Livestock for 13.5 macro-softie tank

Common Blevil · Oct 22, 2023

I'm thinking to make small 13.5 gallon(53 liters) tank with a lot of nooks, crevises and hiding places.

The main photosynthetics are green and red macroalgae (probably only one species of each, for example gracillaria sp. and caulerpa toxifolia) and maybe some coral, like xenia or kenia tree. They will provide a lot of cover.

The main fish I want to keep here is Ecsenius stigmatura , the tailspot blenny.

Are two more fish, like male+female chrysiptera hemicyanea(azure damselfish) will be too much ?

Such small tank will not have enough place to all of them have established territories?

And, if so, is there any chance to make an ecsenius pair, or is it almost impossible? Love blennies, they are the best fish.) But, unfortunately reef blennies cannot be kept in harems, like Mediterranean blennies( And, as i know, the are almost impossible to sex, so almost impossible to pair.

Will cleaner shrimp be good addition to such a small system, if there will be only one blenny?

Maybe that's all. Any thoughts? The aquarium is only in plans, will be glad to hear any suggestions

Rtaylor · Oct 23, 2023

It’s too small for the damsels. You could get 1-3 barnacle blennies. They’re tiny, funny, and cute fish. Kinda hard to source, seems like they’re only available sporadically.

Common Blevil · Oct 24, 2023

Rtaylor said:
It’s too small for the damsels. You could get 1-3 barnacle blennies. They’re tiny, funny, and cute fish. Kinda hard to source, seems like they’re only available sporadically.

Ok, i understand, no damsels. Also, i was thinking about it, really too much fish, not what i like.

About barnacle blennies... Unfortunately, even tailspot blenny is a rarity in my area and barnacle blennies are nowhere to be found online even in "out of stock". So i maybe will stick to a tailspot. Such a dorky cute fella)

Not sure about anything else. Maybe cleaner shrimp or green clown goby? My friends in the hobby have bicolor blenny and yellow clown goby that live well in one tank, so maybe another ecsenius and gobiodon species will tolerate eachother as well?

Rtaylor · Oct 24, 2023

Yeah one of the clown gobies would be ok. They’re a perching fish, meaning they don’t swim around much, so a small tank works for them. I would think no on the cleaner shrimp as it wouldn’t have enough to clean. But most smaller inverts would work. Like a tuxedo or rock urchin, you can add at least a dozen of a mix of snails and small hermit crabs.

Common Blevil · Oct 24, 2023

May i also ask about other stuff? As i said, i planned caulerpa toxifolia, Gracilaria Hayia, Hlymenia durvillei(dragon's breath) and maybe some coral, like xenia or kenia tree to add in aquarium. Also some other stuff, like majano and filtering bristleworms(i forgot how they're called), but it is not important.

So the first one, will the flow from Tidal 55 be enough? I also am not sure about, if tidal will be quiet, because i need as quiet of a tank as possible. The main benefit of hang on the back filter will be the collection of the debree, the main biological filtration will be the live rock and sand.

The second one - what salt is better to use? I can buy either blue bucket red sea, or aquaforest sea salt, this is what i can easily find and afford. Saw people having problems with both of them, so am not sure here too.

The last one - lightning. I have 50 w spotlight-like light with daylight spectrum. It is really great, but i am afraid, that red macroalgae will not like it. The second is really weak 20w light from AliExpress. Red macroalgae can grow under it, but ulva is not. But I'm not sure about ulva, because it could have been the species that does not live in aquariums(i had a black sea biotope and found out that out of 4-5 species of ulva only one grows in aquariums)Aquarium will be near the window, so there will be some indirect sunlight. So I'm thinking, is 50w will burn macroalgae, or 20w will starve caulerpa and corals...

Rtaylor · Oct 24, 2023

Hmm…that is a pretty strong wattage for such a small and I assume relatively shallow tank. It will depend on how high above the tank you place it. Your best option for macro would be a freshwater planted light or a grow light. You’d need to research what wattage would be best.

Common Blevil · Oct 30, 2023

Rtaylor said:
Hmm…that is a pretty strong wattage for such a small and I assume relatively shallow tank. It will depend on how high above the tank you place it. Your best option for macro would be a freshwater planted light or a grow light. You’d need to research what wattage would be best.

Based on my research i will either try to work with this spotlight-like strong light, but put i high enough(what will be hard, because it has , or by something like 18-22 w hygger light, if the spotlight will not work well.

Common Blevil · Oct 30, 2023

Thanks for help) I maybe will ask more questions later, but it's all for now

kevgib67 · Oct 30, 2023

Common Blevil said:
Thanks for help) I maybe will ask more questions later, but it's all for now

Just a suggestion as you really seemed sold on a shrimp. How about placing 1 to 3 rock flower anemones that will host 4-5 sexy shrimp. They are very small but fun to watch. They would also host a porcelain crab.

Common Blevil · Oct 30, 2023

kevgib67 said:
Just a suggestion as you really seemed sold on a shrimp. How about placing 1 to 3 rock flower anemones that will host 4-5 sexy shrimp. They are very small but fun to watch. They would also host a porcelain crab.

If the blenny will not harm them (and i don't think he will), it sounds like a great idea.) But I'm not really sure about the anemones, because they will need place on the rock, and macroalgae need place too... But maybe i saw rockies on the sand somewhere , i am not sure... I need to do a little research)