Coral limits

[Cheeselady]

I'm trying to find out if there are any hard limits to the number of corals in a 10 gallon nano.

I'm just getting set up but I'm also trying to plan out my future stocking.


My plan in to have nice snail/crab CUC, 3 fish (probably clown/neon gobies and maybe a wrasse), and a selection of soft corals.

What I don't know is what is a safe amount of coral to have at one time?

Also, peppermint shrimp - will they actually eat apitasia and NOT coral/fan worms? I've found a hitchhiker and I'm deciding on the best elimination strategy.

[j_mazzy]

pepps will eat whatever they decide to eat. usually aiptasia; however, many times they think your torch or euphyllia or other LPS seem to be tasty. probably get turned on when food is scarce.

[NS Mike D]

In a nano, you should be able to rid aiptasia with boiling water. I use Julius thing, which double duties with spot feeding corals, to target the polyp.


With corals, it's more about how fast will they grow, how much space do they need from other corals and will they do well in the light and water conditions of your tank. Hard numbers just didn't translate for example you can have hundreds if not thousands of zoas in a 10 gal, and yet there are corals that a single colony would grow too big for a 10 gal.

There are nano starter coral packs available from live aquaria to help you with good write ups of their care needs.

[Cheeselady]

Thanks folks, I'll check out the starter pack over at liveaquaria

[lifeoffaith]

No wrasses that I'm aware of are good for a 10 gallon except the pygmy/possums. You should really limit your fish choices to 1 maybe two small fish. If you did one clown and two neon gobies, you should be fine.

[MondoBongo]

photosynthetic corals add very little to your bioload. so the limiting factors for them are generally the amount of space you have to accommodate them, and the amount of chemicals such as calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity, that you can provide them (in the case of hard corals).

providing cal, mg, and alk is fairly easy. starting out with just a few hard corals often regular water changes will suffice. once they start growing you may need to look in to additional supplementation to cover their needs. something like kalkwasser or two part dosing will do a great job.

[Cheeselady]

Thank lifeoffaith, yes I should have been clear that I was looking at a possum wrasse (haven't looked into a pygmy wrasse) As for clownfish, I quite like those (especially since they can be captive bred) but I'm getting conflicting info. Seems like a lot of folks recommend having pair but that really seems way too much for a tank this size.

Thanks MondoBongo, glad to hear it's really a space thing rather than bioload. Supplementation's not a problem - I've got Ca, alk and Mg test kits on the way already. But I don't know what kalkwasser is???

[jayball]

Thank lifeoffaith, yes I should have been clear that I was looking at a possum wrasse (haven't looked into a pygmy wrasse) As for clownfish, I quite like those (especially since they can be captive bred) but I'm getting conflicting info. Seems like a lot of folks recommend having pair but that really seems way too much for a tank this size.

Thanks MondoBongo, glad to hear it's really a space thing rather than bioload. Supplementation's not a problem - I've got Ca, alk and Mg test kits on the way already. But I don't know what kalkwasser is???

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/

[jlmawp]

No wrasses that I'm aware of are good for a 10 gallon except the pygmy/possums. You should really limit your fish choices to 1 maybe two small fish. If you did one clown and two neon gobies, you should be fine.

+1 to number of fish. Even 3 small fish is a lot for that tank size, if not just for bio-load reasons.

However, I have a 6-line wrasse in mine and he does quite well :) Doesn't bother anyone, and as long as there is plenty of rock, is quite happy and inquisitive. He is, however, my only fish.

As a kind of gauge, I have 3 pods of zoas, and 5 other corals in my tank. Also have 4 crabs and a shrimp. Everyone seems happy and healthy.