Adding Fish! Nano Tank

[AlohaReef]

Currently in the cycling stage, but I'm looking to prepare for adding fish. I have a Fluval evo 13.5, and I have a plan for the tank (short term at least). I want to get a pair of clowns, a shrimp goby & pistol shrimp for sure, & if possible another cleaner shrimp, emerald crab & some snails (as well as corals down the road). I am going the safer route and just ordering pre-quarantined livestock for my first time around, but I'd like to buy them all at once if possible considering we're only talking 3 fish. What order would you add these, and would you omit any additions or hold off on any? I do have a spare tank, If I were to buy them all at once, my plan would be to remove the damsel I have cycling the tank & acclimate the shrimp goby & all the inverts first, while putting the clowns in a holding tank for a week to let any spikes level back off and let the goby get cozy. Is adding that many inverts going cause my levels to spike to much? I was planning to add nori, mysis, phytoplankton & copepods prior to adding livestock to try and ensure they have something to eat. Happy Reefing!

 

[Dragen Fiend]

what type of clownfish are you looking for?

But you should be fine to get a pair of clownfish with pistol/goby combo.

Cleaner shrimp should be fine as well. As for emerald crabs, I'd be weary with those if you plan to have corals. They are known to prey on them. For snails it depends on how many are needed.

All personal preference:
You want to slowly add on. Your bio-load can be adversely affected with too many animals introduced.

I usually wait one month for the tank to equalize out before adding in any livestock. I do add in copepods during this time.

After the one month I'd throw in like 2 nassarius snails, 2 trochus snails and the cleaner shrimp. Then wait a few weeks to see how they all behave and if more is needed.

After 2 weeks I would then introduce the clowns, goby/pistol shrimp.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

The tank is very small, to be honest too small for 3 fish, so I would not add them all at once, you will overload the biofilter. The bacteria multiply slowly, you have to give them a chance to multiply before each fish addition.

If it was a 50 gallon for example, I would say yes add 3 at once, but not in a 13 gallon.... minus the rocks and equipment, its really about 10 gallons of water.

 

[phillyb614]

The tank is very small, to be honest too small for 3 fish, so I would not add them all at once, you will overload the biofilter. The bacteria multiply slowly, you have to give them a chance to multiply before each fish addition.

If it was a 50 gallon for example, I would say yes add 3 at once, but not in a 13 gallon.... minus the rocks and equipment, its really about 10 gallons of water.

I second this

 

[AlohaReef]

what type of clownfish are you looking for?

But you should be fine to get a pair of clownfish with pistol/goby combo.

Cleaner shrimp should be fine as well. As for emerald crabs, I'd be weary with those if you plan to have corals. They are known to prey on them. For snails it depends on how many are needed.

All personal preference:
You want to slowly add on. Your bio-load can be adversely affected with too many animals introduced.

I usually wait one month for the tank to equalize out before adding in any livestock. I do add in copepods during this time.

After the one month I'd throw in like 2 nassarius snails, 2 trochus snails and the cleaner shrimp. Then wait a few weeks to see how they all behave and if more is needed.

After 2 weeks I would then introduce the clowns, goby/pistol shrimp.

I was looking at the Black Ice bonded pair of clowns.. I thought about only getting a single clown, but I think i'd rather have 2 clowns than a firefish or something misc. I know it's alot, for the tank size, but I will definitely be upgrading down the road and probably move the clowns on anyhow. I was curious about the emerald crab and coral, so maybe I can hold off on that guy for now and try it at a later time. So your first step, you wait one month after a cycle, or is the cycle part of that one month? & you add cleanup crew in before there are any fish in the tank? Thanks for the reply!

 

[AlohaReef]

The tank is very small, to be honest too small for 3 fish, so I would not add them all at once, you will overload the biofilter. The bacteria multiply slowly, you have to give them a chance to multiply before each fish addition.

If it was a 50 gallon for example, I would say yes add 3 at once, but not in a 13 gallon.... minus the rocks and equipment, its really about 10 gallons of water.

This is what I was thinking & made sense. I have a fish in now that I'll be removing, would it be too much to add in the cleanup crew & shrimp goby combo, or what order do you do your cleanup crew vs fish?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

This is what I was thinking & made sense. I have a fish in now that I'll be removing, would it be too much to add in the cleanup crew & shrimp goby combo, or what order do you do your cleanup crew vs fish?

the clean up crew doesn't really provide any bioload, not like fishes do, so you can add as many as you like. Personally I like to add them in handfulls, as I need them. Always need some carnivores to eat up the uneaten food, such as nassarius snails bumble bee snails and hermits crabs. Algae grazers you add as you need them, depending how much green you see you in your tank.

 

[AlohaReef]

the clean up crew doesn't really provide any bioload, not like fishes do, so you can add as many as you like. Personally I like to add them in handfulls, as I need them. Always need some carnivores to eat up the uneaten food, such as nassarius snails bumble bee snails and hermits crabs. Algae grazers you add as you need them, depending how much green you see you in your tank.

Makes sense! I also just stumbled across this thread that does coral & cuc right away basically. Is this more preferred? Not sure I have the patience for this method but at the end of the day I just want a successful tank!

Has anyone done coral/inverts only and no fish at first?

Fish seem to be the main cause of disruption in a display tank, given the current circumstances in the hobby with pests (ich, velvet, parasites, etc.). I have been in this hobby for 18 years, and the amount of pests that are showing up lately is much more (could also be the fact that we have...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Dragen Fiend]

I was looking at the Black Ice bonded pair of clowns.. I thought about only getting a single clown, but I think i'd rather have 2 clowns than a firefish or something misc. I know it's alot, for the tank size, but I will definitely be upgrading down the road and probably move the clowns on anyhow. I was curious about the emerald crab and coral, so maybe I can hold off on that guy for now and try it at a later time. So your first step, you wait one month after a cycle, or is the cycle part of that one month? & you add cleanup crew in before there are any fish in the tank? Thanks for the reply!

Realistically the cycle is part of the one month. Though it could technically take longer. But with modern stuff like just dumping in a bottle of bacteria. You can cycle in a week or less. The rest of the time is just letting it seed further to stabilize a bit. When I was moving, I hastily setup a 20 gallon long for my dad and dropped in 3 fish, urchin, hermit crabs and snails within a couple of hours of setup. They are all alive today. I used 2 rocks from the old tank and rest was new plus sand. I had no issues.

Like I said though. Its all reefer preference. Everyone has their own way that works.

I like to add in the CUCs later on when I start getting algae. As I don't want to add more than needed. Both a waste of money and I want the inverts to have enough food.

But most will always agree, slow and steady when you first start. Your learning the ins and outs.

 

[AlohaReef]

Realistically the cycle is part of the one month. Though it could technically take longer. But with modern stuff like just dumping in a bottle of bacteria. You can cycle in a week or less. The rest of the time is just letting it seed further to stabilize a bit. When I was moving, I hastily setup a 20 gallon long for my dad and dropped in 3 fish, urchin, hermit crabs and snails within a couple of hours of setup. They are all alive today. I used 2 rocks from the old tank and rest was new plus sand. I had no issues.

Like I said though. Its all reefer preference. Everyone has their own way that works.

I like to add in the CUCs later on when I start getting algae. As I don't want to add more than needed. Both a waste of money and I want the inverts to have enough food.

But most will always agree, slow and steady when you first start. Your learning the ins and outs.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Schulks]

Some clownfish species grow a lot bigger than others. So try and get a small species. My snowflake clowns are 4 years old and noticeably smaller than others.

Don't get a yellow watchman goby/tiger pistol shrimp. I had the same tank and my yellow watchman fought with my clowns. Even in my 50 gallon my yellow watchman is quite territorial.

Get an Alpheus randalli shrimp, candy cane pistol shrimp. They stay much smaller and move a lot less sand. They arrive REALLY small so order a few but they thrive in aquariums so they will grow.

This shrimp is important because they are a better option to pair with a hi fin goby, yasha goby, or a Dracula goby. These fish stay super small/peaceful and will thrive in tiny aquariums.

Just make sure your lid fits well and I had to install 1/4" netting after losing a couple yashas.

With fish this small you won't be overloading the fluval and could maybe add another super tiny fish later. Like a Green banded goby or masked goby or barnacle blenny. There are a few other options but i cant remember them.
Fish this small are so small they aren't stocked in LFS or talked about much by other hobbyist.

I have 2 yashas gobies and 2 green banded gobies. I love my banded gobies but I haven't seen them anywhere else.

 

[AlohaReef]

Some clownfish species grow a lot bigger than others. So try and get a small species. My snowflake clowns are 4 years old and noticeably smaller than others.

Don't get a yellow watchman goby/tiger pistol shrimp. I had the same tank and my yellow watchman fought with my clowns. Even in my 50 gallon my yellow watchman is quite territorial.

Get an Alpheus randalli shrimp, candy cane pistol shrimp. They stay much smaller and move a lot less sand. They arrive REALLY small so order a few but they thrive in aquariums so they will grow.

This shrimp is important because they are a better option to pair with a hi fin goby, yasha goby, or a Dracula goby. These fish stay super small/peaceful and will thrive in tiny aquariums.

Just make sure your lid fits well and I had to install 1/4" netting after losing a couple yashas.

With fish this small you won't be overloading the fluval and could maybe add another super tiny fish later. Like a Green banded goby or masked goby or barnacle blenny. There are a few other options but i cant remember them.
Fish this small are so small they aren't stocked in LFS or talked about much by other hobbyist.

I have 2 yashas gobies and 2 green banded gobies. I love my banded gobies but I haven't seen them anywhere else.

Great advice! So far I tried adding in a paired wheeler goby & pistol shrimp combo, and the wheeler jumped ship the first night in. I had a net on but he found a tiny crack to jump out of unfortunately. I already have a yasha on order, and was thinking of getting paired ocellaris or black ice and just getting them really small. I also have been cramming new frags into the tank, I've been more preoccupied with that than the fish at the moment. I want to get the corals in place and the tank stabilized before I go adding in the pair of clowns. What were/are you using for filtration on your Fluval? I removed the foam filter, replaced with a 3d printed filter chamber in chamber one and am running floss, a sponge, more floss, and some biomax that came with the tank that I'm going to change to matrix and add some rubble in chamber 2.

 

[Tahoe61]

Hi

Rubble in chambers becomes a detritus dump. Personally I use sponge and charcoal (occasionally), that's it. BioMax sounds like it would be doing the same job, and it's easily replaced.

 

[AlohaReef]

@Tahoe61
Oh yeah, I also run carbon. I'm not sure why but I've been having to replace the floss almost every day or 2 lately. & I just saw reef dork was using rubble in his 2nd chamber of his fluval and thought, why not lol. That makes sense though. Fluval recommends replacing biomax every so often, so my LFS steered me towards matrix, which is supposed to be good indefinitely? So I was planning to swap the biomax for the matrix when it's due.

 

[Schulks]

What were/are you using for filtration on your Fluval? I removed the foam filter, replaced with a 3d printed filter chamber in chamber one and am running floss, a sponge, more floss, and some biomax that came with the tank that I'm going to change to matrix and add some rubble in chamber 2.

I did the same as you. I had a 3d printed media basket. On top of the media basket I had floss, in the middle I would put carbon in periodically, and the bottom had large biospheres. That was all for filtration. Well, lots of water changes..

My fluval actually leaked but it was because I drained it down and moved it around my desk a couple times.
Not very carefully..

 

[AlohaReef]

My fluval actually leaked but it was because I drained it down and moved it around my desk a couple times.
Not very carefully..

I'm also doing water changes 2x / week right now & they're still brown... Great excuse to get a new tank!!! Maybe I should move mine around a little un-carefully too?