What should I try to do in my tank?

[Matt1018]

Hey everyone!

For about 6 months now, I have had an Innovative Marine Nuvo 16 set up. I've successfully been keeping Euphyllia, Goniastrea, Favia, leather corals, Zoas, and even a couple of montis. All smaller pieces of course.

I do weekly water changes of about 5 gallons. I have a skimmer on the tank, and a VorTech MP10 for flow. My water quality is great. I recently did some rescaping and noticed I have a lot more room in my tank than I had previously realized. For lighting, I have the standard 14K LED lights that came with my tank when I purchased it.

I want to try another type of SPS, other than the montis. I was thinking some type of acro, if possible. Any recommendations?

 

[Nandez13]

What type of montis do you have? They are some of the easier SPS corals but come in different forms: plating, encrusting, branching. So you can continue to add different kinds of Montiporas. I'd stick with Montis or Birdsnest (Seriatopora).

Acropora are a little more difficult to take care of. In a 16 gallon tank, its already difficult to maintain SPS because it is easy for your parameters to fluctuate due to a small water volume. If you choose to go more towards SPS then make sure you're testing your calcium, alkalinity and magnesium as SPS aren't as forgiving as Euphyllia and other LPS. They may survive but won't have the growth, color and polyp extension that you'd like. If you have room to setup an ATO to maintain consistent salinity, I'd recommend that as well.

 

[Matt1018]

What type of montis do you have? They are some of the easier SPS corals but come in different forms: plating, encrusting, branching. So you can continue to add different kinds of Montiporas. I'd stick with Montis or Birdsnest (Seriatopora).

I have 2 types of encrusting montis, one is a rainbow, I'm not sure what kind the other is. And then I have 2 capricornis frags as well. All are growing well with good coloration.

 

[Nandez13]

I have 2 types of encrusting montis, one is a rainbow, I'm not sure what kind the other is. And then I have 2 capricornis frags as well. All are growing well with good coloration.

Great, then check out some of the branching Digitatas and Birdsnest. Keep in mind that the more SPS corals you have, the more your Ca, Alk and Mg levels will be depleted. If you're doing weekly water changes of 5 gallons then I think you'll be fine as this is over 1/3 of your system volume when you take into account the volume displaced by rock/sand. These water changes should be enough to replenish your nutrients. Keep an eye on the salinity level though, it can fluctuate a lot with such a small tank if there's no ATO. Good luck

 

[Sharkbait420]

If you want to try an acro you shouldn't let anyone talk you out of it. As long as $10 won't put a big dent in your wallet. If the acro dies you paid $10 to experiment, learn and test your systems ability to keep coral. You figure out what went wrong make the necessary changes and try again.

Good acros for you to start with are millis and slimer.

 

[Matt1018]

I was also looking to add some banggai cardinals to my tank. Currently, I have a white tailed pygmy angel thats barely over an inch long. How many do you think I could add? Again, let me just repeat that I do have a skimmer and I do weekly water changes of 5 gallons. How many do you think I can do? The ones that are at my LFS are fairly small, maybe 3/4 of an inch. I asked 3 people, and got three different answers. One person told me to do two, another three, and the last person said to do six because they said that they're like african cichlids and will beat one another up if there are only a few of them. Any ideas?