Fish Compatability? (Stocking a 15 Gallon Tank)

[Euro]

Hey there!

 

I just joined and this is my first post here. I've had it happen, I've been bitten by the saltwater tank bug. I've kept freshwater fish for the last 5-6 years and I really would like to "step up" my fish keeping game with something a little more "challenging" and different. I've tossed around the idea of possibly starting a SW tank for the last year, but I was sort of just noodling around. Now I have a plan, or rather a better idea of what I'm doing. I don't plan on starting a set up for at least another year, but I'm going to be doing all the research and equipment deciding over that time and slowly start gathering things piece by piece to sort of stretch out spending costs as well so it isn't just a several hundred dollar blow to my wallet in one go, lol! I'm brand new to SW so this will be a long slow learning process until I get the tank up and cycling. The 15 gallon is currently housing a juvenile crayfish that will be moved once shes bigger (leaving the tank vacant) and I'm really choosy about my FW fish, so I don't have any plans for it so I thought "what the heck, why not turn it to SW?" (I know the whole "bigger is better" with SW especially for a first timer, but I dont have space for a big tank :C that and the wife has sort of dropped the hint to not get anymore -sobs- so I must use what I have already! though Im not complaining, I would love the challenge!)

So I was at Petco a few months ago getting stuff for my bettas and I saw in one of their tanks a "transparent cave goby" and I was enamored! I sat there watching this little guy do his little goby thing and I knew that if I could possibly have this type of goby, I would want to get them.

 

Moving onto now, I know that gobies (some not all or if youre lucky) fight with each other and have a lot of compatibility issues within their own species and with other gobies and since 15 gallons isn't that much at all with SW, I was wondering if I could possibly have a cave transparent goby and a purple firefish together? (If I read correctly, arent firefish technically gobies?) I also read that since gobies tend to stay on the bottom and firefish are more mid/top dwellers that there wouldn't be conflict? But on the otherside, I read firefish were very shy and the cave goby was very gregarious at the store, so I don't want to scare the firefish to starvation.

 

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

Also my wife likes clownfish (though I'm the fish person so in the end its my call, lol). I thought it would be nice to have a smaller species in there for her. if I had the 1 clown, 1 firefish, 1 goby would that be way overstocked or could I swing it? I checked some other peoples with tanks around the same size as me and they seem to have a stocking similar to this, so I was wondering if its a good idea to do or just not have the clown at all. Also arent clowns sort of forward and bold thus putting strain on the firefish? But ive seen people keep them together in 12-20 gallon set ups before. I would just love to have some personal experience from the more seasoned reef-keepers

[Tamberav]

My 1st tank had 1 goby, 1 firefish, and 1 clown. It was 12g. I definitely had to keep up on the water changes.

 

My clown was an occy and never bothered the other fish. My goby was an ass to the firefish but I feel that it was more because my goby was full size and a shrimp goby so he felt very protective of his cave and shrimp.

 

I would personally try the transparent cave goby with a firefish. I would just try to have enough small caves/crevices that everyone is happy. I believe a standard 15g has a better footprint than my 12g did, so they should have more room.

 

Add in this order: firefish > goby > clownfish

 

Stick to more peaceful cowns like ocellaris clownfish and if you only have a single, it won't get as aggressive like a breeding pair.

[Euro]

Perfect, I was only really thinking of having a single ocellaris if there was going to be a clown in the tank.

 

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+27+1114&pcatid=1114was leaning towards one like this. Does the color effect the temperament of the fish?

 

 

And how often did you change the water/ how much did you change? On my FW I have "water change wednesdays" so one week the tanks downstairs get changed about 50-ish% and then the next week the upstairs ones get changed the same and it alternates. From what I've read 2 week intervals on water changes wont work for a SW, so would a weekly change of about 50-80% work or is that over kill/ too little?

[Tamberav]

Perfect, I was only really thinking of having a single black ocellaris if there was going to be a clown in the tank.

 

And how often did you change the water/ how much did you change? On my FW I have "water change wednesdays" so one week the tanks downstairs get changed about 50-ish% and then the next week the upstairs ones get changed the same and it alternates. From what I've read 2 week intervals on water changes wont work for a SW, so would a weekly change of about 50-80% work or is that over kill/ too little?

 

 

Will you have coral or just fish?

 

On my big tanks I do 10% weekly but on my 5g, I do 50% weekly.

 

How much you change just depends on stocking levels and coral vs filtration. My big tanks has skimmers/reactors but my little one just has a media rack.

 

2 week water changes can work for saltwater, some do monthly, but it will depend on your specific tank.

[Euro]

 

 

Will you have coral or just fish?

 

On my big tanks I do 10% weekly but on my 5g, I do 50% weekly.

 

How much you change just depends on stocking levels and coral vs filtration. My big tanks has skimmers/reactors but my little one just has a media rack.

 

2 week water changes can work for saltwater, some do monthly, but it will depend on your specific tank.

 

I am definitely aiming for a reef tank of corals, live rock, live sand, fish and some inverts :]

 

Like i really like how some of the zoanthids look, though I'm still reading more into the corals specifically, so I'm still checking and learning about what I like/what would work in the tank. I do plan on having a skimmer and having a sump down below. The stand the tank is on has a perfect compartment underneath it for a sump filtration system, so that what I was thinking of doing (doing a DIY one most likely because then I can customize size and compartments and good stuff like that.

[Euro]

Also, to bring it back on topic of fish-

 

I know that clownfish reside in anemones, is there a type of anemone that would do good in a 15 gallon tank? (most of the ones I see on liveaquaria.com are listed as "semi-agressive". Not quite sure what that entails with a coral organism.) If not, is there a substitute that works well in the size tank I have?

[Tamberav]

Also, to bring it back on topic of fish-

 

I know that clownfish reside in anemones, is there a type of anemone that would do good in a 15 gallon tank? (most of the ones I see on liveaquaria.com are listed as "semi-agressive". Not quite sure what that entails with a coral organism.) If not, is there a substitute that works well in the size tank I have?

 

If you plan on having a sump, I would just start with 10% total water volume weekly. Go slow and the tank will be more stable. Increase % total if needed.

 

Bubble tips are what people use. They can/do grow large however, so plan on cutting it in half if you want to keep it small. All anemones can move around and can/will kill LPS/SPS coral if they decide to crawl on them. They also can crawl into pumps and get injured or cause water quality issues if they get shredded up.

 

All that said, clownish do not need anemones and some will never reside in one. Some will reside in coral, others choose pumps, some choose nothing. Just depends on what the clown feels like.

 

Clownfish do tend to get more aggressive if they are living in an anemone or coral. They will naturally feel the need to defend their host.

 

Anemones are beautiful but do realize they do pose risks.

 

Rock flower anemones are beautiful, stay small and pose the least risk to coral. However, they do not host clownfish. They do host anemone shrimp/crabs though.

[Euro]

Thank you for your input, this gives me some stuff to think on :3!

 

I'm also curious about one other fish, an orchid dottyback. Would they at all be doable maybe instead of a clown fish or are they more free swimmers and need mre space or are they too aggressive to have with a firefish? I really liked the look of the one I saw at my LFS :]