7 gallon stocking

spec33 · Jul 20, 2016

I need some advice on what to stock my 7 gallon with.
1 yellow tail damsel
3-5 hermits. Could I have more?
Either 1 peppermint or cleaner shrimp I cant decide? would a coral banded shrimp possibly work?
then 1 type of crab any suggestions?
Also would it be fine to put biomatrix into the hob filter as long as its cleaned every other week?

Finally the lfs sells caluerpa algae. Idk if I spelled that right. would it be worth putting some of that into the hob filter? Ive heard it can go sexual very easily.

spllbnd2 · Jul 20, 2016

I've run nano since 2002 and currently run a few different sized nanos and larger tanks.

For stocking I would recommend the following to start out,
10 hermits, combination of Scarlet and blue legged. I would say 3 Scarlet and 7 blue legged.
5 Astrea snails
3 to 5 Nassarius Snail - Great keeping the sand bed clean.
1 Mithrax crab once you have some algae growing.

Personally I would go with a cleaner shrimp. I've had hit and miss with peppermint shrimp as I have had a few nip at some of the zoas that I keep. Coral banded I have no experience with, so couldn't help there.

Damsels can be very aggressive little fish. A jeweled damsel would be a better choice and less aggressive then most of the damsel fish.

As for Caulerpa algae, it can go asexual and really fast in a small nano tank. I have had it happen and it is a pain to get it all out when that happens. It can cause a nano tank to crash if not kept in check. Better macro would be chaeto algae. I had mine growing in a HOB Aquaclear 110 on a 7 gallon mini bow.

Good luck and remember with a nano things can happen fast. So best to take your time stocking.

Cheers,
Alex

spec33 · Jul 20, 2016

Do the nassarius snails need any special feeding since they dont eat algae? Would the damsel kill the inverts?

spec33 · Jul 20, 2016

what other fish could go in it? I would like to stay away from perching fish.

spllbnd2 · Jul 20, 2016

Nassarius snails don't need any special feedings. They will scavenge and eat any uneaten food that may fall to the sand bed. Yellow tail damsels shouldn't bother inverts, but may bother and harass the shrimp and any other similar sized fish in the tank.

As mentioned, I would suggest looking at the blue sapphire damsel (Chrysiptera springeri) as an alternative. They are a very peaceful damsel and do well with other fish and not territorial.

spec33 · Jul 20, 2016

okay I'm assuming this is going to be a no go but would it be possible to put a very small clown in this and get rid of some of the cuc and the crab in order to lighten the bioload? I only plan on having one fish in this.