Trying to make a long term plan

[Netotek]

Hi Everyone,
As my tank cycles (Fluval 13.5G), and as I am trying to patiently wait, I'm trying to plan out the corals. I'm still doing research and I want to give the Corals room to go, so I mocked up a picture of my tank.

I'd like to do;
Grape Corals or frogspawn or bubble corals in the bottom left
Pipe organ corals on the upper left
a birdsnest on top
a plating montipora in the center
pulsing xenia to the right of that
and three zoa's on the sand to the right.

Is it too much? is it too little? I wont be adding anything until my tank is nice and stable (8+ months?), I'm in no rush and want to take things slow, and I'll add things slowly as well.

I couldn't get a good top down picture but hopefully you can kinda see what the layout looks like.

Livestock planned:
1 x Clownfish
1 x Royal Gramma
1x Yellow clown Goby

Is that too many? can I add more?

I haven't decided on the CUC yet, I'm not sure how many I should put into the tank after adding the fish.

Any thoughts or feedback would be greatly appreciated, I want to do my best, it's my first try at saltwater.
Thanks.

 

[Matt Bravo]

Seems cool bro! What light are you planning on running as well?

 

[Acroconut]

Careful on that Pulsing Xenia. It's beautiful but can spread like crazy. As for fish in the 13.5....less is best. I have a Picasso Clown and Neon Goby in mine, and am glad I held to that. If you're like me you'll be looking to move up in tank size in the near future. My tank is packed with coral right now, and I can hardly wait until my new system is set up. I'm not a newbie to reefing either which has been a big help in keeping things somewhat stable in this little system. Don't know if the recent video will post but does show some of my tank. It's a full house.

 

[Netotek]

Seems cool bro! What light are you planning on running as well?

Not sure yet, I'd like to keep the lid so evaporation stays low. The AI Blade looks to be a promising option.

 

[Matt Bravo]

Not sure yet, I'd like to keep the lid so evaporation stays low. The AI Blade looks to be a promising option.

Definitely keep a lid on. Helps a lot with evaporation. And I gotta agree with acroconut. Less is better since it’s such a small system. And I strongly reccomend considering an ai prime 16. Especially since you eventually want to keep a monti. Anyway start with just 2 zoas and remember to dip them. Zoas can carry a crazy amount of pest IME. Tbh you don’t have to wait 8 months for corals. You can do in like 3 months realistically. Only put in softies though. Move on to LPS after you see your zoa growing new head monthly. (No surviving does not mean growing remember that) and I would reccomend to keep whatever light you are about to run under 10% since there aren’t any corals in. It prevents a ton of algae waiting to grow. And when you do get corals I still reccomend start low in the tank and lights. Hope this helps

 

[Netotek]

Careful on that Pulsing Xenia. It's beautiful but can spread like crazy. As for fish in the 13.5....less is best. I have a Picasso Clown and Neon Goby in mine, and am glad I held to that. If you're like me you'll be looking to move up in tank size in the near future. My tank is packed with coral right now, and I can hardly wait until my new system is set up. I'm not a newbie to reefing either which has been a big help in keeping things somewhat stable in this little system. Don't know if the recent video will post but does show some of my tank. It's a full house.

Your tank looks great.

What do you have for a cleanup crew?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Hi Everyone,
As my tank cycles (Fluval 13.5G), and as I am trying to patiently wait, I'm trying to plan out the corals. I'm still doing research and I want to give the Corals room to go, so I mocked up a picture of my tank.

I'd like to do;
Grape Corals or frogspawn or bubble corals in the bottom left
Pipe organ corals on the upper left
a birdsnest on top
a plating montipora in the center
pulsing xenia to the right of that
and three zoa's on the sand to the right.

Is it too much? is it too little? I wont be adding anything until my tank is nice and stable (8+ months?), I'm in no rush and want to take things slow, and I'll add things slowly as well.

I couldn't get a good top down picture but hopefully you can kinda see what the layout looks like.

Livestock planned:
1 x Clownfish
1 x Royal Gramma
1x Yellow clown Goby

Is that too many? can I add more?

I haven't decided on the CUC yet, I'm not sure how many I should put into the tank after adding the fish.

Any thoughts or feedback would be greatly appreciated, I want to do my best, it's my first try at saltwater.
Thanks.

Fish stocking seems good to me!

 

[Acroconut]

My rock is loaded with mini brittle starfish. I have 2 hermit crabs, 2 large nassarius snails, 4 Trochus snails, 3 Nerite snails, 1 peppermint shrimp, and a couple larger brittle stars that I never see much of other than their long arms appearing from under my rock at feeding time. I also keep patches of PomPom algae behind my rock work for nutrient export. It grows pretty fast so I have to thin it out every few weeks, but I love the red color.