Reef safe lobsters that wont harm fish

[zacheyp]

i have a 20 gal long, are there any i could get, it also has to be compatible with my stocking list
stocking is as follows
Fish-
2 ocellaris (1 b&w 1 orange)
1yellow watchman goby
1longnose hawk fish
1 royal gramma
1 fish TBD (suggestions???)

Inverts
5-7 assorted hermits
5 assorted snails
5 assorted snails


Corals
1 frogspawn
1 waving hand
1 kenya tree
2 mushrooms
2-3 leathers
3-4 zoas

Tank details 20 g long
substrate crushed coral
live rock 21 pounds 6 piece

[Jawaits]

U seem a bit over stocked to me I'd get rid of some fish first man but hey u can trade them into ur LFS and maybe get that lobster ya want and lobsters are too slow to catch fish u should be fine

[melosu58]

I`ve had a reef lobster for 7 yrs now and he has not messed with ant fish yet.

[zacheyp]

is it a purple reef lobster, does it mess with shrimp, can it go in a 20 long, btw my tank is cycling and that is a planned stock list, i will get rid of the 6th fish and tone down the numbers on the CUC

[Jawaits]

Oh ok I just don't want u to see the same issue I had. I almost lost a $40 grouper cause I had to much fish for my 20 gal but I got rid of him and got something else

[zacheyp]

would this stocking list be acceptable?
2 ocellaris (1 b&w 1 orange)
1yellow watchman goby
1longnose hawk fish
1 royal gramma


Inverts
4 assorted hermits
2 assorted snails
3 assorted shrimp


Corals
1 frogspawn
1 waving hand
1 kenya tree
2 mushrooms
2-3 leathers
3-4 zoas

Tank details 20 g long
substrate crushed coral
live rock 21 pounds 6 piece

[zacheyp]

@melosu58
is your lobster with shrimp?

[zacheyp]

@ melosu58, thank you for all of your help
would u say i could keep shrimp hermits and snails with a reef lobster, also is a 20 long large enough? Thanks

[hiltymj]

I wouldnt mix the different clowns. It's possible but IME it works like 5% of the time. And the times I've seen it work are in 90g+ tanks

[zacheyp]

its 1 pair, 1 of each, they are both ocelarris, why couldnt it work?

[hiltymj]

So your saying two blacks and two oranges? If so the two females will battle to the death for dominance. Especially in that small of a tank I did it in a 90 and it still didn't work I had to separate the pairs.

But if it's just 1 black and 1 orange they know something is different and will usually always fight I always tell people not to do it at the store but they do it anyways and always return one of them

[zacheyp]

2 fish 1 black 1 orange= 1 pair, you really dont think it would work, i have heard several places that it would

[hiltymj]

It is very hard to do. I've never seen it work. It works for a couple of weeks and then one day they got at it. Usually they will both turn to female and that's why they fight

[zacheyp]

thanks for your imput, what do you think about the lobster

[hiltymj]

Purple reef lobsters are awesome. Never had one so I don't have much experience but I know they can get about 4 inches buy idk what they will do to other inverts.

[zacheyp]

i set up my cave yesterday but i still want to know, can i put other inverts in the tank

[melosu58]

Yes I have a fire shrimp and some hermits and nassirus snails and he does not mess with them. Never had a problem with him messing with fish. One thing you should know about this reef lobster is that it rarely comes out except at night. I`ve seen mine maybe 6 times in 7 years.

[zacheyp]

is a 20 gal long big enough

[zacheyp]

@melosue, is 20 g long big enough for a reef lobster

[melosu58]

That`s kind of small but provided there is plenty of LR for him to hide and he can get some food you possiblly could. Mine is a 125 gallon tank with 200 Lbs of LR.