Stocking ideas for 28 gallon

[SM37]

Hello everyone, I was just wondering if I could get some recommendations on some stocking ideas.
I currently have:
2 clownfish (female Clarkii and a small male maroon) both have been seen rubbing up on each other. Just waiting to see what happens hopefully they stay nice to each other.
1 fire shrimp
1 calico shamefaced crab (she is a lazy girl that keeps spawning eggs every couple weeks)
and a small clean up crew ( small tiger conch, two little reef hermits, 1 tuxedo urchin and snail that cleans my glass. Came with a rock.

I would really like to add a yellow watchman goby and pistol shrimp pair if that’s doable. But, any recommendations would be great.

 

[bensoo00]

Firefish are cool in my opinion and would do good in your tank! *wouldnt be able to have the watchman though

 

[Reef By Steele Verified Sponsor]

I think a yellow watchman and pistol shrimp pair would work. Might look up the gobies that pair up. We got a randals I think, there is also a Yoshi I think and they are really cool with a high pointed dorsal.

Smaller tank I like firefish, maybe a Midas blenny, (have to be cautious with no lid).

Possibly a sand sleeping wrasse like a leopard.

If you have pods or willing to introduce them a mandarin goby is one of my favorites. Either the psychedelic or the target.

 

[SM37]

Firefish are cool in my opinion and would do good in your tank! *wouldnt be able to have the watchman though

Why wouldn’t the two work?

 

[SM37]

I think a yellow watchman and pistol shrimp pair would work. Might look up the gobies that pair up. We got a randals I think, there is also a Yoshi I think and they are really cool with a high pointed dorsal.

Smaller tank I like firefish, maybe a Midas blenny, (have to be cautious with no lid).

Possibly a sand sleeping wrasse like a leopard.

If you have pods or willing to introduce them a mandarin goby is one of my favorites. Either the psychedelic or the target.

I do have an immense amount of pods currently! I thought about a mandarin or a small Pygmy wrasse.
I thought leopard wrasses need large tanks? They are cool though.

 

[bensoo00]

Why wouldn’t the two work?

Unsure how the firefish -goby- would fare with another goby, I have heard gobies do not get along well, albeit both of them are pretty peaceful. I don't have any experience with other gobies besides my diamond goby, but you could try introducing them at the same time to avoid any conflicts in case they arise

 

[Reef By Steele Verified Sponsor]

I have yellow watchmen with firefish, granted in a 110g and 210g but IMO they might work out ok, but I agree that adding them at the same time will help them establish territory without one already having its home.

 

[Reef By Steele Verified Sponsor]

I do have an immense amount of pods currently! I thought about a mandarin or a small Pygmy wrasse.
I thought leopard wrasses need large tanks? They are cool though.

You know, I guess I’m not sure about that. I currently have one in a 29 gallon tank, but it is a qt and headed to the 210. I have had it in there for months though as I had my surgeries and haven’t wanted to chance anything that would require me to do too much.

 

[i cant think]

Unsure how the firefish -goby- would fare with another goby, I have heard gobies do not get along well, albeit both of them are pretty peaceful. I don't have any experience with other gobies besides my diamond goby, but you could try introducing them at the same time to avoid any conflicts in case they arise

IME, this will work. I’ve had 6-7 gobies in one tank (3’x16”x1’ is the nano I currently have and it has 5 gobies in, and a RS Max Nano was the other I’ve had with 6-7 gobies in).
I don’t know why people struggle to mix gobies as I’ve personally never had issues - I’ve even mixed the same species with no issues.

 

[ArachnoJoozt]

About the goby-pistol shrimp combo: are your rocks glued or just stacked? My reef (about the same size as yours) not being completely glued is the reason for not having this combo, I don't want anything tumbling down, even if the chance is small.
I'm interested in seeing how your clown pair work out, those will be quite big fish and known for not playing nice
At this point of development of the tank I would concentrate more on the corals, helping to use more of the waste products in the tank and thus reducing the algae.

 

[kevgib67]

I think with good husbandry, you could have 5 fish in there. Some additional suggestions: royal gramma, a peaceful damsel, such as yellow tail and as mentioned a smaller wrasse. You might want to add some additional rock for hiding and sleeping spots. I too, am curious how that clown pair will work out. I don’t think it is likely but I hope it does.

 

[SM37]

I think with good husbandry, you could have 5 fish in there. Some additional suggestions: royal gramma, a peaceful damsel, such as yellow tail and as mentioned a smaller wrasse. You might want to add some additional rock for hiding and sleeping spots. I too, am curious how that clown pair will work out. I don’t think it is likely but I hope it d

About the goby-pistol shrimp combo: are your rocks glued or just stacked? My reef (about the same size as yours) not being completely glued is the reason for not having this combo, I don't want anything tumbling down, even if the chance is small.
I'm interested in seeing how your clown pair work out, those will be quite big fish and known for not playing nice
At this point of development of the tank I would concentrate more on the corals, helping to use more of the waste products in the tank and thus reducing the algae.

About the goby-pistol shrimp combo: are your rocks glued or just stacked? My reef (about the same size as yours) not being completely glued is the reason for not having this combo, I don't want anything tumbling down, even if the chance is small.
I'm interested in seeing how your clown pair work out, those will be quite big fish and known for not playing nice
At this point of development of the tank I would concentrate more on the corals, helping to use more of the waste products in the tank and thus reducing the algae.

I am also very interested in seeing how the clowns behave down the road. I will definitely separate them if they cannot get along. I had got them as gift. They didn’t know you really shouldn’t mix them. But so far they hang out next to each other. I do think they will outgrow the tank tho.
Do you have any good recommendations on coral? I have a Duncan, and I think the green one is a branching hammer? Frammer? I also have some palys(not really a fan of them) and mushrooms, oh and the branching species of gsp.

 

[SM37]

I think with good husbandry, you could have 5 fish in there. Some additional suggestions: royal gramma, a peaceful damsel, such as yellow tail and as mentioned a smaller wrasse. You might want to add some additional rock for hiding and sleeping spots. I too, am curious how that clown pair will work out. I don’t think it is likely but I hope it does.

I wonder how I would go about with adding some more rock, I definitely could use more hiding space, think I could stack up? And thanks I hope they do too! I have read a couple people got the clarkii and maroon to pair up together. We will see! I can definitely update on their progress haha.

 

[kevgib67]

instead of listening them, here is what I have in a 32 g. Please feel free to hit me up with any questions. I’m currently really into rock flower anemones.

 

[SM37]

instead of listening them, here is what I have in a 32 g. Please feel free to hit me up with any questions. I’m currently really into rock flower anemones.

That’s a gorgeous tank! One day I will get there! What’s the purple and green coral behind your clown?

 

[kevgib67]

Thank you, pin stripe candy cane.

 

[bensoo00]

That’s a gorgeous tank! One day I will get there! What’s the purple and green coral behind your clown?

Euphyllia coral is great if you can check if you have the necessary parameter and flow/light to keep them. My hippo tang loves to just sit under the trunk of my hammer coral like he’s the protagonist

 

[SM37]

Euphyllia coral is great if you can check if you have the necessary parameter and flow/light to keep them. My hippo tang loves to just sit under the trunk of my hammer coral like he’s the protagonist

I’ve been enjoying the frammer/ branching hammer, I’m not sure. It kind of looks like your purple one on the bottom. I also really enjoy watching the Duncan grow. It popped 5 new heads in two months. I am just not exactly sure how much of the hammer should be extended. It’s usually nice and puffy and flows nicely.

 

[bensoo00]

I’ve been enjoying the frammer/ branching hammer, I’m not sure. It kind of looks like your purple one on the bottom. I also really enjoy watching the Duncan grow. It popped 5 new heads in two months. I am just not exactly sure how much of the hammer should be extended. It’s usually nice and puffy and flows nicely.

If it’s puffy, not shriveled, and all the polpys look healthy, then I’d bet a pretty penny it is doing ok. Some hammers I’ve noticed don’t extend as far as others and I might be wrong but it could just be a weird hammer thing, some of mine in the frag tank don’t expand nearly as big as others, and some expand in odd directions or form odd clumps. All are healthy though, so it’s up to your visual judgement

 

[SM37]

Awesome! How are your rock flowers? Maybe sometime down the road when my tank is more established, I would like to have a couple, they’re so brightly colored. Also, with your torches being so close to the top of tank, did you have to slowly acclimate them to the lighting?