First Fish Drop Advice?

[RedPhotog]

Hello NRC, newbie here at the forums, slightly beginner to moderate aquarist. I was just wondering what the community thought about dropping in multiple fish at once, and I was wondering, does a shrimp count as a fish? Do they give off the same waste as fish do? 

 

Anyway, I have a 10g tank that’s done cycling, little over a month old. I have about 9 lbs of LFS bought cured LR on top of 20 lbs of live sand. The tank is a 10g, but it has a 20 water filter on it with a Koralia 240. I get very nice water movement and filtration, ammonia and nitrites are 0, nitrates in between 10-15 (doing a WC tomorrow). 

 

My question is, my daughter really wants a clownfish, I thought a ground creature like a watchman goby with a pistol shrimp would be cool to balance the tank. Is the 2 fish and 1 shrimp too much for a 10g with that setup? Does a shrimp count in an inch per gallon rule? And can or should I drop all three at once if we’re going to, to avoid issues between the 3. I want everyone to be chill, shrimp and goby to meet without clownfish aggression, or is a false percula juvenile not too much to worry about in the beginning. 

 

Anyway, looking forward to interacting with the community. First time I’ve been a part of something like this. Really enjoying learning more about this wonderful hobby. Thanks in advance everyone! 

[Tamberav]

inch per gallon rule is just some bullshit someone made up.

 

Those two fish in a 10g will be okay but I would not add them both at the same time. The tank will need to adjust to new inhabitants. 

 

I would do the goby + shrimp 1st.. wait a few weeks then add the clown if all is going well. Shrimp is tiny and won't have the bioload a fish will.

 

15 Nitrates a bit high if you plan on corals. 5 would be a nice number to aim for. May be a bit high for the shrimp as well, they are more sensitive than fish.

 

I am assuming water filter is a HOB filter, be sure it isn't some wheel one and don't use a sponge, ect. Should just be disposable floss + carbon/purigen and those types of things.

 

If you plan on corals, use RODI or distilled water if you already aren't.

 

Welcome to the addiction.

 

 

[RedPhotog]

Thanks for the response, really appreciate it. I do have a bio wheel HOB, that’s why I went up from 75 to 100gph. Added the pump for extra flow. 

 

I had huge success with my eclipse bio wheel 30g years ago. I know there are other more sopshisticated filters out there, but having 2 young kids while working, the ease of the wheel filtration along with routine steady maintenance seems to be going really well for me. 

 

Thanks again for the reply. Do you have any recommendations on upgrading to a different filter? 

[WV Reefer]

I agree... the one inch per gallon rule is made up. 

 

I also agree about the bio-wheel ...... I’d keep the HOB just lose the bio wheel..... it will only cause you problems.  

 

I love my pistol shrimp and watchman goby but I would never put them in a tank that small. Mine are in my 75 Gallon and they make a huge mess. In a 10 Gallon that could be a major problem when they steal and cover up Corals.  —-Just food for thought. 

[Tamberav]

An aqua clear or seachem tidal is an appropriate hob. 

 

The point of a bio wheel is that the filter gets exposed to air and water... This promotes the growth of nitrate producing bacteria. It's great for freshwater or fish only systems where you have a lot of waste and ammonia you need to process quickly. 

 

It is however flawed in a reef tank with live rock where you plan to have shrimp or corals. You are increasing your Nitrates with a filter then trying to keep them under control at the same time with water changes. You are basically fighting yourself.

 

You want to encourage denitrifying bacteria by having good flow through your live rock and use a filter for mechanical waste removal with disposable filter floss and carbon to lower nitrate to help control waste before breaks down into Nitrate. 

 

[RedPhotog]

So lose the biowheel and just keep the carbon filter cartridge? What problems will the biowheel cause? 

[WV Reefer]

47 minutes ago, RedPhotog said:

So lose the biowheel and just keep the carbon filter cartridge? What problems will the biowheel cause? 

It will be a “factory” for nitrates. 

[jambon]

The black ray goby or a Yasha goby would be a smart choise for a 10 gallon tank along with a randall shrimp... They are both only an inch long and are just as interesting to watch with less bio load.

[shoonjai]

On 5/10/2018 at 1:20 PM, RedPhotog said:

So lose the biowheel and just keep the carbon filter cartridge? What problems will the biowheel cause? 

I would lose the biowheel and use filter floss cut to size and change it out every week or a couple times a week depending on your bioload and how dirty it gets. It's cheap so changing it out shouldn't cost much, but failure to do so will create nitrate problems, etc. just like the biowheel. Staying on top of maintenance is key and if you precut the filter floss changing it out will only take 25 seconds or less. Nice and easy.

 

Filter floss example: https://intankaquatics.com/intank-bonded-poly-filter-floss-value-pack-3-pads/

 

I would also lose the premade carbon cartridges made for specific HOB filters such as the one yours probably came with. I would buy my own carbon and media bags and bag my carbon myself and put that into the HOB after the filter floss. There are a lot of different carbons out there so you could go with whichever one you decide on; I currently use ROX 0.8 and a super fine mesh media bag.

 

You could also use something like purigen as well and bag that up too and run it in conjunction with the carbon.

 

Or if you wanna keep things simple since your tank is only 10g, you could run filter floss and then use the nano version of chemi-pure blue and change those out as needed.

 

Nano Chemi-Pure Blue: https://www.amazon.com/Boyds-Chemi-Pure-Blue-Nano-Aquarium/dp/B00VXIA3XM/ref=sr_1_3?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1530135118&sr=1-3&keywords=chemipure+blue&dpID=51BU2IOXz9L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

[RedPhotog]

23 hours ago, shoonjai said:

I would lose the biowheel and use filter floss cut to size and change it out every week or a couple times a week depending on your bioload and how dirty it gets. It's cheap so changing it out shouldn't cost much, but failure to do so will create nitrate problems, etc. just like the biowheel. Staying on top of maintenance is key and if you precut the filter floss changing it out will only take 25 seconds or less. Nice and easy.

 

Filter floss example: https://intankaquatics.com/intank-bonded-poly-filter-floss-value-pack-3-pads/

 

I would also lose the premade carbon cartridges made for specific HOB filters such as the one yours probably came with. I would buy my own carbon and media bags and bag my carbon myself and put that into the HOB after the filter floss. There are a lot of different carbons out there so you could go with whichever one you decide on; I currently use ROX 0.8 and a super fine mesh media bag.

 

You could also use something like purigen as well and bag that up too and run it in conjunction with the carbon.

 

Or if you wanna keep things simple since your tank is only 10g, you could run filter floss and then use the nano version of chemi-pure blue and change those out as needed.

 

Nano Chemi-Pure Blue: https://www.amazon.com/Boyds-Chemi-Pure-Blue-Nano-Aquarium/dp/B00VXIA3XM/ref=sr_1_3?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1530135118&sr=1-3&keywords=chemipure+blue&dpID=51BU2IOXz9L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

What are the concerns in using pre made carbon carts for HOB? 

[Floundering_Around]

Rinsing them out only last so long and they too will become a nitrate factory. Plus, when you throw them out you throw out all the beneficial bacteria. Not as much of a problem compared to freshwater tanks which generally have less surface area. I would personally just use filter floss and a bag of media. Three dollars for a big bag of floss that catches smaller particles than the filter cartridge.