Stocking a 24g

ReeferRyan

ReeferRyan

Premium Member
I am planning to run my 24g aquapod as a mixed reef, with inverts, LPS, and zoos. So far I know I am getting a yellow wrasse, but what other fish are interesting to keep and peaceful in small tanks? I am looking at a blackcap basslet but I hear they hide most of the time. Any suggestions?
 
I have a Blue Assesor, same family as the black cap basslet. He's peaceful and always stays in the open. The Yellow Assesor, if you can find one, would be a great choice for color.

Firefish are the perfect nanocube fish since they are jumpers and you have a closed hood.

Pseudochromis make another good nano fish if you don't plan on keeping shrimp in the tank. If you want a cleaner or peppermint shrimp pass on the pseudo.

Gobies are another good choice. I have both the Blue neon Goby and the Yellow Watchman Goby. General rule is if it's a sand sifter don't get it any competition (i.e. Since the YWG burrows don't get a pair in this small of a tank).

If you don't like the sand sifting goby idea there are some Blennies that would work. I wish I got a Midas Blenny over a YWG now, luckily I am setting up a Biocube soon and will have a Midas in that.

Something like
Wrasse
Red Firefish
Yellow Assesor
Midas Blenny
would look pretty cool all together.
 
So far I think I am going to go with a yellow wrasse, rainford's goby, YWG, red firefish, and maybe a blue assessor or a blue neon goby to get some other color in there. Opinions?
 
I have read quite a few threads on the rainford goby starving to death on here. I even have a friend who had one in his 33 gallon Oceanic and it died. I think they mainly eat hair algae and pick at the rockwork to get their food. In a bigger tank I would like their chances of survival better than in a nano. You might want to do some searches on that fish in the reef fish forum to get some more info about it.

The Blue Neon Goby is tiny, doesn't do much for me but that's a personal opinion.

Some of my pics:

Blue Assesor - Very passive, will always be out in the open, eats mysis, very dark (almost to dark of a blue).

Assesor.jpg


YWG - Mine spends more time in the open than others. I have a friend who if she walks anywhere near the tank the goby hides. Never tried to match mine up with a pistol shrimp but it's possible. Someone in my local club had a wrasse and every time the pistol shrimp made that sound it freaked the wrasse out.
Doesn't eat much and isn't really a sandsifter but is still fat and happy.

YWG.jpg


Firefish - Awesome fish, the most colorful one I've ever had. My clown went nuts and killed it one day. I'll get another as soon as I get rid of the clown.

Firefish.jpg
 
Wow, thanks for the info. I really like the look of the blue assessor. What would be a good sand sifter for a nano? I thought YWG's were good, but you say not so much. I am thinking of getting the rainford goby because there are several members of my local club who have multiples of them and they are very happy. I do not know everything about them, and I am not doubting your opinion, I am just going off of what the people I know have said. Thanks again for the input
 
Of course the day I tell you a Rainford Goby isn't a good idea someone posts their 24 gallon tank with a rainford goby in it:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=990678
(Just to the right of the feather duster).

I have about 20 Nassarius snails and countless stomatella snails for sand sifting purposes. It works out great because they are both nocturnal. Stomatella's are hard to find, hopefully someone in your reef club has a few they can give you, they reproduce like crazy.
 
Could I possibly buy a few from you? No one in my local club has more than one in their tank and none of the LFS have them or get them
 
Stomatella's right? I can't believe that people only have one in their tank. I just setup a zoa prop tank and added about 2 or 3, I'm now up to 20+ in a month.

Once your done with your cycle and if you still haven't found some locally LMK and I can ship you some. Just cover shipping & the thermos and I'll try to cram as many as I can get in there.

Just PM me when your ready.
 
ReeferRyan,
I swear I'm not stalking you!! LOL
You're two or three steps ahead of me, so naturally, I'm following your progress.
I got a recommendation from this board of 2-3 neon gobies, a ywg and pistol shrimp, 2 O. clowns and a firefish.
I asked about a sand sifting goby in the reef fish forum and the ywg was suggested as being a fish that would play around in the sand without moving massive amounts from side to side every day.
 
It's cool, I don't mind helping when I can. You are doing a 24 right? That sounds like a pretty big bioload to me. Are you going to run a skimmer? How much live rock are you going to use? I think all of those fish would be good together, I just don't know how the filtration would do. Take into account, however, that I will not be running a skimmer. I am just doing weekly water changes. As far as the YWG goes, I have heard they are really fun to look at but do not mov much sand, so it should fit what you are wanting perfectly. Any other questions, just ask.
 
Yes, our 24 is in the neighbor's garage right now. Planned on taking it out and checking for cracks today, but didn't get around to it.
I'm thinking I'll order 22 lb. of LR from F&S. No skimmer planned.
The fish I mentioned were a recommedation. I won't add anything until the numbers are right. I figure one fish a month after things are stable.
I have no problem with weekly H2O changes. The stepkids want this for Xmas, so I'll supervise while they take care of things. We get them every Wed. eve and every other weekend, so that should work out well.
Some questions that haven't been answered yet, at what point can you add some snails or hermit crabs? I believe they come after the lr is added, but before the cycle is over.
Are you putting the rock on the sand, or the rock on egg crate that you'll put in the sand? I suppose part of this depends on the amount of lr, but just in general.

My biggest issue is the timing of the whole thing. In order to keep things a suprise, we can't do anything until after Wed, Dec. 20. But, we're hoping to have the kids for Xmas on Sat, Dec. 23. I'm planning on ordering the lr so it gets here the 22nd. I'll mix the saltwater Thursday so it can sit for two days. Dad and the boys can build the stand Sat morning after opening presents, put the tank up and then we can put the sand and lr in late on Sat. That way, the lr is in the water within 24 hrs of our receiving it.
Does this sound do-able or should I figure in more time? We'll hopefully have them for the Sat. and Sun. before Xmas.
Hope this all makes sense.
Don't mean to hijack your thread, but I don't know where else to ask these questions.
Thanks for any info you can give me.
 
The fish seemed fine, I was just saying it seemed like too many fish total for the water volume.

Are you planning on doing the mod for more flow? I would highly recommend it.

I would say you could pretty much put snails in one the sand storm is over. I am sure other will disagree, but I have had no problems.

I am putting the rock on the sand, but only a very thin layer. I am going to push most of the sand out of the way and then sort of burrow it down almost to the bottom. This way any sand sifting creatures do not mess up my aquascaping. Trust me, it is VERY annoying.

Unless you are using a premade stand, I would say one day is not enough time to plan to make a stand. I had the wood work done in a dew hours, but you have to remember sanding, routing, primer, and paint. All told mine took a little over a week doing one coat a day. Maybe you could have them help you build it the week before and tell them it is a bookshelf or something, that way they are helping and yet they are still surprised on Christmas.

I would also suggest getting the rock as soon as you can and curing it in a tub or tank with a powerhead and a heater because unless you are ordering TBS, you can plan on at least some die off.

If everything is as I assume, I would say Christmas weekend you could setup the tank with water and sand. The next Wednesday you could throw in your rock and some hermits or snails. Then just keep track of the cycle and add livestock as you wish.

Long response, sorry, but HTH
 
We have a premade stank that just has to be put together.
Because of the dimensions of the tank, I bought the 55 gal stand. So, no prob, we'll have room for a picture, lamp, whatever. With two boys and two dogs, I didn't trust the pillar type of stands they make for the nanos.
 
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