Stocking sanity check

[Jbissell1289]

So I have my thoughts, but figured I'd check! I was given a 20 gallon aio by @Chris.sturgis for my classroom. Working on stocking it with fish.
I currently have:
--Ocellaris clown
--Royal gramma

I will be picking up a candy cane pistol shrimp in a trade then will pick up a yasha goby or a black ray goby. (The one I had picked up a week ago jumped and squeezed through the lid at the back through a small gap, literally a 1/4-1/3". This has been corrected, there is now no gap at all)

This brings up total occupants, excluding clean-up crew, to 3 fish and a shrimp.

My irresponsible side wants to add a fire fish to the mix... Thoughts? Please understand, I am not planning on this. But I figured I would take it to the group conscience to get more than my opinion.

 

[Tankful]

Personally I don’t see a problem with that but I’d pace it extremely slowly. Like start with your 3 fish you’ve mentioned then come back in like 3 months and if your tank is thriving feel free to add it

 

[ChrisV]

One thought: it might seem less crowded with a more sedentary fish. A tailspot blenny would be fantastic in there and would take up way less habitat footprint than the firefish. Plus it would eat a lot of algae which is always a plus IMHO.

 

[Jbissell1289]

One thought: it might seem less crowded with a more sedentary fish. A tailspot blenny would be fantastic in there and would take up way less habitat footprint than the firefish. Plus it would eat a lot of algae which is always a plus IMHO.

I've had them in the past, fun fish. But I don't think there is enough algae in the tank for it to munch on unfortunately. I guess I'm more concerned about the bio load on a smaller aio syestem. In my reefer nano, it had the extra volume of the sump.

 

[SteveDola]

Id wait. Let things settle for a while and add a smaller fish in a few months when the tank is a little more stable. Im a sucker for a fairy wrasse or mystery but pin stripe might be a perfect little scavenger in that size tank. Keep the worm population in control.

 

[ChrisV]

I've had them in the past, fun fish. But I don't think there is enough algae in the tank for it to munch on unfortunately. I guess I'm more concerned about the bio load on a smaller aio syestem. In my reefer nano, it had the extra volume of the sump.

Assuming it will be full of live rock and coral, my bet is that the waste levels are not an issue unless you feed a ton. You will certainly be pushing right against that upper limit though. The territorially of the clownfish MAY be an issue. Between the clown and the RG you will eventually have two relatively large fish that may be less friendly than they would be in a larger tank. I've seen territorially from both of these in smaller systems. I've also seen firefish join shrimp gobies in the same burrow as the pistol shrimp. There didn't appear to be any fighting though.

I'm much more worried about everyone getting along and the proportionality of the tank...don't want a reef that looks like one of those freshwater tanks where a person puts a full grown Oscar in a 29 gallon tank. RGs max out at three inches and the clown will easily get to to three inches too. Even if waste is not an issue due to fantastic bio filtration and consumption of nitrogenous waste by corals, the space might be.

 

[Jbissell1289]

Id wait. Let things settle for a while and add a smaller fish in a few months when the tank is a little more stable. Im a sucker for a fairy wrasse or mystery but pin stripe might be a perfect little scavenger in that size tank. Keep the worm population in control.

Yes, I won't be adding any time soon if I do at all. Everything I've read on Wrasses, they need a decent amount of space, even the smaller ones. I'm very cautions to put such an active fish in such a small tank. Thanks though!

 

[Jbissell1289]

Assuming it will be full of live rock and coral, my bet is that the waste levels are not an issue unless you feed a ton. You will certainly be pushing right against that upper limit though. The territorially of the clownfish MAY be an issue. Between the clown and the RG you will eventually have two relatively large fish that may be less friendly than they would be in a larger tank. I've seen territorially from both of these in smaller systems. I've also seen firefish join shrimp gobies in the same burrow as the pistol shrimp. There didn't appear to be any fighting though.

I'm much more worried about everyone getting along and the proportionality of the tank...don't want a reef that looks like one of those freshwater tanks where a person puts a full grown Oscar in a 29 gallon tank. RGs max out at three inches and the clown will easily get to to three inches too. Even if waste is not an issue due to fantastic bio filtration and consumption of nitrogenous waste by corals, the space might be.

I guess it depends on the particular fish. I had both of these in my reefer nano which is about the same display size with no issues. I guess we will see. If it becomes an issue, I will re-home one of them down the road. But yeah, I've seen people who put huge fish in small tanks and it drives me crazy... So I guess I should keep that in mind. Thanks for the perspective!

 

[Mixed Reefer]

I would stock what you want if it makes sense and if nutrients go up do a water change. Being a nano it’s an easy fix. Enjoy your tank

 

[Jbissell1289]

Well I’m up to my planned stocking… I will see how these guys do and watch my levels. Thanks to @leinad25 I now have a pistol shrimp that I traded some coral for for the yasha goby.

 

[JPags]

Just my thoughts

Stocking depends totally on the health of tank and length it has been running, CUC and many other factors.

Adding too many at once will always cause a spike in nutrients and size of the tank will determine if it can handle it or how much work you need to do to correct the issue till the eco system recovers

I always add a few (2 or 3) at a time and give tank time to settle before adding more

I’m probably over stocked now but doing it slowly allowed me to watch and monitor it to avoid large spikes

 

[Jbissell1289]

It is newly set up in my classroom, but well established in terms of all of the rock and sand is live. I will be waiting at least a few months before adding any other fish, if any.