Compatible Fish for 6 Gallon?

[illybang]

Hi everyone. I'm new here, as well as new to the whole salt water reef tank thing. I got a small 6 gallon tank as a gift from my sister and her boyfriend and it currently houses a small mantis shrimp. I've got a few mushroom corals and some polyps in there on about 6-7 lbs. of live rock. My mantis has built a small cave under the largest rock in the tank and he/she is pretty shy it seems but looks healthy so far.

Anyways, my question is, what fish would be compatible to put in such a small tank with the mantis... or is it even advisable to? I was hoping I could get a small anemone to house a couple of Clownfish, but i'm afraid that the tank would be too small for this mix.

Any advice, ideas or thoughts? Please share. Thanks!

 

[sdunkin]

They tank is way too small for anything other than the mantis shrimp, and depending on the species it may be too small for the mantis shrimp too.

 

[illybang]

here are pics of my tank so far so you can see what i'm working with.

entire front of the tank:

the rock where the mantis lives under:

closer front shot:

side shot:

 

[Alesia]

Yep, stick with the mantis and corals. A single clownfish would not be advisable in a 6g, let alone a pair of them (and don't even get people started about the anemone). The only fish that are often placed in a tank that size are very small gobies, and they tend to "perch" on rocks -- potentially making them a fun snack for your mantis.

Fish just aren't a good idea in your tank. But trust me, I had a mantis in a 5g and they are more than entertaining enough once they settle in.

By the way, you ought to try to get a picture of your mantis so the good folks here can ID it and check that the mantis itself won't outgrow your 6g.

Good luck -- it's a great hobby.

 

[illybang]

yeah, i will try to get a shot of the mantis shrimp... if he is ever caught outside long enough. i will have to get my hands on a better camera because my cellphone is just not cutting it on the close-ups.

alright, well guess it's just the mantis in my tank. what would be the smallest size recommended if somewhere down the line i decided to get a tank with the shrimp and a couple of clowns? 24 gallons?

anyways, thanks for the the comments and also, what do you mean about the anemone?

 

[weluvfish54]

THATS a 6 gallon?
wow id say at least a 12er.
same as other person said, maybe clown gobies or a small wrasse.

 

[Alesia]

Well I'm sure there are folks here who can elaborate, but anemones in general are very tricky critters to maintain. They have the ability to sting many corals and some fish in their vicinity, can "take a walk" if they're unhappy with their conditions, some can get quite large, and are not recommended for beginners or any tank under 1 year old (for stability's sake). If you do decide to get a pair of clowns in a future tank (20g would be a nice size for perculas or ocellaris) they do not NEED an anemone. I've seen pictures of clowns "hosting" almost anything just as they would an anemone -- including xenia coral, zoanthids, mushrooms, powerheads, and one very tolerant feather duster worm. Additionally, your future clowns may choose not to host anything or it may take them a long time to settle on an item to host.

Long story short, and I'm sure the people with more clownfish experience than me can chime in, a 20g tank would be nice for a pair of smaller clowns (probably not maroon clowns) but give them some coral and leave the anemone out.

 

[illybang]

thanks for that advice alesia. that helps out a lot and i will keep every bit of it in mind for any future setup.

 

[illybang]

well, here are a couple of really HORRIBLE pictures of my mantis shrimp (courtesy of the inadequate camera on my phone).

here's a front shot of him trying to be menacing to my phone from the safety of his lair:

and here's a sort of side shot of him poking out of his cave:

i know it's probably very difficult to id this thing from these 2 pics, but if anyone has a gut feeling, let me know. i'll try to get some better pics soon.

 

[illybang]

hmmm... the closest estimation i made looking at Dr. Roy's list is the Neogonodactylus curacaoensis, image below:

you think?

 

[krazeekiddie]

Like the tank, nicely set-up for a 6 gallon!!! No idea on ID, how big is he?

 

[illybang]

thanks! my mantis is only about 2" or so long. i have no idea how old it is.

 

[John7429]

Very nice lookin nano.

I LOVE small tanks.

But my OS claims a 20g to himself...

 

[illybang]

i would love to get him a bigger tank so he could be less "bored". more room to explore and new areas to dig up and demolish.

but, good news, my mantis shrimp finally ate today! i just dropped half of a silverside at the front of his cave, and wouldn't you know, a few seconds later, it got dragged in for dinner. glad to see it eat something. it's been about 2 weeks and he hasn't eaten anything i tried to feed him.

 

[Kirin1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12453860#post12453860 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by illybang
but, good news, my mantis shrimp finally ate today! i just dropped half of a silverside at the front of his cave, and wouldn't you know, a few seconds later, it got dragged in for dinner.

I'd be careful with the silversides, some mantises will store uneaten food if they're given more than they can consume at once. This can of course create problems, especially in so small a tank.

I have an N.Wennerae in a 2.5 gal. Several months ago I fed him a 1/2" chunk of raw shrimp, which was quickly and eagerly hauled in to the cave. A short while later I had the biggest, nastiest, brown algae outbreak you'd ever see. It blanketed everything and killed off the macro algaes I had in the tank. It has taken months of sucking it out with W/Cs to beat the stuff. Come to find out that some frozen raw shrimp uses nitrate-based preservatives. This is an extreme example, but you get the point.

With mantises, live food is best, especially for smashers. If they don't get to exercise their smashers they can loose strength. You also get the added bonuss of a clean up crew (while they last) and food that's still crawling doesn't rot. Every few weeks I re-stock my mantis tank with 6 margarita snails, or whatever the quantity discount is on that week at the LFS. My mantis gets to hunt at leisure, and I don't have to hand-feed on the regular, tho it's still fun to do so every now and again.

 

[illybang]

thanks for the tips kirin. i saw a leftover bit of the head floating around in front of his cave this morning so i scooped it out of there.

i have a question about my clean-up crew. i currently have 4 turbo snails in my tank and 3 small hermit crabs. i was expecting the mantis to eat some of these guys, but he hasn't shown any interest in them at all.

so, you think my mantis shrimp would do better with some other kind of snails and crabs? i would like to feed him it live food but he hasn't shown any interest in the stuff crawling in the tank already. maybe my LFS would possibly do a trade for my turbo snails, as they do seem a bit big for my small tank.

 

[justinl]

small mantids can't deal with thick shelled inverts and may even get injured by large hermits. that said, they can take down surprisingly large snail i find. at 2" nassarius snails might be a good bet. either that or you're feeding it enough that it just doesn't see the need to hunt.

 

[illybang]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12462520#post12462520 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by justinl
either that or you're feeding it enough that it just doesn't see the need to hunt.

that's the thing. the silverside it took in just the other day was the first thing i have seen it eat in 2 weeks. but i will get some nass. snails and take out some turbos. thanks!