Help with 13.5 fish list

[McCune]

So I am setting up a fluval 13.5 in my office in the middle school looking for advice on fish. I was thinking a pair of clowns but that would absolutely max the tank with those two I would like to do 3-4 small fish in the tank if I could. Let me know that you guys think for fish in this tank.

 

[patback]

Fwiw you can do the two clowns If you want and have lots of different inverts. They basically add nothing to bioload.  Otherwise,  you are looking at different goby species and some of the smaller blennies. 

[LongBeachReefer]

You be fine with two clowns and a small goby. Stay away from large clowns like maroons. 

[straydog]

I would go with pigmy angel, yellow cardinal , hifingoby pistol pair and maybe a barnacle blenny

[Woody1911a1]

2 ocelarris clowns and a firefish goby in mine .  happy campers . 

[medinar83]

I have 2 small ocelarris clowns and 1 Med size phantom clown best friends, same tank you are planning on getting 

[McCune]

Looking st a tailspin blenny and maybe a small goby with a pair of clowns. Tank will house mostly Zoas

[jesseatam]

Definitely no angel, if you want to keep a pair of clowns in that tank I wouldn't put anything else with them. Clowns can be territorial and aren't exactly the "cleanest" fish, I also feel like a lot of people underestimate how big clowns can really get. Personally I wouldn't try to put anymore than 3 fish not even due to just bioload but also available territory. Then again it all really depends on what fish exactly you're looking at besides the clowns, I'm just making a generalization.

[banasophia]

On 8/15/2018 at 11:44 AM, McCune said:

Looking st a tailspin blenny and maybe a small goby with a pair of clowns. Tank will house mostly Zoas

Since you mentioned this is for a middle school, I thought I would just make sure you are aware of palytoxin as a risk with some zoas and palys... I personally do not keep those corals to avoid the risk. There was an article in the March/April 2018 volume of Coral Magazine on the subject - “Palytoxin in the Aquarium: A Real Health Risk.”

[Clown79]

10 hours ago, banasophia said:

Since you mentioned this is for a middle school, I thought I would just make sure you are aware of palytoxin as a risk with some zoas and palys... I personally do not keep those corals to avoid the risk. There was an article in the March/April 2018 volume of Coral Magazine on the subject - “Palytoxin in the Aquarium: A Real Health Risk.”

The problem with palytoxin is it's not just in Zoas/paly's.

 

It also found in dino's, fish, other corals 

 

That being said, in a school tank I wouldn't house zoas/paly's to prevent any issues.

 

There are so many other corals that pose less of a possible risk

 

2 clowns in a 13.5 is fine. Possibly adding a small goby but its pushing it since 13.5 isn't 13.5 gallons and territory can be an issue 

 

The higher the bioload the more work to maintain the aquarium

[McCune]

Had no intention of keeping palys which are generally the most prevalent to have any issues with palytoxin.

 

Going to colorful low maintaince corals. Never had any issues with Zoanthids before and won’t be dragging anything st school. 

[McCune]

I only want to keep soft corals in the tank so it’s easy to maintain no dosing. I would love to do mushrooms but I only like rics and bounces and both grow slow and cost a decent amount