stocking advice

[@marko@]

here is what i was thinking on stocking in my 30 gal reef.
2 picasso perculas
1 helfrichs firefish
and maybe 1 scalet shrimp OR 1 blue neon goby - but thats not til after few months.

am i trying to put too much?
i have a small fuge with cheato, and a relatively good skimmer (for the size).

 

[mnat]

That is a good stock list, actually understocked. The only caveat to that is when clowns begin to spawn they can become aggressive. When you stock a nano (we had a 30g cube for a few years), you just have to pay attention to where the fish "live" in the water column. For example, the clowns will generally find a spot and stay there, they will swim around some but are not crazy active swimmers. The helfrichi will swim out in the water column most of the time. A neon goby is all over the place but they are so small you could do a pair with no problem. You should look at a goby pistol pair as they live down at the bottom in the rock work. There are a lot of fun fish out there for a 30g. Most of the fish on our stock list will do fine in a 30g so you can take a look at that.

 

[@marko@]

oh i was watching your tanks stock list a lot. and enjoying the eyecandy pics you got up.
i was on the fence about helfrichs, unsure if their color actually look as amazing as i see on sellers websites, but your pic looked even nicer.

earlier today i saw a naoko wrasse in a tank, and was in awe, but that idea got shut down pretty fast since i learned that while they arent big they like to swim around a lot and really shouldnt be in a tank this small.

understocked huh? good. i want to eventually make it an sps dominant tank (as it matures and stabilizes), so low nutrients are gonna be important.
i had a clown pair (true percs) for a few years and they never spawned. if these that i get end up spawning, i imagine the firefish and goby should be fine so long as they dont go too close. and once the eggs hatch the problem is over.

id be worried about the pistol hurting something. and ive seen that the gobies can get by just fine without them. especially with relatively peaceful fish.

about the firefish though, i have the tank covered with a bird mesh cover. like this one: http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f76/diy-netting-cover-for-top-of-tank-103981.html
the firefish wont be able to jump through those holes will it? or do i need to make another one with finer holes? id probably just add a second layer, displaced 50% to have each hole cut in fourths, if i needed to.

 

[mnat]

The easiest thing to do it go to bulk reef supply and get their 1/4 inch clear mesh, nothing is making it through that and clear is always better.

Good call on skipping the naokos, besides the fact that they are active swimmer, they are incredibly aggressive fish.

Helfrichis are real deal that color, swing into AO, they have one on display that we saw on Saturday that was really nice (and I think they are close to you). Since you are in new brunswick, hit up smcooler for SPS, his stuff is amazing.

If you get a candy pistol shrimp, they stay very small and really don't have a track record for aggressiveness. It is just really cool pairing to have and the gobies tend to be happier with a pistol. We have had several in the past without a pistol which have done fine, but with the pistol is really cool.

 

[@marko@]

well my current mesh seems around 1/4". its black so its more visible, but i dont really feel like redoing it just for its color at the moment. if its a finer grade i need, then ill do that no problem, though.

aquatic obsessions? i went in for the first time last week. if they have one that doesnt cost an arm and a leg, and eats prepared or frozen foods, ill buy him this week. tank is ready for fish, and those guys are cool. and i think it might be good to get the firefish in before the clowns.
my tank is only a few weeks old. i just added the first few corals within the past few days. its not ready for SPS yet. but when it is ill be sure to see what smcooler is willing to part with.

ill have to read up on them. ill keep them under consideration til then. but the goby/shrimp is likely to not go in until after another 2-3 months. just so i can be sure the bioloads of the tank are good and that i can add another fish without mucking up my water too much and browning out any acros i may get.

 

[mnat]

Yes aquatic obsessions, it was priced very well, unfortunately their sale ended today, but it is still a good price.

 

[@marko@]

hmm. ill stop by tomorrow evening, see if i can convince them to give it off at sale price, or partway. if not, oh well. i cant give em over $100 for it.

 

[jgraz]

I would double check you screen size. I have screen that is 3/8" which at first glance seems around 1/4". Which is exactly what I thought it was. Went to the store and bought 2 Purple Firefish one was found on the floor by my dog about 2 hrs later. The second I found the next morning. Also if you don't want to spring for the helfrich I highly recommend the purple in it stead. For almost 1/2 the cost the colors are just as nice.

 

[@marko@]

thanks for the suggestion. always good to check twice.
its .5" so im good.

sorry to hear about you fish. thats always a bummer. i had a betta that somehow wormed her way between the light of the tank and the small opening in the back, and was found dead and dried out next to the tank.

yeah, i know about purple firefish. if i cant swing it for the helfrichs, ill likely go with a purple (that was the initial plan til i came across a helfrichs and decided id rather have that). but im not giving up yet.

 

[jgraz]

thanks for the suggestion. always good to check twice.
its .5" so im good.
.

That's 1/2". Way to big for a Firefish

 

[Empire]

go to tropiquarium and take advantage of their buy one get one half off.

 

[@marko@]

holy ****, youre right. i didnt even catch that it was 2x larger than i needed. thanks for the save. that could have ended quite badly...
ok im gonna need to redo the mesh before i add any firefish.

thats a great deal, but i only need 1 helfrichs, and i will most likely get the clowns from a guy i met who said he can ship em in from ora for $45 each.

 

[dppitone]

that's a good list. the advantage of clowns in a nano tank is that they rarely go 6" away from their anemone, so in terms of "space" (rather than water volume) they are very efficient.

 

[@marko@]

glad my plan seems to be solid.
yeah, i had clowns before. the female only ever left the anemone to eat. the male would sometimes go a few inches away.