Have I reached my limit?

[Sailaway]

I started my 13.5 nano in late august, after three weeks I added a lovely pair of clowns that have done fantastic, and have even grown quite a bit. Soon after, I bought a few snails and an urchin, all of which are still alive. then I added a coral banded shrimp that has molted twice since I’ve had him. I just added my first corals 2? Weeks ago and now I am wondering if adding a small goby/firefish would hurt? I have two large chunks of live rock and am planning on grabbing some more to fill in the tank more. What do y’all think? Am I at my limit or is one more fish acceptable?

 

[i cant think]

I started my 13.5 nano in late august, after three weeks I added a lovely pair of clowns that have done fantastic, and have even grown quite a bit. Soon after, I bought a few snails and an urchin, all of which are still alive. then I added a coral banded shrimp that has molted twice since I’ve had him. I just added my first corals 2? Weeks ago and now I am wondering if adding a small goby/firefish would hurt? I have two large chunks of live rock and am planning on grabbing some more to fill in the tank more. What do y’all think? Am I at my limit or is one more fish acceptable?

Do you have an FTS?
By the sounds of it you have room for a third and final fish however if you went for a goby a lid is a must.
What coral do you have and plan on having?

 

[Parsely]

I am in the EXACT same boat as you! Started a 13.5g at the end of august and have 2 clowns and added corals 2 weeks ago as well. Spent all morning debating if I should get a third and final fish, (thinking of a tail spot blenny for now)

I started my 13.5 nano in late august, after three weeks I added a lovely pair of clowns that have done fantastic, and have even grown quite a bit. Soon after, I bought a few snails and an urchin, all of which are still alive. then I added a coral banded shrimp that has molted twice since I’ve had him. I just added my first corals 2? Weeks ago and now I am wondering if adding a small goby/firefish would hurt? I have two large chunks of live rock and am planning on grabbing some more to fill in the tank more. What do y’all think? Am I at my limit or is one more fish acceptable?

 

[TheReefDiary]

I started my 13.5 nano in late august, after three weeks I added a lovely pair of clowns that have done fantastic, and have even grown quite a bit. Soon after, I bought a few snails and an urchin, all of which are still alive. then I added a coral banded shrimp that has molted twice since I’ve had him. I just added my first corals 2? Weeks ago and now I am wondering if adding a small goby/firefish would hurt? I have two large chunks of live rock and am planning on grabbing some more to fill in the tank more. What do y’all think? Am I at my limit or is one more fish acceptable?

You have room for another dependent on what fish that is. A firefish would be fine.

 

[dschuffert]

I agree with the others who responded; you can probably get another fish there. Tank maintenance, bio load, and water quality will determine how much you can safely add.

 

[Sailaway]

Do you have an FTS?
By the sounds of it you have room for a third and final fish however if you went for a goby a lid is a must.
What coral do you have and plan on having?

I have zooanthids currently, and I plan on adding some palys, leathers and eventually (maybe) gorgonians. I have a lid.

 

[Sailaway]

I am in the EXACT same boat as you! Started a 13.5g at the end of august and have 2 clowns and added corals 2 weeks ago as well. Spent all morning debating if I should get a third and final fish, (thinking of a tail spot blenny for now)

No way! How do you like it so far? I love mine, it’s been pretty easy to maintain and surprisingly it’s not too hard to keep the parameters stable.

 

[Parsely]

No way! How do you like it so far? I love mine, it’s been pretty easy to maintain and surprisingly it’s not too hard to keep the parameters stable.

Really enjoying, set it up for my 4 year old but it’s totally gotten me obsessed. Spend so long planing out the next corals to get, love it.

 

[i cant think]

I have zooanthids currently, and I plan on adding some palys, leathers and eventually (maybe) gorgonians. I have a lid.

That looks like plenty of room, I wouldn’t add too many more rocks and if you do, I would personally build it up against the black panel more. I would do either a species of small goby or an Escenius bimaculatus. If you don’t know what that is then here’s a simple photo to sum up how adorable this species is. (Not my photo).

 

[i cant think]

Really enjoying, set it up for my 4 year old but it’s totally gotten me obsessed. Spend so long planing out the next corals to get, love it.

I would’ve gone for the Evo but went for the max nano, after seeing so many successes with the Evo I wish I went that route but oh well (Now I have a 3’x16” SPS tank to replace the max nano).
Great to hear you’re planning on what other corals to go for, I’m surprised you don’t just go “It’s pretty, I’ll take it” or is that just an older reefing thing haha.

 

[Parsely]

I would’ve gone for the Evo but went for the max nano, after seeing so many successes with the Evo I wish I went that route but oh well (Now I have a 3’x16” SPS tank to replace the max nano).
Great to hear you’re planning on what other corals to go for, I’m surprised you don’t just go “It’s pretty, I’ll take it” or is that just an older reefing thing haha.

Fighting my instincts to do that! I was planning on just loading up with the ‘beginner’ friendly corals but got good advice here to take it slower and really make sure it’s something I really like instead.

 

[Sailaway]

That looks like plenty of room, I wouldn’t add too many more rocks and if you do, I would personally build it up against the black panel more. I would do either a species of small goby or an Escenius bimaculatus. If you don’t know what that is then here’s a simple photo to sum up how adorable this species is. (Not my photo).

Oh my goodness. That fish is precious!

 

[i cant think]

Oh my goodness. That fish is precious!

I know right! It’s on my wish list for my SPS tank.

Fighting my instincts to do that! I was planning on just loading up with the ‘beginner’ friendly corals but got good advice here to take it slower and really make sure it’s something I really like instead.

In a smaller tank it’s recommended to do that as some coral will overtake the tank. I personally don’t really do that and in my 3’ tank I will get something that’s bright and eye catching in the LFS and not really look for other coral that I may enjoy.

 

[Parsely]

That looks like plenty of room, I wouldn’t add too many more rocks and if you do, I would personally build it up against the black panel more. I would do either a species of small goby or an Escenius bimaculatus. If you don’t know what that is then here’s a simple photo to sum up how adorable this species is. (Not my photo).

Do you advise against adding more rocks because the fish will have more open swimming room?

 

[TheReefDiary]

No way! How do you like it so far? I love mine, it’s been pretty easy to maintain and surprisingly it’s not too hard to keep the parameters stable.

I have one as well. I had 4 fish and the tank was fine. One died though when I removed some rockwork, jumped out of the tank. Keeping it at 3 now. You can check out my build thread.

 

[i cant think]

Do you advise against adding more rocks because the fish will have more open swimming room?

I personally wouldn’t however if it appears to need more in your eyes I would add 1-2 smaller pieces towards the back wall (Assuming this is the Black Panel).

 

[Lavey29]

Just depends if the clown will accept him into the reef neighborhood. They can be pretty territorial in a nano system.

 

[Sailaway]

Just depends if the clown will accept him into the reef neighborhood. They can be pretty territorial in a nano system.

That’s my concern. They haven’t picked on one another at all, but I am unsure how they would react to a new inhabitant. guess I’ll never know unless I try. If they become aggressive towards it, I’ll add more hiding spots.

 

[Nemo&Friends]

yoiu may be able to add a small 3rd fish, but I am not sure about the firefish. The clowns are now well establish and may be territorial. The firefish might spend his time hiding from them. I would think a fish a little more daring would be better.

 

[JaaxReef]

I would go with some sort of colorful ORA captive bred dottyback like an electric indigo. Stays pretty small and will be able to fend off the clowns if they get punchy.