Occupant Ideas for 24G Nano Cube?

[Runner]

Now that my clowns are gone, I have no fish occupants in my 24G cube. I have a few ideas, but was hoping you guys could throw out a few more. Thus far, I thought of one of the following:

1. Shrimp/goby pair of some sort
2. Flame hawkfish
3. Mantis shrimp (Coral Reef has some nice ones for $60)
4. Bunch of tiny gobies

I have had a flame hawk and a shrimp/goby before, but could talk myself into doing them again. Mantis seems iffy -- plus I'd never put my hand in my tank again. Bunch of gobies is doable, but many of those guys just sit around doing nothing in particular.

Any ideas?

 

[ct_vol]

You could do 1 and 4... Rainford gobies are fairly active in the water column... Mantis are pretty cool, but I'm not sure I'd do a nano with one...

 

[EvilMel]

I would do a yasa hashe goby with randall's shrimp. The shrimp stays much smaller than a tiger pistol shrimp and will be less inclined to dig up your entire tank. In addition, the randall's pistol shrimp is a lot nicer looking than a tiger pistol shrimp. Your other option is a high fin red banded goby (that's what I've got paired with my randall's pistol shrimp currently). Those are the two types of watchman gobies that pair most naturally with the randall's shrimp. The others (like pinkspot watchman, yellow watchman, etc.) pair with the tiger pistol shrimp more naturally and therefore they would make a better combination with tigers than with randall's (I'm speaking mainly about their pairings in the ocean when I mean more "natural").

There were two nice looking yasa hashe gobies down at the reef, you should go check them out. They're in the middle row of cubes on the left (maybe 2nd from the left). I'm not saying you should go buy them at all...just that when you're down there getting your refractometer calibration solution you should check them out in person. They are a fairly rare fish to see in anyone's tank but they are one of the most gorgeous watchman gobies, IMO.

There's also the possibility of a neon goby (gold or blue). They don't just sit around. Mine flits all over the tank. He doesn't swim a ton but he sort hops through the water (swimming kiiiiinda) and comes to look at me whenever I get close to the tank.

You should also check out green clown gobies, red head gobies, green banded gobies, yellow clown gobies (especially if you aren't going to have sps) and a ton of different blennies.

For blennies, check out the midas, bicolor, striped fang tooth, canary, and linear. I've got the linear, which is wicked awesome but I am definitely wishing I had waited to get a midas. They are a gorgeous peachy yellow. One draw back is that they *might* nip corals, but I suppose that's always as issue with blennies. I think they are worth the risk and let's face it, with a 24 gallon tank, if they got to be a nuisance then you could get them out and sell them to someone on here or take them to your LFS.

There's also the Royal Gramas. They are very brightly colored (aren't those the fuschia and yellow ones?) and they are more *out* than a goby would be.

Hmm....what am I missing? I suppose you could always do what I'm considering and get a deeper sand bed then get a jawfish. I would recommend pearly though because they have better survivorship rates than the bluespots. I believe this has been attributed to the bluespots needing cooler waters but I'm not sure that I buy that.

In addition, Abby and I were talking about some of the more docile wrasses. I think she mentioned sunshine wrasse and maybe that pure fuschia colored one (strawberry wrasse maybe?).

I can talk to you at length about this Scott. Hollar at me later (going out of town until Friday). If you want to call me or PM me, that's cool. Otherwise I can just talk to you about it at the next meeting.

edit: check it out...my least useless post ever.

 

[blueray]

I feel sorry for my maroon clown. Their previous owner forgot about them already.:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Mak

BTW. They are eating and start defending their corner now.

 

[Runner]

Thanks, Mel. That was very helpful.

Mak, they are not forgotten.

 

[Runner]

Double post.

 

[EvilMel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14828952#post14828952 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Runner
Thanks, Mel. That was very helpful.

No problem Scott. Like I said, if you're going to the meeting Saturday feel free to hit me up and we can talk about nano inhabitants at length. It's actually my favorite reef-related subject.

I'm actually hoping more people will pipe up about their experiences with more docile wrasses and things like royal gramas or anything else that would fit in a nano.

I am feeling the need to bone up on my fish knowledge lately.

 

[macclellan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14827348#post14827348 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EvilMel
There's also the Royal Gramas. They are very brightly colored (aren't those the fuschia and yellow ones?) and they are more *out* than a goby would be.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14832246#post14832246 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EvilMel
I'm actually hoping more people will pipe up about their experiences with more docile wrasses and things like royal gramas or anything else that would fit in a nano.

I've got a Royal Gramma and she is the most reclusive fish in the tank. her territory is in the live rock. She's also a bit nippy to any fish that even think about approaches her den. I've got a green clown goby that just sits around most of the time, but he's always out in the open.

What about a trio of firefish? they are really elegant looking and like to stay out in the open with the current. cheap too!

There's a pretty good fish stocking guide for nanos over @ nano-reef:
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74703

 

[macclellan]

Oops, I forgot that reefcentral is working on mind control, censorship, or whatever you want to call it, and doesn't allow links to nano-reef....(I hope the thought-police allow me to say the n-word).

Anyways... copy/paste and then remove the spaces around the dash symbol...
www.nano - reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74703

 

[ct_vol]

I have a Royal Gramma that is out almost all the time, but they can get kinda big... Mine is about 3-3.5"... I remember they had one at CR for a while that was 4"+... Just something to keep in mind...

 

[Runner]

That might be a decent idea. I had a royal gramma for a while and he was one of my more active fish towards the end of my 75G setup (but very shy the first couple of years). He got fairly large and even stalked and looked like he was going to attack the baby maroon clown I put in there (before mama maroon came to his rescue).

P.S. Thanks for the legal, uncensored, non-link...

 

[Runner]

Heck, according to that link, this guy says stuff from this list is good for my 24G nano. I never even thought about most of these guys:

0.5g Pico (1.9 L) (Includes Red Sea 0.5g Deco Art) (1 extra small fish)
-Blue Neon Goby**
-Catalina Goby [cold water]
-Clown Gobies**
-Eviota Gobies
-Panda (Clown) Goby
-Redhead Goby**
-Trimma Goby
-Yellow Neon Goby**

2.5g Pico (Includes 2.5g Minibow, Eclipse Explorer, JBJ 3g Pico) (1 fish)

All of the above plus:
-Citron Goby
-Green Banded Goby**

5g (9.5 L) (1 fish)

All of the above plus:
-Green Chromis Damsel
-Yellowtail blue Damsel

(NOTE: This seems to be a socially accepted practice, although most if not all damsels will eventually out grow a 5g tank)

7g (26.5 L) (Includes 7g Minibow, 6g Eclipse, 6g CPR, 6g Nano Cube, 8g Aquawave) (1-2 fish)

Keep in mind that the 6g CPR and 6g Nano Cube lose some swimming area to the built in filtration. I would not recommend the clowns in either of these tanks. One clown in a 7g minibow should be ok though.

All of the above plus:
-Ocellaris Clownfish (False Percula)** (1, if you want a pair, move up to 10g+)
-Percula Clownfish (True Percula)** (1, if you want a pair, move up to 10g+)

10g (38 L) (Includes 12g Aquapod, 12g Nano Cube, 12g Eclipse, 11g Via Aqua, 12g Biocube) (2-3 fish)

Keep in mind that the 12g aquapod and 12g nano cube lose some area due to the internal filtration. In reality the tank swimming area before rock is really only like 8 gallons. With these two tanks I would suggest 1-2 fish and some of the fish listed below may not be suitable for these tanks, but should be ok in a true 10g+.

All of the above plus:
-Yellow Assessor**
-Blue Assessor
-Chalk Bass
-Lantern Bass
-Bicolor Blenny
-Tailspot Blenny
-Yellowtail Fang Blenny (V)
-Threadfin Cardinalfish
-Three Spot Damsel
-Talbot’s Damsel
-Three Stripe Damsel
-Firefish Goby
-Helfrich’s Firefish [$$$$!]
-Purple Firefish Goby
-Bicolor Psuedochromis
-Diadem Pseudochromis
-Fridmani (Orchid) Pseudochromis**
-Purple Pseudochromis
-Scooter Blenny [with caution, not for beginners]
-Red Scooter Blenny [with caution, not for beginners]
-Painted Frogfish
-Wartskin Frogfish
-Blackray Shrimp Goby
-Orange Stripe Goby
-Orangespotted Goby
-Randall’s Shrimp Goby
-Yasha Hasha Goby
-Wheeler’s Shrimp Goby
-Yellow Watchman Goby
-Rainfordi Goby
-Royal Gramma
-Falco Hawkfish
-Flame Hawkfish
-Pearly (Yellowhead) Jawfish
-Possum Wrasse
-Sixline Wrasse (note: some believe 20g+ may be more suitable, if you buy one for a 10g, get it small)

20g (76 L) (Includes 24g Aquapod, 24g Nano Cube, 20g Finnex M Tank) (3-5 fish)

All of the above plus:
-Atlantic Pygmy/Cherub Angelfish
-Coral Beauty Angelfish
-Flame Angelfish
-Halfblack Angelfish
-Rusty Angelfish
-Convict Blenny (note: these guys do not stay 4 inches like book says. can get up to 12" easy.)
-Midas Blenny
-Redspotted Blenny
-Redlip Blenny
-Bangaii Cardinalfish**
-Orangestriped Cardinalfish
-Flame Cardinalfish
-Pajama Cardinalfish
-Clarki Clownfish **
-Maroon Clownfish **
-Orange Skunk Clownfish **
-Pink Skunk Clownfish **
-Tomato Clownfish **
-Dwarf Golden Moray Eel
-Bar Goby
-Blue Gudgeon Goby
-Green Mandarin Goby [with caution, not for beginners]
-Yellow Target Mandarin [with caution, not for beginners]
-Blackcap Basslet **
-Arc Eye Hawkfish
-Longnose Hawkfish
-Bluespot Jawfish

-Dusky Jawfish
-Fu Manchu Lionfish (V)
-Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish (V)
-Dragon Pipefish [with caution, not for beginners]
-Banded Pipefish [with caution, not for beginners]
-Bluestripe Pipefish [with caution, not for beginners]
-Bennett’s Toby
-Valentini (Saddleback) Toby
-White Spot Toby
-Carpenter Flasher Wrasse
-Filamented Flasher Wrasse
-Fourline Wrasse
-Longfin Fairy Wrasse
-Redfin Fairy Wrasse
-Tricolor (Lubbock’s) Fairy Wrasse
-Twinspot Hogfish

 

[EvilMel]

That's good information! I disagree with him on a couple of things...most especially the scooter blenny, but since that's really a dragonet, I'm sure people will pretty immediately understand my objection.

I forgot to mention the Trimma Gobies. They are relatively new on the scene and are super brightly colored...bright red. I would consider these guys a substitute for catalina gobies, which are a cold water species. The Trimmas are neat and can be kept in small groups.

McLovin' the firefish will duke it out in a tank that small. They will kill each other off until there's just one. I hate to say but out of stupidity I tried that twice and ended up both times with just one. The second time it was supposed to be a "mated pair" which I think it really code for "we kept them together for a while and neither died".

Oh and I have this trick that I used to use when I would introduce small gobies to my bigger tanks. I can show you guys at the meeting if you want. It helped me keep an eye on them so I could make sure that they survived the first few days. Sometimes when you throw small gobies into your tank you never seem to see them again. I had a way to keep from doing that, which was pretty simple.

I also need to say that I absolutely LOVE the green clown gobies. They are one of the most interesting, underrated, and neatest colored fish that you can put in a tank. They are much better behaved than the yellow/citron gobies but they do occasionally irritate corals because that's where they like to hide. The difference is that green clowns flit around between different corals whereas the yellows will sorta plague one coral.

 

[Runner]

A agree on the dragonets -- it would be a pain to keep those guys fed in such a small tank unless you were sure they would eat frozen food. Pretty much anything above that says "Caution -- not for beginners" should be left out unless you make special preparations.

 

[macclellan]

Randy, I guess personalities vary with grammas, or perhaps mine simply hasn't come out of the closet yet.

Mel, that's good to know about firefish...we have one and were thinking of adding a second.

Trimma gobies rock. Here's a very cool tank (masterbuilder at nano-reef - his old tank) with them... I'll probably get some of these for my next tank:

Same deal as before on the link...

www.nano - reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=131854&hl=12+nano

 

[Runner]

Mel, which time of trimma are you talking about? The red-striped one or the "jewel" spotted one? They both seem interesting and can be kept in groups.

 

[Runner]

Any problem with adding a Sixline Wrasse along with some smaller gobies or the goby/shrimp pair? I always wanted one of those guys, but never got one because I needed the pods to feed my green-spot mandarin.

 

[Runner]

Looks like I ended up with TWO hashe gobies who Mel said were hanging out together all week and getting along. I also got a red-banded pistol shrimp (Randall's shrimp, I understand). They are in the final stages of acclimation now and will be added to the water shortly. I balked on the price, but with the store credit I had, the $10 gift certificate from the meeting raffle, the 10% discount, and all the hobby money in my pocket, I hade enough to get these guys with $0.40 left over.

I'll post pics once I have them.

 

[Runner]

Okay, maybe it is bad form to post 4 times in a row, but here goes.

I put in both fish and the shrimp and one fish has gone into hiding in a secure in undisclosed location. Wouldn't even come out for food. The other is out and about and slowly expanding his area of interest, but his base seems to be on the front corner near my desk, which is good. The shrimp went right to that same front corner below and dug a hole underneath a little piece of rubble with a mushroom on top. I occasionally see another piece of rubble or crushed coral tossed out.

Perhaps one day they'll find each other. Any ideas how to encourage this if it doesn't happen naturally?

Here is a pic of the brave goby:

 

[ct_vol]

Sometimes they pair up... Other times they do not... Usually if you only have one pistol, the two fish will pair up to share the little guy... Especially if there is another larger fish in the tank...