15g column nano reef

[beau1990]

So a coworker of mine is setting up his first mini reef and I'd figure I'd ask you guys your thoughts on stocking and all that that entails. So what would you go for? I stick to fresh water so this one is a bit out of my element

 

[The Masked Shadow]

I would go for gobies, or a pair of clowns, or coral crouchers

 

[phreeflow]

15 gallons is too small for a pair of clownfish. Inverts have a negligible effect on water quality compared to fish so your friend can stack it with corals but needs to be very careful about adding too many fish. Maybe a goby and pistol shrimp combo or a fire fish might be fun. The biggest problem is controlling temps in tank that small. Also important to have a protein skimmer

 

[xenacanth9]

I agree with the goby/pistol shrimp combo. Here's a cool fish that you could possibly put in there instead:

https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/1483/?pcatid=1483

I have no saltwater tanks and really want some of these, so I could live vicariously through you lol. Not to be confused with Gobiesox, which use the same common name "clingfish," and are very different. I have posted about the latter before

 

[beau1990]

So here's what he has gone for as far as stocking goes. I don't know anything about saltwater, some day, Mayne. Is there anything I should tell him or advise him on or does this look ok

 

[Deadeye]

Has the tank been cycled? Did he quarantine? If no for both, I don’t count on that lasting long…
Doesn’t look like it’s been cycled long (I’d just expect it to look a lot dirtier), but I could be wrong. I very much believe that in marine tanks quarantine cannot be avoided. I lost a lot of fish because I didn’t.
So far the stocking seems fine but I wouldn’t get any more, no more than 4 fish in a tank that size. Clown pairs are 50/50 in small tanks. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. In my experience the female rejected and killed the male.
Watchman is good, but I’d get a pistol to go with it.
Chromis is fine, just watch as they are uronema magnets.
Looks like a mocha and an occy clown. Designer clowns are supposed to be very aggressive compared to wild type, so I wouldn’t be surprised if down the line it becomes the female and kills the male. That’s what happened with mine.

I agree with the goby/pistol shrimp combo. Here's a cool fish that you could possibly put in there instead:

https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/1483/?pcatid=1483

I have no saltwater tanks and really want some of these, so I could live vicariously through you lol. Not to be confused with Gobiesox, which use the same common name "clingfish," and are very different. I have posted about the latter before

I like those guys. Very bad beginner fish though, as they are very much like seahorses or dragonettes in their dietary needs. They need very mature tanks to thrive.

 

[eon aquatics]

my experience is that any time there is gravel or substrate it requires siphoning although i may have found a way around this

 

[Deadeye]

my experience is that any time there is gravel or substrate it requires siphoning although i may have found a way around this

You’d be surprised. I really slowed down on the gravel siphoning and have not noticed any adverse effects.
I don’t even clean the substrate in my reef tank.

 

[eon aquatics]

I might try using activated carbon and or zeolite inside fine filter bags as substrate

 

[Deadeye]

I wouldn’t, not going to make cleaning any easier and I wouldn’t want fish attempting to eat that stuff.