15 Gallon Column Reef Tank

[Larry101]

Hello, I am a newbie to the hobby of saltwater aquarium keeping, but I do have experience with freshwater aquariums even though I know the two are very different. I recently bought a 15 gallon aqueon column tank which is going to be a reef aquarium with corals, live rock, and fish. I have the live sand and dry rock and I spiked the ammonia around 2 weeks ago with raw shrimp (very smelly and I don't ever recommend). I am leaving for a 2 week vacation in 4 weeks so I'm hoping by the time I come back the take will be ready for fish. I am hoping to get 2 clownish for this setup but please let me know what you think about that. Also i will be adding my clean up crew before I leave for vacation. I have an aquaclear 50 HOB filter, a 50 watt heater, and 240gph power head. Once I start with the corals in a couple of months (I want to take this slow as I know patience is key). I am using rodi water with instant ocean sea salt. I would like to know your thoughts on my livestock plans, my equipment in general, lighting recommendations for the corals (I am looking for  a low budget option that will allow me to keep the aquarium hood on as I believe it helps with the evaporaton. Any advise helps as I am a newbie and this is my first tank ever. Thanks!

[Tired]

Leaving for 2 weeks is going to be an issue. Your cleanup crew is going to be very unhappy with no food for that long, since there isn't going to be much for them to eat in a new tank without any lighting. Can you get an auto-feeder to dispense a small amount of food every day for them? 

 

What are the dimensions of the tank? Column tanks often aren't at all ideal, because most fish (excluding seahorses) primarily swim on the horizontal plane. It also means the light level is often way lower at the bottom than the top. You may need a tall rockscape to get certain things close enough to the light, if you go with a cheaper, weaker light. 

 

I'm also not sure you're going to find a light that'll fit under the hood, although a pic would help us figure that out. You may have to get another lid. You should DEFINITELY have a lid to keep your fish in, and, yes, a solid or mostly-solid lid will reduce evaporation. What kinds of corals do you want to keep? Soft corals, LPS, SPS? Soft corals are a variety of shapes and have no skeleton, LPS are mostly the big sort of pillowy-looking ones with skeletons, and SPS are the "classic" ones that make the branching skeletons with the little knobs all over. 

 

I recommend rock flower anemones, if you can get ahold of some. They don't move around much like most anemones do, their sting is very weak, and they come in an amazing range of colors and patterns. They aren't any trickier to keep alive than soft corals. Their adult size depends on how much you feed them and how often, but they can be assumed to get roughly the size of your palm. 

[Clown79]

Welcome to nano.

 

2 clowns in the 15g will be fine. 

 

If you are going away, I'd leave the light off and add a cuc when you return. 

 

A cuc should be added when needed so you don't have to feed the them. Their purpose is to clean up algae, detritus, and uneaten food.

 

Getting a light while keeping the hood will be a challenge. You would need to diy it as fixture on the market won't easily replace the standard led in the hood.

 

With the depth of a column tank, going with a better light will pay off in the end, something like an ai prime would be good. Unfortunately you will have to ditch the hood and diy a mesh lid- the mesh lids are easy to make.

 

Hoods help prevent evap but you get better temp control and gas exchange without them.

[Larry101]

Okay so I will get the cuc when I return, but what should be added first, the clownfish or the cuc? 

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, Larry101 said:

Okay so I will get the cuc when I return, but what should be added first, the clownfish or the cuc? 

It depends on the tank. I've always added a small cuc then a fish but it's not a rule

[Larry101]

Also I'm planning on keeping mostly softies and a couple of lps. Would it be possible to add the cuc and the fish at the same time? Also what if i cut a hole in the lid to me to place a light over the aquarium like in the picture I found on another forum. Do you think this would be enough light for soft corals and a couple lps? It is a hipargero light from amazon for like $62. here is the link https://www.amazon.com/HIPARGERO-LED-Aquarium-Light-Saltwater/dp/B0727V8C5Q/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=coral+light&qid=1582042615&sr=8-4.

[Clown79]

3 hours ago, Larry101 said:

Also I'm planning on keeping mostly softies and a couple of lps. Would it be possible to add the cuc and the fish at the same time? Also what if i cut a hole in the lid to me to place a light over the aquarium like in the picture I found on another forum. Do you think this would be enough light for soft corals and a couple lps? It is a hipargero light from amazon for like $62. herer is the link https://www.amazon.com/HIPARGERO-LED-Aquarium-Light-Saltwater/dp/B0727V8C5Q/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=coral+light&qid=1582042615&sr=8-4.

It's enough light for those corals but depth wise of the column tank may pose an issue.

 

Also consider the heat from the lights for tank and safety wise.

[Larry101]

Do you think the head from the light for the tank is too much safety wise the way I'm planning to place it? I guess time will tell if the footprint of the column tank will pose an issue for the coral. 

[Ratvan]

2 hours ago, Clown79 said:

It's enough light for those corals but depth wise of the column tank may pose an issue.

 

Also consider the heat from the lights for tank and safety wise.

Would a PAR38 work? Higher wattage? Would that have the same issue with heat? 

[Clown79]

32 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

Would a PAR38 work? Higher wattage? Would that have the same issue with heat? 

Par 38's run pretty hot, they need to be fully exposed. 

 

I'm not really sure with the hipargero. 

[Larry101]

How do you guys feel about a skunk clownfish and an ocellaris clownfish in the tank? I saw a couple skunk clownfish at my LFS hosting an anemone and it was pretty cool. It’s no biggie if it wouldn’t work, just wondering. 

[WilliamBowman]

Thank for posting. I also want to know the answer

[Clown79]

2 different clownfish breeds shouldn't be mixed other than ocellaris and percula.

 

It can be tried but in a small tank, most likely outcome is 1 dead..

[Larry101]

How about 2 skunk clownfish in the tank?

[Clown79]

4 hours ago, Larry101 said:

How about 2 skunk clownfish in the tank?

Ya you can do that

[legomaniac]

I have the same tank.  I ditched the lid and use a lumini pixie 30 light over it and love it.

[Larry101]

What is your clean up crew recommendations? I don’t want to overdo it because if a snail dies then the ammonia will spike cresting catastrophic damage. And I don’t think I will need too many invertebrates as there will be only 2 clownfish. But non the less please give me some suggestions!

[Tired]

Don't add anything until you see lots of algae. Then, add a few algae-eating critters. Ceriths, dwarf ceriths, maybe full saltwater nerites, maybe a couple of the small hermits like bluelegs, scarlets, and/or zebras. You'll have an algae surge, but at some point it should settle down. If it doesn't, add a few more algae-eaters. 

 

Also, if you keep small snails like ceriths, one dying in an established tank should be handled by your biofilter. That's what a mature biofilter does- it handles normal amounts of ammonia, and some of the ammonia in an unusual spike. It's big ones like turbos that can be a problem in nano tanks. 

[Larry101]

Oh do you cycle with the lights on? I don't because I think it's just a mess when I can just spike the ammonia, then test the water weekly.

[Clown79]

2 hours ago, Larry101 said:

Oh do you cycle with the lights on? I don't because I think it's just a mess when I can just spike the ammonia, then test the water weekly.

Most don't cycle with the lights on.