stocking a 30 gal.

[efarm10]

I just turned over a 30 gal. tank over to my 9 year old son. He wants to make it a reef tank. Right now it has two clowns and a couple crabs in it. It also has about 20#s of live rock. I know I need to up-grade the lighting, and probally get a protien skimmer. The tank has two Aqua Clear 110 HOB filters. The tank has been running for 4 to 5 months and the clowns are doing great. Our question is what is the max fish load for this take and does the invert. load count against the amount of fish he can have.

 

[bonebrake]

Inverts like snails, hermits, shrimp, etc. add to the biological load, but are minimal. For that size tank with a pair of clowns, you could add one small bottom dweller, perhaps something from the goby family. If you do choose a shrimp goby you could get a pistol shrimp to pair with it. Skunk cleaner shrimp add a lot of character to a tank, you could add one of them as well. I would not go over 10 hermits and 20 snails in a 30 gallon tank. Hopefully your nine year old son will learn the priceless virtue of patience at a young age by caring for a marine aquarium!
:joy: