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[snorvich]

Hello all,

I just started what would be considered a nano aquarium this last Saturday. Way to bring in the New Year! lol. But anyways, I don't own any fish as of yet but the cycling process appears to be going very smoothly so the prospects of introducing a critter or two every few weeks is becoming a reality. I am interested in hearing a few ideas of what you all think would be neat to have in the tank. Obviously I know I am limited to at the most 2-3 fish. Here are my tanks parameters:

21G Cube, 20 pounds of live sand and 21 pounds of live rock. Has a protein skimmer along with a power head and the return pump for water/surface water movement. I intend to make this a reef aquarium so I would prefer the fish to be reef safe. As well, I want to have some shrimp in the tank so I'd prefer them to not be shrimp eaters, haha.

Lastly, if there is a such thing as that perfect fish out there, I'd be interested in finding something that not only eats various foods that it is given, but may also work to tame the population of Asterina Stars in the tank or flat worms (I pray that I never deal with them). But I suppose what I am saying is I am interested in finding a tank that looks neat but is also self sufficient to a certain degree in terms of the life going on in the tank.

One fish in particular though that struck my eye was a purple dotty back. And clownfish, of course.

Thank you!

This thread is answered only by Reef Central Staff, in this case, me. As those who follow this thread know, I do not provide recommendations for a variety of reasons. However, I am always happy to analyze any stocking plan for compatibility. As an FYI, the only way of controlling/eliminating asterina stars is a harlequin shrimp, but after they are eliminated, it would starve to death unless provided with starfish legs.

 

[moonyrat]

40gal long
2x Bangal cardinal
2x false clown
Yasha randell shrimp pair
1 bicolor Blenny
1 emerald crab
1 peppermint shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp
10 snails
6 blue legged hermit

Tank is 3 yrs old, can I add a mandarin tha eats frozen food?

 

[bwhite33]

Steve,

you said this stocking could work in a 48X18X24, will it work in a 36X20X24 (75 gal), or have I given up to much length? Thanks again.

old info:

The picture in my head is to have a 90 gallon 48x18X24, 6 inches of sand, with one triangular (10x10x10) ceramic ledge held up by a leg/pillar on each corner of the ledge. This ledge would be about 9 inches from the water surface. Other ceramic rock-scaping, low grotto type, to divide up the tank area and provide hiding areas

Planned stocking:
- Bonded pair of Randall Shrimp Gobies, with shrimp
- Bonded pair Chinstrap Jawfish
- Sun Corals under the ledge (more in the shade)
- Squamosa Clam on the ledge Is it feasible to do this, using an LED pendant)
- 1 Yellow Assessor(s)
- 1 Pygmy Wrasse
- Maybe an Orchid Dottyback

 

[snorvich]

40gal long
2x Bangal cardinal
2x false clown
Yasha randell shrimp pair
1 bicolor Blenny
1 emerald crab
1 peppermint shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp
10 snails
6 blue legged hermit

Tank is 3 yrs old, can I add a mandarin tha eats frozen food?

No. Several problems: first mandarins do not compete, secondly their metabolism requires constant eating, third your tank will produce insufficient copepods. People do it, but within a year or less, the mandarin starves.

 

[snorvich]

Steve,

you said this stocking could work in a 48X18X24, will it work in a 36X20X24 (75 gal), or have I given up to much length? Thanks again.

old info:

The picture in my head is to have a 90 gallon 48x18X24, 6 inches of sand, with one triangular (10x10x10) ceramic ledge held up by a leg/pillar on each corner of the ledge. This ledge would be about 9 inches from the water surface. Other ceramic rock-scaping, low grotto type, to divide up the tank area and provide hiding areas

Planned stocking:
- Bonded pair of Randall Shrimp Gobies, with shrimp
- Bonded pair Chinstrap Jawfish
- Sun Corals under the ledge (more in the shade)
- Squamosa Clam on the ledge Is it feasible to do this, using an LED pendant) Squamosa are less light requiring, so yes, assuming full spectrum LED
- 1 Yellow Assessor(s)
- 1 Pygmy Wrasse
- Maybe an Orchid Dottyback

Yes. You have only fish that have small territorial imperatives and you really don't have occupants of the same ecological niche.

 

[moonyrat]

No. Several problems: first mandarins do not compete, secondly their metabolism requires constant eating, third your tank will produce insufficient copepods. People do it, but within a year or less, the mandarin starves.

Thx for the thoughtful input. Can I add another yasha instead?

 

[maddmaxx]

current set up is a 220g (72x24x30) with a 125g (72x18x22) sump. i have about or lil over 375lbs of live rock in entire system. along with 300lbs of live sand in the entire system. i will also be upgrading skimmer soon to most likely an aquamaxx cone 5 skimmer. i do regular water changes wit a brute garbage can every two weeks. so say about 60-70 gallons a month. this tank will be full blown mixed, but most softies, i like the sway movement of softie corals..fish that i am looking at:

-3 yellow tail damsels (already have, can be taken out if needed, most likely will remove)
-6 anthias (either dispar or lyretails, buying all female so one can change to male)
-1 flame angel (poss might do a pair if i can find a bonded pair)
-2 clowns (some sort of designer pair ill go with)
-1 midas blenny
-1 poss 2 royal grammas
-1 firefish (was told single or odd pairs work best if keeping multiple)
-4 poss 5 wrasse (a combo of leapord, fairy, flasher would work, would love to have a melenarus or christmas wrasse, but snails wouldnt fair to well and we need a clean up crew)
-3 yellow tangs
-1 powder blue (my version of fish nemesis, would be added last)
-1 blonde naso

I know its a decent fish list but other then the tangs all are small. i also understand the anthias require good feedings thru out the day, and they bump up the bioload cause of that. i dont intend to get all these cause not sure if that is possible. but i figured id post here and get feed back to see what can be done with this list and what fish to get. i know i cant just go buying crazy, and theres a waiting period between fish and an order to when they should be introduced. just need a lil info on the fish i would like to get...

 

[bwhite33]

Yes. You have only fish that have small territorial imperatives and you really don't have occupants of the same ecological niche.

Thanks again

 

[snorvich]

Thx for the thoughtful input. Can I add another yasha instead?

Maybe. If you find one that happens to be the opposite sex.

 

[snorvich]

current set up is a 220g (72x24x30) with a 125g (72x18x22) sump. i have about or lil over 375lbs of live rock in entire system. along with 300lbs of live sand in the entire system. i will also be upgrading skimmer soon to most likely an aquamaxx cone 5 skimmer. i do regular water changes wit a brute garbage can every two weeks. so say about 60-70 gallons a month. this tank will be full blown mixed, but most softies, i like the sway movement of softie corals..fish that i am looking at:

-3 yellow tail damsels (already have, can be taken out if needed, most likely will remove) very aggressive and may limit additions.
-6 anthias (either dispar or lyretails, buying all female so one can change to male)
-1 flame angel (poss might do a pair if i can find a bonded pair)
-2 clowns (some sort of designer pair ill go with)
-1 midas blenny
-1 poss 2 royal grammas
-1 firefish (was told single or odd pairs work best if keeping multiple) single only, the odd numbers thing has no merit
-4 poss 5 wrasse (a combo of leapord, fairy, flasher would work, would love to have a melenarus or christmas wrasse, but snails wouldnt fair to well and we need a clean up crew)
-3 yellow tangs
-1 powder blue (my version of fish nemesis, would be added last) I would not try this many tangs in a six foot tank. The yellows are super aggressive once established and will not allow additions of similars
-1 blonde naso needs a larger tank

I know its a decent fish list but other then the tangs all are small.

it is not really size that is an issue (although the naso will make your tank look tiny when fully grown) it is behavior and territorial imperative which will increase as they mature.


i also understand the anthias require good feedings thru out the day, and they bump up the bioload cause of that. i dont intend to get all these cause not sure if that is possible. but i figured id post here and get feed back to see what can be done with this list and what fish to get. i know i cant just go buying crazy, and theres a waiting period between fish and an order to when they should be introduced. just need a lil info on the fish i would like to get...

 

[cptstnkpnts]

Small changes to original plan

Small changes to original plan

I have a 90 G with 30 G sump 130 LBS of live rock and 3" fine sand bed. This will be a FOWLR tank.

Pair of Ocellaris Clownfish
Pair of tank bred Banggai Cardinals
1 Coral Beauty
1 Kole Tang
1 Diamond Goby
1 Klein butterfly
1 Foxface Lo
1 Yellow tang

If anything I would consider removing the Foxface if compatability or bioload is an issue.

Thanks

 

[snorvich]

I have a 90 G with 30 G sump 130 LBS of live rock and 3" fine sand bed. This will be a FOWLR tank.

Pair of Ocellaris Clownfish
Pair of tank bred Banggai Cardinals
1 Coral Beauty
1 Kole Tang
1 Diamond Goby
1 Klein butterfly
1 Foxface Lo
1 Yellow tang

If anything I would consider removing the Foxface if compatability or bioload is an issue.

Thanks

bioload and behavior is fine, I am, however, concerned about three large grazers in this sized tank. Be aware that a yellow tang, once established, will make it very, very difficult to add fish, so it must be the last fish added.

 

[bwhite33]

Can multiple Pygmy Wrasses be kept together

Can multiple Pygmy Wrasses be kept together

or are they a bonded pair type of fish?

Thanks

 

[snorvich]

or are they a bonded pair type of fish?

Thanks

I do not know. I suspect that they can be, especially in a longish (six feet or more) tank. There are three species and I also would guess they can be mixed.

 

[bwhite33]

I do not know. I suspect that they can be, especially in a longish (six feet or more) tank. There are three species and I also would guess they can be mixed.

Thanks.

 

[maddmaxx]

thank you for your advice snorvich, i will remove the blonde naso tang from my list, if the tank was 7' long, i would most likely be able to do it. but being a 6' i can see how he would go from one end to the other in no time. ill most likely remove the yellow tail damsels from the list also. as far as the tangs i want to incorporate into the tank. i will research and plan a better approach. i like the yellow and powder blues. so i will check back here when i have a better idea of what i want..thanx again...

 

[snorvich]

thank you for your advice snorvich, i will remove the blonde naso tang from my list, if the tank was 7' long, i would most likely be able to do it. but being a 6' i can see how he would go from one end to the other in no time. ill most likely remove the yellow tail damsels from the list also. as far as the tangs i want to incorporate into the tank. i will research and plan a better approach. i like the yellow and powder blues. so i will check back here when i have a better idea of what i want..thanx again...

always a pleasure. Feel free to check back. I am always careful about tangs with regard to tank length since they have a tendency to "pace" on shorter tanks which makes most people crazy.

 

[obiwan13]

Looking to put a yellow clown (coral) goby in a nano reef with a true perc. I've heard mixed reviews as to if it is a reef safe fish. Please advise.

Thanks

 

[snorvich]

Looking to put a yellow clown (coral) goby in a nano reef with a true perc. I've heard mixed reviews as to if it is a reef safe fish. Please advise.

Thanks

While they perch, their bad rep comes from laying eggs on sps corals which can cause tissue recession. In a large tank, with many locations, that is not a long term problem. With a small tank, it may be more of an issue.

 

[sculptor]

I have 5 fish in my 120 right now that I plan to move over to my new 180, plus 1 in QT right now. They are:

1 Yellow tang
1 Kole tang (in QT)
1 royal gramma (mean)
1 blue/green chromis
2 Ocellaris Clownfish

I want to add a flame hawk and some type of blennie or dragonet. Would these two be a good addition to my group, and are the two comptable? LA's description on the flame hawk says: "Use caution when adding to an aquarium with small species of bottom dwelling gobies and blennies." So I was thinking maybe a starry blenny or a mandarin that are the same size or bigger than the flame hawk. I have a 25 gallon refugium with plenty of pods already running on the 180 system.