20 gallon stocking

[CrazyAggie05]

well my 20 gal tank has been set up for almost a month, and its time to start thinking about livestock. my levels are down to 0 so the cycle looks like it is going well.

as of now i have nothing in the tank except for 10 astrea snails.

i really really want a 6-line, so i will definately get one of those. what else would compliment a 6-line? i like clowns, chalk basslets (or any other kind of basslet for that matter), neon dottybacks, gobies, pygmy angels, and some others.

im thinkin i need something that will clean the sand, either a fish or inverts will do, but which kind? i need some hermits like blue legs for cleanup, and id like an emerald crab and and sally lightfoot too. id also like some shrimp, like a cleaner or pepermint, or maybe some sexy.

ive ehard so many differnt takes on bioload and stocking, im really not sure what i can put in there. please help!

 

[drty811]

its tough to say....are you going with a fish only tank or are you going to do a mixed or just reef?

i had a emerald crab and it got pretty big and started going after my fish and knocked over a bunch of my corals. they are really strong crabs. sally lightfoots i have heard a bunch of problems with them when they get bigger.aggressive and very fast, they will catch your fish. go in bigger tanks not so good in nano's. hope this helps.

 

[CrazyAggie05]

i wanna do a mixed tank...

 

[incysor]

Pretty much anything you mentioned will get along fine with the six-line.

Take pygmy angels off your list. A 20g isn't enough room for them.

You'll want to stay away from fish, (or a sand sifting starfish), that eat by sifting sand. They tend to be picky eaters, and a 20g doesn't have enough of a sandbed for them to live on. They'll likely starve to death.

Sally lightfoot crabs can be agressive.

Emerald crabs can be agressive once they get larger.

Otherwise, pretty much anything you listed will be good in your tank.

B

 

[CrazyAggie05]

will the 6-line and neon dottyback get along? i heard dottybacks and be s.o.b.'s...im thinkin id like a 6-line, neon dottyback, and a basslet of some sort. is that too much bioload?

edit***

ok ok change of plans maybe.... so ive been reading about this shrimp goby/pistol shrimp combination... will they play nice with the sixline? how does this sound:

6-line
shrimp goby and pistol shrimp
neon dottyback and/or basslet (both might be too much fish?)
5 blue leg hermits
brittle starfish
2 or 3 sexy shrimp
fire, coral banded, or skink cleaner shrimp
my already existing 10 astrea snails
5 nassarius snails


**edit # 2

ok so ive been doing more research and it looks like the neon dottyback is a mean SOB, and so is the Mccullochi Dottyback that i was also looking at. i really want another colorful/flashy/interesting fish to compliment the 6-line. i also want something atypical that you wont always see in every other tank. any suggestions?

 

[drty811]

coral banded are SOB's also, i had one for like three days. and two of the three spent in a in tank breader that i had laying around.

 

[mikeguerrero]

Crazyaggie,

Your sixline will get along with just about all fish, exept those that resemble him, such as streamline dottybacks; however once he adjust they go about there ways.

The yosha goby is rare and will pair up with a pistol shrimp but be prepared to pay a good reward for the rare goby; if you don't want the rare goby, go for the coral banded goby much cheaper and he still will pair up with the pistol shrimp.

Dotty back will not mix with the basslet. The baslet is more rare in my opinion and therefore more costly; they should do fine with the six line wrasse.

5 blue legs are great janitors, but get them small, as when they are too big, they tend to be lazy, the small ones love overtime work.

Sexy shrimps do well in pairs or triplets; they are small and don't take up too much room; they also are more creative and outgoing in groups.

Coral banded shrimp is a looner but very aggressive when he gets large and it doesn't take him long to get big, stay away from him because he can catch other smaller shrimps when they molt in a small tank.

Fire shrimp are very beautiful but extremely shy, they also do well in pairs, will become more bold and explore more of your tank; however they could get big with time and they do have a nice set of little claws.

Skink cleaner, not too sure about him, heard they are sensitive to water fluctuations.

5 nassarius snails are great scavengers and will stir up the sand if you have a nice depth; they will burrow in the sand and when the dinner bell goes off they come a runnin..

As far as rare fish go; thats really a matter of opinion small rare colored gobies are becomming very popular.

Hope this helps out....

Mike

 

[CrazyAggie05]

wow guys thanks a lot for the great info. ive pretty much got things narrowed down:

6-line
goby and pistol shrimp
basslet OR pseudo
2 or 3 sexy shrimp (depends on the budget)
5 blue legs
5 nassarius snails
10 astrea
1 skunk (not skink lol that was a typo) cleaner or 2 fire shrimp(budget/availability)

haha well maybe i dont exactly have things nailed down. id love a yosha, but yes they ware way expensive. there are some other cool prawn gobies. as for the basslet, i like the chalks, but i really like the candystripe and lantern. are there any other cool ones? or maybe ill just get a royal gramma instead and be done with it. argh too many choices! what about an orchid dottyback?

 

[mikeguerrero]

Orchid Dottyback are my favorite, always have been. They are really gorgeous violet color and really cheap under 20 bucks.

They are very curious, exploring everything and will get along with most all fish except ones in it's class.

They also will catch bristle worms and other types of worms when they like. The six line wrasse will mix well with him after they see that they are not in the same class.

Six line will clear your tank out of pods, be warned....


Mike

 

[dragon79]

Orchid Dottyback are my favorite, always have been. They are really gorgeous violet color and really cheap under 20 bucks.

They are very curious, exploring everything and will get along with most all fish except ones in it's class.

They also will catch bristle worms and other types of worms when they like. The six line wrasse will mix well with him after they see that they are not in the same class.

Six line will clear your tank out of pods, be warned....


Mike

The sixline also clears out the bristleworms too don't they? I wasn't aware that the orchid dotty does that. I guess if you have them both, you have one clean tank

 

[CrazyAggie05]

oooo waht about the vampire pseudo or flav.? the pet store had a vampire (though it was under the name flame pseudo) and he was AWESOME! im worried about shrimp gettin eaten, or the pistol shrimp/goby

 

[sadielynn]

Also use caution with the pseudo as they can and may even eat your shrimp . We had a purple pseudo that ate our shrimp , tho yours may not ( I am only saying this because it happened to us ) :twisted:

 

[incysor]

will the 6-line and neon dottyback get along? i heard dottybacks and be s.o.b.'s...im thinkin id like a 6-line, neon dottyback, and a basslet of some sort. is that too much bioload?

edit***

ok ok change of plans maybe.... so ive been reading about this shrimp goby/pistol shrimp combination... will they play nice with the sixline? how does this sound:

6-line
shrimp goby and pistol shrimp
neon dottyback and/or basslet (both might be too much fish?)
5 blue leg hermits
brittle starfish
2 or 3 sexy shrimp
fire, coral banded, or skink cleaner shrimp
my already existing 10 astrea snails
5 nassarius snails


**edit # 2

ok so ive been doing more research and it looks like the neon dottyback is a mean SOB, and so is the Mccullochi Dottyback that i was also looking at. i really want another colorful/flashy/interesting fish to compliment the 6-line. i also want something atypical that you wont always see in every other tank. any suggestions?

Personally, as much as I like coral banded shrimp, I dont' think they're a good choice for nanos. When they get larger they tend to be agressive. In a large tank there's plenty of room for the fish to avoid them, but in a a nano they just don't have as much space.

If you're gonna go with a brittle star, make sure it's one of the smooth ones. People use the terms brittle, and serpent because that's how the stores have them listed. The green serpent stars are well known fish killers. They get large, and again aren't good candidates for a nano. They are great scavengers in large fish-only tanks with larger fish, or more agressive fish, but in reefs with gobies and smaller fish, they're likely to cost you some money.

For something different in the pseudo line, check out blue and yellow assesors. They're not quite as agressive as the others, have nice color, and don't come into the stores as often. Just like other pseudos, they should be the last fish put in the tank.

B

 

[CrazyAggie05]

yeah i def. gave up the coal banded shrimp idea and im going with a skunk. i saw the assessors too and like them. i really wanna try some sory of pseudo. im kinda stuck on whether to get an orchid, vampire, oblique (all the ones ive seen are expensive!)m or an assessor. ill let yall know what i end up doing. btw im gonna post some pics of my new arrangement in the pics section, go check em out!

 

[incysor]

oooo waht about the vampire pseudo or flav.? the pet store had a vampire (though it was under the name flame pseudo) and he was AWESOME! im worried about shrimp gettin eaten, or the pistol shrimp/goby

So far I haven't seen anyone mention that if you're gonna put in a dottyback or pseudo, it needs to be the last one introduced to the tank. They're VERY territorial, and will harrass new fish to death. I had a juvi neon dottyback in my 55g that killed every fish I put in after it, including gobies, and angels. It took me nearly 4 days to trap it out.

My boss has a vampire in his 18g. It's killed two damsels, and a goby.

So far the only fish that's been ok with it in the tank has been a bi-color blenny. It even beat up a tiger jawfish badly enough that we had to rescue it back out of the tank. I'd be very wary about putting one of these in your nano. You're likely to lose fish, and you will definitely lose shrimp.

B

 

[CrazyAggie05]

yeah i read yeah on that one.... if i do a pseudo, ill def. go for one of the more peaceful variants like an orchid or assessor

 

[Anonymous]

Incysor is right I put a psuedo in my 125 and it was the meanest little b you've ever seen - it took to chasing everything in my tank - it might have just been the one I owned, but I would not recommend it mixed with any other fish in a tank your size - others it seems have had better luck with them though - but be warned - psuedos are best kept alone in small tanks IMO - beautiful but deadly!

 

[CrazyAggie05]

ooh how about a pygmy cherub angel for the 3rd fish? those look really nice! ive also decided the scratch the sexy shrimp idea... today i got 5 blue legs and 5 nassariums snails, and also a skunk cleaner. the skunk is really awesome and is always swimming around or crawling around. he is also very curious and will come up to my hand

 

[incysor]

A 20g, isn't enough room for any angel. Even the cherub, or flamebacks. They need more room to swim around, without it they get stressed out, and end up croaking to ick, or something else.

B

 

[mikeguerrero]

Incysor is right, I took a gamble with a pygmy angel, a really small one and it was always scared hiding, then it started comming out more and more.

Then as quickly as he came out he suddenly disappered, my wife found him dead at the side full of ich.

I believe a new fish that I bought brought the ich but I will never really know.

Mike