Advice on small fish w/clowns

[Andreww]

My tank is 17G , 24x12x14.

I've got 4 snails and 2 skunk cleaner shrimp so far, tank is cycled and ready for fish.

 

I know I want a pair of black onyx perc clowns and I already found "the ones" but I was wondering if I'm already pushing as far as stocking goes, or if I could add another small fish like a jawfish (wanted the blue dot but they're jumpers and I have a rimless tank).

 

I hope I'm not gonna cause an ammonia spike stocking both clowns at the same time.

 

And maybe if the third small fish works out, to have that one put in first then the clowns later on?

 

Appreciate all the help guys.

[lobster876]

sure 3-4 fish is a fine stocking load for that tank

i recomend a goby blenny but jawfish would fit but they are jerks

make sure to space out fish stocking by a few weeks though

[joy13]

You have to remember chances are one of those clowns will turn into a large female and they develop an attitude problem usually. Most jawfish are jumpers btw.

[smeagol108]

Put the clowns in last. I have almost the exact same size tank except it's 24x14x11.

In my tank I have a pink streaked wrasse, two Caribbean Sailfin blennies, a target mandarin (be quiet haters, he's eating all my flatworms and than going into a much larger tank I borrowed him from) and onyx Picasso female. Had a small male, but he had intestinal parasites from vendor (stringy poop) and didn't make it too long. Theres also a pistol shrimp - used to be a goby too but he jumped after 9 months. Clowns are asses, I would add other things first if possible.

[metrokat]

If you start feeding your tank for the eventual fish, even before you get the fish, it gives a chance for your biological filtration to catch up. Go slowly with the feeding though.

[Andreww]

Thanks everyone, should give me something to do in the meantime...

I feed my skunks a pellet every two days and they're grazing some , then I remove leftover food.

 

I have some NLS small fish formula 1mm ...I'll pretend I have fish and throw a little amount in there every day to give time to bacterial colony to strengthen...

 

As far as the "other" small fish, what do you guys recommend?

 

I want no jumpers and no sand burrowing species, I have a shallow sand bed.1.5"-2.5" deep....I'm probably asking too much:/

[lobster876]

FLAMING PRAWN GOBY

[Andreww]

Wow that's a stunning fish but it's super small 1/2"? and from what I'm reading rather shy and might hide all day...

 

I'll look more into it...keep the ideas coming.

[Andreww]

thoughts on a single Royal Gramma?

[Mike00726]

thoughts on a single Royal Gramma?

 

Cool, but shy. Mine did ok, with a clown in my 34 gallon.

[ajmckay]

IMO you should be fine to add another fish. I hesitate to say "small" because if you add two small clowns and 1 small jawfish you have to account for growth if you plan to keep the tank for more than a year. For a jawfish you also need a pretty deep substrate. A blenny or goby might be a better idea (and cheaper in many cases).

 

As for deciding whether your tank is ready, there's a test for that. Buy some uncolored unscented pure ammonia ($1 or less usually) and search "ammonia dosing calculator". Add enough ammonia to get to about 2-3ppm and test after it's had time to mix. Test again in 24 hours or so and if ammonia and nitrite are undetectable and nitrate is reasonable you should be good to go. If it's still reading ammonia then maintain the 2-3ppm for a week and re-test.

 

This is essentially the same thing as adding extra food daily except quicker and more accurate. Flake/pellet food is designed to not readily break down in water and in addition introduces phosphates and other organics. Ammonia simply skips the decomposition process. Both work though.

[Andreww]

I've done the ammonia test multiple times over the years cycling my other freshwater tanks, but now that's not an option anymore. I've got inverts in the tank at the moment.

 

Water reads zero ammonia and nitrite and about 10-15ppm nitrate.

 

I'm planning to do a 50% water change and put one fish in, wait 2 weeks and add the pair of clowns

[smeagol108]

Pink streaked wrasse from love aquaria. Awesome fish.

[Andreww]

Unless somebody tells me it's not suitable for my tank, I'm taking this sweet 4" sailfin blenny (lawnmower blenny)home with me. Or a neon dotty back lol.

[Admonition]

thoughts on a single Royal Gramma?

I've had two in the past. Great looking fish but they always hid, except during feeding, then back into their cave.

 

I hear dottybacks are aggressive, so something to think about. And the lawn mower blenny should be fine, but take into account their behavior. It's my understanding they can knock frags down like turbo snails, and I've personally seen one repeatedly gobble up and spit out snails that 'got in his way' while scooping up sand.

[Andreww]

Didn't get it since I was advised it might jump out if scared.

I got a bumblebee goby instead. The one with red stripes... Striking looking fish , especially with those red dots on their fins.

I'll add a picture after I acclimate it.

[Andreww]

After acclimation, picture time.

 

[Andreww]

My bad, a more appropriate name is Wheelers watchman goby or wheelers shrimp goby as described by live aquaria.

[ajmckay]

Haha yeah when I think of bumblebee goby I think of the brackish tiny one.

 

Good plan on stocking - I assumed you had just let the tank sit for a few weeks or something based on your concern that you would cause a spike. If you've had inverts in there for a while and now you have the goby I think you'll be fine to add the clowns soon.

[Gary.F]

Segmented Blennies (Salarius segmentatatus) are great lawnmower substitutes. Prettier and stay smaller.

[Andreww]

the goby doesn't like to be cleaned by the cleaner shrimp. He just hops away and looks irritated lol.

 

Got a blue tuxedo urchin today.no more fish or inverts until my clowns arrive.

 

Oh ,forgot to mention the urchin came with a zoa polyp attached to its back. Pretty cool ...