Is it possible to have a nem in a 5g (RFA or Maxi Mini)?

[Karen00]

Hello fellow saltines,

I've been reading that rock flower nems and maxi minis stay small? Is this true or is one better than the other for this for my 5g? I've been thinking of setting up some rocks with magnets that I can suspend up my tank walls to give me more room for corals and possibly a nem if this will keep it isolated.

Also, are either of these peaceful with fish and other corals although I guess if I do a wall rock island other corals won't be a problem. My main concern are my small fish. My tank is peaceful with just a couple gorgs. I really want a nem if there is one that stays small (or stays small when isolated) but I need them to be peaceful toward fish. I read a few posts on other sites when I was searching for info about them that said the maxi minis are peaceful however I'm not sure if that's toward their own type but can be destroyers of other creatures.

 

[James M]

Mini maxi nems are too aggressive for a 5 gallon. A RFA will work short term but they do grow fairly large

 

[JoJosReef]

I haven't rrad much about the maxi-minis, except that clowns cannot host them (they can get eaten) and I think they have a more potent sting.

Re: RFAs, I think they are very cool, and read that they are relatively peaceful and stay put. Clowns don't host. Sexy shrimp should.

I am planning on a bunch of RFAs for my 10g going up in Jan. Seem plenty of small nano FTSs with several of them, so I imagine a 5g can get a few.

 

[Tamberav]

RFA will work but maxi minis actually get pretty large and can eat small fish.

Another that would work though is the Bali red mini maxi. They stay about 3 inches. They are not the same as a typical mini maxi. The only color is red with green mouth.

LiveAquaria® - Stichodactyla tapetum

 

[Karen00]

Mini maxi nems are too aggressive for a 5 gallon. A RFA will work short term but they do grow fairly large

Thank you for this! I was beginning to think the posts I read about the maxis being peaceful probably weren't accurate or maybe they are in a tank by themselves. Haha.

 

[Karen00]

I haven't rrad much about the maxi-minis, except that clowns cannot host them (they can get eaten) and I think they have a more potent sting.

Re: RFAs, I think they are very cool, and read that they are relatively peaceful and stay put. Clowns don't host. Sexy shrimp should.

I am planning on a bunch of RFAs for my 10g going up in Jan. Seem plenty of small nano FTSs with several of them, so I imagine a 5g can get a few.

Awesome, thanks! I should have mentioned I don't have clowns nor do I plan any for this small of a tank but I do have sexy shrimp so the RFAs are most likely the perfect nem for my tank. Right now the sexy shrimp are hanging out in a fake silicone anemone I have in my tank. I got a pack of six to test out the flow in my tank when I was setting it up. I planned to remove them but now the sexys and my Clown goby have taken up residence in them. I wasn't surprised about the clown goby but I didn't know sexys lived in nems so now it makes sense. I guess I should get one now. Haha!

 

[Karen00]

RFA will work but maxi minis actually get pretty large and can eat small fish.

Another that would work though is the Bali red mini maxi. They stay about 3 inches. They are not the same as a typical mini maxi. The only color is red with green mouth.

LiveAquaria® - Stichodactyla tapetum

It looks like the consensus is that an RFA will work so that's great. I'm excited to know I can have one! Having said that I just looked up the Bali Red and... OMG I'm in love! Thank you for mentioning this one! It is stunning and the fact it stays small is the icing on the cake!!

 

[TriggersAmuck]

Some inspiration....remember they have the backup of an entire shop and all that entails!

 

[TriggersAmuck]

Regards RFAs aggression to small fish, take a look at my build thread!

 

[Karen00]

Some inspiration....remember they have the backup of an entire shop and all that entails!

Wow! Thank you for this! That little tank is amazing and now I know what my next build will be. A rock flower garden. Haha. I like the light they feature. I also noticed the tank is running only a HOB filter so do they guys only need low to moderate flow or do they not care? The reason I ask is that I just added a small powerhead to give the tank more flow. I just started to adds corals and have a couple small gorgs. They were not happy with what the stock pump was giving and the powerhead has made a world of difference for them but I want to make sure I place an rfa correctly if they're low flow creatures.

I will definitely read your build thread regarding rfa's and aggression toward small fish. I hope the story ends by saying they're not aggressive. LOL If they are I guess I will be starting another pico sooner rather than later. Haha

 

[TriggersAmuck]

So... after reading your thread I feel certain your answer will be "yes" but I will ask for my peace of mind... "You feel completely safe with your rock nems and small fish?"

Absolutely, I have never had an issue with any of my 'nems or Ricordea snacking on the tiny Gobies. They are the perfect fish for smaller nanos since they "scale" the tank (make it look bigger than it is) and you can put a ton of them in with minimal bio load or fish aggression issues. Just don't add multiples of neons or clown Gobies.

 

[TriggersAmuck]

Regards flow, I have a Nero 5 in my 20g tank (could definitely be viewed as overkill) set to random mode during the day, and the rock 'nems seem to tolerate the stronger flow without getting the itch to up and move. You don't want to blast them for sure, but I think they are reasonably adaptable.

 

[TriggersAmuck]

Oh, if you are going to have a rock anemone garden then you must have a few sexy shrimp as well!

 

[Karen00]

Absolutely, I have never had an issue with any of my 'nems or Ricordea snacking on the tiny Gobies. They are the perfect fish for smaller nanos since they "scale" the tank (make it look bigger than it is) and you can put a ton of them in with minimal bio load or fish aggression issues. Just don't add multiples of neons or clown Gobies.

Awesome and thanks!! I'm super excited to get some RFAs now. Thanks also for the advice about the neon and clown gobies. I'm assuming they fight? I actually have a yellow clown and a green clown and so far no issues but maybe they don't recognize each other. Haha. Also the green one (added first) was always very cryptic and I only see him at feeding time. He usually hides at the bottom in the rocks. The yellow one is always out and about in the upper half of the tank so they occupy different physical spaces which I now consider myself lucky if they are problematic in multiples.

 

[Karen00]

Oh, if you are going to have a rock anemone garden then you must have a few sexy shrimp as well!

I actually have three sexy shrimp that will probably be even happier than me to have some rock nems. Haha. I had a few silicone nems in my tank that I originally bought to test the flow in my tank (check for dead spots, etc). The darn sexys have taken up residence in one of them so now I won't be able to remove it until I get them a real nem. LOL

 

[KK's Reef]

Hello fellow saltines,

I've been reading that rock flower nems and maxi minis stay small? Is this true or is one better than the other for this for my 5g? I've been thinking of setting up some rocks with magnets that I can suspend up my tank walls to give me more room for corals and possibly a nem if this will keep it isolated.

Also, are either of these peaceful with fish and other corals although I guess if I do a wall rock island other corals won't be a problem. My main concern are my small fish. My tank is peaceful with just a couple gorgs. I really want a nem if there is one that stays small (or stays small when isolated) but I need them to be peaceful toward fish. I read a few posts on other sites when I was searching for info about them that said the maxi minis are peaceful however I'm not sure if that's toward their own type but can be destroyers of other creatures.

I have a maxi mini in a 4 gallon and it has moved once in 7 months. The fish stay away from it. Hermit crabs and snails will bump into it every once in a while and quickly go the other way. I feed it once or twice a week and it is happy where it is in the rock work. I think it'll be fine in your tank.

 

[TriggersAmuck]

I actually have three sexy shrimp that will probably be even happier than me to have some rock nems. Haha. I had a few silicone nems in my tank that I originally bought to test the flow in my tank (check for dead spots, etc). The darn sexys have taken up residence in one of them so now I won't be able to remove it until I get them a real nem. LOL

Wish I had thought of that (silicone nems) during the first year of my tank, as I would have saved a number of 'nems their lives and myself a lot of money! The rock 'nems seem to be tougher customers than the bubble tips, but I think I might have lost a couple of those as well (out of 20-some).

The clown gobies are low key with everyone except their own species, but if you have two tolerating each other, more power to you! I would be more worried about multiple neons, as they can get agro (aggressive) towards other neons. Mine is a neon/cleaner hybrid, so it is always trying to attaching itself to any fish that won't shake him off, much to my fire clown's annoyance.

 

[Azedenkae]

I have a maxi mini in a 4 gallon and it has moved once in 7 months. The fish stay away from it. Hermit crabs and snails will bump into it every once in a while and quickly go the other way. I feed it once or twice a week and it is happy where it is in the rock work. I think it'll be fine in your tank.

This was my experience as well. I had my lettuce seaslug multiple times brushed against it and explored it, the maxi mini did not seem all that bothered nor had an indication of wanting to eat it. XD

 

[Karen00]

I have a maxi mini in a 4 gallon and it has moved once in 7 months. The fish stay away from it. Hermit crabs and snails will bump into it every once in a while and quickly go the other way. I feed it once or twice a week and it is happy where it is in the rock work. I think it'll be fine in your tank.

Thanks so much for this! I'm so happy to hear a lot of people haven't had fish issues with these nems! I have already started looking for the maxi type and rock flower nems but everywhere close to me in Toronto is sold out! Aargh!

 

[Karen00]

Wish I had thought of that (silicone nems) during the first year of my tank, as I would have saved a number of 'nems their lives and myself a lot of money! The rock 'nems seem to be tougher customers than the bubble tips, but I think I might have lost a couple of those as well (out of 20-some).

The clown gobies are low key with everyone except their own species, but if you have two tolerating each other, more power to you! I would be more worried about multiple neons, as they can get agro (aggressive) towards other neons. Mine is a neon/cleaner hybrid, so it is always trying to attaching itself to any fish that won't shake him off, much to my fire clown's annoyance.

The silicone nems have been awesome. I attached a pic. They came in a pack of six on Amazon. With this being my first tank I had no experience with flow or powerheads so I was trying to find a flow meter I could buy to check out my stock pump (which, as it turns out, has no flow at all needed for corals) but the only ones I found were professional meters and way to expensive. After searching and searching I came across an article whose title was "a cheap way to test flow in your saltwater tank". Perfect... I like cheap!! LOL. I was able to place them all over my tank (rocks, sandbed, etc) to see what was going on and move them as needed. I'm glad I had them before getting corals because the first powerhead I got was waaaaaay too powerful and it nearly blew these silicone nems across the tank. If I didn't have them to test with I would've killed any coral I put in the tank with that powerhead. Needless to say I downgraded it. Haha. The only problem is now my inhabitants are taking up residence in them. My clown gobies each have one and the sexys are in the blue one at the top right of the pic. LOL

I just checked my goby list and I have the neons on it so I will be sure to keep that to a singleton. So far I only have singles of everything (except the clown gobies) but that was more because I was afraid to overload my system. My plan was to pick out some that I would get multiples of if they were group fish.