Hello!
As a kid, aquariums were always my main hobby. I had a simple nano FOWLR with a pair of clownfish and some inverts for many years and a low tech freshwater planted tank as well. Never really had the money to go much further than that and then college came along and I had to sell both the aquariums.
However, now that I have my first real adult job, a place to myself, and some spending money I really want to try to do the hobby right this time.
I love plants and the aesthetic of planted aquariums; however, I am a sucker for saltwater invertebrates, live rock, and the ocean as a whole. I wanted to see if there was a way to marry the two and stumbled across some cool creators on Instagram with some amazing looking macro algae tanks. This really piqued my interest, and so I started to do a ton of research and went out and began to source my materials/equipment.
Here is the build so far:
-Finnex Planted+ Full Spectrum Light 24"
-Waterbox Clear Mini 16 Tank (love the rimless, always something I have wanted to do)
-Seachem Tidal 55 Filter (mostly just for flow, surface skimming, and large media chamber)
-Eheim Jager 100 Watt heater
-An old Hydor Koralia powerhead from the FOWLR (not sure if I will need it)
I definitely will probably add an ATO at some point and I still need some stand recommendations that would look decent running this as a peninsula, but for the most part this is the build.
I want to run it peninsula style with the filter at the back and to slope the sandbed from very deep towards the back to more shallow towards the front.
I am a bit stumped on stocking. The macroalgae is easy as I just need to decide what works with my parameters and my aquascape.
However, I need advice on other inhabitants.
I do not want fish as I love invertebrates way more and think keeping fish in a 16 is not super feasible and is not always the nicest to the fish in my experience.
Some ideas I have had include:
-Skunk cleaner shrimp
-Pom Pom Crabs
-Chocolate Chip Starfish
-Nassarius Snails
-Plate Sponge
-A few leather corals
My other idea is to only stock it with a solitary spearing mantis shrimp and some snails as I have always loved mantis shrimp. Although I am unsure about the feasibility here.
Any advice? Does this seem like a decent start or is there anything I am not considering? Also, please give me any and all stocking advice.
Looking forward to getting back into the hobby
As a kid, aquariums were always my main hobby. I had a simple nano FOWLR with a pair of clownfish and some inverts for many years and a low tech freshwater planted tank as well. Never really had the money to go much further than that and then college came along and I had to sell both the aquariums.
However, now that I have my first real adult job, a place to myself, and some spending money I really want to try to do the hobby right this time.
I love plants and the aesthetic of planted aquariums; however, I am a sucker for saltwater invertebrates, live rock, and the ocean as a whole. I wanted to see if there was a way to marry the two and stumbled across some cool creators on Instagram with some amazing looking macro algae tanks. This really piqued my interest, and so I started to do a ton of research and went out and began to source my materials/equipment.
Here is the build so far:
-Finnex Planted+ Full Spectrum Light 24"
-Waterbox Clear Mini 16 Tank (love the rimless, always something I have wanted to do)
-Seachem Tidal 55 Filter (mostly just for flow, surface skimming, and large media chamber)
-Eheim Jager 100 Watt heater
-An old Hydor Koralia powerhead from the FOWLR (not sure if I will need it)
I definitely will probably add an ATO at some point and I still need some stand recommendations that would look decent running this as a peninsula, but for the most part this is the build.
I want to run it peninsula style with the filter at the back and to slope the sandbed from very deep towards the back to more shallow towards the front.
I am a bit stumped on stocking. The macroalgae is easy as I just need to decide what works with my parameters and my aquascape.
However, I need advice on other inhabitants.
I do not want fish as I love invertebrates way more and think keeping fish in a 16 is not super feasible and is not always the nicest to the fish in my experience.
Some ideas I have had include:
-Skunk cleaner shrimp
-Pom Pom Crabs
-Chocolate Chip Starfish
-Nassarius Snails
-Plate Sponge
-A few leather corals
My other idea is to only stock it with a solitary spearing mantis shrimp and some snails as I have always loved mantis shrimp. Although I am unsure about the feasibility here.
Any advice? Does this seem like a decent start or is there anything I am not considering? Also, please give me any and all stocking advice.
Looking forward to getting back into the hobby