically she, I suppose, but I got too used to thinking of ours as a male) tends to spend most of his days perched on one surface or another: a comfy bed of macro algae one moment, the shell of one of our long-suffering Trochus snails the next, but most often he can be found suction-cupped to the front or sides of the aquarium glass (often upside down). Our citron doesn't particularly like frozen mysis, but he will happily scarf down frozen brine, LRS Reef Frenzy Nano, Arctipods, and anything that finds its way out of our tiny Biota mandarin's acclimation box (e.g., live baby brine shrimp, frozen calanus, TDO pellets, Masstick).

Citron clown gobies are larger than the yellow clown gobies, though, and I'm personally too new to the hobby to feel comfortable weighing in on whether your tank would be large enough for a citron. Perhaps as an only fish?

(Also, for what it's worth, I don't think Randall's gobies pair with pistol shrimp.)

 

[Common Blevil]

Since clown gobies were mentioned, I wanted to add that we have a citron clown goby in our tank who is a very fun and personable "upper water column fish."

He (technically she, I suppose, but I got too used to thinking of ours as a male) tends to spend most of his days perched on one surface or another: a comfy bed of macro algae one moment, the shell of one of our long-suffering Trochus snails the next, but most often he can be found suction-cupped to the front or sides of the aquarium glass (often upside down). Our citron doesn't particularly like frozen mysis, but he will happily scarf down frozen brine, LRS Reef Frenzy Nano, Arctipods, and anything that finds its way out of our tiny Biota mandarin's acclimation box (e.g., live baby brine shrimp, frozen calanus, TDO pellets, Masstick).

Citron clown gobies are larger than the yellow clown gobies, though, and I'm personally too new to the hobby to feel comfortable weighing in on whether your tank would be large enough for a citron. Perhaps as an only fish?

(Also, for what it's worth, I don't think Randall's gobies pair with pistol shrimp.)

I would say that bigger greens and citrons will be easier to keep than yellows, because they have bigger mouths and are usually in better condition at the store. Also 13 gallon will be fine for citron, it's not like they swim that much. But i would put clown gobies only in a tank with established coral or macroalgae, they seem much more comfortable that way and take food more readily. Of course sps is preferred coral option for them, but other corals will do just fine, macros also seem to work. My greens like to hunt in halimeda or chaeto for pods.

 

[EastonsReef]

My only contribution is I believe the blue-legged hermits stay smaller than the red/scarlet legged ones and are generally less aggressive. May be worth swapping to those.

I have the same tank and my stocking so far is just a clown and pistol shrimp (yasha coming later) plus corals. Be sure to post pictures of your tank along the way! I keep a journal here of everything so I can look back through it in a few years.

CUC: Astrea snail, blue legged hermit, nassarius snail

Wishlist:
Sexy Shrimp
1-2 more hermits
Micro brittle stars
Yasha Goby
Tailspot Blenny