Species only 20 gallon?

[LukeSivyer45]

I have this 20 gallon with nothing in and was wondering what could be a single fish that could go in there? I thought about sea horses but they are very expensive. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[majesticbigmac]

hello. You could do a squid, however sea horses would be a great unique animal to home.

 

[nereefpat]

Try browsing the nano fish section on Live Aquaria.
Most popular small fishes would be clowns, but you have lots of options.

hello. You could do a squid

For real?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

You might be able to fit one bobtail squid in a 20, but they’re expensive, difficult to care for, and short lived.

Nereefpat’s advice is good. You could also do a single wartskin anglerfish (like my profile pic), but it’s recommended to feed them live food for long-term success.

 

[LukeSivyer45]

You might be able to fit one bobtail squid in a 20, but they’re expensive, difficult to care for, and short lived.

Nereefpat’s advice is good. You could also do a single wartskin anglerfish (like my profile pic), but it’s recommended to feed them live food for long-term success.

Sadly that is the thing that puts me off them, feeding live will cost quite a lot I’m assuming.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Sadly that is the thing that puts me off them, feeding live will cost quite a lot I’m assuming.

It depends on your setup (if you’re buying them or breeding them), but there are definitely cheaper fish to keep.

 

[LukeSivyer45]

It depends on your setup (if you’re buying them or breeding them), but there are definitely cheaper fish to keep.

Well what is your setup/ go to for feeding it?

 

[shakacuz]

anemone only tank with a pair of clowns and some nice inverts.

sea horse/mandarin tank with a bunch of NPS corals.

 

[LukeSivyer45]

anemone only tank with a pair of clowns and some nice inverts.

sea horse/mandarin tank with a bunch of NPS corals.

I been put of with an anemone because I added one then 2 days later I got dinos and died . I would do the seahorse idea but it would cost too much and they seem very difficult

 

[Anemone_Fanatic]

You could do a bangaii cardinalfish pair. Really, any pair of the common nano fish would be nice. Clownfish, cardinalfish, royal gramma, meicanthus blenny, etc. A school of 6-8 trimma/eviota gobies would be cool.

 

[stovenut]

If I did a species only tank it would definitely be for an angler. It's been in my mind for over 10 years. I would tie it in to my other tanks to help keep it clean.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Well what is your setup/ go to for feeding it?

Sadly, nothing yet (no tank at the moment).

If you're interested in getting one, though, I'd recommend reaching out to @lion king and seeing if he has feeding suggestions. He's basically the resident predator expert, and he's kept a wartskin in the past while feeding it live ghost shrimp. If you buy ghost shrimp from the right source, they can be very cost effective (Blue Zoo Aquatics sells them as "Feeder Shrimp" for a dollar each), but otherwise it'd probably be cheaper to just setup a little 10 gallon and breed your own feeders (be they shrimp, mollies, etc.). Of course, variety is the spice of life, so you'd probably want to feed some fish on occasion, but I'm not sure which ones would be best.

Look at that face: new angler

His tank was ready and I was looking online and let one of my lfs that gets anglers in from time to time that I was ready for one. I wanted a white warty with smooth skin and red and orange accents. The next day the lfs got this guy in, I almost passed because he is itty bitty: about an inch...

www.reef2reef.com

He fed his multiple times a week, but on page three he recommends less frequent feedings (once a week, which I believe he still recommends).

 

[LukeSivyer45]

Sadly, nothing yet (no tank at the moment).

If you're interested in getting one, though, I'd recommend reaching out to @lion king and seeing if he has feeding suggestions. He's basically the resident predator expert, and he's kept a wartskin in the past while feeding it live ghost shrimp. If you buy ghost shrimp from the right source, they can be very cost effective (Blue Zoo Aquatics sells them as "Feeder Shrimp" for a dollar each), but otherwise it'd probably be cheaper to just setup a little 10 gallon and breed your own feeders (be they shrimp, mollies, etc.). Of course, variety is the spice of life, so you'd probably want to feed some fish on occasion, but I'm not sure which ones would be best.

Look at that face: new angler

His tank was ready and I was looking online and let one of my lfs that gets anglers in from time to time that I was ready for one. I wanted a white warty with smooth skin and red and orange accents. The next day the lfs got this guy in, I almost passed because he is itty bitty: about an inch...

www.reef2reef.com

He fed his multiple times a week, but on page three he recommends less frequent feedings (once a week, which I believe he still recommends).

Okay thanks for the help I will look into it

 

[i cant think]

Do you want a slightly hatder? If so then there’s two species I’d recommend, one I have never seen in this hobby. They’re basically mandarins but they’re tiny so can’t run out of a pod population too fast.
Discordipinna griessingeri or Discordipinna filamentosa. Griessingeri is the species I currently own, filamentosa is what I don’t believe is ever collected as I haven’t seen an alive specimen in captivity.
Also, if you’re lucky enough you could to a Tanakai Possum Wrasse (Wetmorella tanakai).
Another goby to add is one of the Koumansettas. These guys have the most adorable personalities and curious behaviours. The Rainfordi relies more on the sandbed whereas the hectors will peck algae off of the sand and rockwork.

Any reason why you only want one species and not multiple even of the same family?
All of the fish I recommended need pods to survive. Very rarely will Discordipinna eat frozen/prepared, Possum wrasses are more likely to eat frozen/prepared however I always make sure I have a small just as peaceful fish in the tank to help them get eating. Usually having one or two peaceful fish that they can watch eating the frozen gets them to eat frozen. It’s how i got all of my finicky eaters to feed. Radiant Wrasse, Copperband Butterfly, Tanakai Possum Wrasse, Griessinger Goby, Hectors Goby, Flashing Tilefish, the whole lot ate after seeing the rest of the fish eat frozen.
Also, I avoid anemones like the plague when I own fish that are slow moving like tanaka possums and griessinger gobies.
My Koumansetta hectori;

My Discordipinna griessingeri;

 

[PokeFish]

Sadly that is the thing that puts me off them, feeding live will cost quite a lot I’m assuming.

Wasp fish they can eat frozen foods

 

[Tired]

Rooster waspfish will happily gorge on frozen foods, and one would do quite well in a 20gal. You could put another fish with it, if you wanted. They are venomous, but not lethally so to humans, and you shouldn't stick bare hands into your tank anyway.

A tiger pistol shrimp and a watchman goby of your choice would be lots of fun to watch, and would easily allow for another fish in future if you wanted.

A yellowtail blue damsel, or similar damsel species, gives you bright colors and lots of attitude in a cute little package. No worries about aggression if it's the only fish. Not that yellowtails are particularly aggressive anyway.

Dinos mean your tank is probably far too immature for an anemone. Rock flower anemones, although they don't host clownfish, are quite hardy in a well-established tank. No fussier than a lot of corals.

There are many nano fish suitable for a 20gal. Any preference? Burrowing, perching, midwater? Color preferences?

 

[Steve and his Animals]

Fu Manchu Lionfish if you want something somewhat challenging

 

[LukeSivyer45]

Rooster waspfish will happily gorge on frozen foods, and one would do quite well in a 20gal. You could put another fish with it, if you wanted. They are venomous, but not lethally so to humans, and you shouldn't stick bare hands into your tank anyway.

A tiger pistol shrimp and a watchman goby of your choice would be lots of fun to watch, and would easily allow for another fish in future if you wanted.

A yellowtail blue damsel, or similar damsel species, gives you bright colors and lots of attitude in a cute little package. No worries about aggression if it's the only fish. Not that yellowtails are particularly aggressive anyway.

Dinos mean your tank is probably far too immature for an anemone. Rock flower anemones, although they don't host clownfish, are quite hardy in a well-established tank. No fussier than a lot of corals.

There are many nano fish suitable for a 20gal. Any preference? Burrowing, perching, midwater? Color preferences?

I either want something that looks either really unique or has a interesting personality/ behaviour. I actually had a watchmen not too long ago but when acclimating him he got mouth rot and died 2 days later, im quite unlucky in this hobby.

 

[Noobreefer1]

you could perhaps get an octopus.

 

[LukeSivyer45]

you could perhaps get an octopus.

My tank has too many escape routes, there are cutouts for cables and has a 2 piece canopy with a gap in.