How many fish? : 15 Gallon

[RISEANDFLOAT]

How many fish would ya'll recommend for a 15 gallon tank. It is 24 inches long and 12 inches deep. An AGA standard size 15G.

I am definitely going to put a pair of Ocellaris Clowns in the tank. I was wondering though how many more fish I could add. I really like the color and size of the Royal Gramma. I have also read a lot of interesting opinions about the lawnmower blenny. Could I have all four? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated and I was wondering while ya'll are reading this to recommend numbers in a cleanup crew too.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I don't think you're going to like the answers you get!

Seems to me the MOST you'd want to put in there would be two clowns. Many will probably say that one clown will max it out.

 

[melosu58]

The clowns are going to be it. You will not want a lawnmower blenny esp. in a small tank like that. They need a good size tank that has algea growing in it. Even if you did have it in a tank that size then it would be gone quickly and it would starve to death. I`have known several people that got one and they lost it due to starvation.

 

[RISEANDFLOAT]

Wow. Those were hard to read I must say. Thanks for the honest answers though. Could I at least put a cleaner shrimp in there with the clowns?

 

[melosu58]

Yes you could

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Cleaner shrimp don't add to the bioload, and in a small tank like yours, would be a great idea. They'll help keep the place tidy by eating any leftovers. Regarding the cleanup crew, I'm no expert, but I'd say maybe 3 snails to start with and then add a couple more if it seems like they're not keeping up. I had 2 snails in my 10g quarantine for quite a while and they stayed alive just fine.

 

[Devilishturtles]

I agree with the fellas. I'd only add a pair of clowns to that tank. What do you guys think about a small goby though? I think something like a clown goby, neon goby, even a shrimp goby maybe would be fine.

You can really do up a tank nicely with inverts! A cleaner shrimp would be awesome.

As for a clean up crew, I love nassarius snails. Astreas as well. I dislike hermits, beacause they like to eat snails sometimes. Astreas seem to scour the rock really well, as well as the glass.

 

[clubsuperduty]

I would say maybe two clons is pushing it. I would say a small damsel and some snails and a cleaner shrimp would be cool.

 

[MT79]

I would say maybe two clowns is pushing it.

I agree. It may work for a short while, but fully grown that's 6 inches of stout fish, more if you get something other than Perculas. It might be tough for a 15g to keep up with that bioload. I would recommend one true Percula clown, and maybe a pair of neon(Oceanops or similar size) or clown gobies instead.

 

[tecwzrd]

I agree that if you are dead set on getting clowns that two of those fish is all a 15 gal can handle and even that will be pushing it IMO.

I'd also look at Live Aquaria's nano fish section if you decide you want something other then clowns. You could keep 3 small skinny fish versus two stocky clowns which might be worth considering since the bio-load would be very similar.

Main concern is being able to maintain appropriate water parameters without large pwc and also not having too many fish suck up the available oxygen if you have a power outage.

Once you do a fishless cycle you can add 1-2 small fish to start and possibly 1 more after a couple of weeks depending on the type you choose.

I wouldn't add more then 2-4 hermits/snails to start with. Up to 6-8 hermits/snails once your tank matures more.

 

[RISEANDFLOAT]

Well first off, I would like to thank everybody for their opinions on this. I did not expect so much feedback but I am not complaining.

I might go the route of 1 clown and a pair of gobies such as MT79 suggested. I will probably get a couple of Astrea snails as well.

And tec I have completed my cycle thanks to everybody on here. I started getting readings on Nitrates a couple of days ago as well as 0 readings for Ammonia and Nitrite. My tank is 1 month and a week old now and I will probably begin to add these fish slowly one at a time starting soon.

 

[roka64]

Awesome, I can't wait to see some pics!

 

[RISEANDFLOAT]

Yeah I hope everything goes well. I have been reading IcEnvy's thread and it kind of scares me. I also have a bio-wheel on my tank (a Penguin 150 rated for aquariums up to 30 Gallons) and have been wondering if I should use the Penguin 350 that I have in my closet. The 350 is rated for up to 75G tanks and I think that would be too much filtration or am I wrong? I don't want to have any problems with nitrates and my bio-wheel but I don't know what to do. I was thinking I could just transfer the filter and use the same cartridges I got in my 150 and put them in the 350 but I don't know I need some more experienced opinions on that.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I wouldn't put a huge Penguin biowheel in there. Number one... if you have enough live rock to start with (in your case 22-30 lbs) that will take care of all of your bacterial filtration needs. Number two... with that large of Penguin, it's going to be putting a large amount of flow back into your tank at the surface. You're going to want some subsurface flow too (underwater powerheads) and by the time you add that I *think* you're going to have too much flow whipping around that little tank. (I know... some folks will say you can never have too much flow, but I did to start with! Poor little clown was getting knocked around all over!)

Most folks here will probably tell you to ditch the biowheel all together. Personally, I wouldn't be too quick to chuck it up front - give it a try and see what happens. I've got the smallest Biowheel there is (the 100) on my 46gallon, just for something to move to a QT tank for a quick transfer of biological filtration. I run the 100 on my quarantine tank, which is only 10 gallons, and it provides a good amount of flow and is my sole source of biological filtration. Water changes - with good water - will reduce nitrates, and your live rock will take care of the ammonia/nitrites.