Cali Kid Corals

Stocking an IM Nuvo 20 tank

J

Jonathan Chia

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Hello,

I am thinking about stocking the following for a IM Nuvo 20. Is the CuC large enough and bio load small enough to run a refugium in one and then a media basket with floss, biospheres and carbon in the other ?

Hoping to do water change every 2 weeks or once a month preferred

Thanks!


CuC

2 skunk cleaner shrimp (read they like to be in groups)

Few Scarlett reef hermit crabs

2 emerald crabs

3 Nassarius Snails

3 Nerite snails

Fish:

2 clowns

1 goby

1 undetermined fish
 
wait, so if I am standing up a new tank, put the CuC in first? Can I put all of them in at once or should I ease into it?

I thought I would put the clowns in first to help with the cycle?
 
It's a fine list (minus the emeralds), but (just something to consider) I'd skip the hermits. The problem with mixing hermits and snail is the hermits will eventually kill all your snails for their shells. I run my tanks with a snail cuc. There are a number of species that each take care of their own "niche." I start my crews with Nassarius to stir the sand and Trochus to do the rest of the work. I prefer Trochus to all others because they can turn themselves over. Most snails can't so if they fall off the glass or rock they just die.

Mike suggests clowns last because they are territorial and putting them in last will lessen that. However, if they are very small clowns it probably doesn't matter.

Most people skip "biosphere's" in amedia basket and use a bag of Chemipure or similar.
 
Ah, thanks!

The only reason I didn't want to use chemipure was because I was thinking about running a refugium and figured I would need the phosphates to help the chaeto grow.

If I use Chemipure, assuming I wouldn't need a refugium and then run a skimmer there instead? Is there a pro/con either way?
 
Some people may answer this differently, but I don't believe that running a refugium in one of the small Nuvos (and I've had 4 or 5 of them) has any effect all. It's simply not enough volume (unless you have an EXT with a sump.) In any event, I doubt the chemipure will effect your Chaeto. You'll export a lot more nutrients using a Tunze skimmer and chemipure.
 
Just curious, why are you veterans suggesting to skip emerald crabs? I've tried one in my tank and it is an absolute beast at eating GHA. My rocks are picked so clean, its crazy. Is it because they go after softies and small fish if they don't have enough food?
 
I'm kind of on the other side of the fence when it comes to clean up crews, only get them when you need to get them. Something as small as a 20g tank there may simple not be enough food for all of them and then when they die they'll create the issues that require the CUC in the first place. Crabs will eat snails, it's a fact of life, and you will need to feed the shrimp since they are not going to get enough from picking scales off the few small fish you have in there.

You will go through a cycle, you will get brown diatoms that make you think you need a CUC, you may even get some algae, but if you have the patience to let it ride out (hopefully in the dark) you can deal with it with water changes until the majority of it goes away. Then if you see the need 2-3 snails IMO is good enough, don't balk at the price at the LFS if you compare to online prices you won't have the volume to make shipping online worth it, don't feed a lot and you won't need hermits to eat the food that drops to the ground a single nassarius snail could handle that if you have a sandbed, if you don't then just have enough flow going along the bottom to keep the food suspended to get filtered out or get it with the water change and a siphon hose.
 
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