IM Fusion 20 - Stock list

[jazzmik]

Would these work:

• Hi Fin Red Banded Goby w/pistol shrimp
• Yellow Watchman Goby
• Yasha White Ray Goby
• Longnose Hawkfish
• Royal Gramma OR Black Cap Basslet
• Ocellaris Clownfish (is 2 too many?)
• Helfrichi Firefish

If I needed to drop 1 or 2 which should I omit?

thx!

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

You should think about dropping more than 1 or 2. 4 fish would be the max I'd go with in there.

Personally I'd go with:

• Hi Fin Red Banded Goby w/pistol shrimp
• 2x Ocellaris Clownfish
• Helfrichi Firefish

I got rid of all the fish with 30g minimum on LiveAquaria. This mix could give you a couple of good symbiotic relationships as well as some great colors.

 

[jazzmik]

You should think about dropping more than 1 or 2. 4 fish would be the max I'd go with in there.

Personally I'd go with:

• Hi Fin Red Banded Goby w/pistol shrimp
• 2x Ocellaris Clownfish
• Helfrichi Firefish

I got rid of all the fish with 30g minimum on LiveAquaria. This mix could give you a couple of good symbiotic relationships as well as some great colors.

Yeah definitely too many in the list. How about only keeping 1 Clownfish and adding the Watchmen Goby? If not I may drop the clowns altogether and do the Watchmen and Royal Gramma.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I've kept several of the fish in your list in my IM Nano 20. I had no issues in my IM Nano 20 besides my old watchman goby jumping ship (even with the lid on there's a small gap, you have to push it all the way forward and cover the corners if you pop the cord tabs out). I made a huge mistake in getting a red reef lobster which was chasing my goby around at night. It made the goby jump so don't get a red reef lobster!

I'd say 4 fish is the max with a couple of exceptions:

Gobies don't move much and most on your list stay really small. For what's it worth, yellow watchman gobies will do just fine in these aquariums and I have no idea why they have a 30 gallon minimum tank size everywhere. You may have some issues with them all trying to host the same shrimp, however, so you may want to limit your gobies to a single species. Having a pair share the same shrimp is really neat to watch.

Ocellaris clowns are okay to have in pairs but in my experience you want to establish a single clown first, let it grow up for a few months, and then introduce a smaller male clownfish. I tried getting two similar sized clownfish first and they made dust storms every 5 seconds trying to out clownfish-jitters each other in order to establish dominance (the little shaking movements they do). If you have a pair and an anemone (or frogspawn coral in my case) for them to be hosted by, they don't move around the tank much and probably can count as one fish, at least they do in my tank.

My longnose hawkfish was introduced to my tank at 1 inch long and most of that was his beak! I'm fully aware that he and my melanurus wrasse will both need a bigger tank one day. What I've noticed about my longnose hawkfish though is that he will find one spot he really loves and sit there. All day. He only moves to get a better look at something or when you feed the tank. If you think you will upgrade to a bigger tank in a couple of years, then the hawkfish will work until it's surpasses 3 inches or so in length. They really only need a bigger spot to sit in at that point.

The basslets (royal gramma and black-cap) can be a little aggressive and most royal grammas we get at my LFS are already full grown. I think putting them in a 20 gallon at that size would be a bad idea. If they come in as juveniles, then they probably would do okay in a 20 gallon as they will have the opportunity to grow with the space as opposed to being forced into it.

Firefish are actually a fish that I believe needs a bigger tank. They love to swim above the rockwork and they don't particularly like a lot of flow. The IM Nano 20 doesn't give them a whole lot of "quiet" space to swim in and for that reason I wouldn't recommend them for this tank.

Let me know if you have any other questions about this aquarium, I've done a lot of research into it since I've owned one and have also learned a lot of lessons with it (like don't get a red reef lobster!).

 

[jazzmik]

Thanks @pensacola-aquarist!

I have a bigger tank (RS Reefer 450) but wanted to setup a nano-type tank so won't go crazy with the stock list. I like your setup, looks great!

 

[Kyl]

Firefish JUMP so fast you will not see them until they land on the floor, if you're lucky. I would not recommend them for our 20's just for that reason. I kept a lid on 24/7 except when doing water changes and lost two that way, didn't even see them jump, literally a split second.

I'm completly a fan of small fish, so have you given any thought to the more diminutive Ecsenius blennies? Tailspot is my favourite and quite common, but there are a couple others like the Yellow-eye or White-lined combtooths. I have five fish in my 20 and have had zero issues with anyone aside from the clowns trying to protect their anemone turf (which they've lost to the porcelain crab). Another option is the Greenbanded goby, small and super active as well.

 

[jazzmik]

Firefish JUMP so fast you will not see them until they land on the floor, if you're lucky. I would not recommend them for our 20's just for that reason. I kept a lid on 24/7 except when doing water changes and lost two that way, didn't even see them jump, literally a split second.

I'm completly a fan of small fish, so have you given any thought to the more diminutive Ecsenius blennies? Tailspot is my favourite and quite common, but there are a couple others like the Yellow-eye or White-lined combtooths. I have five fish in my 20 and have had zero issues with anyone aside from the clowns trying to protect their anemone turf (which they've lost to the porcelain crab). Another option is the Greenbanded goby, small and super active as well.

I have a lawnmower blenny in my main tank. I would add one of those in the Fusion but not sure how it would get along with a goby(s).

 

[Kyl]

The small ones should have no problem, a lawnmower though, they seem to get really bossy. TSB does get boisterous but it's more of a "here I am" rather than "fear me other tank interlopers" attitude.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

The small ones should have no problem, a lawnmower though, they seem to get really bossy. TSB does get boisterous but it's more of a "here I am" rather than "fear me other tank interlopers" attitude.

Tailspots and Bi-color blennies have the most personality per ounce of any fish in this hobby!

 

[tankstudy]

I once had fire fish and he jumped and got gill caught in the IM 20 Nuvo mesh and died. Jumpy species are probably not the best for the nuvo 20.

 

[jazzmik]

Looks like I'll be avoiding the firefish!