Starfish in a RSM nano
- Thread starter Russty
- Start date
I don't recommend adding a red star to a new tank, and ideally they should be added to larger tanks. Wait about a year or so until the tank is well established and then consider it.
As for bioload, inverts don't add much bioload compared to a fish. However, you are planning 4 fish in a 20 gal tank, which is way overstocking the tank.
By the time you add enough live rock, and optionally live sand, that 20 gal tank is only holding about 15 gal of water. You want to stock a tank at the rate of 1 inch of fish per 5 gal of water. This works out to 2 or 3 very small fish or 1 or 2 larger ones. You also need room for growth.
Yes, you do see people often go over what I recommend, and sometimes they get away with it, but it's a very difficult balancing act. In this case, what would be a minor issue becomes a disaster often resulting in a tank of very dead livestock.
As for bioload, inverts don't add much bioload compared to a fish. However, you are planning 4 fish in a 20 gal tank, which is way overstocking the tank.
By the time you add enough live rock, and optionally live sand, that 20 gal tank is only holding about 15 gal of water. You want to stock a tank at the rate of 1 inch of fish per 5 gal of water. This works out to 2 or 3 very small fish or 1 or 2 larger ones. You also need room for growth.
Yes, you do see people often go over what I recommend, and sometimes they get away with it, but it's a very difficult balancing act. In this case, what would be a minor issue becomes a disaster often resulting in a tank of very dead livestock.
Thanks for the advice, I wasn’t planning on getting one anytime soon, I was more curious as to whether it would be ok in the nano. With regards to stocking the tank, I only have a minimal rockscape and was just planning on having a clown goby 2x common clowns and maybe a royal gramma which are all small fish, I had been told elsewhere that it would be ok but at its maximum limit.
A minimal rockscape is still about 20 lbs or rock. If you have much less than that you need more. That is going to displace quite a bit of water.
You may have been told that your stocking would be ok, but it's really far too many fish and doesn't allow for growth. Those clowns can grow to about 3 inches, a royal gramma also gets that large. Your really asking a lot of a tank that size.
You may have been told that your stocking would be ok, but it's really far too many fish and doesn't allow for growth. Those clowns can grow to about 3 inches, a royal gramma also gets that large. Your really asking a lot of a tank that size.