Too much rock in Evo?

[Zwingman]

I purchased the large piece of live rock in the centre of my aquarium from a local guy as he was moving and I really wanted a nem.
The nem and polyps are doing great however I am wondering if this rock is too large for my tank. This is my first foray into saltwater and I want to ensure I leave my clowns enough room to swim around. Cutting it will be challenging based on all the button polyps and location of the nem. So if it’s too large I will have to move the whole piece.
This is the only piece of live rock in the tank, the rest was Marco dry rock which I cycled. All the coral and the nem are doing great and I just epoxied a birds of Paradise frag to the rock as well. I am looking for some input from other reefers to make sure I don’t have too much rock in there.

Livestock
2 clowns
1 BTA
2 astrea snails

 

[Softhammer]

Looks pretty good to me. Definitely not too much.

 

[uhgster1]

It’s up to you. The more rock, the larger your surface area for filtration. But you have to make the decision as to how much space you want for any swimmers to actually use and visual appeal. That’s the downside of the pick and nano tanks.

 

[Zwingman]

Thanks for the input guys, I like the overall look and surface area for corals in the future. Just wanted to make sure it wasn’t too much. This is pretty much all the livestock that will be going in. Maybe a coral angle but that would be it.

 

[Softhammer]

Coral beauty angel? How big is that tank? Probably not a good idea there.

 

[Zwingman]

Coral beauty angel? How big is that tank? Probably not a good idea there.

Oh no? Those were listed as a good nano reef fish when I searched. They grow too big? Tank isn’t very large, 13.5 gallons.

 

[Jamesrup0411]

Am I blind? I don’t see the coral beauty lol

 

[Zwingman]

Am I blind? I don’t see the coral beauty lol

Haha you’re not blind, I was saying the coral beauty may be a future addition to the tank [emoji16]

 

[Jamesrup0411]

Lol oh, ya too small for angels or tangs

 

[NS Mike D]

I have one in a 29gal. I wouldn't recommend anything smaller. 29 is even pushing it. They like to swim about in and out of the rocks work covering a lot of ground. I have a lot of rock work with tons of passageways, otherwise it would be banging against the glass. Also a cube has more vertical space than the horizontal space a coral beauty needs. my 29gal has about 30" of horizontal run.

watchman goby and a tail spot blenny offer tons of entertainment and take up little room making them ideal for a nano


PS, nice job on the rock work

 

[W1ngz]

Clowns don't need a lot of swimming room, but they're probably best left as the only 2 fish in there. Those polyps are palythoas, fun, simple... and pretty prolific. There's a change they overrun the rest of the rock and you decide to try and eliminate some or all of them. Precautions are simple enough (mask, gloves, goggles no splashing or hot water), but when mishandled they can be toxic to you. Make sure you do some reading on palytoxin if you aren't aware of it's potential danger.

 

[Softhammer]

Yeah, way way too small for a coral beauty. Those most certainly are not nano fish. I’d say 75 gallons minimum. They get pretty big and need major swimming and grazing real estate.

 

[Zwingman]

I have one in a 29gal. I wouldn't recommend anything smaller. 29 is even pushing it. They like to swim about in and out of the rocks work covering a lot of ground. I have a lot of rock work with tons of passageways, otherwise it would be banging against the glass. Also a cube has more vertical space than the horizontal space a coral beauty needs. my 29gal has about 30" of horizontal run.

watchman goby and a tail spot blenny offer tons of entertainment and take up little room making them ideal for a nano


PS, nice job on the rock work

Thanks for the info, I definitely don't want to put one in if there isn't enough room for them. I do really like the gobys so that would be a good option. Just need to get a mesh cover on the tank first. I hear they are jumpers lol

 

[Zwingman]

Clowns don't need a lot of swimming room, but they're probably best left as the only 2 fish in there. Those polyps are palythoas, fun, simple... and pretty prolific. There's a change they overrun the rest of the rock and you decide to try and eliminate some or all of them. Precautions are simple enough (mask, gloves, goggles no splashing or hot water), but when mishandled they can be toxic to you. Make sure you do some reading on palytoxin if you aren't aware of it's potential danger.

Yeah honestly I am nervous about them overrunning the tank. I don't mind them on the current rock but would like the other rocks reserved for my new zoas.