nano 13.5 stocking suggestions

[BubbleTrouble]

What would you suggest for stocking a Fluval 13.5?

 

I currently have:

- 1 clown (the smaller of the two passed, he unfortunately didn't seem the strongest since I got him - been approx a month now)

- 2 narcissus snails

- 2 or 3 smaller hermits

- 2 turbo snails

- 1 or 2 sand sifting snails (I don't see them often, but I have seen my hermits wearing new shells so I wonder if one got got!)

 

I am looking at Blue Tuxedo Urchins and things are suggesting it might be okay for a tank this size but I want for real opinions 🙂

[seabass]

That urchin should be fine.  It does require good water parameters (detectable, but not high nutrient levels).  It also requires algae to eat.  Urchins can also leave bite marks on acrylic (I assume that the back wall is acrylic).

 

You might want to try another mate for your existing clownfish.  When pairing clownfish, I recommend that you add a notably smaller juvenile of the same species.  Captive bred specimens are preferable.  Or you could add a small Goby or Blenny.

[BubbleTrouble]

1 minute ago, seabass said:

That urchin should be fine.  It does require good water parameters (detectable, but not high nutrient levels).  It also requires algae to eat.  Urchins can also leave bite marks on acrylic (I assume that the back wall is acrylic).

 

You might want to try another mate for your existing clownfish.  When pairing clownfish, I recommend that you add a notably smaller juvenile of the same species.  Captive bred specimens are preferable.  Or you could add a small Goby or Blenny.

If I did an urchin, I planned on waiting for another month of three to let the tank continue to peculate. This tank has great algae growth hahaha

 

I like those suggestions! Would you say 2 fish should be max for this size of tank? I don't want to over-stock

[seabass]

I like less fish versus more, but you could keep as many as 3 to 4 small fish in there.  You'll tend to have more problems with territories and compatibility than too much of a bio-load.

 

Clownfish are usually fairly compatible with other fish, but they can get territorial (especially in small nano tanks).  So timid fish sometimes have problems feeding along with the voracious clowns.

 

Then, there can be issues with like shaped fish.  For example, long narrow blennies are not always compatible with long narrow gobies.  But you could probably get to different gobies (like a neon and clown goby).

 

A pair a clownfish would be fine by themselves.  Generally, they will ignore the other fish unless they try to hang out with them.

 

And it's always good to have enough hiding spots for fish to seek security.

 

Hope that helps a bit.

[4d-Rock]

I also have the evo 13.5 and have considered a small tuxedo urchin.  Though I never pulled the trigger because I worry that I won't have enough food for it. Plus alot of the hair algae seems to be within the holes in the rocks and I don't think they'd be able to get at it (if anyone has any suggestions of CUC that can get into the caves and holes in dry rock I'd be interested to hear it).

 

My tank is 7 months old and after a month of cycling I started with a purple firefish, a cleaner shrimp, 2 hermits, 2 throwing star snails, and 2 ceriths. That went fairly well and all except one of the ceriths are still around and doing well today.

A couple months in I added a small clownfish and royal gramma, 4 nessarius snails, and 2 astrea snails.  Unfortunately about a month later both fish died from ich.  Luckily our firefish toughed it out and lived.  I am also down to just 1 nessarius.

Then about a month ago I added a lawnmower blenny, a pajama cardinal, and a small conch.  The pajama cardinal is still around but last week the blenny died.  Not sure what exactly happened, it started eating sand and got bloated, then got really skinny and wouldn't eat.  Sad as he was really neat, but it sounds like I may not have had enough food available for him.

 

All in all, I think 2-3 fish is a good sweet spot for this size of tank.  But really depends on types of fish.  Most of the fish I've had so far got along well.  The only one that showed any aggression has been the royal gramma who kicked the purple firefish out of it's home once introduced, but after that they were generally ok. I think I'll try another clown or royal gramma in the future, maybe a tail spot blenny, but I still need to find an effective algae eater to get into those tight spots.

 

Here's a recent pic just for fun

 

[BubbleTrouble]

On 9/20/2022 at 10:36 AM, seabass said:

I like less fish versus more, but you could keep as many as 3 to 4 small fish in there.  You'll tend to have more problems with territories and compatibility than too much of a bio-load.

 

Clownfish are usually fairly compatible with other fish, but they can get territorial (especially in small nano tanks).  So timid fish sometimes have problems feeding along with the voracious clowns.

 

Then, there can be issues with like shaped fish.  For example, long narrow blennies are not always compatible with long narrow gobies.  But you could probably get to different gobies (like a neon and clown goby).

 

A pair a clownfish would be fine by themselves.  Generally, they will ignore the other fish unless they try to hang out with them.

 

And it's always good to have enough hiding spots for fish to seek security.

 

Hope that helps a bit.

Helps a ton! Sadly, the black clown disappeared over night??? I wasnt worried about her health cos she was growing good and swimming strong so I wonder if she slept on the bottom and the hermits had a snack? I'll do some tests on my tank before restocking it however 

[BubbleTrouble]

1 hour ago, 4d-Rock said:

I also have the evo 13.5 and have considered a small tuxedo urchin.  Though I never pulled the trigger because I worry that I won't have enough food for it. Plus alot of the hair algae seems to be within the holes in the rocks and I don't think they'd be able to get at it (if anyone has any suggestions of CUC that can get into the caves and holes in dry rock I'd be interested to hear it).

 

My tank is 7 months old and after a month of cycling I started with a purple firefish, a cleaner shrimp, 2 hermits, 2 throwing star snails, and 2 ceriths. That went fairly well and all except one of the ceriths are still around and doing well today.

A couple months in I added a small clownfish and royal gramma, 4 nessarius snails, and 2 astrea snails.  Unfortunately about a month later both fish died from ich.  Luckily our firefish toughed it out and lived.  I am also down to just 1 nessarius.

Then about a month ago I added a lawnmower blenny, a pajama cardinal, and a small conch.  The pajama cardinal is still around but last week the blenny died.  Not sure what exactly happened, it started eating sand and got bloated, then got really skinny and wouldn't eat.  Sad as he was really neat, but it sounds like I may not have had enough food available for him.

 

All in all, I think 2-3 fish is a good sweet spot for this size of tank.  But really depends on types of fish.  Most of the fish I've had so far got along well.  The only one that showed any aggression has been the royal gramma who kicked the purple firefish out of it's home once introduced, but after that they were generally ok. I think I'll try another clown or royal gramma in the future, maybe a tail spot blenny, but I still need to find an effective algae eater to get into those tight spots.

 

Here's a recent pic just for fun

 

Thanks man that is good info. My clown died sometime during the night (or is AWOL?? I think became hermit snack) so I'll look into different fish like these 🙂

[seabass]

48 minutes ago, BubbleTrouble said:

AWOL

Check the back chambers.  Or if the top was open, check the floor.

 

A hermit crab wouldn't and couldn't kill a healthy fish.  Plus, I'd think that you'd find some remnant of it.  If it did die, it might be up against the rock where you can't see it.  But, I suspect it's in the back or on the floor.

 

[BubbleTrouble]

10 minutes ago, seabass said:

Check the back chambers.  Or if the top was open, check the floor.

 

A hermit crab wouldn't and couldn't kill a healthy fish.  Plus, I'd think that you'd find some remnant of it.  If it did die, it might be up against the rock where you can't see it.  But, I suspect it's in the back or on the floor.

 

not in back chambers, not around the tank. I have to go in an glue down a frag so I will check all the nooks and crannies!

[BubbleTrouble]

38 minutes ago, BubbleTrouble said:

not in back chambers, not around the tank. I have to go in an glue down a frag so I will check all the nooks and crannies!

well, I do not see her in the tank or around the tank so the chances of her jumping and the cats having stolen her is quite high!

[4d-Rock]

2 of the fish that passed in my tank I found pretty quickly and the hermits didn't have too much time to work on them.  However the Royal gramma I didn't find until there wasn't much left other than a skeleton.  Either it died in one of the holes in the rock and the hermits eventually pulled it out, or they kept it up in there until it fell out. Either way, CUC are pretty effective and it really doesn't take them too long to strip down a fish to the bones.  

 

Not sure if you are using the stock lid, but the chances of it jumping through that little feeder hole is pretty low though not impossible.  I have a silicon plug that I stick in there when not feeding. If you aren't using it and have an open top it would be advisable to have some sort of screen.

 

Sorry to hear about your MIA fish.

[BubbleTrouble]

4 hours ago, 4d-Rock said:

2 of the fish that passed in my tank I found pretty quickly and the hermits didn't have too much time to work on them.  However the Royal gramma I didn't find until there wasn't much left other than a skeleton.  Either it died in one of the holes in the rock and the hermits eventually pulled it out, or they kept it up in there until it fell out. Either way, CUC are pretty effective and it really doesn't take them too long to strip down a fish to the bones.  

 

Not sure if you are using the stock lid, but the chances of it jumping through that little feeder hole is pretty low though not impossible.  I have a silicon plug that I stick in there when not feeding. If you aren't using it and have an open top it would be advisable to have some sort of screen.

 

Sorry to hear about your MIA fish.

Well a final conclusion to the MIA fish, the cats found her all dried up under the stand where the tank sits. That million to one chance for her to jump out and that she did 😭

[4d-Rock]

Ahh, that sucks.  I can't remember where that silicon plug i use was from (some kitchen appliance I think), but I've seen people make/sell 3D printed covers or trap doors for that feeding hole.  Might be something to look into