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NorthDakotaRose

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My name is Rose, I started a 20 gallon tank about 3 weeks ago. I've had some issues with my salinity and been on a nother thread working with an awesome guy! However I'm at a point now where I have been misinformed by the pet store what I can place in this tank. I'm building it for my little girl, so I thought a Nemo tank with all the fish in teh movie. I was told i could, however after talking with people with knowledge I'm finding out that's just not the case. My little one loves blue fish, so teh tank was to have Dory, Nemo and all their friends. I guess in teh real world that doesn't work. Could anyone give me any ideas as to what I could stock this tank with? I sure welcome any information you can spare. Thank you
 
I am also very new to this hobby although from my experience I would not put a Blue Hippo Tang in the tank (Dori) the 20G is just to small for that fish. You could possibly do 2 clown fish (Nemo & his dad). I do understand the whole Finidng Nemo thing as my son is 4 and named our two clowns Nemo and Marlin. Best of luck the people on this site are great.
 
She's not that fond of the clowns or yes it would be an easy fix. I'm sure once she' a bit older she'll name her's as well, if her Mom doesn't lose her mind trying to fingure this all out and opt for a turtle. j/k I had two tanks many years ago, however they were large tanks and set up for me. I never had to figure all this stuff out and thought how hard could it be. Boy, was I wrong! Thank you, and good luck too you as well!
 
So your looking at nano fish....

Clowns as suggested work, as do most gobies, dottybacks(can tend to be aggressive), royal gramma, firefish, and any type of shrimp.

You could have a look through the nano section(just a little bit down the main page), for some more suggestions.


Of course any tang(yellow or blue(dory)) is out of the equation. They require a much larger tank.
 
Thank you for responding. How many fish do you think I can place in this size tank? Yes, I now know the Dory is out. How big would a tank need to be to have one, for future information. Should I make it through this tank I wanted a larger one down the road. Also how long after you set up should you wait to add live critters/fish?
 
LA says 180G for dory. live aquaria has great information on tank sizes, temprament, and whether they are reef safe or not(if they eat corals or not).

How many fish depends on how well your filtration is, but mostly depends on the size of the fish you choose. I would say as a general rule in a 20G tank your looking at 2 or 3 nano fish.

I have 5 in a 29G biocube. Flame angel(my tank supposedly isn't large enough for this fish, but there are quite a few flame angels in biocubes), pair of snowflake clowns, neon electric dottyback, and a citron clown goby(easily the star of the tank).
 
WOW! 180 gal not sure I have space for that. So if a person wanted to try and have some of the fish from Nemo. Would a clown be able to live with any of the fish you mentioned above? Also do you know anything about star fish? Do they count as part of the fish or would they be more of the crustation. Your tank sounds really nice...I was hoping for lots of color in this one but just not sure if it's giong to get there.
 
I think 3-4 small fish is realistic. Check this out for some ideas http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=15+2124
As far as nemo fish, she might like a green clown goby I feel like maybe there was something like that, and a bicolor dottyback or nemo clown but maybe not both.
The only starfish that suit beginners are serpent and brittle stars, probs not what youre looking for.
check out the cleaner shrimps though, theyre awesome for little tanks and I think theres one in the movie

There's some really colorful 29's, it's a great starter tank for growing coral in, but you are pretty limited on fish. Kids are good at understanding stuff like that though. These are mostly wild animals that get collected from actual reefs and mailed around the world in bags, it's kind of amazing we can keep any of them alive in a tank. IDK why but it seems like more of an adult thing to be a weirdo about trying to keep big fish in little tanks. Kids are more often like "oh, dory needs to swim miles and miles every day? well then duh, it doesn't make any sense to put him in my bedroom" lol
 
I'm sorry to ruin your dreams but I wouldn't do it...

Try reading some of the sticky threads on here about setting up
Sometimes you have to say no even if it's for your kids I worked 3 years at a fish store and saw hundreds of customers do what you are doing. A 20g is way too small and way too unforgiving you're going to spend a lot of time and money trying to make something that may not work out. 2 clownfish and you're done In a tank that size

And all the fish from the movie wouldn't work out, finding nemo imo is fiction and thus shouldn't be emulated I have a whole rant on this movie and all the misconceptions and irregularities in it.

If I were you I'd go freshwater you can fit more fish at 1/4 the cost and work get some nemo themed decor (green gravel, volcano, rainbow plants, etc)

I don't want to come across as rude I just don't want to see you and your daughter disappointed
 
i would go with a pair of clowns and a goby of some sort.


i would go with 3 fish max

make sure your tank is cycled before you put in anything, that means that ammonia and nitrite should be at 0. when you get a nitrate spike, the cycle is complete. when you get the spike, do a series of water changes to get it down to about 0. you can then start stocking the tank. the order i would go would be the goby first, and the pair of clowns together a few months later. you need to add the clowns at the same time or they will kill each other. oh yeah, you can also put in a cleaner shrimp if you want.

do you plan on having any corals?
 
Hey thanks for the link...can they ship to ND we get pretty cold this time of year? also where or when do we get coral? The only pet store here doesn't have any that I've seen, and were limited on the fish selection. My little one is fine with not having Dory, she just wants a blue fish. (favorite color) So even if the fish wasn't in the movie I'm sure she'd be fine. I prefer to have fish that won't fight since that would be a hrad one to explain if blue fish was dinner. I think your right this started out being for her but has now turned into a quest for me.
 
NorthDakotaRose said:
WOW! 180 gal not sure I have space for that. So if a person wanted to try and have some of the fish from Nemo. Would a clown be able to live with any of the fish you mentioned above? Also do you know anything about star fish? Do they count as part of the fish or would they be more of the crustation. Your tank sounds really nice...I was hoping for lots of color in this one but just not sure if it's giong to get there.
Click to expand...

Starfish: no unless you get some hitchhiker astrenas
Only star that would work is a brittle star but in a tank that size it will get hungry and eat your fish
 
How do I test for the ammonia and nitrite? I'm still messing with the salidity going up and down. I would love coral but not even sure where or how to get it. The store here is very limited since it's a pets store not a fish store.

I like the of 3 fish...does the goby come in blue by any chance?
 
You see I'm so frustrated since teh pet store sold me this size tank knowing what I wanted. They told me all these things we could have, my guess is they don't know jack about tanks or fish.
 
that's not uncommon. You can get stuff shipped to ND no prob but it's not cheap.
I was thinking you had a 29, in a 20 I'd do a clown and a watchman goby/shrimp duo, maybe a blue chromis but they can be kinda fighty.

Check out this goby and shrimp, they build a house together and live in it as BFFs. easy care and hard to kill
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_4drBZcbneY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Theres a thread called "setting up" thats pinned to the top of the list in this forum that has lots of info about water testing etc.
or get a refund, it is a commitment
 
NorthDakotaRose said:
You see I'm so frustrated since teh pet store sold me this size tank knowing what I wanted. They told me all these things we could have, my guess is they don't know jack about tanks or fish.
Click to expand...

That's how business works, sorry and if you don't have a test kit I wouldn't get any fish until you can test your tank for everything...

How are you measuring the salinity
 
I know but I don't have to like it. I owned a computer company and I wouldn't sell people what they didn't need. They sold me hydrometer...it sucks and is all over the place I just bought online today a Salinity Refractometer, Aquarium & Seawater - Dual Scale (1.0 to 1.070 S.G.) by Agriculture Solutions
 
Just letting you know nano tanks especially saltwater has much higher maintenance. To have a successful reef you need:
STABLE PARAMETERS
salinity . 1.025ppm for coral + fish tank. Measured by refractometer for accuracy. The cheap hydrometer not reliable. Water evaporates so you need to top off water every day to or else the salinity will fluctuate. Possible investments would be a auto top off and or RODI unit. Do not use straight tap water when mixing your salt as it can contain chemicals and metals that will destroy the tank
. Test kits can be found online. I trust the Red Sea brand.
Proper filtration generally is 1lbs to 1.5lbs of dry/live rock per pound. After cycle is complete (usually around a month), you can add your first fish. A month after you can add a second fish and the next month 1-2 fish. Your tank will Max out at 4 small fish so don't add anymore or you risk killing your tank. take a look at blue damsel or chromis for s blue colored fish.
Water change 10%-20% every week. If you have a skimmer could possible change every other week. Do not over feed. The tank imo won't truely stabilize till the 6 month mark so there's always possibilities of amonia spike if something happens like overfeeding, a dead fish, dead coral etc. the problem is once something dies it creates a chain reaction causing further stress on the live corals and fish. Once more dies, the cycle repeats and gets even worse. The biggest issue with nano tanks is you have very little time to react if something bad happens. If you catch on time do big 30-40% water changes.

I can go on and on but will wait on your reply if you are still determined to get it set up. I started 4 months ago with a 30 gallon and have already spent $1500 on what I consider necessary equipment. Not the cheapest hobby. Good luck
 
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