Stocking my 32 gallon aquarium

TheMantisShrimp · Jan 22, 2014

I have a 32 gallon aquarium that has been established for more than 3 months running a new protein skimmer and lots of live rock and plan on purchasing my lights soon to get ready for corals. I have 2 hermit crabs, 2 clowns, and a cleaner shrimp. I just recently took my yellow tail damsel to LFS cause he was really aggressive towards other fish.Now the tank seems more calm and relaxed. What recommendation does anyone have for stocking my tank. maybe a royal gramma next if its not to aggressive or possibly Firefish Goby or yellow head jawfish. I like the colors of the gramma but i want to make sure what ever i choose will not cause 2 much hostility in the tank. Should i also pick up another shrimp or crab or 2 cause i have read that the cleaner shrimp do better in groups? Can i mix the cleaner with other shrimps such as the fire shrimp?

mrcoffee2 · Jan 22, 2014

Mandarin Dragonets are very pretty. You need some copepods seeded before you bring one in though.

TheMantisShrimp · Jan 22, 2014

Ya i've wanted to get one but i don't think my tank is seasoned enough but i did some more research and ended up choosing the gramma

Krimzon · Jan 22, 2014

You'll probably be fine with adding another shrimp, never heard they do better in pairs, could be true but i've seen them do just fine alone. As for fish a royal gramma would be fine i'd also consider a bicolor blenny.

TheMantisShrimp · Jan 23, 2014

you guys think if i added the blenny later it would be overstocked? that would be for fish a shrimp and crabs

Krimzon · Jan 23, 2014

Absolutely not, inverts don't add as much to the bioload as fish do. You can definitely get away with 4 fish in a 32, maybe even 5!

TheMantisShrimp · Jan 24, 2014

OK that's what i was thinking just trying to stay on the cautious side!!!

totion · Jan 24, 2014

In my 29 gallon standard I have a pair of sa snowflake clowns, a royal gramma, a yellowtail damsel, and a yellow watchman goby/pistol shrimp pair. I also have a blood red fire shrimp.

Total system volume is closer to 50 gallons with my 15 gallon long sump and 10 gallon frag tank. In the sump I have an led fuge light and a reef octopus nwb 110 skimmer.

I had a coral banded shrimp but he disappeared. I also had a six line wrasse but he has disappeared also.

Everything in the tank has been in there for quite a while now and is happy. I don't think I should add anything else.

TheMantisShrimp · Jan 24, 2014

totion said:
In my 29 gallon standard I have a pair of sa snowflake clowns, a royal gramma, a yellowtail damsel, and a yellow watchman goby/pistol shrimp pair. I also have a blood red fire shrimp.

Total system volume is closer to 50 gallons with my 15 gallon long sump and 10 gallon frag tank. In the sump I have an led fuge light and a reef octopus nwb 110 skimmer.

I had a coral banded shrimp but he disappeared. I also had a six line wrasse but he has disappeared also.

Everything in the tank has been in there for quite a while now and is happy. I don't think I should add anything else.

None of your fish are really aggressive or territorial are they? Because my damsel was very territorial!!!

totion · Jan 24, 2014

The damsel went in first (noob mistake, first reef). The clowns were a bonded pair and went in next. They keep the damsel in check. Then I added the royal gramma. He actually "schools" with the clowns. The damsel doesn't stand a chance against that trio. The goby just hangs out with his shrimp, nobody bothers him. Occasionally one of the trio will chase the damsel, but that is all the aggression I see.

I believe the six line wrasse was out competed for food and ended up passing, then fed my cuc. The blood red fire shrimp and the coral banded didn't seem to get along and I believe the fire shrimp won that battle.

jservedio · Jan 24, 2014

mrcoffee2 said:
Mandarin Dragonets are very pretty. You need some copepods seeded before you bring one in though.

In a tank that size a Mandarin would be difficult because a natural pod population wouldn't be enough - it would have to be weaned onto frozen and have to have supplemental pods or freshly-hatched baby brine added on a regular basis. That means setting up a culture of pods or hatching fresh baby brine on a regular basis. I kept a mandarin in my 20g for about 6 months culturing my own pods and hatching baby brine but it was just far too much work and I ended up giving him away to someone with a much larger tank.