20g long stocking

[clownfish07]

Hey, I recently started a 20 gallon long aquarium, and I was wondering whether my stocking list is ok, I currently have a young pair of ocellaris clowns in the tank and was wondering if I could add the following fish:
1 firefish
1 clown goby
1 YWG/shrimp pair
1 cleaner shrimp

would all those and the clowns be too much? If so what you recommend taking out. Thanks!

 

[Spare time]

Shouldn't be a problem

 

[clownfish07]

Awesome, thanks for the reply, do you think I could maybe get another free swimming fish, like a royal gramma in there or would that be pushing it? If not are there any alternatives or should I just leave it at what I have? I

 

[clownfish07]

bump

 

[clownfish07]

Bump

 

[clownfish07]

Bump

 

[clownfish07]

bump

 

[REM2021]

That seems like pretty heavy stocking. Manageable with great filtration, an oversized skimmer, thoughtful rockscape, and luck of the draw on everyone deciding to play nicely. I currently keep two ocellaris and a cleaner shrimp in my 20, and have no intention of adding any other fish. This keeps my bioload extremely low, which is perfect for me because I don't want to have to do maintenance every couple days. If you're thinking of paring your list back a bit, I would personally cut the YWG/shrimp. I had a YWG in my first reef tank and saw the tip of his head maybe once a week. Not worth the addition to the bioload, and he was a pain to catch when I gave up and took him out, had to pull all of my rockwork. If you want something that will spend more time in the water column, the firefish is a good choice. I'm a huge fan of clown gobies, they have great personalities and are easy keepers, spend most of their time hanging out front and center on the rockwork. Not much movement but they add a great pop of color. My only concern with one here would be that they are very docile and you'll be adding it after the clowns--depending on how mature the clowns are, they could really harass the goby (or really any of the others if they are on the more territorial end of the spectrum).

 

[clownfish07]

That seems like pretty heavy stocking. Manageable with great filtration, an oversized skimmer, thoughtful rockscape, and luck of the draw on everyone deciding to play nicely. I currently keep two ocellaris and a cleaner shrimp in my 20, and have no intention of adding any other fish. This keeps my bioload extremely low, which is perfect for me because I don't want to have to do maintenance every couple days. If you're thinking of paring your list back a bit, I would personally cut the YWG/shrimp. I had a YWG in my first reef tank and saw the tip of his head maybe once a week. Not worth the addition to the bioload, and he was a pain to catch when I gave up and took him out, had to pull all of my rockwork. If you want something that will spend more time in the water column, the firefish is a good choice. I'm a huge fan of clown gobies, they have great personalities and are easy keepers, spend most of their time hanging out front and center on the rockwork. Not much movement but they add a great pop of color. My only concern with one here would be that they are very docile and you'll be adding it after the clowns--depending on how mature the clowns are, they could really harass the goby (or really any of the others if they are on the more territorial end of the spectrum).

Ok, my clowns have only been in the tank for about a month, and they don’t seem particularly territorial, so out of this list, you would reccomend dropping the goby/shrimp pair and gramma? I am quite a fan of the goby shrimp pair but if I will barely see them I probably won’t want them, Also another option I was considering would be dropping everything from the list and getting a couple clown gobies, but I have seen mixed reviews on this, some say they fight, some say they are fine, so I’m not sure whether multiple would be ok together.

 

[clownfish07]

Bump

 

[JayA]

I have a striped blenny, 2 ocellaris, a yellowtail damsel, a ywg/shrimp pair, also a red fire shrimp in my 20 gallon. They all get along and my tank is quite stable. I do have 20lbs. live sand and 20lbs live rock, so I think that helps too. I did add the clowns last...

 

[clownfish07]

Y

I have a striped blenny, 2 ocellaris, a yellowtail damsel, a ywg/shrimp pair, also a red fire shrimp in my 20 gallon. They all get along and my tank is quite stable. I do have 20lbs. live sand and 20lbs live rock, so I think that helps too.

Ok,thanks, I have a lot of love rock and sand as well, also a 20 long so it should work out, do you run a refugium or skimmer, etc

 

[clownfish07]

I have a striped blenny, 2 ocellaris, a yellowtail damsel, a ywg/shrimp pair, also a red fire shrimp in my 20 gallon. They all get along and my tank is quite stable. I do have 20lbs. live sand and 20lbs live rock, so I think that helps too. I did add the clowns last...

Oh, my clowns are relatively new, only in there for a couple weeks, do you think an acclimation box would help if they get aggressive?

 

[JayA]

Y

Ok,thanks, I have a lot of love rock and sand as well, also a 20 long so it should work out, do you run a refugium or skimmer, etc

No. I recently started doing chemipure elite as my phosphates were a little high and 1/2 piece of polyfilter in one of the compartments in the AIO IM tank, which lowered the phosphates within a week. I do water changes every 2 weeks, even though I strive for once weekly. I do 2.5 gallons of water change. I also have a heavy hand feeding.

 

[clownfish07]

No. I recently started doing chemipure elite as my phosphates were a little high and 1/2 piece of polyfilter in one of the compartments in the AIO IM tank, which lowered the phosphates within a week. I do water changes every 2 weeks, even though I strive for once weekly. I do 2.5 gallons of water change. I also have a heavy hand feeding.

Ok, I run a skimmer, but about the fighting, I also plan to rearrange the rock work as I want a rescape, do you think that would help in aggression as well?

 

[JayA]

Ok, I run a skimmer, but about the fighting, I also plan to rearrange the rock work as I want a rescape, do you think that would help in aggression as well?

Yes, but then you need to add your new fish quickly, ie less than a week, and all at once is my advice. I did have a lot of trouble initially getting the stocking right in my tank, as 20gallons can easily cause many otherwise peaceful fish to become territorial. And the firefish is VERY peaceful to not be a first fish in the tank, so beware. I had a lot of fish loss within days of introduction. My only original fish was the ywg. Then I had a solarensis wrasse and flametail blenny which were both too territorial to allow anyone else in - even clowns. I had to return them to the LFS, then got the striped blenny, then maybe a few weeks later, damsel, then 6 days later, clowns.

 

[clownfish07]

Yes, but then you need to add your new fish quickly, ie less than a week, and all at once is my advice. I did have a lot of trouble initially getting the stocking right in my tank, as 20gallons can easily cause many otherwise peaceful fish to become territorial. And the firefish is VERY peaceful to not be a first fish in the tank, so beware. I had a lot of fish loss within days of introduction. My only original fish was the ywg. Then I had a solarensis wrasse and flametail blenny which were both too territorial to allow anyone else in - even clowns. I had to return them to the LFS, then got the striped blenny, then maybe a few weeks later, damsel, then 6 days later, clowns.

Ok, I don’t really want any fish loss, one of my clowns is about as aggressive as a potato, not sure about the other one yet, but what fish would you reccomend to add with them, as I don’t want say the firefish to die, any experience with clown goby groups?

 

[JayA]

Ok, I don’t really want any fish loss, one of my clowns is about as aggressive as a potato, not sure about the other one yet, but what fish would you reccomend to add with them, as I don’t want say the firefish to die, any experience with clown goby groups?

If you had your choice you would add the more aggressive fish last. But you sort of already have them in the tank, so... I would say just pick things that can hold their own (ie not smaller than the clowns, and not "very peaceful or passive"), and add the remainder of your stock all at once. Should be fine with the ywg as he will go under your rocks (I do see mine out 40-50% of the time, so not a total waste of a fish, but I do sometimes forget I have him...). I feel like most blennies are in a good position to be introduced with some smaller/newer clowns, certainly a damsel (like a talbot). My striped blenny is an awesome fish, and bigger than my clowns (for now) - he in fact rules my tank in a passive way. I have no experience with clown gobies but think you should be okay with those. Neon gobies - one or a pair.

 

[JayA]

If you had your choice you would add the more aggressive fish last. But you sort of already have them in the tank, so... I would say just pick things that can hold their own (ie not smaller than the clowns, and not "very peaceful or passive"), and add the remainder of your stock all at once. Should be fine with the ywg as he will go under your rocks (I do see mine out 40-50% of the time, so not a total waste of a fish, but I do sometimes forget I have him...). I feel like most blennies are in a good position to be introduced with some smaller/newer clowns, certainly a damsel (like a talbot). My striped blenny is an awesome fish, and bigger than my clowns (for now) - he in fact rules my tank in a passive way. I have no experience with clown gobies but think you should be okay with those. Neon gobies - one or a pair.

I just remembered another fish that may work for you, chalk bass.

 

[clownfish07]

chalk bass are definitely interesting fish, might have to check those out, would a damsel and a chalk bass get along? One of the more peaceful damsels such as a starckii or azure @JayA