(15g) new to saltwater, many questions!

Hi all!

I recently purchased a 15 gallon AIO tank from Waterbox along with some equipment (light, heater, thermometer, ATO, mesh lid). I will not be running a skimmer.

I have done lots of research and I have experience with a 40 gallon freshwater planted tank already but I still have some questions so bear with me

1. I want to prevent dinoflagellates but I have seen conflicting information online, how do I prevent this scourge from infesting my tank?

2. Phosphates. Good levels they should be at? What produces them? What do they do?

3. How effectively will rock that has been sitting in a tank at my lfs for months (can’t get real wild live rock in my area) cycle my tank along with live sand and possibly bottled bacteria? Will it be instant?

Now, on to my stocking plan + questions:

I only want to have 1 fish but I would like lots of inverts, as I love sw inverts! For the fish I would like something hardy but also interesting able to be seen a good amount. I do not want clownfish.

As for inverts, I will include a “wish list” of possible interest species below but I am open to all recommendations! This list does not mean I want to put all these species together. It’s just ones I’m interested in.

CUC inverts:
- trochus snails
- nassarius snails
- cerith snails?
- astrea snails?
- hermit crabs (maybe blue leg)? (Will put empty shells in tank for them)
-tuxedo urchin???? (Bmaybe)

Other inverts:

- Blue coral banded shrimp (stenopus tenurirostis)??
- Fire shrimp (REALLY like these guys)
- Pom pom crab?
- Peppermint shrimp?
- Pistol shrimp??? (Another big maybe, only if it won’t be aggressive would I get it, also I would get a goby with it and that would be my single fish)

My overall stocking plan is an invert-focused tank with one noteworthy fish. I will not be having corals or macro-algae.

 

Hi, welcome to Fishlore. (sometimes SW people take awhile)
You're questions are wided and varied.

1) Dinos - I don't know much about, I never experienced them in my setup.
2) Phosphates - depends if you're keeping corals, generally sub 4ppm can be ok, less if possible (closer to zero the better), >4 worked for me.
What causes them? "decay" is the main cause, it's a natural part of life.
3) Live rock - you want to trust your local person. All natural live rock runs the risk of hitch-hikers, both benficial and bad. But, if the rock is sitting there without an ammonia source, it's useless, just wet rock. You have to assess each situation.
If you trust them, and it's good, you can cycle quicker, possibly. I got my rock straight off GBR, but gave it 10days.

Haven't really reviewed your stocking list, but it seems ambitious

 

Hi, welcome to Fishlore. (sometimes SW people take awhile)
You're questions are wided and varied.

1) Dinos - I don't know much about, I never experienced them in my setup.
2) Phosphates - depends if you're keeping corals, generally sub 4ppm can be ok, less if possible (closer to zero the better), >4 worked for me.
What causes them? "decay" is the main cause, it's a natural part of life.
3) Live rock - you want to trust your local person. All natural live rock runs the risk of hitch-hikers, both benficial and bad. But, if the rock is sitting there without an ammonia source, it's useless, just wet rock. You have to assess each situation.
If you trust them, and it's good, you can cycle quicker, possibly. I got my rock straight off GBR, but gave it 10days.

Haven't really reviewed your stocking list, but it seems ambitious

Hello!

Thanks for the tips on my questions.

As for my “stocking list” I want to reiterate that the list is simply a list of species I like and does not mean I want to put all of those species together in a 15 gallon. I don’t know too much about saltwater fish or inverts so I’m just trying to find recommendations at this point.

In general, I just want one nice fish (I want less fish bioload so I can have more inverts) as well as a CUC and a couple interesting “display” inverts.

 

I'm no expert, so take my words with a grain of salt.
CUC will work for you. but maybe drop off the crabs and asthreas.

But a 15G (IIRC), maybe pistol/gobie shrimp pair would work.
Or, what I love, a mantis shrimp on it's own - they are so intelligent.

 

I'm no expert, so take my words with a grain of salt.
CUC will work for you. but maybe drop off the crabs and asthreas.

But a 15G (IIRC), maybe pistol/gobie shrimp pair would work.
Or, what I love, a mantis shrimp on it's own - they are so intelligent.

The shrimp/goby pair is something I considered but I’m not sure how much I would like the shrimp digging everywhere.

Mantis shrimp definitely not lol. My tank is very much made of glass.

Just curious, why are astrea snails not recommended? I don’t know much about them (or any saltwater fish/invert for that matter) I just heard they were good.

Hi all!

I recently purchased a 15 gallon AIO tank from Waterbox along with some equipment (light, heater, thermometer, ATO, mesh lid). I will not be running a skimmer.

I have done lots of research and I have experience with a 40 gallon freshwater planted tank already but I still have some questions so bear with me

1. I want to prevent dinoflagellates but I have seen conflicting information online, how do I prevent this scourge from infesting my tank?

2. Phosphates. Good levels they should be at? What produces them? What do they do?

3. How effectively will rock that has been sitting in a tank at my lfs for months (can’t get real wild live rock in my area) cycle my tank along with live sand and possibly bottled bacteria? Will it be instant?

Now, on to my stocking plan + questions:

I only want to have 1 fish but I would like lots of inverts, as I love sw inverts! For the fish I would like something hardy but also interesting able to be seen a good amount. I do not want clownfish.

As for inverts, I will include a “wish list” of possible interest species below but I am open to all recommendations! This list does not mean I want to put all these species together. It’s just ones I’m interested in.

CUC inverts:
- trochus snails
- nassarius snails
- cerith snails?
- astrea snails?
- hermit crabs (maybe blue leg)? (Will put empty shells in tank for them)
-tuxedo urchin???? (Bmaybe)

Other inverts:

- Blue coral banded shrimp (stenopus tenurirostis)??
- Fire shrimp (REALLY like these guys)
- Pom pom crab?
- Peppermint shrimp?
- Pistol shrimp??? (Another big maybe, only if it won’t be aggressive would I get it, also I would get a goby with it and that would be my single fish)

My overall stocking plan is an invert-focused tank with one noteworthy fish. I will not be having corals or macro-algae.

Adding on to my original post here, I actually might want softies down the line so the statement about no coral is not entirely true anymore (just wont have lps or sps). No peppermint shrimp for me now I guess lol.