2 Month old 16G Bowfront Aquarium

[MBliss81]

I recently got into sw aquariums after wanting to do it for a long time. I started a 16 gallon bow front FO tank with a mix of regular white sand and live sand. I would love to eventually make it into a small reef aquarium or upgrade to a bigger setup (my wife would kill me if I went as big as I'd like to go). I would love any advice you more experienced folks can give me.

Current setup:

Penguin 660R Powerhead (170gph)
Penguin Biowheel 150

pH 8.3
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0

3 electric blue-legged hermits
2 small snails to clean the glass
1 azure damselfish
1 diamond goby
2 very young ocellaris clownfish
2 green spotted puffers (acclimated from brackish to sw when I initially started this tank)

I plan on adding several more snails and perhaps some smaller hermits to round out my CUC.

All my current fish are happy (although the smaller puffer can be moody sometimes). Anyone have any suggestions going forward? I want to keep it FOWLS for now, and add live rock in a few months, and begin adding coral and things toward the fall.

Thanks,

Matt

 

[MBliss81]

Forgot to add Salinity 1.024-1.025

 

[SteveFishman]

A bit overstocked... That's what I think

 

[SteveFishman]

I wouldent add any more stuff

 

[MBliss81]

I'd kind of like to remove the puffers. They were originally what I based the tank on. My friend had a couple back in the day when we were kids, and I thought they were cool. But as I decided that a brackish tank was no fun, because other than puffers and mollies there aren't many fish you can keep in brackish water, and went to full marine sw (slowly, for their health's sake) I feel like they are just in the way of having the tank I really want. I just can't get rid of them because they have so much personality.

 

[MBliss81]

I'd kind of like to remove the puffers. They were originally what I based the yank on. My friend had a couple back in the day when we were kids, and I thought they were cool. But as I decided that a brackish tank was no fun, because other than puffers and mollies there aren't many fish you can keep in brackish water, and went to full marine sw (slowly, for their health's sake) I feel like they are just in the way of having the tank I really want. I just can't get rid of them because they have so much personality.

Based the TANK on. Not based the YANK on. Oops.

 

[MBliss81]

Mostly I would really like some advice for when I do decide to add LR and then corals and such.

 

[SteveFishman]

Are you trying to make a reef setting? Do you have sand or gravel? How big is the tank? What lighting do you have? What kind of corals would you want to keep?

People usally say 1-2 lbs. of live rock per gallon also 2-3 inch sandbed. Zoas and mushrooms don't need to much light I would suggest getting T5 HO lights or maybe metal halides.

 

[MBliss81]

I have an LED light setup, a 2 inch sanded with fine sand covered with live sand, and I plan to add live rock when I decide to get serious about starting a reef. I'll probably get a stronger light too. Most likely a 20" HO T5 fixture with one actinic and one regular bulb. I've been looking into the possibility of a HOB refugium to keep up better copepod and amphepod populations. It's all still months away, I'm just in the planning phase now. But I'll probably want to start buying some of the equipment earlier, to avoid paying for everything all at once. And I'll need to order live rock ahead of time to give it time to cure before it goes in my tank.

 

[MBliss81]

I really like zoas and frogspawn, and I'd like to have an anemone that my clowns can host. Other than that I haven't decided what to put into a reef.

 

[MBliss81]

I may scrap the HOB refugium idea for a DIY refugium made from a 10 gallon tank I already have. Less cost and greater volume.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I'd kind of like to remove the puffers. They were originally what I based the tank on. My friend had a couple back in the day when we were kids, and I thought they were cool. But as I decided that a brackish tank was no fun, because other than puffers and mollies there aren't many fish you can keep in brackish water, and went to full marine sw (slowly, for their health's sake) I feel like they are just in the way of having the tank I really want. I just can't get rid of them because they have so much personality.

We're looking to set up a 20g with GSPuffers and I wanted to find out a couple things. Do you ned to use RO water for brackish, and what salt did you use (aqua or SW salt)? Anything else you might want to pass along would be great.

Thanks and welcome to the PAC-12! UofO Ducks fan here .

Sent from my Epic 4G using Aquarium Advice App

 

[MBliss81]

I think it's always a good idea to use either RO water or, if you don't have the cash to spring for an expensive RO system, distiller water in any tank. It just cuts down on problems you might run in to with tap water. I also think it's best to use a good marine salt for brackish water. Instant ocean is good. I use Oceanic Natural Sea Salt Mix, and have been very happy with it. I did use regular aquarium salt when I had a brackish tank as a teenager, but I feel like the sea salt mix is more natural for the fish.

Good luck with your GSP tank. They are pretty fun little fish. Full of personality.

And I can't wait to see the Ducks in the PAC 12 championship very soon.

 

[Karlos69]

I thought puffers were supposed to be in a much larger tank

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

That tank is ALOT overstocked...i would seriously consider removing some fish, probably the puffers for sure since i hear they are very messy eaters and add alot to the bioload. I also believe they are not 100% reef safe which could ruin your idea of making it a reef plus the fact that they need a larger tank. The damsel will also get very agressive in a tank that size, i would remove him as well since there is a high chance he will end up killing the other fish. Do you have no liverock in there now?? When you do add live rock you will have to cure it in a separate tank before adding it to the main tank since the cycle would probably kill your fish.

If i were you i would only keep the two clownfish...that would put you at max capacity for fish.

Do you have a pic of your setup??

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

I see i forgot one more fish...oh boy soo many fish haha that diamond goby will get pretty large and require a minimum of a 50 gallon tank so i would also return him.

minimum tank size for those puffers is 30...and you have 2 in a 16, not good news.

 

[duoc9119]

I would put any live rock you are planning to get in a separate bucket or tank with a powerhead and heater to cure the rock. You don't want to put live rock right into your tank because it can cause a cycle and kill everything in the tank

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I would put any live rock you are planning to get in a separate bucket or tank with a powerhead and heater to cure the rock. You don't want to put live rock right into your tank because it can cause a cycle and kill everything in the tank

Do you mean LR in a brackish tank, or SW?

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[MBliss81]

Karlos: these are not the large, marine puffers you may be thinking of. They are small, sold as brackish water fish (and sadly sometimes as freshwater fish), despite living longer and healthier lives in higher salinity as they become adults. Although at full size they will need more space, but I successfully kept several GSP's in a 20g tank with other small tank mates for over 2 years before I gave that tank to a friend, and I never had any problems from them. A simple Google search will lead you to quite a few sites dedicated to these fun little fish, and that is how I learned that others had had success with them in full marine salinity tanks, so I gave it a try.

KMS: I appreciate your advice and opinion. I think at their current sizes I wouldn't say that the tank is seriously overstocked. Although I do admit that it is quite full with the puffers, and I plan to remedy this right away. My original intent was not to have the puffers with the other fish in my tank, I just haven't had the heart to return them. And I am currently deciding whether to create their own tank without tank mates, or to return them to my lfs. You should also know that my clowns are very small (we're talking just over 1/2" in length), and add very little bioload to the tank at present, but I do understand that it is important that I plan for their future welfare. The point about the aggressive tendencies of damsels will also have to be addressed to avoid future problems, either through the removal of the fish or the change to a much larger tank. But at the current time he doesn't bother anyone. My point is that while there are currently not any problems, I realize that changes must be made or this will not be the case for long.

Also, I have already purchased the equipment I will need to cycle the live rock before it goes anywhere near my tank. I am spending the time to ensure that once I get the tank set up the way I really want it I can enjoy it for a long time without further necessary changes. It's a learning experience, and I'm having to make decisions now to fix rash decisions I made early on (the puffers for example). A fresh start has even crossed my mind, but rather than go that far I think that with careful planning I will be able to create an enjoyable aquarium and still keep my clowns and probably my goby (although his digging may be a problem in a nano reef).

 

[joy13]

You probably won't have a problem with the goby digging in the tank as much as the sand spitting. Someone was returning one to the LFS and apparently he didn't research, after a day in the tank the fish had buried a few of his favorite corals.

Keep your eyes open for stress on your fish, you will find most diseases are stress related. The variety and the number of fish in your tank there is bound to be stress. Your bio load is a lot bigger than you think with 4 messy eaters in the tank.