26 gal stocking

[DCJ]

Hallo forum!

I'm upgrading my 13.5 Fluval to an odd-shaped 26 gallon (15" tall, 24" long, 20" wide at the bottom, 13.5" at the top) with a 2.6 gal refugium (chaeto, 3" biosediment bed, 1 nassarius snail, rock rubble, copepods, maybe mysis - the fuge just drains into the DT without a pump in the way so nothing will be chopped up)

Current stocking plan is as follows:

- Firefish (current resident of the Fluval, very small)
- Tail Spot Blenny
- Royal Gramma
- Orange and Black&White Ocellaris clownfish

That's 5 fish. I wondered if there was room (considering bioloads and territory) for a HI Fin Goby + Pistol Shrimp, a Yellow Clown Goby or a Barnacle Blenny

CUC wise I'll be adding:

- 1 Nassarius snail (from Fluval)
- Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
- Fire Shrimp
- 3 x Red Legged Hermit Crabs (from Fluval)
- 1 x Emerald Crab
- 1 x Conch (Orange-lipped or Strawberry)
- ? x Trochus Snails
- 1 x Tuxedo Urchin
- 1 x Tiger Serpent Sea Star
- Dwarf Feather Duster

Eventually a Maxima or Deresa Clam

I'll be keeping mostly LPS with some softies and a couple of SPS later down the line

Just wanted some feedback on the prospective stocking, especially the potential additional fish. I'm keeping the individuals in the CUC in small groups, but diversifying the types in compensation, though I may try a couple or trio of Dwarf Blue Leg Crabs

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it!

 

[peacockbass]

Hey,
I've never had a saltwater aquarium but that seems like a good fit for a tank of that size. Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[saltwater60]

I’d stick to the 5 fish if you want corals. Also a clam on that size tank will suck up a considerable amount of minerals so I recommend a dozer to keep them stable. Watch how you scape and and what corals you get if that tank is tapered like that. You won’t have much room at all for corals. That’s a weird sized/shaped tank. I’d honestly get a 26 gallon now front or something for some more space. You will need a protein skimmer and strong light for a clam and SPS.

 

[DCJ]

peacockbass Thank you for responding

saltwater60 Thank you for taking the time to reply, I appreciate it I'm planning on monitoring levels and getting a dosing pump once the mag/alk/calc start to drop - I want the CoralBox one, I like its app function and price point.

Yeah, I'm thinking of utilising the front for sandbed corals and building up at the back for the rest. It's a weird shape because its an ex-fish store tank that I picked up for free, so it was a win at the time I'm really poor so I can't afford to buy bigger, just working with what ive got. That said, it is deceptively large.

I've checked out the PAR for my light and it looks like it should support SPS and a clam. I'm not planning on running a protein skimmer, but there's room in the fuge for one or a HOB one if I need to do so.

Thanks again!

 

[saltwater60]

No worries. If your not going to run a skimmer just make sure your keeping up on your water changes and do them a little more frequent.
A dozer will be key if you want to maintain a clam and sps. You will be amazed at how fast those guys use up calcium, alk, and magnesium. It will drop like a rock. Clams grow amazingly fast.
Please post a picture of the tank I’d like to see it. Never seen one like that.

 

[DCJ]

saltwater60 I'm hoping I won't need to! I kind of hate skimmers

I'm really worried about getting a clam, but then again I was worried about setting up a reef tank at all in the beginning - I have a vague/loose plan to dose kalkwasser instead of two-part when the time comes, but I may change my mind on that, we shall have to see

Sure thing! It was part of the bottom row of a bank of tanks, so it has that sloping front for better viewing at that height. The thing lets in a lot of natural light because of it's weird shape though, which was useful when I had Freshwater shellies in there.




The blue colour seems alarming, but you really don't notice it once it's full and I'm planning on transferring my GSP from the wall of the Fluval to the wall of this tank. This is what it looks like with water in it, although I've since drained it and moved it to another location, so it's still currently dry






It's going to be a pain to fill it with rock, I think I'm going to have to glue and epoxy it all from the inside, but, eh.


I have got a query about moving my Fluval into this tank. I think I'm going to go like this:

- put new rock (currently curing) into blue tank, arrange
- add saltwater
- run for a couple days if needed to clear water
- move fish, corals and crabs/snails from Fluval into a temp bucket
- move established rockwork from Fluval to bucket, rinse/shake out, then move into blue tank
- add new sand
- add a handful of sand from the old tank to the new sandbed
- put existing rubble in Fluval back chamber into fuge
- ensure temp/salinity is the same as Fluval tank before putting corals/fish/inverts into blue tank
- dose with Dr Tim's/Microbacter 7/Fritz Enzyme (two or all three?)

Should this method allow a smooth transition with no spikes or cycles restarting? My thinking is that the rock in the Fluval currently supports all critters in the Fluval, so transferring everything over should support the critters once they're moved to the blue tank. The extra bottled bacteria should help with the live rock seeding the 'new' cured rock that I've added

Does that sound like a plan?

Alternatively, I'll add my cured rock to the blue tank and run a cycle on it before moving everything in the Fluval over.

I appreciate your input so far, look forward to hearing more from you!

 

[saltwater60]

Nice tank. If you don’t want to do a slimmer you can probably get away without one. Just make sure you stay in too of water changes.
tank looks great. I’ve seen those. I was just picturing something else.
no problem with the plan to move everything over. It will be fine. Just make sure the “new” rock has gone through the curing and no die off will occur In the new tank and I see no concerns.
keep us updated.