What fish in 12 gallon

[Caleb Kruse]

Hi, I have a 90 gallon reef tank, and I am now taking the plunge into nano systems. I bought a 12 gallon eclipse and in the future would like it to be a soft coral tank. I am thinking about getting a sunpaq retrofit kit, because it comes with only 13 watts of N.O. lighting. Is this a good choice? What fish would be good for this tank, I will probably get a firefish, but what are some other good choices. Also what kind of corals can live with the current lighting?
Thanks,
Caleb

 

[sir_dudeguy]

with the current light i wouldnt even attempt corals. But whats the specs on the new light you're getting?

For fish, the firefish would be great, and you could also maybe get like a yellow watchman goby with a randalli pistol shrimp. Some say that perc/ocellaris clowns can be in that small of a tank, but i would only keep one in that small of a tank. And imo, they're not that cool unless they're paired, which i wouldnt do in a 12.

But there's really too many options. Go to liveaquaria.com and look at all their nano fish for more ideas

 

[ebliss1]

I also have an Eclipse 12 gallon. I currently have an ocellarus clown, a striped damsel and a diadema pseudochromis swimming happily. I wouldn't recommend the diadema since he's kinda nasty and occasionally likes to remind the damsel who's boss. He leaves the clown alone though. My daughter picked him out so I'm kinda stuck with him, but if I had it to do over I'd get a firefish instead. But the three of them seem to have planty of room and don't seem crowded at all. The damsel plays about near the top, the diadema hangs out near the bottom and in the rock cave and the clown spends most of his day playing in the current from the powerhead. None of them hide unless its sleepy time, so I always have all my pretty fish on display.

If you do re-fit the lighting on your Eclipse, please keep a log of what you do and take pics if you can. I'd love to up the lighting in mine, but am afraid that I'll wind up either blowing a lot of money unnecessarily or wind up with some sushi for dinner instead of pretty swimmy things.

 

[ruk]

I too plan on having three fish in my 12g aquapod. Ive only got a green clown goby so far but soon I will get a clown and maybe a bicolor blenny. Im going to definately keep them small. around an inch each. along with two shrimp a crab and some snails.

 

[LosingSleep]

As a common rule you'll be looking at 1 cubic inch of fish per 5 gallons. I figure I'm maxed out with 1 firefish and 1 false perc. I added a skunk cleaner shrimp to the clean-up crew. The tank has a lot of life/movement.


For lighting on my eclipse I decided to get rid of the hood because I couldn't find an acceptable alternative. I'm using a 20" Coralife 96w pc. I also have a 3/4w coralife moon light hanging off that. This setup will not work with the stock filter. HOB filters are only about $10 so I wasn't heart-broken. The HOB is attached to a $10 surface skimmer and this combo does a great job.

Under this lighting I only have zoas, xenia and shrooms but they are thriving. I'll be moving into sps.

 

[Caleb Kruse]

Thanks guys for the info, the retrofit kit will be 34 watts I think so a little less than three watts per gallon. Is this good for LPS, shrooms, and zoo's? Should I go DSB on this tank? I know its healthier than a SSB, but it would take up about half the height of the tank to get to five inches.

 

[Primeval]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9364369#post9364369 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LosingSleep
As a common rule you'll be looking at 1 cubic inch of fish per 5 gallons. I figure I'm maxed out with 1 firefish and 1 false perc. I added a skunk cleaner shrimp to the clean-up crew. The tank has a lot of life/movement.


For lighting on my eclipse I decided to get rid of the hood because I couldn't find an acceptable alternative. I'm using a 20" Coralife 96w pc. I also have a 3/4w coralife moon light hanging off that. This setup will not work with the stock filter. HOB filters are only about $10 so I wasn't heart-broken. The HOB is attached to a $10 surface skimmer and this combo does a great job.

Under this lighting I only have zoas, xenia and shrooms but they are thriving. I'll be moving into sps.

I modded 96 watts into my girlfriend's eclipse 12. You can read about it here if you want:


http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=109427&st=0&p=1025440&#entry1025440