New nano, stocking suggestions?

[severum mama]

Do you all have that problem where it really bugs you to have perfectly good equipment sitting around doing nothing?

I do. Guys, I really think I have a problem!

I had a PC strip light just sitting around, so I decided to grab a tank for it and do another nano reef. 8) The light is 24" and 65 W, so I opted for a 24" 15 gallon (24"x12"x12") rather than a 20H. I really like the dimensions of the 15 for aquascaping, plus the light penetration will be better. I will have an Aquaclear 300 stuffed full of LR rubble moving roughly 300 gph.

I'm starting to put together a plan for stocking and I have a few questions. Can I keep a pair of ocellaris clowns in this tank, given the footprint is the same as the 20H? Could I also keep a royal gramma with the clowns?

Or, could I get one ocellaris clown, a royal gramma, and a neon goby?

Could I substitute an orchid dottyback for the royal gramma in either of these setups? I like those too, but it sounds like they may be too aggressive. :?

Any input on stocking is, of course, welcome; and I'd love to hear suggestions for fish that I haven't thought of! 8)

 

[madhatter208]

Well depending on what you read, who you talk to, and how much oxygen exchange you have going on in your water, I've heard the following

1 fish per 10 gal
1 fish per 5 gal
1" per 2 gal
1" per 5 gal

If you have solid oxygen exchange rate you can prob get away w/ the 1" per 2gall. Fig after all the live rock and stuff you prob have bout 12gal of water so that would be about 6" of fish.

Smaller is better in this case. IMO
I would go w/ a small goby ( green clown, blue neon, catalina etc) and 1 other slightly bigger fish.. - Clown, Banggai Cardinal, Royal gramma (note: Cardinal and Gramma are recomended 30 gal but not sure how major of a deal that is)

My pick is the Clown and blue neon goby

Hope this helps

 

[severum mama]

I appreciate the advice, but the reason I was asking is that I don't really believe in the "inches of fish per number of gallons" guidelines... I just kind of feel like the limitations of these rules outweigh the benefits as useful guidelines, for the most part- hope that makes sense.

I've also seen recommended tank size for the royal gramma as 30 gallons- but that was on Liveaquaria, and IMO they tend to be really cautious with size recommendations in many cases. That's not to say their species profiles aren't a good place to start, though; I definitely have been checking them out. But there are plenty of folks who keep clowns and royal grammas in tanks smaller than 15 gallons, so I'm not really sure what to think about what would be appropriate for them. I'm not saying I would keep either of these species in anything smaller, but I feel that the footprint of my tank is much better for stocking purposes than a tank such as a 15 tall.

 

[madhatter208]

Yep i agree...

guideline not a rule..

They kinda have them to prevent people from thinking they can have 1 big fish in a small tank and not take into consideration that the fish may not be so happy cramded into such a small tank.
As I understand it .. the inches per gal thing is a cross over from FW and undergravel filters.
Since most, if any, dont use undergravel filters its kind of , as you stated, a guideline.


Guy I work with has a Clown, watchman goby < i think> and a mandarin dragonett in a 10gal tank. Plus 12lbs of LR and 2 corals.. He's had it up and running for bout 3 months now and no issues yet.
Trying to get him to get pictures. so far no luck hehe

 

[Innovator]

1" rule is not an accurate indication. Two A. percula's or ocellaris' should be just fine in your 15g. The orchid, P. fridmani, could be a possibility but you would have to watch for aggression issues and/or have numerous hiding locations.

 

[severum mama]

So is the gramma not a possibility with the clowns, whereas the dottyback might be? I'm not too clear on that.

 

[Innovator]

Ha, I didn't mention the gramma because it sounded as if your heart was set on the orchid, but either or really. The gramma has less aggression issues, but imo the orchid is far more beautiful and I like fish with a little attitude. If you want to be safe, get the gramma.

 

[melosu58]

Here are some more choices you could look at.