Future for my tank

Fishlover56 · 2026-07-04T09:26:45-0400

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice on what to do next with my tank, ideally moving towards adding some corals.

At the moment I have a 30-gallon system that’s around 9 months old. Stocking is:

Silver Belly Wrasse
Ruby Tail Flasher Wrasse
2 Clownfish
2 Pajama Cardinals

Water parameters are currently:

pH: 8
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: ~35 ppm (this has crept up recently due to reduced water changes, but I’m bringing it down with weekly 10% water changes and NOPOX)

Equipment:

AI Prime 16HD (covering roughly half the tank)
2x Jebao SLW-5 wavemakers (running at ~50%)
HOB filter with 5W UV
Small K1-style wavereef protein skimmer

I’m starting to think about the next stage and was wondering:

Would a goby be a suitable addition at this point?
Would a brittle star also be okay in this setup?
And would my current lighting be sufficient to begin with some easier corals?

Any advice on stocking direction or coral options would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Mr. Mojo Rising · 2026-07-04T09:40:05-0400

Personally I feel your tank is heavily stocked and you might have aggression issue's down the road when these fish grow, I would not add more fish. In fact I might even upgrade the filtration since the tank is so heavily stocked. IMO the light will work for lower light corals, but I would add a 100 watt nicrew on that tank which would allow you to grow anything you want.

X-37B · 2026-07-04T11:08:18-0400

1 16hd is quite weak for that system. I would run all channels at 100% with 1 16hd. My old 20 ran 2 16hds with the first 4 at 100$ and the last 3 at 50%.
Same with my old 30 2 16hds worked well at those settings.
Old 30

Quietman · 2026-07-04T11:26:37-0400

Add a soft coral or two or three. Recommend getting some rubble rock approx 3" diameter to put the soft coral on. Allows you to move it and will control growth a bit assuming you move them before the base spreads to surrounding rock. Leathers and toadstools are good to start. Your light should be fine. Placing coral on rubble also allows you to move around and find best spot. Doesn't take much for softies though. Plus they grow fast and are very tolerant of changing parameters and parameters that would be less than ideal for hard. Additionally if you do lose some, it's much, much less money out of your pocket.

You can also go with xenia and mushrooms but be aware they are extremely hardy and can spread very fast.

Sometime a bit hard to find in LFS as softies aren't as popular as used to be. Recommend https://www.aquacorals.com/ if you want to go online route. She ships softies on rubble and I've gotten some nice hitchhikers (brittle stars and such).