Critters for my nano

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newnanoreefgirl

New Member
I think I have decided on a 21 gal. Thanks to Incysors help. Now, opinions on these critters please.

Pink and White Feather Duster
Blue Mushroom Coral
Blue Legged Hermits
Red Legged Hermits
Yellow Tail Blue Damsel (how many?)

Do these seem like good choices for a first nano, and not a super high tech lighting system? Not MH or anything. Wow i sure have learned a lot my first day!
 
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fishcrazee

New Member
Thanks to Incysors help.
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:D YEA!!!! He's been helping me like crazy as well!!!! I think you wouldn't have any problems with your choice of inhabitants. You have to feed the feather dusters live phytoplankton or things along that size I think.... Also damsels are good to start with but..... I've heard they are a pain in the @$$ to get out of you tank... If you don't want damsels eventually you probably shouldn't get them cause you'll probably have to remove all your rockworj and corals just to fish em out... Also in a 21 you can probably keep a harem of 1 male and 2 females (only the males have yellow tails if it's not the beau thingy...) You can probably keep a little goby too if you wanted to and if your damsels don't pick on it... HTH and if any one goes against my advice trust them :oops: I'm still a newb too....
P.S. what are your lights gonna be like? watts, actinic rating, spectrum... and all that good stuff
 
djconn

djconn

New Member
Sounds good to me. Might want to add a few snails for diversity to your clean-up crew as well. Maybe even a few conches.

The mushroom is a good coral choice since they are less light demanding than other corals. Featherduster sounds okay too.

I'd say 2 damsels, maybe even 3, but they do get territorial I believe. I'd do a damsel and maybe a little goby or blenny of some sort. Keep us updated.
 
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incysor

New Member
I think that the mix you're suggesting is totally doable. Everything is compatible, and fairly easy to keep.

Realistically you're probably only looking 3-4 fish total for a tank that size. I would want to mix it up a bit more and have different species, but that's pretty much just personal aesthetics. I know reefers that have a school of green chromis in the tank, and no other fish whatsoever. As other's have stated the male is the one that has the yellow tail, and you won't be able to have more than one male. ALL damsels are agressive fish. If you want something other than them, you definitely want something as big as they are that isn't a particularly shy type, or the damsels will just beat it up.

On the feather duster, don't be alarmed or surprised if it drops it's crown of feathers. Every feather duster or coco worm I've had has done this at one point or another. About half of them were still inside the tube and another crown appeared a couple weeks later.

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incysor

New Member
newnanoreefgirl said:
Could I put in a Yellow Tail and a domino, or would that be worse?
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Worse than putting in a male and female yellow tail, better than putting in two male, or two female yellow tails.

ALL damsels are very aggressive very territorial fish. The larger they get the worse of a bully they become. There's no such thing as a non-agressive damsel. Kinda like there aren't any non-agressive dottybacks.

Any agressive fish should generally be added in after any other more peaceful fish. That way the agressive one sees them there first, and doesn't feel the need to defend it's territory against the newcomer, like it will if it's had the tank to itself and you add them afterwards. The more agressive fish you put in a tank the larger the chance is you'll lose something to bullying. You can certainly have a tank with nothing but damsels. And they're the cheapest saltwater fish to replace for sure.
:smile:

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newnanoreefgirl

New Member
How do I tell the difference..

between a male and female yellow tail? The males are the ones with the yellow tails, right? What does a female look like? And what's the difference between male and female dominos?

Another thing, when do I add my first crabs into my tank? How long should I wait? Just until the temperature stabilizes, or what?
 
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incysor

New Member
Re: How do I tell the difference..

newnanoreefgirl said:
between a male and female yellow tail? The males are the ones with the yellow tails, right? What does a female look like? And what's the difference between male and female dominos?

Another thing, when do I add my first crabs into my tank? How long should I wait? Just until the temperature stabilizes, or what?
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Female yellow tails have the same body shape as the males, but their tale is the same blue as the rest of their body.

There isn't any way to visually determine the sex of dominos. Don't put more than one in your tank.

It's not really a good idea to put anything in the tank until your cycle is over. The only way to determine that is by testing the water. Once all your params read 0 you can start adding anything.
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incysor

New Member
Re: Thanks!

newnanoreefgirl said:
That helps alot! Thanks! How about a Scooter Blenny?
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Maybe after your tank is mature. 6-9 months. They eat the same things as mandarins. Copepods and Amphipods. There usually isn't enough in a nano to keep them alive for long. Scooters are a bit more prone to start eating flake, and frozen foods though, so people have more success with them than with the mandarins. Since you work in a petstore, I'd just feed the tanks that have them in it, if you see one eating frozen food, or flake, then it's more likely to survive.

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