Stocking for a 24g

[Colin_1122]

Hey guys I’m setting up a small 24g cube soon and was wondering what fish would be good for it. I definitely want two clownfish and I was thinking a sand sifting goby time to help keep the tank clean, i don’t know what goby is best though. I also was wondering about a coral beauty or cherub angelfish. Or a fire fish? And also any suggestions for a good clean up crew?

 

[Jmas4]

Sounds good! A coral beauty will need a bigger tank. A cherub can fit but in a small tank like that it can get territorial. Provide a lot of swimming room but at the same time enough live rock for them to graze on. Instead of a diamond goby how about a conch? IME they clean and stir the sand just as well as a diamond goby but without causing sandstorms nor do they dig under rocks. First I would add the firefish, then a pair of clowns and finally the angel.

Good luck and happy Reefing

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

I have a 23 gallon i have 2 clowns and a yellow watchman goby with pistol shrimp, I did also had a royal gramma but thay sadly passed. I'd say my sand is fairly clean with a couple nassarius snails.

 

[Katrina71]

+1 on watchman goby and tiger pistol

 

[Colin_1122]

Sounds good! A coral beauty will need a bigger tank. A cherub can fit but in a small tank like that it can get territorial. Provide a lot of swimming room but at the same time enough live rock for them to graze on. Instead of a diamond goby how about a conch? IME they clean and stir the sand just as well as a diamond goby but without causing sandstorms nor do they dig under rocks. First I would add the firefish, then a pair of clowns and finally the angel.

Good luck and happy Reefing

Wow thanks for the help! I guess I thought since clowns usually stay near one spot in the tank and a goby would be on the bottom that I could get away with a coral beauty but I knew it’d be cramped. I read that cherub angels are more aggressive and I don’t want him to mess with my clowns or anything but you think he’ll be ok? And I’ll definitely take a look at conchs! Thanks

 

[Colin_1122]

I have a 23 gallon i have 2 clowns and a yellow watchman goby with pistol shrimp, I did also had a royal gramma but thay sadly passed. I'd say my sand is fairly clean with a couple nassarius snails.

Your tank is awesome! What corals are those??

 

[Sailfin11]

I would also try some Azure damselfish. Unlike the others, they are actually passive and have a striking blue/yellow color. The corals in the tank you were asking about are a collection of euphyllia (hammers, torches, frogspawn).

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

Your tank is awesome! What corals are those??

Thanks , and as above the corals are euphillias of the mentioned varieties.

 

[Nooooooooob1]

I have a 23 gallon i have 2 clowns and a yellow watchman goby with pistol shrimp, I did also had a royal gramma but thay sadly passed. I'd say my sand is fairly clean with a couple nassarius snails.

Beautiful tank my man

 

[Colin_1122]

Those corals are awesome, I’ll definitely have to get a few of those after I set my tank up. Thanks for all the help guys. Also, do you guys have any suggestions for a good clean up crew? This is my first saltwater tank and I would like to have my tank do a lot of cleaning on its own. I know I’ll still have to do weekly water changes and such but I would feel better if I have a solid cuc helping out with algae and excess food and all that.

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

I don't want to rock the boat, but weekly water changes aren't a necessity just testing of your main parameters and an ato to add rodi (not tap) water. I'm only saying this as doing alot of water changes on a smaller lower stocked tank can deplete the neutrients corals use I.e. nitrates and phosphates. I'm at the stage of dosing phosphates to get my tank back on track. My tank is sump and skimmer less.
My 7 gallon tank is run on natural seawater that I do a 25% water change every 8 weeks ish that has been running for 3 years now. This was the 7 gallon back in July.

and now

this is just hammers as frags from my main tank and the the orange mushroom has doubled in size and split.
I test for all 3 of my tanks for
Nitrates, phosphates, alkalinity, magnesium, calcium every 7-10 days. Ph I dont chase the numbers for that. Temperature is on digital thermometer double checked occasionally with a temperature probe. And salinity every so often.

Just don't be put off by the learning of the nitrogen cycle, and take everything slowly.
It's a marathon not a sprint.

For my main tank I used the very old live rock from when I changed tanks from a 10yr old nano (the rock was in another tank before that) and used the excess in the 7 gal but my 3rd tank I used all dry rock and sand and even though it nearly 2 years old it's nowhere near as stable as the other 2 nor does it look as good (in my opinion) It's a fluval evo 13.5 gallon it just looks too sterile in there

 

[Nicholas Dushynsky]

Beautiful tank my man

Thank you very much.

 

[Magellan]

For clean up crew: tuxedo urchin (algae eating machine) cleaner shrimp, variety of snails, and hermit crabs if you like those. (hermits are cool, especially for moving the sand around, but definitely get blue legged ones not the red legs). I also have a beautiful 6 line wrasse that is always swimming around will eat pests that might get into your tank. Depending on how much algae you have, you might consider a lawn mower blenny as well. (Mine has more personality than any other fish in the tank, he will sit in the front and watch tv at night!)

also a tiger conch. smallest species, suitable for your tank size as long as there’s a decent bioload and sand bed.

 

[Colin_1122]

For clean up crew: tuxedo urchin (algae eating machine) cleaner shrimp, variety of snails, and hermit crabs if you like those. (hermits are cool, especially for moving the sand around, but definitely get blue legged ones not the red legs). I also have a beautiful 6 line wrasse that is always swimming around will eat pests that might get into your tank. Depending on how much algae you have, you might consider a lawn mower blenny as well. (Mine has more personality than any other fish in the tank, he will sit in the front and watch tv at night!)

also a tiger conch. smallest species, suitable for your tank size as long as there’s a decent bioload and sand bed.

Thanks for the help! I’ve looked at tiger conchs and they look great. I’ve read that hermit crabs might kill conchs though do you think that’d be a problem?

 

[Colin_1122]

I don't want to rock the boat, but weekly water changes aren't a necessity just testing of your main parameters and an ato to add rodi (not tap) water. I'm only saying this as doing alot of water changes on a smaller lower stocked tank can deplete the neutrients corals use I.e. nitrates and phosphates. I'm at the stage of dosing phosphates to get my tank back on track. My tank is sump and skimmer less.
My 7 gallon tank is run on natural seawater that I do a 25% water change every 8 weeks ish that has been running for 3 years now. This was the 7 gallon back in July.

and now

this is just hammers as frags from my main tank and the the orange mushroom has doubled in size and split.
I test for all 3 of my tanks for
Nitrates, phosphates, alkalinity, magnesium, calcium every 7-10 days. Ph I dont chase the numbers for that. Temperature is on digital thermometer double checked occasionally with a temperature probe. And salinity every so often.

Just don't be put off by the learning of the nitrogen cycle, and take everything slowly.
It's a marathon not a sprint.

For my main tank I used the very old live rock from when I changed tanks from a 10yr old nano (the rock was in another tank before that) and used the excess in the 7 gal but my 3rd tank I used all dry rock and sand and even though it nearly 2 years old it's nowhere near as stable as the other 2 nor does it look as good (in my opinion) It's a fluval evo 13.5 gallon it just looks too sterile in there

Your tanks are awesome man. Thanks for the help I thought I’d have to do weekly water changes, I’m definitely glad not to

 

[Magellan]

Thanks for the help! I’ve looked at tiger conchs and they look great. I’ve read that hermit crabs might kill conchs though do you think that’d be a problem?

I think it’s a “blue leg vs red leg” thing. I have 7 blue legged hermit crabs (one is quite large compared to the others) but I’ve never had a problem with them bothering anything. The big one is a bully and will pick on the smaller ones, (he can’t do anything to them but still tries on a nightly basis) but he leaves everything else in the tank alone, including the snails. Everything I named has been in my 28g tank for over 9 months now with no problems. Just make sure the hermits have some larger shells to move into and you should be fine. (My LFS gave me a handful just for asking)

 

[bjc451]

Be careful with the angelfish they can acquire a taste for coral

 

[Colin_1122]

I think it’s a “blue leg vs red leg” thing. I have 7 blue legged hermit crabs (one is quite large compared to the others) but I’ve never had a problem with them bothering anything. The big one is a bully and will pick on the smaller ones, (he can’t do anything to them but still tries on a nightly basis) but he leaves everything else in the tank alone, including the snails. Everything I named has been in my 28g tank for over 9 months now with no problems. Just make sure the hermits have some larger shells to move into and you should be fine. (My LFS gave me a handful just for asking)

ok thanks man. Your tank looks great too. Also, is that urchin you mentioned above safe to put with some corals and a bta? How do I feed those as well?? Sorry I have no experience with urchins

 

[Colin_1122]

Be careful with the angelfish they can acquire a taste for coral

Thanks for the heads up. I’m hoping if I keep it well fed I shouldn’t have any issues with it eating the corals. Worst comes to worst I guess I can take him to my LFS.

 

[Magellan]

ok thanks man. Your tank looks great too. Also, is that urchin you mentioned above safe to put with some corals and a bta? How do I feed those as well?? Sorry I have no experience with urchins

i only have experience with Tuxedos, but they seem to be very gentle creatures. He will pick up random loose objects in the tank and carry them around for a while as camouflage, but won’t mess with anything that’s attached IMO. if your tank has no nutrients whatsoever and no algae either, you could supplement feeding with seaweed, but otherwise they feed themselves by scouring your rock and glass for any possible algae. (i had a snail die and the urchin found it, cleaned that shell right out!).

As for BTAs...no coral is completely safe! They can/will move and float around, and will sting and kill anything they touch. Also, to have success with a nem you will want to wait quite a while until your tank is more established, they need a stable environment. I was really tempted by a nem as well (who doesn’t want to see a clownfish hosting one??) but am now very glad i don’t have one in my tank. Don’t worry about your clowns, they will be just fine and are capable of hosting a wide variety of things: returns, powerheads, heaters, all sorts of corals, and every other possible spot in your tank!