What’s the # of livestock I can have in a 16 gal Biocube?

[LuisJr80]

Hi all,

Today I’m getting my fist fish for my new tank (16gal Biocube). I’m going to start with a clownfish but have been reading that they can grow up to 4in and I’ve also read not get an anemone if the tank is leas than 30gal.

What would you says is the recommend amount of fish and livestock I can hold in my 16gal tank?

 

[Dan_P]

Hi all,

Today I’m getting my fist fish for my new tank (16gal Biocube). I’m going to start with a clownfish but have been reading that they can grow up to 4in and I’ve also read not get an anemone if the tank is leas than 30gal.

What would you says is the recommend amount of fish and livestock I can hold in my 16gal tank?

There is less than 16 gallons because rock and sand take up space.

 

[LuisJr80]

There is less than 16 gallons because rock and sand take up space.

True…say -20% substrates (rock/sand), I have a 13 gal (give or take)…what # then of vertebrate/invertebrates?

 

[killer2001]

Here's what I would do if I had your setup, my opinion of course...

2 clownfish
1 shrimp goby + pistol shrimp
15 dwarf cerith snails
5 nassarius snails
2 bumblebee snails
2 trochus snails

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I've got 4 small fish in my 15 gallon (RG, Chalk, Sharknose, and rehead), I would say thats the max for my tank. I've got about 6 snails, 2 bumblebeen shrimp a couple of hermit and emeralds, along with soft corals and RFA's. Just to give you an idea....

 

[Dan_P]

True…say -20% substrates (rock/sand), I have a 13 gal (give or take)…what # then of vertebrate/invertebrates?

I see a couple good suggestions in this post

 

[RedoubtReef]

if it were me, I'd do a goby and pistol shrimp display. Specifically, a Dracula goby and pistol shrimp. Then maybe add a firefish or PJ cardinal.

 

[Nano sapiens]

Many variables as to how much bioload one can properly manage in a small nano. This is what I would suggest after maintaining a nano for 14 years and learning from past mistakes.

IMO, it's most important in the beginning to start with no more than one small fish, but have a varied CUC. Newly setup systems typically do not have the ability to process large amounts of waste (fishes are our number one polluters) properly and the result is excess nutrients/algae growth. Minimizing fish at the beginning means your CUC has a better chance to crop the algae growth so you don't have to (hopefully) and you don't have to ration food to control nutrients since it's only one fish.

After a few months when corals and other animals have been added and the bacterial community is settled, the capacity to process waste will be greater and another small fish or possibly two can be added.

As to the ultimate holding capacity, that largely depends on the type of fish and/or invert (fish overall size/bulk and metabolism need to be considered) and your maintenance routine (what you do and how regular you do it). The more WC/export of uneaten and partially decomposed foods/detritus, the more livestock the system can hold. Also of importance is how well stocked the system is with coral, sponges, etc. as they will consume/sequester nutrients that would otherwise feed algae and so more fish/inverts can theoretically be accomodated.

This might be more than you wanted to hear and goes beyond the standard '3-4 fish is fine' response, but in the end it's really a question of attempting to maintain an import/export balance at each particular stage of your system's evolution that provides the nutrients it needs to function properly, but doesn't go overboard and potentially create a eutrophic algae mess.

 

[davidcalgary29]

A pair of captive-bred orchid dottybacks will live inside the aquascape and add a huge splash of colour. Add a pygmy whitespotted filefish and a shrimp and goby pair, and you'll have lots of interest in the tank.

I'd also get a little bear conch for the susbstrate and a couple of trochus snails. If you add them first, they'll multiply before subsequent spawns are eaten by the fish.

 

[LuisJr80]

Thank you for all your feedback!!

I got myself 2 clownfish (common and black ocellaris), 5 trochus snails, 1 cerith, 1 cleaner shrimp, and a starfish.

So far so good!!

 

[WheatToast]

... and a starfish...

Do you have any pictures?

 

[LuisJr80]

Do you have any pictures?

I posted a pic of each of my clownfish but my starfish has dug himself under the sand and has not surfaced...is that normal?

 

[WheatToast]

I posted a pic of each of my clownfish but my starfish has dug himself under the sand and has not surfaced...is that normal?

From the behavior you are describing, my guess is that you have a sand-sifting starfish (Astropecten polycanthus). Though they will help to aerate your sandbed, anecdotal evidence suggests they will deplete substrate micro fauna and eventually starve. You might have success manually feeding yours.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sand-sifting-starfish-lets-hear-your-thoughts.292001/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/is-a-sand-sifting-star-worth-it.877034/

 

[doubleshot00]

I wouldn’t go more than 4. And tread lightly on the pistol shrimp and goby combo. I never see mine and they burry things they don’t like. Very annoying.

 

[LuisJr80]

From the behavior you are describing, my guess is that you have a sand-sifting starfish (Astropecten polycanthus). Though they will help to aerate your sandbed, anecdotal evidence suggests they will deplete substrate micro fauna and eventually starve. You might have success manually feeding yours.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sand-sifting-starfish-lets-hear-your-thoughts.292001/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/is-a-sand-sifting-star-worth-it.877034/

Is it bad for the tank for it deplete micro fauna?

 

[RedoubtReef]

Is it bad for the tank for it deplete micro fauna?

Yes, and bad for the starfish as they starve once that food is gone.

 

[WheatToast]

Yes, and bad for the starfish as they starve once that food is gone.

+1. These (the starfish's diet is said to include juvenile bivalve and gastropod mollusks, other very small invertebrates, and biofilms) will help with keeping the sandbed clean and stable, though diversity is often already lacking in most live sands and absent in dry sand.

 

[LuisJr80]

He finally came out after all the lights are off. I’m going to try to feed him Hikari Seaweed pellets like in this video I found on YouTube.