Anything about Saltwater?

[The Masked Shadow]

Hey guys, I was thinking about a small MICRO saltwater tank. I would not go over 10 gallons. I was wondering the cost, what fish would be good, and other things.

Corals:
2 or 3 Soft corals (any ideas)

Fish:

A Madagascar Coral Croucher (SO STINKIN’ CUTE!!!)
And that’s all. I would of course want more, but Madagascar Coral Crouchers are so cute. Any other fish (active) that are reef friendly (like a community fish)??

 

[Deadeye]

I just recently set up a nano reef. I would recommend the fluval evo 13.5. It has just about all of the basic requirements short of a heater, so you save money on filtration (granted it’s not the best filter). It’s also relatively cheap. The tank was about 160 dollars if I’m correct. The real cost is in sand, live rock, and coral.

For corals i would recommend leathers, Zoas, Xenia, mushrooms, green star polyps, and down the line a frogspawn/hammer/torch. For corals, the more the merrier to create the reef effect.

For fish, other small gobies are good. Something like neons, clowna, or firefish.
Clownfish and royal grammas are also good, but a bit meaner, about the same temperament as a dwarf cichlid.

Definitely also look into emerald crabs, hermit crabs, snails, and peppermint shrimp.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

I just recently set up a nano reef. I would recommend the fluval evo 13.5. It has just about all of the basic requirements short of a heater, so you save money on filtration (granted it’s not the best filter). It’s also relatively cheap. The tank was about 160 dollars if I’m correct. The real cost is in sand, live rock, and coral.

For corals i would recommend leathers, Zoas, Xenia, mushrooms, green star polyps, and down the line a frogspawn/hammer/torch. For corals, the more the merrier to create the reef effect.

For fish, other small gobies are good. Something like neons, clowna, or firefish.
Clownfish and royal grammas are also good, but a bit meaner, about the same temperament as a dwarf cichlid.

Definitely also look into emerald crabs, hermit crabs, snails, and peppermint shrimp.

Thanks! I have looked into corrals and noticed they seem hardy and relatively easy. I would like it to be 10 gallons. Is that big enough for a clown fish?

Stocklist as of now:

1 Madagascar Croucher
1 Royal Gramma Basslet (had a good laugh over that one)
1 Goby type (I dunno what type)
And an active fish

Clean up crew:
1 Banded Coral Shrimp
Some Emerald Crabs
5 Snails (i dunno what snails)

 

[Deadeye]

Definitely enough for a clown. The real trick is being good with water changes and having good filtration. It will help to keep them all alive.
I definitely recommend neon gobies because they eat ich and other parasites off of other fish.
You should only get one emerald crab because one is efficient enough for up to 30 gallons. Mine spends all day patrolling the tank, and does a very good job with algae. Too many will just compete for food.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

Ok. Thanks, Deadeye! What about snails?

Stock list:

1 Coral Croucher
1 Neon Goby
1 Royal Gramma Basslet
1 Clownfish (just classical clownfish tho)
1 Emerald crab

What about a Banded Coral shrimp?
You think it would be good with an emerald crab?

what about this list of corals and one more larger coral?

https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/6874/assorted-maricultured-soft-coral-3-pack?pcatid=6874&c=597+600+6874

An anemone for the clown?

 

[phreeflow]

It all depends on the size of the tank. For a small reef, the biggest challenge is temperature. Make sure it doesn’t get too hot. You can literally pack a little reef with soft corals and inverts with little effect on water quality but fish adds lots of waste so don’t add too many fish. Also, clownfish can be aggressive and get to a good size. Try something comical like a bicolor blenny or a goby/pistol shrimp combo

 

[Deadeye]

In my fluval 13.5, I’ve got a turbo snail, astrea snail, and one that I’m not 100% sure on species (I think it’s a nassarius but it came as a hitchhiker so I’m not too sure). Ceriths are also very good from what I’ve read.
If you get hermit crabs, provide shells so they don’t kill the snails for them.
For the fish, your best bet to keep them all happy is lots of territory, clowns and grammas can get mean (nowhere near damsels though). Aggression tends to be based on individual fish. Pick the smallest, nicest clown. Most grammas are all bark and no bite.
All those corals are good, leathers are nearly indestructible. Xenia and green star would also be good. Most important part for coral is proper flow and lighting.
The only anemone for the tank is a bubble tip, but in so small a tank it will move around and sting corals. A frogspawn/torch/hammer coral would be better, they still sting but can’t move, and look like anemones and the clown will host in it. Clowns don’t need something to host in though.
Coral banded shrimp should be fine, but have a reputation for attacking corals. I would recommend peppermint only because they eat parasitic anemones. An emerald shouldn’t bother them, shrimp are faster and emeralds are more of algae eaters.
One more thing:
QUARANTINE YOUR FISH!!!!
I made the mistake of not doing that AND buying from petco, not a good combo. One wave of what looked like a combo of ich, velvet, and brooklynella all at once and lost all fish except the firefish, gonna put him in quarantine to kill whatever the disease was.

Also, don’t boil live rock, look up palytoxin poisoning and you’ll thank me.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

Ok. Thanks guys!

Any specific leather corals or soft corals you would recommend? So maybe not a clown. Maybe the neon goby with a piston shrimp? Thanks all! This is just an idea for when I am aloud to get a tank. Can yupou guys recommend places to get corals or live rock? They seem pretty expensive. Also, why was your tank so much, Deadeye?

 

[The Masked Shadow]

New obsession: Green Clown Goby instead of Coral Croucher. HE LOOKS SO DERPY!!!! As well as a Neon GoBy, an Emerald Crab, a Wheeler’s Shrimp Goby, and a Red Banded Snapping Shrimp.

 

[Deadeye]

Sounds good for stocking. Only recommendation would be adding a more active fish to the list.
I don’t have any specific leathers to recommend, but the best would probably be weeping willow, devils hand, or toadstool. Other soft corals are Xenia, green star, or zoanthids. All look really nice and grow fast. Nearly indestructible too. I got most of my stuff at petco, I regret it. Online is good, but corals may not doo well in transfer. Finding a good lfs nearby is the best bet.
The tank was about $160, but it is a 13.5 gallon that comes with all of the required lighting (corals need specific lighting to live) and filtration. All you need is a heater. It’s not the best lighting or filtration, but is adequate for beginner corals and fish. It winds up being cheaper than buying individual parts.
Next cost is live rock, it depends on the seller, but averages about $5-8 per pound, I would put about 7-10 pounds in a ten gallon. I think I only have about 10 pounds in my tank.
Then fish, most of the ones you listed go for $10-20, which isn’t too bad. Most of the clean up crew is also pretty cheap, not sure about pistol shrimp pricing though.
Then the fun part... coral.
Expect to spend a lot on coral, I probably have about $250-300 worth in my tank, and only have 5 leathers, a zoa, Xenia, and torch. My recommendation to save money, buy a few cheap corals that grow fast, and drag them when you need to or let them spread on their own. It does take a while.
It is expensive, but totally worth it at the end of the day!