Another fish stocking advice thread - Nuvo 16

[Steve973]

Hey, all. This has to be one of the top 25 questions asked on this forum, so I figured that I'd take my turn to ask people (who preferably have SPS) for some stocking advice.

First, let me describe my setup and my maintenance routine. I have an IM Nuvo 16 with about 20 or so pounds of dry rock and arag-alive sand. I have a Spectrapure ATO to maintain SG stability at 1.026 and I'm running at 80 degrees +/- 1 degree. I will be running InTank media baskets with (probably) BRS carbon, chemipure (maybe/probably elite) and gfo. I'll have the InTank fuge basket and I'll be growing chaeto in there. I'll also be using the IM ghost skimmer. I also do approximately 5 gallon water changes weekly. As far as I can estimate, this should be pretty good for nutrient export.

Now to the fish stocking questions... I was originally thinking of getting two small (around an inch) ocellaris clownfish. I'm pretty confident that two really small clowns won't be too terribly bad, but they obviously grow larger and that is when I see potential problems, especially for sps like acropora, etc. My other idea is to get one clownfish and something like a purple (or orchid) pseudochromis or maybe even a six-line wrasse. I'm just trying to judge whether two fish in my tank will end up making sps too much of a challenge later on. Let me know what you think.

[SomeWonderfulNonsense]

Hello!

I would not do a clownfish and a chromis. The two would most likely start fighting over territory. The two clownfish might be OK, but I couldn't say for sure. They are sorta messy and they can get territorial at times. If they two do not like each other it might be difficult. That being said i've seen paired ones together and they looked fine.

 

I have a 14 gallon tank with a royal gramma and I thought it would be fine since he was small but he grew much bigger, he spends most of his time in/around his cave and he is doing great but I do wish he had more space.

 

If you are looking into getting multiple fish I'd look into the smaller gobies or dartfish. Maybe a pygmy wrasse if you are looking for something that is active.

[BoxKing]

I have basically the same setup as you do with just a little less LR. I do 2.5 Gal water changes every 7-10 days. With your 5 Gal weekly changes, I'd say you have/will keep proper nutrient levels for all of your corals and fish; not to mention you will have a skimmer to filter out waste.

 

Currently I have 2 Grade A Picasso Clowns (pricey) that were bought at ~ 1" in size. I bought them from the clownfishdepot (FB) - with a WYSIWYG video so that I could choose the exact ones I wanted. Clowns will usually get along when they're both this size- or similar in size, for neither of them has taken on their sex yet, but will show aggression once the Female is determined. I also have a Sixline Wrasse 1.25". All my tank mates get along just fine. I have been flirting with the idea of adding a Red Scooter Blenny sometime in the near future, and that would prolly be the max load for me. I have a small clean up crew. Adding a white/red porcelain crab, and possibly 2-3 sexy shrimp (might fall victim to the Sixline??). My RBTA is what I watch closely - if she is happy, mostly everything else in the tank looks great.

 

I know the clowns will get bigger in time, but I wont have a major concern about them for another 1.5-2 years down the road, and by then, I'll most likely be looking into a tank that is similar to the IM 30L

[jedimaster1138]

Two occellaris clown fish would be fine. I have a bonded pair in a 10g nano for a few years that loses a lot of space to an in tank skimmer. They are quite happy and rarely leave their big rose anemone except for food anyway. Clowns don't swim around a lot in my experience. Even the pair in my big 5 foot reef rarely move from a 12" radius around their nest.

 

Chromis have bad attitude, even in a big tank (I had 4 in a 120g long, it was...well it's a long story, but eventually I had 0 chromis)

 

Sixline's also can have attitude.

 

The Firefish is a fine addition though. Very mellow fish. Just make sure you have a tight lid...they jump...

[Nepenthe]

I've had my two clownfish in my Nuvo for a couple of years now with no issues, they tend to stick with their host and not really move around the whole tank anyways. I had a firefish for awhile but he was getting beat to hell.

[Steve973]

Thanks for the replies. With two clownfish, are any of you successfully keeping SPS? By "successfully", I am talking about good coloration and polyp extension.