stocking ideas for 20g long

[pairenoid]

I can buy local or online

how are fire fish? would a pair be good, what gender do i get also


also what about clean up crew, what kind can i get and be safe, i have 20lb of live rock and sand

 

[Elmo1287]

10 snails and 10 hermits for clean up crew an for fish pretty much ones for the size of tank you have

 

[Beengirl]

Fire fish are cute, but they do hide in a burrow some. So they're not out front an center all the time. Also, I've read that they should be kept singly unless its a mate pair, or else they'll fight when they get to be adults. If you haven't already, check out liveaquaria.com under the nano SW fish section to see fish for smaller tanks.

 

[bettaowner]

A single clown fish and a goby shrimp pair would be cool.

 

[pairenoid]

how bout a pair of clown fish, why only a single i thought they like to be in pairs

also i love how goby fish look but havent heard of a goby shrimp lol

so its been about 3 or 4 weeks i forget >< but my tank still doesnt smell but all the measurements are good..at one point i thought maybe i cant start the cycle so i added 3 pinches of fish food, its been a week am i supposed to add more fish food?

 

[Beengirl]

A pair of clowns in a 20g should be okay. And it's a pistol shrimp/goby pair that the other poster was talking about. That will probably be about it though for the tank if you get those fish (other than snails). What did you use to cycle the tank? How high did your ammonia get? The tank doesn't really need to smell, so not sure what that was referring to. If you just used fish food to cycle, it's gonna take a lot more than just a small pinch to cycle the tank and have it ready for fish.

 

[pairenoid]

so i ordered 20 lbs of cured live rock from live aquara, 5 days to ship

still warm and wet when i opened it, still colored with a bland purple and some green and weird stuff, quick rinse and its in my tank

i checked my params after a few days, 0amm/0nit/maybe level 3 or 4 of nitrate
few more days, exact same readings, a week later, same readings

at this point im thinking its either cycled, or not going to start the cycle, so i add fish food, check params in a few days and i get the same reading

i can only recall one time when my ammonia was not a 0, and that was even before i added food, it was not 0 but it was really low

also, my tank is getting dirtier by the day, i have trouble adjusting my power head without making my sand move, but if i dont make my sand move its like dirty as hell ;( thinking about buying 1 more powerhead to fix this

is a pistol shrimp a shrimp that shoots water ? i seen some on youtube, i would love those

also i dont care about having a lot of fish, i just want a beautiful healthy tank, i prefer to have as many snails/crabs/shrimp as i can have too

i heard the tank is cycled when it smells like the ocean, mine has no scent what so ever, im starting to leave the lights on for a few hours a night now too. I notice random growths in my rock, and i had a long furry worm thing but i havent seen it in a while..1 more week and its been a month so i think at that point ill feel safe to add fish

i really want a pair of firefish but not if they are gona hide all day

also, is it a bad thing that my water is some how evaporating? everyday its like room temperature in my house yet i had to add about an inch of water a week and a half ago, and right now i have to add another inch of water

dont see how its evaporating when i have not much light on it, i only started turning it on this week

even my freshwater tank didnt evaporate as much

 

[Beengirl]

Water evaporation is expected, some people have a gallon or more per day. Just use fresh water, not salt to top off. It sounds like you had a very light cycle. Unfortunately, with a light cycle, once you add a fish, you may have a mini cycle and your fish might die. I would add either a raw pice of fish of shrimp and let it rot. Or you can use liquid ammonia-the type that doesn't bubble when shaken- and dose tank up to 4 ppm and get the cycle going.

 

[huma-huma]

I wouldnt rely on your water "smelling like the ocean" as a sign of a completed cycle. Although similar, each individual brand of salt will give off a different smell. So naturally smelling your water isnt going to work. What id do is go to a hardware store and pick up some pure ammonia. (absolutely has to be 100% pure), dose your tank up to 4ppm, then watch and see how long it takes to return to 0. A properly cycled tank should chew through that 4ppm in 12-24 hours. Adding inverts to the tank at this point, would more than likely be a waste of money. They normally dont handle cycling fluctuations very well. Figure out where youre at in terms of cycle and go from there

••edit••
Always top off evaporation loss with FRESH water, not salt water

 

[pairenoid]

alright i got a randall goby and a tiger pistol shrimp, these little tiny things cost a lot of $!!!
i also got some snails and crabs, and they immediately went to work

i didnt realize until now that the randals are not much of a sand sifter, o well , i hope he pairs up with my shrimp. The shrimp went to my center big rock and made some tunnels around and under it, a very good location

if all is good in a week i will be picking up a clown fish or maybe a blenny, havent decided, but would prefer something nice to look at since the goby wont be moving much lol

or if possible, maybe get another goby that sifts more, although ive heard pple say they clean too much