27 gallon marineland cube reef

[Kylecva]

Hey I'm fixing to set up a 27 gallon cube. This isn't my first reef tank. So far I'm considering, as far as fish go, a pair of Picasso ocellaris clowns, a helfrichi firefish, and a green mandarin goby. I'm going to have a 5 gallon HOB refugium, uv sterilizer, and a HOB filter. We have 30 pounds of live rock, and 25-30 pounds of live sand. I plan on waiting 6 months or so before the mandarin, while I'm waiting though I'm planning on dosing the aquarium and refugium with Copepods every month to build up a nice colony of them and I plan on dosing when necessary to make sure he has enough to eat. Would yall recommend any other fish or does that sound good? Any and all feed back is welcome !!

 

[Shep]

Those should be fine as long as you keep up with the dosing or the mandarin will starve to death pretty quickly. The clowns will be great and so will the firefish (make sure you have a tight lid or it will jump out).

 

[Kylecva]

Also the refugium is going to have cheato and live rock in it or would yall do something else?

 

[Kylecva]

We have a tight lid lol I've heard the horror stories. Do you think we could add any more fish or would that be pushing it? And if so what?

 

[LetItReef]

4 fish is enough. 2-3 will be my #. Maybe look into Shrimps.

 

[Kylecva]

Ya we are planning on a cleaner shrimp as well

 

[eatbreakfast]

Other possible fish additions might include an assessor, stigmatura blenny, yasha goby, neon goby or clown goby. Just watch your nutrient levels in a tank that size, but having a refugium will help.

Also, even with a refugium and dosing pods, the system still may have trouble supporting the dietary needs of a mandarin. Their digestive tract is tiny and they need to eat nearly constantly.

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

I hope everything turns out good. Maybe you could post pics when you're ready

~CI

 

[Kylecva]

Decided to go with a 20 long first. Here's the thread if you don't mind looking and giving your opinion. https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/20-gallon-long.203360/