Do you have to have fish in a reef?

[fishylisa]

Ok I have just a small 14 gallon nano and I just want to put hermeit crabs and a few snails in there, I'm just wondering if you have to have a fish with your coral?...I just don't want to have any nitrate problems of fish picking on my coral......thank you for any help you can give.

 

[m0nk]

Nope, you don't have to have fish. There are quite a few members here who don't have any.

 

[meeks101]

Fish are fine! I have two clownfish in my reef aquarium, two cleaner shrimp, a starfish, hermit crabs, a snail, and a mandarin fish. The only types of fish I would be concerned about to keep with corals is the angel fishes and butterflyfishes. Both peck at corals. I think you should put two ocellaris clowns in there. They are easy fish to keep, beautiful and spawn in good conditions. Just don't put any meat eaters with the clownfish cuz' they'll eat the eggs. Also if you put your hand in the tank the cleaner shrimp will clean you hands. Any more questions?

 

[9supratt4]

I don't know for sure, but I don't think you need any fish in a reef as corals are self sustaining with light and occasional feedings.

 

[meeks101]

You don't have to have them but a couple won't hurt or pollute your tank to bad. But fish are a good addition.

 

[bigarn]

live rock + corals = reef

 

[fishylisa]

Thanks alot for all of your help.....I'd love to do the clown fish so made I'll try them.

 

[fishygurl]

Originally Posted by fishylisa
http:///forum/post/2711579
Thanks alot for all of your help.....I'd love to do the clown fish so made I'll try them.

also you could get a yellow clown goby or something like that they stay small too

 

[perfectdark]

Just remember if your tank is fallow, (without fish) you will need to ghost feed it about once a week to keep your cycle going. Although depending on the corals you have feeding them will be sufficient to keep things going.

 

[nordy]

I like having a few fish in a reef tank, but I just wish I could catch those darn damsels I got before I swiched from fish to reef. They are bad, bad, fish and they attack me everytime I put my hand in the tank.
yeah, it's pretty cool to have the cleaner shrimp come over to your hand and peck away-they can also eat right out of your hand!

 

[fishygurl]

Originally Posted by Nordy
http:///forum/post/2711862
I like having a few fish in a reef tank, but I just wish I could catch those darn damsels I got before I swiched from fish to reef. They are bad, bad, fish and they attack me everytime I put my hand in the tank.
yeah, it's pretty cool to have the cleaner shrimp come over to your hand and peck away-they can also eat right out of your hand!
my clowns will eat out of my hand too

 

[fishylisa]

Would it be to many fish if I got 2 clowns and a lawnmower blenny and a cleaner shrimp for a 14 gallon nano?...I have that hairy looking alge and I was hoping the lawnmower blenny would eat that plus they are so fun to watch...Thanks again.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by fishylisa
http:///forum/post/2712527
Would it be to many fish if I got 2 clowns and a lawnmower blenny and a cleaner shrimp for a 14 gallon nano?...I have that hairy looking alge and I was hoping the lawnmower blenny would eat that plus they are so fun to watch...Thanks again.
I would say 3 fish that size would be too much. A pair of clowns is IMO max maybe a small clown goby or neon goby but thats all. The shrimp is fine they do not add to your bio load like fish do.
Chemistry aside, you need to be careful of how many fish because of territorial issues. Ocellaris need a certain amount of room to claim as theirs. They will defend it even if the other fish is not challenging but just cramped for space. Just something to consider.

 

[shiby1510]

IMO it depends... are you running a protein skimmer, sump/fuge, etc?
I'm a little confused because you were very worried about nitrates and now you seem to want a full stock of fish

also, lawnmowers can be hard to keep.
edit: I would suggest checking out the nano tank section and look at other 14g tanks to get some ideas.

 

[m0nk]

Personally, I wouldn't do more than 2 fish in a 12-14g sized nano, especially since you'll have coral. Coral and fish both produce waste, so it's harder to keep a smaller tank stable with that much bioload. It's your call though, but I'm thinking about your post mentioning that you don't want to worry about nitrates. If that's the case, and you do go with 3 fish, you'll need to do water changes roughly every 4-5 days to keep nitrates down.

 

[fishylisa]

I'm just wondering what I could get away with having and trying to have some options on what to pick because this is a small tank I'm limited to what I can have and I want to make the right choice..

 

[fishylisa]

Thank you Perfect Dark and Monk....I think I might just do a cleaner shrimp and 1 clown for now and maybe just keep it that way untill I get my 150 gallon...thank you for your help

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by fishylisa
http:///forum/post/2712543
Thank you Perfect Dark and Monk....I think I might just do a cleaner shrimp and 1 clown for now and maybe just keep it that way untill I get my 150 gallon...thank you for your help

A couple of small fish can be just as entertaining as one larger one. As you stated one clown like an ocellaris, true perc, or even a color morph true perc like the onyx, picasso or N.aked clown would be cool. But then you could look at adding 2 small fish like a cling fish, (goby cousin stays small 2" max Diademichthys lineatus) but very different looking, and or a yellow, green or Citrinis goby also 2" max size would be really cool and they hang out in your corals so they make a neat addition.

 

[fishylisa]

I love the green clown goby, I think he is really neat looking.....I have a bunch of coral coming today, so after it's all in and opening maybe me and my kids will go fish shopping...I was looking at another thread on here and the guy has a 14 gallon like mine and has 3 fish and lots of different crabs and shrimp and he has no upgrades to his tank, I would love to do the shrimp and stuff because me son thinks they are the coolest but my daughter loves the fish so I know for sure we will get one clown for sure and then see how it does and go from there....thank you again, do you have a nano? if so do you have pictures even if it's a bigger tank I'd love to see

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by fishylisa http:///forum/post/2712575
I love the green clown goby, I think he is really neat looking.....I have a bunch of coral coming today, so after it's all in and opening maybe me and my kids will go fish shopping...I was looking at another thread on here and the guy has a 14 gallon like mine and has 3 fish and lots of different crabs and shrimp and he has no upgrades to his tank, I would love to do the shrimp and stuff because me son thinks they are the coolest but my daughter loves the fish so I know for sure we will get one clown for sure and then see how it does and go from there....thank you again, do you have a nano? if so do you have pictures even if it's a bigger tank I'd love to see

Yep, there are tons of threads where people like me have started their tanks and created diary's. Check out the Nano tank section of this board. I have one, its a 29 gal cube about a year and a half old. I just got a green clown goby for mine it is a very cool fish.
The Nano tank thread.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/265592/my-29-biocube-updated-pics
My Thread....
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/f/19/nano-tanks