IM Fusion 20 Fish Help!

[Zach W]

Hi all, I am fairly new to this forum and wanted to first introduce myself. My parents have kept a reef tank for a long time but I just recently finished graduate school and moved to my own place and am getting ready to start my own reef tank, and am super excited to get it going! I have decided to start out on a IM Fusion 20 (I will post a build thread once I have everything and really get going) and am trying to get a good plan for stocking in terms of reef compatibility, appropriate bioload, overall well-being of the fish. As of right now I am thinking:

- Ocellaris clownfish (x2)
- Fairy or Flasher Wrasse
- Watchman Goby & Pistol Shrimp
- Fire Shrimp

A couple concerns I have are:

1. If I get two clownfish, as they mature will they become aggressive to the point where I cannot have anything else in the tank fish wise?
2. Can this tank support these types of wrasse? If not what would be your recommendations?
3. Is this too many fish for a tank this size?

Thank you for all of your help and any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

 

[reefertank]

Hi all, I am fairly new to this forum and wanted to first introduce myself. My parents have kept a reef tank for a long time but I just recently finished graduate school and moved to my own place and am getting ready to start my own reef tank, and am super excited to get it going! I have decided to start out on a IM Fusion 20 (I will post a build thread once I have everything and really get going) and am trying to get a good plan for stocking in terms of reef compatibility, appropriate bioload, overall well-being of the fish. As of right now I am thinking:

- Ocellaris clownfish (x2)
- Fairy or Flasher Wrasse
- Watchman Goby & Pistol Shrimp
- Fire Shrimp

A couple concerns I have are:

1. If I get two clownfish, as they mature will they become aggressive to the point where I cannot have anything else in the tank fish wise?
2. Can this tank support these types of wrasse? If not what would be your recommendations?
3. Is this too many fish for a tank this size?

Thank you for all of your help and any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

I would say the amount of fish is fine depending on how much LR you put in the tank. And maybe think about adding a small refugium to help with the bioload.

 

[Zach W]

I have thought about the refugium in one of the compartments in the back of the tank, because I am not sure how/if I am going to fill all of them. I would ideally like to run the tank skimmer-less and rely on weekly water changes to get rid of the organic waste. I like the look of a more minimalist aqua scape, potentially the island look like Uwdanno has going on so I was planning to buy a couple cultured marine pure balls to add to one of the compartments in the back to increase my biological filtration.

 

[Jesterrace]

A Fusion 20 IMHO is way to small for the Fairy or Flasher Wrasse. They need lots of room to swim (particularly the fairy wrasses). As for the Watchman Goby, it depends on which one you are going with. A Diamond Watchman Goby would create an absolute sand storm in a tank that small and would be problematic. One of the smaller less active sand sifting gobies would work though. As for the clownfish ALL CLOWNFISH are territorial/semi-aggressive to an extent (no matter what some sites claim). The Occ and Percula varieties tend to be the most mild, but they could potentially cause issues in a tank of that size. A goby should be a good tank mate for them though (since they generally stick to the lower regions of the tank) and maybe look into a Royal Gramma Basslet or Orchid Dottyback as a tankmate as they aren't overly aggressive but won't be pushed around either. I would add the clownfish last to give the others a shot to establish themselves first.

 

[Zach W]

A Fusion 20 IMHO is way to small for the Fairy or Flasher Wrasse. They need lots of room to swim (particularly the fairy wrasses). As for the Watchman Goby, it depends on which one you are going with. A Diamond Watchman Goby would create an absolute sand storm in a tank that small and would be problematic. One of the smaller less active sand sifting gobies would work though. As for the clownfish ALL CLOWNFISH are territorial/semi-aggressive to an extent (no matter what some sites claim). The Occ and Percula varieties tend to be the most mild, but they could potentially cause issues in a tank of that size. A goby should be a good tank mate for them though (since they generally stick to the lower regions of the tank) and maybe look into a Royal Gramma Basslet or Orchid Dottyback as a tankmate as they aren't overly aggressive but won't be pushed around either. I would add the clownfish last to give the others a shot to establish themselves first.

Ok, thank you for the information! Its such a mixed bag of information out there on what type of fish you can keep in what size tank, and you will read one thing and on another site it will say something that is totally opposite. Are clownfish happier in pairs or would a single clown be perfectly fine? So does this look better?
- Ocellaris clownfish (maybe 2?)
- Fairy or Flasher Wrasse Orchid Dottyback
- Watchman Goby & Pistol Shrimp
- Fire Shrimp

 

[Jesterrace]

www.liveaquaria.com. Use them for tank sizes as they are pretty accurate. I swear the other sites throw darts at a dart board to determine minimum tank sizes. I have seen some recommend a 75 gallon (4 foot long tank) for a fish that maxes out between 18-20 inches.

 

[Justfebreezeit]

The yellow watchman goby would be fine, and if you want a swimming fish that is peaceful look up the pink streaked wrasse. Similar to the sixline without the agression.

I've heard mixed stories about the orchid dottyback as far as agression.

 

[Jesterrace]

The yellow watchman goby would be fine, and if you want a swimming fish that is peaceful look up the pink streaked wrasse. Similar to the sixline without the agression.

I've heard mixed stories about the orchid dottyback as far as agression.

The captive bred orchids tend to do better. Also some folks do mix up the Purple Dottyback and the Orchid with disasterous results.