Fish and inverts in a 20 litres/5 gallons?

[hauksanger]

I'm absolutely new to saltwater, and my experience with freshwater aquarium is also somewhat limited, so I try to triple check everything

I'm considering turning my 20 litres freshwater aquarium into a pico saltwater- the apartment is way too small for a larger addition atm. I've read up on the starting process, but there is one thing I cannot find any final answer to - what can be responsibly held in such a small tank?

To begin with, I have only considered shrimps (a trio of sexy anemones and a blood red fire shrimp), but the shopkeepers and various people online (I just realised that you people are also online, but, no matter) insist that one can have at least one fish in a 5 gallon tank.

I'd really like a goby, I find them adorable (and they tend to stick to a burrow and swin less than, say, clowns), but I'd rather not acquire one at the cost of its wellbeing. My tank is rather tall - something like 30 centimetres/ 12 inches tall and 9x9 inches broad and deep. I'm planning on using the whole space by placing the LS in a column-like structure in the middle. The filter will be a hang-on AquaClear- lookalike, and I'm considering adding a nano-skimmer to the setup if the values will fluctuate too much.

 

So please, opinions?

 

[BulkRate]

I don't see why a paired goby/pistol combination wouldn't work fine. Mind you, would have to stick to the smaller goby (highfin, yasha or the like) and shrimp selections - some of the watchman or diamonds could get far too large on the fish front, and I've personally seen the common Caribbean red pistol get to be 3-4".

 

Obligatory note: I think you'd probably only be able to support just that one pair with moderate water changes and a reasonable feeding schedule. Just make sure you scape in such a way as to encourage them to build a den in a viewable spot

[hauksanger]

I was actually thinking about a clown goby, maybe something equally small. Catalina? Haven't really considered a goby/shrimp combination as I'm much more tempted by the other shrimps I mentioned. Of course, if reason dictates, I'm not going to have them all The yasha goby looks so cute

Thanks for the reply, I'll definitively llok into the idea

[shawnd08]

I was actually thinking about a clown goby,

 

 

A clown goby would work fine. However, if you go with a clown goby make sure it looks filled out and not skinny. I had one in my 3.7 gallon that was skinny when I got it from the lfs and rejected every food I attempted to feed.

[BulkRate]

Shy away from the catalina goby... it's a really pretty fish, but a cooler water species than a tropical reef tank will support.

 

A couple of clown gobies wold also work, so long as you're OK with them possibly killing off stony corals - the problem is that in such a small tank they COULD damage a frag or two beyond its ability to heal. Mine has picked off acans and frogspawn if they retract too far for too long.

 

That said, a yellow clown goby is probably the most active fish you could want in that size aquarium. Yeah, they're "perchers", but they change said perch every couple of minutes.