SPS/LPS corals for a 6 gallon?

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corsta007

New Member
I currently own a 6 gallon reef with 2 clowns (i will replace them after they outgrow the tank) a cleanup crew and a few corals.

I have gorgonia, xenia, zoanthids and 2 mushroom corals. Has anyone got any recommendations on SPS or LPS corals?

Specs:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Salinity: 1.025

I feed my corals every two days.
 
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saltfan

Well-Known Member
Depends on what kind of lights you have. I dont know how so many people get their nitrates to 0? I can never get mine below 5 most of the time 10.
 
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corsta007

New Member
Yeah i have 0, make sure you have good skimming filtration, that kills nitrate levels. I have 2-3 watts per gallon of flurecent tubes if that helps. (50/50 marine blue/daylight)
 
nanoreefing4fun

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
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Start a new tank thread & share your tank with us so we can follow along - we love pics :)
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
corsta007 said:
... Has anyone got any recommendations on SPS or LPS corals?
...
Click to expand...

I would say that most LPS corals would be ok. With such a small tank, I think SPS would be almost impossible to maintain. SPS corals require top quality water and stable water conditions. This is difficult to maintain in a 5 gal tank, because if you change only a couple of gallons or water, you have changed almost half the tank.

Also, as things stand now, your tank is way over recommended stocking levels. By the time you add live rock, and live sand that 6 gals is likely under 5 gal. At the recommend stocking of 1 inch of fish per 5 gal of water, even with very small clowns, you are way over right now, by a factor of about 2 to 3. If you have larger clowns, it's even greater. It would be best to set up something much larger to house your clowns.
 
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corsta007

New Member
DaveK, The level is at 6 gal Inc coral and live rock space. The two clowns are tiny and will be removed after they grow too large. I do not go by 1 inch per 5 gallons as it can become a misconception. I more commonly hear 1 inch per 1 gallon, of which I do reach the parameters of.

I will soon upgrade to a 60l (12 gallon) in a year.

Thanks so much on the lps/sps help. I will be sure to stick with that!
 
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gbose

Member
Corsta,

The 1 inch per gallon comes from fresh water, where It's a very approximate rule of thumb. I am a salt water newbie, but I understand that SW stocking levels are way lower. You'l probably be OK for a while with 2 tiny clowns, but staret thinking of a new tank soon.

Good luck!

GBose
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
corsta007 said:
DaveK, The level is at 6 gal Inc coral and live rock space. The two clowns are tiny and will be removed after they grow too large. I do not go by 1 inch per 5 gallons as it can become a misconception. I more commonly hear 1 inch per 1 gallon, of which I do reach the parameters of.

I will soon upgrade to a 60l (12 gallon) in a year.

Thanks so much on the lps/sps help. I will be sure to stick with that!
Click to expand...

Your attempting to use a rule used by FW people in a SW tank. Now there are people that do push stocking limits, and go way over the recommended 1 inch of fish per 5 gal of water. The ones that get away with it are generally people with many years experience, and know exactly what they are doing. For most people that try this, it usually ends up in disaster, since a mistake or problem can crash the system. I don't recommend pressing your luck.
 
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corsta007

New Member
Dont worry, i will be sure to re house them or get a bigger tank if they grow too large or if my levels start to fluctuate. Thank you for raising the concern, i will be cery careful! Sorry about the FW mix up, this is my first reef after 2 and a half years of FW. Please note if the clowns getto big and i cant re house them I WILL take them back. I have already agreed to this with my favourite aquarium aquarium store.
 
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corsta007

New Member
No its a 6 gallon. In england we have litres and up to 60 litres in considered namo, above that is large. 60 litres= 12 gallon!
 
AC273

AC273

Member
I would recommend no SPS, but a few LPS with short tentacles would be perfect. Candy Cane Corals would probably do quite well. I am sure you could make a few polyps of Acan's happy too. I would avoid Favia as they have long tentacles at night that can sting their neighbors. Duncan would also do quite well for you as they are non-aggressive and don't sting their neighbors.

The reason why I don't recommend SPS is (for me) they seem quite greedy when it comes to calcium. I never had issues keeping my calcium up until I added SPS to my tank. Now I spend more time monitoring levels and adding supplements. In a small tank like a 6-gallon, I could imagine this being a nightmare to try and balance. But maybe I am wrong as the closest to nano I have ever had is a 29g.
 
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