What clown?

[Chiefsurfer]

Hey guys, just got my 20g tall started. Have put in 20 lbs of rock and sand, and starting cycling now, so thinking ahead, not now.

This will be a reef tank, but I don't really want to clutter it up with TONs of stuff. I wanted to get a clown, or pair, maybe a goby, and like 2 cardinals. I REALLY like the look of the yellow-striped maroons, but I know and understand they get far too big for this sized tank. I was looking at b&w oscellaris, clarkii's, or percs. Opinions?

Also, can I have a mated pare in a 20 with a goby and cardinals? Is it too high of a bioload? I will end up with 40 lbs of live rock, and most likely a man-made 1.5 gallon refugium with cheato in it.

Thanks for your help guys. I have basically given up the idea of a nem, because i have a tall tank, t5 lighting, and will have corals in the same tank, so nems don't really work. Will a pair/single readily host something else? Will anything else benefit from this host situation?

 

[velvetelvis]

Clarkiis will get too big for this tank--around 5-6", and they wander a lot. I would stick with either percs or ocellaris. I have a pair of the B&W ocellaris and love them: beautiful, hardy, and lots of personality. Perculas also come in a lot of morphs--the picassos are pretty, if pricey.

As for other livestock, in a tank that size I think a pair of clownfish and maybe some small gobies, or one other small fish, would be your best bet. Neon, sharknose, and tiger gobies all stay very small and are regularly available on DD as mated pairs. A small shrimp goby (or a pair of them) with a pistol shrimp would also be a possibility, and fun to watch.

If you want something bigger and don't mind spending a little more, I've heard that assessors are cool little fish. They get to be about 2" long and mostly hang out near rockwork and caves, so they don't seem to require a lot of swimming room. They're very pretty. Again, DD has been offering ORA-bred yellow assessors pretty regularly. Everybody who has them seems to love them.

 

[Sinful Aquatics]

Yeah percula or ocellaris would be my choice