Got some Pro tips?

[nicowboy]

Hi everyone,

So I just received my Red sea Nano max Peninsula 26 gallons, and also started my cycle with no fish and no light ! Once the time is ready, how many fishes / livestock should I get ? And what kind for beginners ? Also for corals, which you would you recommend me ?

My other question is, what’s the best wave pump in your opinion? How many should I get for this type of tank?

thank you so much

Ps: light are on just for the pictures haha

 

[blaxsun]

"Best" is very much subjective, but a small Sicce Voyager Nano 1000/2000 would be a reasonable cheap option. Or something more expensive like a Nero 3 where you can dial-in the flow.

 

[nicowboy]

"Best" is very much subjective, but a small Sicce Voyager Nano 1000/2000 would be a reasonable cheap option. Or something more expensive like a Nero 3 where you can dial-in the flow.

Got it thank you

 

[AydenLincoln]

I have a 20 gallon with 4 fish I’d say max 4-5 in that tank and I feel like I pushed it. I love my Hygger mini wave maker too.

 

[gbru316]

Tunze 6040 is my go-to powerhead for smaller tanks. The flow is much more broad than most other pumps with similar flow rates.

 

[nicowboy]

Tunze 6040 is my go-to powerhead for smaller tanks. The flow is much more broad than most other pumps with similar flow rates.

Thank you for your recommendation

 

[Johnz]

Vortech mp10 if the budget allows, no contest.

Fish for a 26 gallon? Gotta have a yellow watchman goby, to much personality. I like my royal gramma, he's cool. Firefish are pretty too. Most blennies would work too, though I think you could only keep 1.

For corals try a mix and see what you like. Maybe a zoanthid, like rastas, they are affordable and gorgeous. A soft coral like a colt or tree coral. A beginner sps, maybe a montipora cap, or a scroll coral(turbinara). Mushrooms are good beginner corals, as are green star polyps and pulsing xenia. Some may say they are too invasive, but for a beginner invasive is perfect if you ask me. A tank that size they would be easy to get rid of if you outgrew them skill wise. Whatever you choose, good luck with the new tank, looking good so far.

 

[Tired]

Pistol shrimp! Amazing to watch paired with a shrimpgoby of your choice, super cool animals. Closest thing nature has to an actual gun, which is an interesting feat of physics. Downside is that it'll mess with corals on the sandbed, and large ones may steal small frags. A candycane pistol is smaller, meaning it moves less sand, is less likely to steal things, and won't mind the relatively limited space under the rockwork.

 

[nicowboy]

Vortech mp10 if the budget allows, no contest.

Fish for a 26 gallon? Gotta have a yellow watchman goby, to much personality. I like my royal gramma, he's cool. Firefish are pretty too. Most blennies would work too, though I think you could only keep 1.

For corals try a mix and see what you like. Maybe a zoanthid, like rastas, they are affordable and gorgeous. A soft coral like a colt or tree coral. A beginner sps, maybe a montipora cap, or a scroll coral(turbinara). Mushrooms are good beginner corals, as are green star polyps and pulsing xenia. Some may say they are too invasive, but for a beginner invasive is perfect if you ask me. A tank that size they would be easy to get rid of if you outgrew them skill wise. Whatever you choose, good luck with the new tank, looking good so far.

Oh wooow, thank you so much for the recommendations, I will do my research, and see what I can do, that’s also what I was thinking for the pump, they have a silence mode that apparently is a game changer haha

 

[nicowboy]

Pistol shrimp! Amazing to watch paired with a shrimpgoby of your choice, super cool animals. Closest thing nature has to an actual gun, which is an interesting feat of physics. Downside is that it'll mess with corals on the sandbed, and large ones may steal small frags. A candycane pistol is smaller, meaning it moves less sand, is less likely to steal things, and won't mind the relatively limited space under the rockwork.

I didn’t know about that, thanks for the tip, is true that they look amazing, hopefully they don’t chew coral much

 

[nicowboy]

Vortech mp10 if the budget allows, no contest.

Fish for a 26 gallon? Gotta have a yellow watchman goby, to much personality. I like my royal gramma, he's cool. Firefish are pretty too. Most blennies would work too, though I think you could only keep 1.

For corals try a mix and see what you like. Maybe a zoanthid, like rastas, they are affordable and gorgeous. A soft coral like a colt or tree coral. A beginner sps, maybe a montipora cap, or a scroll coral(turbinara). Mushrooms are good beginner corals, as are green star polyps and pulsing xenia. Some may say they are too invasive, but for a beginner invasive is perfect if you ask me. A tank that size they would be easy to get rid of if you outgrew them skill wise. Whatever you choose, good luck with the new tank, looking good so far.

Also quick question, you can just trim them like a regular plant if they are going too crazy?

 

[Johnz]

Not really. They grow like carpet across the rock. If you smother them in Aiptasia X they will die, but it's a pain. Works on shrooms and gsp for sure, never tried it on xenia but I'm sure it would work.

You can also put more invasive corals on a little island in the sand, keep them away from your main rockwork.

 

[Tired]

Pistol shrimp don't chew on corals at all. They steal small, loose frags to build with, or bury corals on the sandbed in sand as they dig. They're worth the trouble, though- just keep small frags off the sandbed and don't put corals on the ground right next to them.

Branching corals that come up off the rock can be pruned by cutting branches off, but carpeting corals like GSP are stuck to the rock. Picture trying to prune moss that's growing on and tightly attached to a textured surface like bricks.

 

[nicowboy]

Not really. They grow like carpet across the rock. If you smother them in Aiptasia X they will die, but it's a pain. Works on shrooms and gsp for sure, never tried it on xenia but I'm sure it would work.

You can also put more invasive corals on a little island in the sand, keep them away from your main rockwork.

Ok haha, will definitely need to add small rocks around to keep them away the big ones

 

[nicowboy]

Pistol shrimp don't chew on corals at all. They steal small, loose frags to build with, or bury corals on the sandbed in sand as they dig. They're worth the trouble, though- just keep small frags off the sandbed and don't put corals on the ground right next to them.

Branching corals that come up off the rock can be pruned by cutting branches off, but carpeting corals like GSP are stuck to the rock. Picture trying to prune moss that's growing on and tightly attached to a textured surface like bricks.

I see, so definitely avoid corals on the sand ! I google some pictures of the combo you told me and they look amazing paired together

 

[Tired]

You can add corals on the sand, just keep half an eye on them. If they tend to get buried, move them away from the shrimp's burrow. Corals far away from the rest of the rockwork should be just fine, as the pistol will live under the rockwork.

 

[nicowboy]

You can add corals on the sand, just keep half an eye on them. If they tend to get buried, move them away from the shrimp's burrow. Corals far away from the rest of the rockwork should be just fine, as the pistol will live under the rockwork.

Will do ! Thank you so much

 

[nicowboy]

You can add corals on the sand, just keep half an eye on them. If they tend to get buried, move them away from the shrimp's burrow. Corals far away from the rest of the rockwork should be just fine, as the pistol will live under the rockwork.

Sorry to keep asking you, do you know a good online shop where I can find those kind of shrimp and fish that you recommended me? I know that my local fish store doesn’t have them

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

For wave maker I'd do the nero 3 hands down I have 6 now and they are great in smaller tanks, with a smaller form factor, and a decent app and settings, only issue is stock and availability and they are on the higher price side. Overall i would recommend them for that tank.

 

[Tired]

Pistol shrimp and shrimpgobies are pretty common, so most online retailers should have them. If you want specific recommendations, you could try any of the sponsors of this forum: https://www.reef2reef.com/categories/sponsors.5/

The best option, albeit a fairly expensive one, would probably be someone like Dr Reefs. Someone who fully quarantines all their livestock, so you don't have to worry about disease or about starting your own quarantine tanks.

Though you might have to hold off on buying online for awhile, as it's pretty hot. Maybe wait until September or October. And try not to buy anything time-sensitive from mid-November to mid-January; the mail tends to be prone to bad delays and lost packages then, with all the Christmas shopping. Corals via overnight shipping can be risked, since they'll last a few days in transit, but fish and any mobile inverts (shrimp, etc) should absolutely not be ordered online during peak Christmas shipping season.