Livestock Suggestions

[drewdarling]

Hello all, this is my first post on here and need some feedback. I will be setting up a 5.5 gallon display with a 10 gallon sump here in the next couple of months. I have experience with bigger tanks but have never done a pico before and am curious if there’s and fish that could live comfortably in these conditions. I’ve done some research and have seen mixed reviews, not sure if it’s due too bio-load (if this is the case adding a sump would resolve this issue right?) or just lack of swimming space. Thanks in advance!

[sublunary]

Welcome!

 

Fish limitations in small systems do come from both bioload and swimming space.  I think you will find many people on here who have found fish that have small enough territories and bioloads to fit your system.  Definitely explore the pico reef section here to see what others are doing. 

 

I'd look into small gobies.  They generally have small bioloads and several types have small enough territories:

                 I think there are people here successfully keeping goby/pistol shrimp pairs in tanks about your size. Once they build their burrow, they pretty much stay put.    I'd go for a smaller type - yasha, hi fin, etc - rather than like a yellow watchman.

                 Trimma gobies, eviota gobies, and clown gobies all max out at about an inch and spend most of their time perching and hopping around the rockwork. 

                 Greenbanded gobies are a little bigger, but I think are more active swimmers.  I don't have direct experience with them, but I've seen others have success in small tanks.   Circus gobies are similar, but hide a lot. 

                 I've also seen gumdrop coral crouchers recommended for picos (sites call them gobies some times, even though they are scorpionfish) - they're pretty sedentary, and kind of rare in the hobby so they have some extra cool factor. 

                

I'd probably keep it to one fish max, unless you got something like a bonded pair of eviotas. 

 

2 more things to keep in mind:  1- the shape of your tank will make a difference.  A shorter tank with a bigger footprint will be more fish-friendly than a taller, narrower one.    and 2 - some of the tiniest fish are hard to feed, so do research, have a plan, and look for captive bred options. (Biota is captive breeding trimma gobies now).

[NoOneLikesADryTang]

Sublunary pretty much hit them all - I will add that one of my LFS had a red striped trimma goby about a month ago, and I picked it up for my 4.7 gallon. He’s got a fair amount of personality, and has picked a few of his favorite spots to perch and observe me from. They’re so small, I’d like to get a few more of them for that little tank. 

[drewdarling]

7 hours ago, sublunary said:

Welcome!

 

Fish limitations in small systems do come from both bioload and swimming space.  I think you will find many people on here who have found fish that have small enough territories and bioloads to fit your system.  Definitely explore the pico reef section here to see what others are doing. 

 

I'd look into small gobies.  They generally have small bioloads and several types have small enough territories:

                 I think there are people here successfully keeping goby/pistol shrimp pairs in tanks about your size. Once they build their burrow, they pretty much stay put.    I'd go for a smaller type - yasha, hi fin, etc - rather than like a yellow watchman.

                 Trimma gobies, eviota gobies, and clown gobies all max out at about an inch and spend most of their time perching and hopping around the rockwork. 

                 Greenbanded gobies are a little bigger, but I think are more active swimmers.  I don't have direct experience with them, but I've seen others have success in small tanks.   Circus gobies are similar, but hide a lot. 

                 I've also seen gumdrop coral crouchers recommended for picos (sites call them gobies some times, even though they are scorpionfish) - they're pretty sedentary, and kind of rare in the hobby so they have some extra cool factor. 

                

I'd probably keep it to one fish max, unless you got something like a bonded pair of eviotas. 

 

2 more things to keep in mind:  1- the shape of your tank will make a difference.  A shorter tank with a bigger footprint will be more fish-friendly than a taller, narrower one.    and 2 - some of the tiniest fish are hard to feed, so do research, have a plan, and look for captive bred options. (Biota is captive breeding trimma gobies now).

Thank you very much, you’ve given me much to think about. I’ve always wanted a Yasha pair but not sure if I could get away with two. Good point about the tricky feeding, had a freshwater Pea Puffer tank a while back and took me about 20-30 minutes everyday to use a dropper to individual feed them, don’t wanna do that again. 

[drewdarling]

Another question, Ive got all the equipment I need except for pumps. If i can, I’d like to avoid using a power head and get away with just the flow from the return pump. For the return line I’m using a Y’d off loc-line in hopes that will give some control over it and face them wherever’s best suited. If this will work, what size return will I need to get enough flow (the sump will no more than 1 foot below the DT, so not too much head pressure) to make the corals (mainly LPS) happy? If not, then what size power head & return combination would work best?