6 gallon cube stocking ideas

[RC51]

Hi. I'm currently setting up a 6 gallon cube (30cm cube) and want some ideas for stocking. I used to keep a pair of clowns in a 5 gallon with some GSP so I do know some stuff about keeping saltwater. I'm planning to put a big HOB filter with a mini refugium and as much bio balls as I can fit. I have around 2kg of dry rock and have an AI Prime HD. I'm going for mainly corals and 1 nano fish if possible.
Any ideas?

 

[Ranjib]

I can only think of clown goby and neon goby. I would not recommend clown in less than 10G. But I know folks do keep them in smaller sizes, especially for breeding. But the filtration in those systems is also different. Under 10G you have a very limited choice of fish. Sexy shrimp, etc are best, I think.

 

[RC51]

I can only think of clown goby and neon goby. I would not recommend clown in less than 10G. But I know folks do keep them in smaller sizes, especially for breeding. But the filtration in those systems is also different. Under 10G you have a very limited choice of fish. Sexy shrimp, etc are best, I think.

Ok.

My lfs told me that i can put 2 clowns AND a goby in less than 3 gallons so I went with the plan they told me but I changed to a 5 gallon when I finally did some of my own research.

 

[RC51]

Any ideas for corals and clean up crew?

 

[Ranjib]

You can keep dwarf cerith, trochus and most other cleanup crews. Same with corals. You can keep most corals except you have to be extra careful due to small water volume leading to sharp changes . You are only limited by size when it comes to coral. Start with some easy, beginner friendly corals like candy cane, clove, gsp etc. gsp should be kept in an a way that you can separate the rock out in case it grows too fast.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Hi. I'm currently setting up a 6 gallon cube (30cm cube) and want some ideas for stocking. I used to keep a pair of clowns in a 5 gallon with some GSP so I do know some stuff about keeping saltwater. I'm planning to put a big HOB filter with a mini refugium and as much bio balls as I can fit. I have around 2kg of dry rock and have an AI Prime HD. I'm going for mainly corals and 1 nano fish if possible.
Any ideas?

You put 2 clownfish in a 5 gallon?! 10 gallons for 1 clownfish and 15 gallons 4 to. If there still alive get them a bigger tank immediately.

 

[RC51]

You put 2 clownfish in a 5 gallon?! 10 gallons for 1 clownfish and 15 gallons 4 to. If there still alive get them a bigger tank immediately.

Yea.... I regret it. I went to my LFS with little to no research thinking that they will know everything and told me that you can put 2 clownfish AND a firefish in a 12 liter. Thats 3 gallons. They also made me spend around 300 dollars on stuff I probably never will need like a pump and a bunch of hosing that I 'absolutly needed' to do water changes and the most expensive tank, 50$ crappy HOB and the best salt they had for corals which I definately didn't need just for some clownfish. I finally did some research after a while and found out that i f*ked up. So I used my 5 gallon that was lying around and put them there as a temporary solution. After a week or so, I was able to give it to another LFS.

So I currently have 1 tiny yellow tail damsel in the 6 gal. It'll probably grow out of the tank but I do have a plan when he does.
lol sorry to trigger you. I did learn a lot from that though and they clowns are probably in a better home at another LFS. Never going back to that scammy store again to get advice.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Yea.... I regret it. I went to my LFS with little to no research thinking that they will know everything and told me that you can put 2 clownfish AND a firefish in a 12 liter. Thats 3 gallons. They also made me spend around 300 dollars on stuff I probably never will need like a pump and a bunch of hosing that I 'absolutly needed' to do water changes and the most expensive tank, 50$ crappy HOB and the best salt they had for corals which I definately didn't need just for some clownfish. I finally did some research after a while and found out that i f*ked up. So I used my 5 gallon that was lying around and put them there as a temporary solution. After a week or so, I was able to give it to another LFS.

So I currently have 1 tiny yellow tail damsel in the 6 gal. It'll probably grow out of the tank but I do have a plan when he does.
lol sorry to trigger you. I did learn a lot from that though and they clowns are probably in a better home at another LFS. Never going back to that scammy store again to get advice.

The fact that you gave the clowns back shows that your a kind person who cares about animals. Everyone makes mistakes and that's ok. The same thing happend to me. My first fish was a betta, the pet store told me I could put him in a tiny 1/2 gallon tank. A few months later I found out they need at least 3 gallons. I went online and ordered a 3 gallon aquarium and now he's happy.

 

[RC51]

The fact that you gave the clowns back shows that your a kind person who cares about animals. Everyone makes mistakes and that's ok. The same thing happend to me. My first fish was a betta, the pet store told me I could put him in a tiny 1/2 gallon tank. A few months later I found out they need at least 3 gallons. I went online and ordered a 3 gallon aquarium and now he's happy.

Yea. Thank you for understanding! Just a personal opinion here but I think 3 gal for a betta is a tad bit small. Well, miles better than those tiny bowls but I would put him/her in a 5 gal, at least 4 gal. Its just an extra 1$ in a dollar per gallon deal and is definitely worth it.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Y

Yea. Thank you for understanding! Just a personal opinion here but I think 3 gal for a betta is a tad bit small. Well, miles better than those tiny bowls but I would put him/her in a 5 gal, at least 4 gal. Its just an extra 1$ in a dollar per gallon deal and is definitely worth it.

Thanks! I'll definitely get him a bigger tank. People allways tell me this. I'll definitely get him a bigger tank, the way bettas are mistreated is horrible, I don't wanna be part of that. Thankyou for saving my betta.

 

[i cant think]

I agree with the others on the smallest of gobies being the only thing that’ll fit other than a small shrimp. I’d go with a max of two snails and then just a sexy shrimp and call it quits. I wouldn’t do a fish because although they “don’t swim as much” (Actually, my BCG swims a lot) they still get quite big.

 

[MaxTremors]

You put 2 clownfish in a 5 gallon?! 10 gallons for 1 clownfish and 15 gallons 4 to. If there still alive get them a bigger tank immediately.

I wouldn’t put two clownfish in less than 25 gallons. I don’t think I’d put anything other than a small goby in a 5 gallon.

 

[RC51]

I wouldn’t put two clownfish in less than 25 gallons. I don’t think I’d put anything other than a small goby in a 5 gallon.

Ik. I was kinda skeptical of the goby they were suggesting so I didn't buy him.

 

[RC51]

I agree with the others on the smallest of gobies being the only thing that’ll fit other than a small shrimp. I’d go with a max of two snails and then just a sexy shrimp and call it quits. I wouldn’t do a fish because although they “don’t swim as much” (Actually, my BCG swims a lot) they still get quite big.

I do have a snail (I had 3 but 2 got eaten by the shrimp) and a green salon shrimp and a tiny damsel that I will give to the LFS when it eventually grows out

 

[Obsessed with fish]

I do have a snail (I had 3 but 2 got eaten by the shrimp) and a green salon shrimp and a tiny damsel that I will give to the LFS when it eventually grows out

A neon goby would defiently work, they are small and stay small. Make sure you have a big enough peice of live rock because gobys live on live rock, they will occasionally leave the live rock. A neon goby with some sexy shrimp would be good, but I'm not sure if the neon goby will eat the shrimp or not.

You could just get a bigger tank, if you did you wouldn't have to get rid of the damselfish, and you could add a clownfish. If your gonna get a bigger tank so you can keep the damsel fish. How big of a tank you need depends on what type of damsel you have. If you have a smaller damsel, like a domino damsel a 10 gallon would do, but if you have a bigger one you may need to buy 20 gallons. What damsel do you have?

 

[MaxTremors]

A neon goby would defiently work, they are small and stay small. Make sure you have a big enough peice of live rock because gobys live on live rock, they will occasionally leave the live rock. A neon goby with some sexy shrimp would be good, but I'm not sure if the neon goby will eat the shrimp or not.

You could just get a bigger tank, if you did you wouldn't have to get rid of the damselfish, and you could add a clownfish. If your gonna get a bigger tank so you can keep the damsel fish. How big of a tank you need depends on what type of damsel you have. If you have a smaller damsel, like a domino damsel a 10 gallon would do, but if you have a bigger one you may need to buy 20 gallons. What damsel do you have?

Domino damsels are one of the largest of the commonly kept damsels (besides the Sergeant Major), they can get upwards of 6 inches, they need a minimum 55 gallon tank. Here is an adult Domino damsel:

 

[RC51]

Domino damsels are one of the largest of the commonly kept damsels (besides the Sergeant Major), they can get upwards of 6 inches, they need a minimum 55 gallon tank. Here is an adult Domino damsel:

Nice! Will consider a neon goby. I have a yellow tail damsel but I'm not really interested in getting another tank because my house is already filled with them.