Stocking Ideas for my 33 Gallon

[michelle]

Hello again
Well, after dealing with the cycle, the brown algae and a potential tank leak (turned out to be the filter not levelled), I want a fish...or something.
So I am asking for advice on what I am able to put in such a tank. I have a false percula already and I had a sally lightfoot that came in on my rock- I have NO idea where he went though, I haven't been able to find him for over a week now. Both have been in the tank for about 2 months now. (assuming the crab didnt make some daring escape)
I want interesting fish/inverts but I don't have the appropriate lighting for many of the reef corals I would love.
Wondering about things such as featherduster/worms/mushrooms...etc as well
Oh also, I was told I should have 1 snail per gallon of water...33 snails?!? That can't be right is it?
Any advice is appreciated. I have 30 lbs of live rock so far I would loveto "dress up"
Thanks

[Doc]

you are a bit limited with not having strong lighting, but there are several desireable inverts you can have, like crabs, snails, sea urchins, GREAT starfish (red general-mmmmm, Batik-mmmmm) that are not reef safe you can have. Shrimp can be cool as well if they are compatable with other critters in your tank. Shrimp tend to be the first things eaten in your tank.

As for fish, you may want to find a fish that is a signature fish for a FOWLR. Getting lots of small fish is nice, but if you go with pencil urchins, Batik starfish and triton snails (SO FREAKIN COOL), they can eat small fish.

Look for a fish that gets about 6-7 inches long to drop in with your clown. A good looking butterfly fish might do the trick, or a lunar wrasse or lionfish.

I would also look to get more live rock. In a FOLWR, they often don't get credit for being pretty tanks since they tend to look too empty. Look to get about 50-60 lbs of LR. Keep your calcium and DKh on the high side (500 and 12-13 respectively) and you will get good coralline algae growth that makes your rocks stand out. Can't wait to see pics!!!

-Doc

[michelle]

I was also wondering: I have an ocean-sun 10,000 k light...does this qualify as "low" or "moderate" lighting? As some of the things I have researched require one or the other?
Would a "reef-sun" 50/50 Actnic/Daylight bulb give me more options until I get around to the more expensive lighting?
Thanks Dr. Marco..your quick on the replies

[Doc]

the 10,000 K or 6,000 K refers to the color of the light and has nothing to do with being able to keep corals. it does reflect what colors come out of your tank. 10 K are white and 8 K are your blues. If you want a good balance of light, you can go for a split either 50/50 or one bulb of 10 K white and an 8 K that is a true actynic - they are my favorite.

What matters is watts per gallon. the more watts per gallon, the more light sensitive coral you can keep.

PC lighting is a good all around light fixture that tends to not be super expensive provided you are not wanting to keep SPS corals or clams. under a good PC light, you can have all the soft corals and LPS (large polyp stony coral) you want. given the size of your tank, your lights will not be super expensive.

check the lights you have now and you can see the total wattage on the bulb and from there you can do the math and judge. soft corals need about 3 watts per gallon but LPS more like 4. One good 130 watt fixture would be all you need in your tank to keep corals, I would think. they run about $140.

-Doc

[Bifferwine]

Dr. Marco is right, check how many watts each bulb is. The K rating is just the color of the bulb.

1 snail per gallon is too many, in my opinion. What happens a lot is people have algae, they add 1 snail per gallon, the snails eat all the algae, then half of them die of starvation. Add a few snails at a time until your tank comes into balance. Don't add 33 at once.

If you want to upgrade lights and get corals down the road, stick with reef safe fish for now, even though it's a fish only tank right now. If you get non-reef safe fish like the butterfly or wrasse that Dr. Marco mentioned, and you decide you want corals when you get new lights, you will have to catch the fish and get rid of them. So unless you are CERTAIN that you don't want corals or inverts, stick with reef safe fish.

You could get a pair of red or purple firefish, those are cool looking and hardy. You could also get a pair of green chromis. Or a sixline wrasse. Or some pajama or bangaii cardinals. Or a flame or coral beauty angel.

[Doc]

Biff is right about the fish choice. Make sure you know what you want out of your tank before you add it. If you are thinking about doing more than one tank (I know I have, oh, and did) Maybe keep this one as a FOWLR and save up for a bigger reef tank or vica versa. There are no rules against doing what you want in your fish tank. It is up to you. If you are not sure, then don't get a fish that will devour your inverts.

If you are thinking FOWLR due to cost but really want a reef, then wait on stocking unsafe fish for a reef as you will regret it later when you want to switch cuz you got the money. If you have never been interested in corals and don't want the headache, then stick with your FOWLR and go nuts with fish and starfish that no one else has. Up to you

-Doc

[reeffreak]

Hey Michelle,I don't know how long your tank has been running but I'm going to assume the cycle is over.You can get a variety of snails if you have algae in your tank.I like astreas and trochus for the diatoms on the rocks/glass.Mexican turbos for hair algae and nassarius snails for the sand bed.Great scavengers,btw.

For your size tank,I'll look into the smaller reef fishes just in case you decide on corals down the road.Here's a partial list:

Dartfish(red firefish,purple firefish,scissortails)...the purple being my favorite
Pseudochromis,aka dottybacks(Fridmani,Neon)
Watchmen gobies
flasher wrasses....I think a McCosker's Flasher wrasse would be a great signature fish.
clownfishes(you will have to stick with the same species that you have.You can't mix clowns,they will get each other)

It wouldn't be a bad idea to add a bit more live rock...15-20lbs.More live rock,more biological filtration,more stability in the long run.

[Doc]

I agree with reef, get some more live rock. There is nothing wrong with a FOWLR, don't allow yourself to be pushed around if you want something different

-Doc

[michelle]

Thanks for the input. My tank has been running as a saltwater for 4-5 months. It was brackish before that for a year or so.

I am going to add more LR. I was going for about 55-60lbs total. Is that a good amount in a 33? I had heard that too much LR is a bad thing and not to go over 2lbs a gallon.

I was hoping to add 2 purple firefish and something else small...maybe I will go with the flasher wrasse. Thanks for the suggestion.
I did want one more clown as well, for company to my current one. Thanks for telling me they need to be the same type, I never knew that.

So, that would give me 2 firefish, 1 wrasse and 2 clownfish. Would that be too much? I also like the sand sifter goby( i was told either an orangemarked, sleeperbanded, or twinspot would be ok choices) but, I guess that would be too much?

I am going to wait until I get that tube anemone out of my tank before I add any other fish. No need to risk anymore fish. I am going to tell my friend that I will care for it out of his tank. I will just have to make daily(or every couple days) visits to his house while he is gone.

I would love to get a cleaner shrimp at some point, would that be ok or should I look at a different shrimp if any?

Thanks!

[Bifferwine]

When you get a second clown, also make sure that it is of a very different size of your existing clown. The closer they are in size, the more likely they are to fight for dominance. If you get one that is MUCH smaller, it will know that it's not in charge right off the bat and probably won't fight for it.

Sounds like a good amount of rock, I like the way 2 lbs per gallon looks. Plus, your live rock is your main source of biological filtration. The more rock you have, the more places for the good bacteria to live.

Five fish sounds okay for your tank.

There are lots of different shrimp you can look at -- cleaner shrimp are great because they serve a purpose.