20 gallon long species only reef?

[Cthulukelele]

I would, mantis shrimp are awesome, but no sand and lots of coral means it’s probably a no go

Yeah and I'd be nervous about children's fingers

 

[MoshJosh]

Options so far:
3? Chalk basslets
3+? yellow line cardinal
2 royal grama
2 fire fish
Damsels???

Would any sort of chromis work? I read blue chromis could go in a nano tank but I though most (common aquarium) chromis got to big?

 

[dedragon]

do you mean blue reef chromis or blue green chromis?

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

how about a damsel only tank, a small school would loook cool.
or invert only tank?

Not in that size.

 

[MoshJosh]

do you mean blue reef chromis or blue green chromis?

The article I read said blue reef chromis. . . But after reading looks like they get 4 inches and the blue greens get bigger still. . . so chromis are out

 

[vlangel]

I think the yellow line cardinalfish could be cool.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

For an oddball suggestion or two, maybe Skilletfish, Gobiesox strumosus, or some of the small or dwarf/nano gobies (things like Tigrigobius spp., Priolepis spp., Eviota spp., Trimma spp., etc.).

 

[dennis romano]

Here is a warning about chalk bass. They are predatory and actually get to about three plus inches. Just this week, I saw a three inch chalk bass at the LFS with a smaller fish's tail sticking out of its mouth. Cardinals are cool but don't travel well. I know of stores that don't carry them any more because they just die in the bag on the way home. It happened to me several times. I have masked gobies. They stay small, are hardy, active and peaceful. A tank with masked gobies or Grammas with rock flower anemones, ricordea and gorgonians would be cool.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Yeah pajama cardinals especially are a fish where you either lose it the first month or they live for a decade.

 

[bushdoc]

Berghia mini farm. I can provide some free Aiptasia.......

 

[Cthulukelele]

If you do choose a cardinal, I would definitely suggest captive bred. They are much less initially temperamental and similarly long lived

 

[MoshJosh]

I added a few more possibles to the list. . .

threadfin cardinal
black bar chromis (only gets to 2inches?)
Catalina gobies (seem hard to find and expensive)

Anyone had success with a pair or multiple hectors gobies? I already have one, would love to get more, but sounds like they will fight to the death even in big tanks. . .

 

[dedragon]

threadfin cardinal- These are hard to find, dont ship well, and have bad survival rates

black bar chromis (only gets to 2inches?)- not sure about these, but they look very damsel like which are usually more aggressive chromis. If you wanted multiple it might be an issue in such a small tank

Catalina gobies (seem hard to find and expensive)- they also need a cool water tank which limits corals

 

[dwest]

A pair of ocellaris

 

[MoshJosh]

A pair of ocellaris

I already have a pair of perculas in my other tanks. . . and am not to interested in designer clowns. I like some of the other clown species (spotocinclus (sp)), but they get too big.

 

[MoshJosh]

What about a scape with hidey holes for barnacle blennies? Add some gorgonians and macro algae for a very cool tank.

I have reconsidered this as I love barnacles. . . I will be at my LFS tonight and they sometimes get these guys in. . . I will see how much it would cost to order some. . . my other fish store said they could not order them for me

 

[Kasrift]

How about Seahorse and Pipefish? They can go in a smaller tank and can be peaceful and fun for kiddos to watch.

 

[dedragon]

How about Seahorse and Pipefish? They can go in a smaller tank and can be peaceful and fun for kiddos to watch.

It is a 20 gallon long, so the height of the aquarium would be an issue for seahorses as well as keeping nutrients down due to the messy eating

 

[michael_cb_125]

I would strongly consider some of the smaller shoaling goby species. I believe someone else mentioned Trimma sp. or Evotia sp. gobies. These tiny little guys make a very neat display, if they are kept in a peaceful tank.
I kept a 2 gallon reef on my desk at work for several years. I had 8 trimma gobies. They were constantly in the water column and always visible. They also spawn readily in a reef tank.

You could easily keep a group of 20 or more in a 20 gallon tank. Being small they have very minimal bio-load.

Another option (if you run a cooler tank under 75F) would be eastern hula fish. It has been several years since I have seen them available, but they are a very unusual shoaling species.

~Michael

 

[vlangel]

I have reconsidered this as I love barnacles. . . I will be at my LFS tonight and they sometimes get these guys in. . . I will see how much it would cost to order some. . . my other fish store said they could not order them for me

Good luck, I know my lfs does not have them often. I also would like some more in my tank as they are the coolest little fish!