Fluval 13.5 stocking ideas

[Fishn28]

I’m looking into getting a Fluval 13.5 tank. I’ve been keeping freshwater for a few years and wanted a new challenge/experience with a reef tank.
I’m not too sure how many fish I can house in this tank I’m thinking about 4?
My dream stocking would be
2 designer clowns
1 firefish
1 dottyback
The questions I have are
Can I keep a solo clown or do they need to be in pairs? If I can keep just one could I add another fish?
What other stocking ideas could I do?
What is a good cleanup crew for this tank?

thanks for any help!

 

[OfficeReefer]

Welcome to R2R @Fishn28!

Four is likely a bit too much. The Fluval EVO is a great tank for beginners and works wonders with FOWLR tanks. If you later decide coral is a fancy, then you'll certainly want to upgrade the lighting and filtration, such as InTank baskets and the skimmer.

Clowns are no problem, the firefish is fine with the lid but the dotty back will likely be aggressive and too much for this size of a tank as is. Pairs are best for clowns when introduced together, do consider where they will live, as this is the part of the tank they will protect. You could consider any of the nano sized fish in regards to your other question but consider compatibility here.

Fish Compatibility Chart

After searching online for compatibility charts and only finding images, I decided to make a Microsoft Excel table of compatibility. I do not know if this has been done before, but I find it much easier to scroll through on the left to the fish I want to know about and match to the top for...

www.reef2reef.com

For cleanup crew: Snails, maybe a crab, skip the shrimp for now, until you've had the tank running for some time.

If I may ask, have you broken in and cycled the tank or is this new?

If it is, make sure to pick up some TurboStart 900 from Fritz and review the threads on R2R for water testing.
Lastly, make sure to get a proper test kit with "the end in mind", meaning if you want corals then get Ca, Mg, Alk and the standard ones, such as pH, NO3/NO4, PO4.

Most of all, enjoy and again welcome!

 

[AN0N41]

Like the other guy said, I’d skip the dotty as your tank is pretty full as is.

 

[bbeck28]

I’m looking into getting a Fluval 13.5 tank. I’ve been keeping freshwater for a few years and wanted a new challenge/experience with a reef tank.
I’m not too sure how many fish I can house in this tank I’m thinking about 4?
My dream stocking would be
2 designer clowns
1 firefish
1 dottyback
The questions I have are
Can I keep a solo clown or do they need to be in pairs? If I can keep just one could I add another fish?
What other stocking ideas could I do?
What is a good cleanup crew for this tank?

thanks for any help!

I got the Fluval 13.5 in July and it's going well. I have 2 snowflake clowns. The first fish I put in was actually a possum wrasse which was doing great but I just lost him this week. Not sure what happened, but he was hiding a lot more than usual then turned over. But the clowns are doing great. I've been podding my tank since the start in hopes of getting mandarin next. I'll likely just stop there with those 3 fish though, and continue to build up the corals. I just feel like the tank is too small to have more than 3 fish. That's probably what contributed to losing the wrasse.

 

[kingoftheHiLLpeople]

I got the Fluval 13.5 in July and it's going well. I have 2 snowflake clowns. The first fish I put in was actually a possum wrasse which was doing great but I just lost him this week. Not sure what happened, but he was hiding a lot more than usual then turned over. But the clowns are doing great. I've been podding my tank since the start in hopes of getting mandarin next. I'll likely just stop there with those 3 fish though, and continue to build up the corals. I just feel like the tank is too small to have more than 3 fish. That's probably what contributed to losing the wrasse.

I would say your clowns likely bullied the possum wrasse. Would not mix that combo in that small of a tank. Also do not foresee good results with mandarin in that small of a tank.

 

[kingoftheHiLLpeople]

I’m looking into getting a Fluval 13.5 tank. I’ve been keeping freshwater for a few years and wanted a new challenge/experience with a reef tank.
I’m not too sure how many fish I can house in this tank I’m thinking about 4?
My dream stocking would be
2 designer clowns
1 firefish
1 dottyback
The questions I have are
Can I keep a solo clown or do they need to be in pairs? If I can keep just one could I add another fish?
What other stocking ideas could I do?
What is a good cleanup crew for this tank?

thanks for any help!

Would not do a firefish and a dottyback. Clown pair and a goby?

 

[TheReefDiary]

i have 2 clownfish, 1 yellow watchman goby, and 1 firefish. my cuc consists of 2 nassarius snails, 2 astrea, and 2 cerith. i also have 2 sexy shrimp. im running a chaeto reactor and protein skimmer. my nutrients are fine and my water parameters are solid with just dosing alk and weekly 20% water changes.

 

[TheReefDiary]

i also make sure to have plenty of flow in the tank to keep corals happy. using 2 hyyger wavemakers. one small 530gph and one larger 1650gph (running this one low)