# 16 gallon reef



## wgama

I bought a 16 gallon sunsun tank from Aquagiant here is what i have for it so far: 1 Jialu submersible pump (powerhead)
1 atnic bulb that fits in to hood of the tank

What else will i need and will the atnic bulb be enough for inverts? (this is my first saltwater tank)


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## Guest

Sounds like you have a lot of reading to do. I suggest picking up a few books about saltwater and reef keeping, The Concientious Marine Aquarist by Bob Fenner being one of them. There are tons of articles online as well. www.reefcentral.com might be a good place to start.

Before you know what kinds of equipement you need, you need to know what you want to keep. A reef tank by definition houses coral...is your goal to keep some species of corals? If so, what kinds? SPS (small polyp stony corals) need high lighting and lots of flow. LPS (large polyp stony corals) need less light, but most still need a decent amount of it. Soft corals generally do not need high amounts of flow and most can live in relatively low-medium lighting conditions (depening on the species of course). However, any tank with corals, except nonphotosynthetic corals such as sun corals and some gorgonia, will need a decent lighting fixture to thrive.

As for filtration, your best option is lots of liverock. Around 20-30 pounds for this size tank would be a good number. You may or may not want a small protein skimmer (I'd opt for getting one, but if you do religious water changes it won't be as necessary).

You will want another spectrum bulb (one with more of a white hue) to go along with that actinic (a blue bulb). How many watts is the actinic? You may need to ditch the hood altogether and go with another fixture if the hood (really, the ballast in the hood) can not handle as many watts as desired.

You can also scrap the coral idea altogether and go with a FOWLR (fish only with liverock) tank. This would mean you'd have the liverock of a reef tank, minus the corals. Instead, more of a focus on fish and inverts like shrimp. However, in this size tank, you have only a few choices on fish, and you won't be able to house many of them.

My best advice, however, is that you do not start saltwater with a 16 gallon tank. Saltwater can be hard at first, especially reefs, because it is crucial that the water parameters stay at perfect levels. This is much harder to maintain in a smaller tank, and therefore things will be more stable in a big tank. If you really want to take the plunge into saltwater, I suggest starting with a tank no less tha 30 gallons.


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## wgama

Ok i tried to explain the whole small tank harder to keep thing to my mom but the guy at aquagiant said that wasnt true so im stuck with this tank. I would like to keep a clownfish, an anenome and som soft corals, I know that i need a skimmer and things like that but i was looking for suggestions.


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## Guest

You realize your lighting situation isn't going to allow you to keep any anemones right now? I don't even suggest a clownfish/anomene duo for a tank as small as yours.


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## TheOldSalt

Sorry, but there's just no way it's going to work. You'll never be able to keep an anemone alive in that tank without a miracle. Most folks don't seem to realize this until it's too late, but corals are much easier to keep, grow, and even breed than anemones are to keep alive. A new tank simply cannot sustain one, for many reasons I'm sure you'll be learning soon enough.


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## nvsbandit

your clown doesnt need an anenome. my two dont have one and they are still happy as clams.

in a 16g you could get two clowns and another fish in there with a sufficient amount of filtration.


THINGS YOULL NEED
new light eventually when you want to do corals.
sand
live rock (LR) - 1 to 1.5 lbs per gallon
some kind of filter (i suggest the aquaclears...love all of mine.)
heater
small powerhead is optional to get some more flow rockin.

i have 2 clowns and a yellow watchman goby in my 10g. my levels are fine.

soon everything will be in my 90RR thats cycling.

you obviously know about cycling?


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## wgama

ya I know about cycling. Does anybody have any ideas for a mini fuge??

This is what i am planning on having in my tank:
2 clownfish
1shrimp of some sort
1 starfish
and a clean up clue


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## Guest

What kind of ideas do you want for a fuge?

So this is not going to be a reef tank? No corals?


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## s13

You can keep aiptasia alive with that tank no prob.


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## Guest

hahaha, I actually think aiptasia are pretty cool...when they're not in _my_ reef tank. :razz:


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## s13

Maybe you can grow some majanos too


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## CollegeReefer

Scuba Kid said:


> hahaha, I actually think aiptasia are pretty cool...when they're not in _my_ reef tank. :razz:


Julian Sprung actually likes aiptasia, but he even said when he tries to keep it alive he can't and of course when he doesn't want it it just multiplies. Funny how that works.


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## k-dawg-

Scuba Kid said:


> Sounds like you have a lot of reading to do. I suggest picking up a few books about saltwater and reef keeping, The Concientious Marine Aquarist by Bob Fenner being one of them. There are tons of articles online as well. www.reefcentral.com might be a good place to start.
> 
> Before you know what kinds of equipement you need, you need to know what you want to keep. A reef tank by definition houses coral...is your goal to keep some species of corals? If so, what kinds? SPS (small polyp stony corals) need high lighting and lots of flow. LPS (large polyp stony corals) need less light, but most still need a decent amount of it. Soft corals generally do not need high amounts of flow and most can live in relatively low-medium lighting conditions (depening on the species of course). However, any tank with corals, except nonphotosynthetic corals such as sun corals and some gorgonia, will need a decent lighting fixture to thrive.
> 
> As for filtration, your best option is lots of liverock. Around 20-30 pounds for this size tank would be a good number. You may or may not want a small protein skimmer (I'd opt for getting one, but if you do religious water changes it won't be as necessary).
> 
> You will want another spectrum bulb (one with more of a white hue) to go along with that actinic (a blue bulb). How many watts is the actinic? You may need to ditch the hood altogether and go with another fixture if the hood (really, the ballast in the hood) can not handle as many watts as desired.
> 
> You can also scrap the coral idea altogether and go with a FOWLR (fish only with liverock) tank. This would mean you'd have the liverock of a reef tank, minus the corals. Instead, more of a focus on fish and inverts like shrimp. However, in this size tank, you have only a few choices on fish, and you won't be able to house many of them.
> 
> My best advice, however, is that you do not start saltwater with a 16 gallon tank. Saltwater can be hard at first, especially reefs, because it is crucial that the water parameters stay at perfect levels. This is much harder to maintain in a smaller tank, and therefore things will be more stable in a big tank. If you really want to take the plunge into saltwater, I suggest starting with a tank no less tha 30 gallons.


lol did you type that out or do you just copy and paste that for every new member?


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## wgama

I was thinking of a hang over tank refugium, any ideas, and maybe a bubble coral for my clownfishes. Dont worry everybody there will be corals


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## karazy

for lighting i would say on a tank that small go for T5HO or a T5HO HQI mixture.

for a fuge you can easily make one out of an aquaclear


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## Guest

k-dawg- said:


> lol did you type that out or do you just copy and paste that for every new member?


 
haha, I actually did type that all out. :razz:


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## Ice

Aiptasia ? Do you really want those in your tank ? They are considered as pest and they will overrun your tank in no time if left untreated.

Wow ... just wow .....

Gone away for a few months and come back to this.


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## Guest

Ice said:


> Aiptasia ? Do you really want those in your tank ? They are considered as pest and they will overrun your tank in no time if left untreated.
> 
> Wow ... just wow .....
> 
> Gone away for a few months and come back to this.


If you read more carefully, you'd see that the original poster did not say that and those that brought it up were only joking. 

Although, aiptasia are really not all that bad when they're not in a reef tank and they actually make quite interesting little anemones to watch. I find their eating behavior pretty neat.


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## wgama

Okay guys (and gals) in a couple of weeks my family is going down south and while i stayy down there for a week they are coming back, buying salt for my tank, puting it in and then coming to pick me up and on our way back we will pick up live rock. So pretty soon my tank is going to be up and running.


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## wgama

*My Tank*

I now have my tank set up with the live rock i purchased at Aquarium Illusiions yesterday here are some pics. The guy said come back in two or three weeks and he'll test my water. If the water is good i will be able to put hermit crabs and snails into my tank. The first picture is a picture of my rockwork( I will be adding more later), the second pictures is of my whole tank/stand and the last picture is of my filter.


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## TheOldSalt

The way to insert pics is to first get your pics hosted on a pichosting site like photobucket. Then you'll see that each of your hosted pics has a little URL beside it enclosed in IMG metatags. Just click on it, ( there are 4 to choose from but it's pretty easy to figure out which one you want,) and that autocopies it. Then return to the post you are writing, right-click on it, and hit "paste." Your picture will now appear in your message.

Before we can really suggest any corals, we need more info on your light. Is it an actinic bulb, or a 50/50 actinic white bulb? How bright is it? How many watts? 

You'll want to stick with the super-easy stuff in either case, I guess. Zooanthid polyp clusters, for example, are easy to keep, reproduce well, and come in a stunning array of incredible colors. A tankful of them is a sight to see. Xenia is a coral that grows like a weed and had the added fun of being very motive, giving your tank some action. "Duncan" coral is superhardy and looks way cool, but it's pricey. Green Star polyps look neat, are easy to keep, and spread all over the place like some sort of grass.


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## wgama

Does anybody have any suggestions as to corals/inverts/fish for this tank, keep in mind that this is my first tank and the tank is only 16 gallons. I will be upgradiing my light to pc so lighting is not an issue.


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## Guest

Nano tanks with lights like PC fixtures I think make great zoanthid tanks, along with ricordeas and some nice mushrooms. Most any soft coral would probably do very well in your tank, including xenia, leathers, and tree corals. 
Depending on the intensity of your lighting, you could probably also have a decent variety of large plyp stony corals, like frogspawn, hammer, possibly acans.
Don't forget the non-photosynthetic corals like sun corals and some gorgonians.


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## wgama

My tank has a built in filter its sort of like a trickle filter the water gets pumped up a tube then it goes through a screen and runs along a mat of filter floss. Is this a good filter?


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## wgama

Yay i got 3 snails and 4 hermits a few days ago but sadly the snails didnt survive the 4 hour trip from edmonton. Would this be enough light for corals in my 14 gallon tank (lost 2 gallons when i added sand and rock) http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3810


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## TheOldSalt

I might be. It's better than what you already have, but still pretty wimpy. If you want coral, you're gonna have to change your hood, which simply wasn't made for coral-capable lightbulbs. Didn't you say you were going to upgrade to PC lighting? What happened with that?


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## wgama

I changed my mind. Now im thinking of changing the flourescent tube fixture in my hood to something else maybe one with higher wattage


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## Fishfirst

a fixture is made with a certain wattage... going above that is a major fire hazard. I would highly reconsider. Either PC's or T-5's will get the job done nicely... say around 50-100 watts


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## wgama

I ment changing the actual fixture that hosds the bulb in my hood but now I think im just gunna use this bulb http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...fm?pcatid=3810 and get a high powered led fixture of some sort. Any suggestions?


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## TheOldSalt

That link goes to a page that no longer exists.

Ordinarily I would just suggest going to the manufacturer's webpage and ordering an upgrade hood for your tank to make it reef capable. Most of these nanotank companies offer such a hood upgrade.

SunSun, though, is Chinese and probably not so easy to find parts for in this country. If Aquagiant doesn't offer them you might have a lot of hassle finding one. 
Therefore, I say just ditch the whole hood and build your own arrangement. Put a piece of glass over the the top and put any one of dozens of suitable light fixtures over it. You'd get better results and possibly even save a buck.


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## wgama

My blue leg hermit crab shed 3 days ago and it is doing really good. Is this possibly a good sign?


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## TheOldSalt

No sign at all, good or bad. They just do that. If it survived the process, then I guess that can be considered good, sure.


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## wgama

I bought a new lighting fixture for my tank it has two 18" T5 bulbs in it and it should be bright enough to keeep some softies. I also got a blue devil damsel, he was only 8.00$, because i wanted to start with a cheap fish. Well he had this little white spot on his side and it turns out it was an injury and he died from infection. I also bought a little nano pump for circulation.


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## wgama

update on my tank: http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/tgama/?action=view&current=CalgaryZoo2008.jpg I will probably be getting some fish and corals this friday. Is all that red algae on my snad bad?


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## wgama

http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...aryZoo2008.jpg is all this red algae on my sand bad? Is there a snail that will eat it or something??


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## karazy

to me that looks liek a crap load of cyano algae(which isnt good)

but i could be wrong


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## Fishfirst

cyno bacteria, if this is a new tank... just keep up with water changes and manual removal.


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## wgama

ya its a new tank and the hermit crabs have decided they are going to eat it.


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## wgama

I went to The Reef Shoppe in lloydminister today and got a pair of clowns, a red fromia starfish (with six arms) , two snails, a pulsing xenia (with some white star polyps on the same rock) and a rock covered in green star polyps. I also got a bunch of wonderful service and they had a wonderful selection of healthy quarentined livestock, I would reccomend this place to anyone. The stuff I bought are currently acclimitizing.


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## Fishfirst

hold on before you sing their praises. Red Fromia Starfish are very sensitive to change. Your new tank will likely be a death trap for this star.  Plus how long has it been setup? Your clowns will be a heavy bioload for a 16 gallon to take.


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## wgama

My tank has been set up for about two months now and everything is doing good today except for the green star polyps they still hav not oppened but i think it is because the store i bought it from was open after the guy got home from work so his lights were set to be on from 2:00 pm to 2:00am and my lights are turned on at 7:00am and turned of at 9:00 pm, I think it will take a whle for the green star polyps to gt used to this, I will see if they open later today. THe pulsing Xenia isnt fully extended but is doing good.


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## Fishfirst

2 months is not enough time for the microfauna that these guys feed on to establish itself. Again I believe you were led astray here, and I'm just trying to inform you that it might not be the greatest situation for the starfish to be in.


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## wgama

I know your trying to be helpful but my starfish is doing fine( i bought some food for him and the corals that you add to the tank) but my corals are not, I think it is because my bulbs burnt out yesterday ( on account of the fixture being dropped in the tank woops) and the corals had no light for a good part of the day.


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## wgama

http://www.current-usa.com/novaextremet5hox2.html This is the light fixture i have. Are there any blulb you would reccomend for it?


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## TheOldSalt

Nice little unit. I'd stick with the saltwater bulb it's engineered for.


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## wgama

Ok thnx. My mom accedently dropped the light fixture in the tank but didnt electrucute herself, I cant say the same for a good portion of the tanks inhabitants. My starfish a snail and the corals kinda died but the clownfish and the hermit crabs are ok.

we might go back to the store this weekend i just get some zoanthids if we do.


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## wgama

My tank is full of cyano bacteria, its growing on the rocks, the sand, and the glass were i don"t clean it. Is this bad? Should i get rid of it?


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## wgama

__-Bump-__


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## Fishfirst

Absolutely... manual removal and water changes are what you need to do. Also I doubt the "electrical current" killed your starfish... mine have been hit with stray voltage a number of times and I've never seen adverse affects. A new tank is very unstable and UNSUITABLE to your starfish and that is why it died, I could bet $100 on it.


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## wgama

I removed most of it from the tank (cyano bacteria) but its growing back  .


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## wgama

I was wondering if anyone has ever ordered from www.wickedfrags.com and what there experiences were.


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## Fishfirst

It'll be an uphill battle for a while but continue with removal and increase your flow (and possibly skimming)


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## wgama

yah i just put in my powerhead last week and i noticed it is startnig to die a little bit.


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## wgama

I was wondering if anyone knows when the edmonton frag swap thing is?


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## wgama

I went to The Reef Shoppe yesterday in lloyd and I picked up a green mushroom(my favorite) http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/images/1219_supergreen.jpg , a frag (9 polyps) of sea mat zoanthids http://z.about.com/d/saltaquarium/1/0/J/9/jdillmanpolyps_400.JPG , some pink/purple zoanthids ( they have pink tentacles a purple-ish body and a bright green mouth), some bubble caulupra http://www.reefblogger.co.uk/images-articles/caulerpa racemosa1.jpg ,some other macro algae that looks like little green sticks, some non pulsing xenia, a kenya tree frag and two pinchings (self pinching kenya tree) and a ph test kit.


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## Ice

Eventually you're going to need to upgrade to a larger tank. Although great for a beginner but mushrooms tends to multiply & grow large. Call me stupid but I think that's alot of corals for a 16 gallon tank, bro. They may be small at first but soon they will fight & compete for space. I'm not too familiar with the last 2 corals though.

I'm sure someone will agree with me on this.


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## Fishfirst

sounds like your going a bit fast yes...


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## wgama

Everythings doing good. The mushrooms dividing but my clownfish keep knocking over my kenya tree :<. My clownfish are two stipe clownfish, Does anyone know anything about them? Like thier scientific name.


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## wgama

And for those of you who think there is way to many coral in this tank check out s13's 10 gallon nano http://www.fishforums.com/forum/gen...pdate-29-gallon-reef-10-gallon-nano-reef.html


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## karazy

they dont mean you have too much, they just mean you are adding things too quickly.


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## TheOldSalt

AND that when they grow there's gonna be trouble. As for Brad's tank, yes it's nice, but it too will need pruning eventually. This won't be a problem for him since he's in the business of tank maintenance and has plenty of places to put stuff and plenty of local reefer buddies to trade with regularly. ( He & I are in the same local club ) If you're in Edmonton, make sure to find the other reefers in your area and join the club. If there isn't a club, then form one; Edmonton is plenty big enough to have one.

The two-stripe clown is possibly _Amphiprion bicinctus._

Caulerpa racemosa is toxic and grows like crazy. It will turn your water yellow and retard the growth and health of your corals. With that in your tank, be sure to run a skimmer and some carbon filtration, and make weekly water changes. If yours is the round grape version it won't be toooo bad, but if it's the flattopped kind you'll be regretting it very soon.


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## wgama

That bubble algae stuff i have doesn't have flat tops there purfectly round. I love watching my snails dig back into the sand when i turn my lights on in the morning .


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## wgama

iwas read ing somewhere that there are products to get rid of cyano bacteria. Is this true? And if so is there any reccomended?


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## Fishfirst

those products will not really help you... they mask the problem, and don't get to the root of the problem.


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## wgama

How ofte nshould Ifeed my clownfish? I have been feeding them every morning and a little bit like 2 hours before lights out is this too much?


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## Fishfirst

nope... unless there is a lot of excess food


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## wgama

I saw a 4" bristle worm crawling across my sand today ewww! and I realizied that my clownfish sleep in holes they dug in the sand. It just looks so wierd.


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## wgama

I went to The Reef Shoppe yesterday and got a fire fish goby, a lettuce nudibranch, a banded serpent star, a blue/orange porclain crab, an orange footed conch, a nerite snail, 2 small scarlet hermits, an anthelia frag, some green star polyps, some blue/purple zoanthids and some yelow and orange/white zoanthids. My tank is starting to look pretty good look in my album for pics.Link: http://www.fishforums.com/forum/album.php?albumid=49&pictureid=471


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## Fishfirst

how is the cyno bacteria doing? Gone yet?


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## karazy

holy cyano. I hope you get over it soon


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## wgama

The cyano is starting to go away  (I hope i didnt jynx myself) I think the orange footed conch i got is dong a really good joba of eating it in the morning when the lights come on there is hardly any of left but then some of it grows back during the day (less and less of it has been growing back during the day).

Oh and if you think thats bad those pictures were taken fairly early in the morning, you should see the tank when its time to turn the lights off (very very scary!! PURPLE DEATH)


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## wgama

My lettuce nudibranch Fred, yes thats right he had a name, crawled up the intake tube (through the tiniest little slit) for my filter and was brutaly... errr....ummm.... disembodied I should say . ( it was horrible little pieces of him crawling aimlessly around the tank) Is it possible that a few (lettuce nudibranches) might grow back from these pieces?


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## Fishfirst

any intakes are a death sentence for these guys. not sure but I doubt he'll grow back.


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## Ice

Aren't they toxic when they get all cut up to pieces?


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## Fishfirst

I don't believe lettuce nudi's are


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## wgama

No they arent they are one of the few Nudibranches that arent toxic.


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## wgama

picked up two really pretty fan worms today! 
On e just looks like a purple haiwain one and one like this:


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## Fishfirst

the one piece of advice I feel I must give you right now is... SLLLLLLLLLOWWWW DOOOWWWWNNNN get your cyno taken care of completely first.


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## wgama

My mean clownfish have been picking on my green fanworm so much that he got stressed and lost his fan


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## TheOldSalt

It'll grow back. Get used to it, as this will be common.


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## wgama

His fan still hasn't grown back and the Clarkii's went back to the store.
Here is some updated pics:








FTS(old one for comparison)








New FTS








My rainbow ricordea, GSP and pink zoanthids








My ricordea yuma








My cabbage coral








Green and brown sand polyps








My anthelia

The cabbage coral is getting too big for my tank and will be moved to my 90 gallon ( yay christmas present) soon! You can see my 90 gallon at http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=379928#post379928


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## wgama

cyano bacteria is the gone!!! yay!!


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## guppyart

well then lets see some pics without it  .

oh and had previously seen your 90g on canreef I go by nakedwookie on there good to see another canadian on FF although, seems we are few and far between these days here.


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## connor123

um i wouldnt get an anenome because they are hard to keep and need extrem lighting but just stick with corals. good luck in the future


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## Tallonebball

OLD thread connor!!


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