reefgoddess808
New member
Yay! Post pics when you get them please! 
Is my tank big enough?
- Thread starter osomundus
- Start date
dppitone
In Memoriam
Well, whether it shouldn't be done is your opinon, but I know more than several folks who do it and have done it, and in small nanos without a sump, without problem. So it can be done. And the question was whether it can be done it. I'm drawing from experience. If you know folks that have tried it and failed, please elaborate. That would be good first hand info to help the discussion.
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wii64brawl
New member
Can or should? I too know plenty of people who kept clowns in tanks under 10 gallons. Did they survive? Sure, for many years! Did they grow more than an inch long in over two years? No. Were they lethargic? Yes. Did they seem unhappy? Very much so.
dppitone
In Memoriam
Everyone I know that kept clown in a small nano did it with an anemone and they did as well as is usual in a reef tank. I can think of 5 people that did that. There was no lethargy that I recall or anything similar and I don't recall any growth problems like you experienced. I think only one of them still have a nano setup with that grouping. In our area, the nanos got a lot of interest a few years back and people were setting them up like in a bedroom or something - but since most have taken them down as too much work in addition to their main system, so it went through a fad period.
So yeah I'd say "can" because people have done it pretty regularly over here without problems. But it's weird that you know a whole bunch of people that all had bad experiences like that, without any of them working out. That's pretty remarkable. I could see how you'd feel it was conclusively a bad setup. It just shows that folks' experiences differ, and that there is no one answer.
In my opinion clowns should be setup in pairs with an anemone. And this is just my experience, but clownfish we've had without an anemone - they just wandered the tanks and hung in the corners and acted unsettled until we put them with one. I couldn't say whether they appeared "unhappy." But nonetheless IMO they should be paired with anemones.
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MikeandNicole
New member
Welcome to the Nano world!
I have kept 5 and 5.5g nanos in the past, I think you have made a good choice in choosing a goby.
We currently have a 12g, which houses a basslet and two gobies, as well as a PopPom crab and a few hermits.
I think you would do fine with a yasha hasa goby or a high fin goby in that size tank. I didn't see anyone asking, but I would recommend a cover with either of those two fish.
If you are looking for a pistol to pair with your goby, I would suggest the candy pistol rather than the tiger, the tiger will dig more IMHO than the candy, and potentially create water quality issues.
I would suggest being careful to monitor your water quality for a little while before considering a change; damsels are much less sensitive to changes in water parameters than these little guys are.
I have kept 5 and 5.5g nanos in the past, I think you have made a good choice in choosing a goby.
We currently have a 12g, which houses a basslet and two gobies, as well as a PopPom crab and a few hermits.
I think you would do fine with a yasha hasa goby or a high fin goby in that size tank. I didn't see anyone asking, but I would recommend a cover with either of those two fish.
If you are looking for a pistol to pair with your goby, I would suggest the candy pistol rather than the tiger, the tiger will dig more IMHO than the candy, and potentially create water quality issues.
I would suggest being careful to monitor your water quality for a little while before considering a change; damsels are much less sensitive to changes in water parameters than these little guys are.
