Inverts for a 10 gallon Nano

[JustAddSalt]

I have a 10 g nano reef and am really more interested in inverts than fish. I would like maybe 1-2 clownfish or something smaller and that is it. My first question is about hermit crabs, do they get too large for this small of a tank? I really want either electric blue or the halloween crabs but I also notice their are "dwarf" hermits and was wondering if maybe these would be better? I also would really like some sexy shrimp but am not sure if I can keep these with peppermint shrimp and other crustaceans (would like porcelain crabs also). Also, is it true that inverts don't really have much impact on the bio load of a tank? All the stocking guides I find seem to have you putting in far too many snails and crabs for such a small tank. Any other suggestions for interesting inverts would be appreciated. Thank you!

[AlainDelRio]

You should be ok with most hermits. I had dwarf zebras and blue legs in my 10 g.

[mndfreeze]

I'm an invert lover and my first tank was 14 cube.

 

Halloween hermits get pretty large, but if you have it alone or maybe with just one other you should be fine. Note that some hermits are pretty social animals, some will kill other species but not their own, and some seem to kill each other of the same species and others.

 

Porcelain crabs are cool. There are 2 main varieties found in the trade. One hides almost all the time. the other is the anemone hosting one and tends to be out and about a lot. They are colored differently.

 

Pom Pom crabs also make good nano tank inverts and are cool, but tend to hide a LOT.

 

Sexy shrimp work well for nano tanks, but have been known to eat certain corals. I have sexy shrimp in my kids 20 tall and they were angels for about 6 months, then I introduced 2 more to the gaggle (for a total of 7) and they started munching my montipora, followed by my hammers.... ;/ Now I cannot keep hammer, frogspawn and most monti's in there with them. So just be wary this may happen to you if you want to keep certain corals.

 

If you want a really cool invert and are willing to not have most other inverts, look into a mantis shrimp. They are pure awesomeness. The more social active ones are smashers and will murder your other inverts like crab and shrimp so it has to be a species tank. But they are smart as hell and really cool looking.

 

IMO if you want lots of inverts, Don't stock ANY fish until later. You might find that there are enough cool peaceful inverts out there that you don't want to max your bioload out with 2 boring fish. I hate my clowns.

[JustAddSalt]

I was thinking about Pom Pom crabs but heard they can sting coral with their anemones. Can I keep peppermint shrimp with other shrimp? I have visions of putting all these inverts in the tank and waking up one day to absolute carnage.

[ThePhilosopher]

From what I know, pom pom crabs will usually lose their anemones in captivity.

[Squared]

list of inverts for you to google:

 

blue coral banded shrimp

 

bumblebee shrimp

 

criniod squat lobsters

 

harlequin shrimp

 

there are also blue porcelin crabs

 

white spot anemone shrimp

 

blood shrimp

 

skunk cleaner shrimp

 

candy cane pistol shrimp (pair with a goby for extra fun, but a large one may kill really small shrimp)

 

there are a bunch more, maybe ask your LFS to special order or order off the internet

 

if you glue your rocks and coral down well, try a small tuxedo urchin.

[JustAddSalt]

Those all look really cool! I particularly like the Crinoid squat lobster. My main issue is that I google these animals but I can't ever really seem to find any info on whether or not I can keep them all together. I have read that the coral banded shrimp will tear up other shrimp but haven't found anything on the others. I don't know if I can have multiple shrimp/crab species in a tank or if I have to just pick one of each.

[mndfreeze]

Well, as you come across stuff post and ask. I can tell you a lot about a lot of those creatures listed so far, but I don't want to sit down and make a massive compatibility chart out of evertything.

 

Coral banded shrimp are known to be agressive to other shrimp, but other stuff seems to get left alone. Of the tiny coral banded species there are 3 common ones, the most common gets HUGGE! other 2 stay pretty small. The small ones are known to be a lot less agressive towards stuff, but still will kill each other.

 

Most inverts should be ASSUMED it will eat another invert if it can catch it. Like how crabs are almost always generally looked at as 'with caution' or 'not reef safe' because they are so opportunistic. However most of the ones offered in the trade are mostly safe with each other, just research and ask first. Territorry seems to be a bigger issue then one vs another species. My cleaner shrimp bullied my sexy shrimp, but my sexy shrimp can teleport hop (yes, it looks that fast) so quickly away that it was no big deal, for all I know the sexies were terrorizing my cleaner trying to get in his territory!

[JustAddSalt]

Thank you for the information, I really appreciate it. I went to the LFS today and bought some more live rock and 4 tiny red legged hermit crabs. The store also sells sexy shrimp so I will be picking up a few of those as well and maybe an anemone shrimp. I am thinking about nixing the pompom crab and the porcelain crabs because seems like I will never see them so I will be on the lookout for something a little more... loud.

[mndfreeze]

There are 2 primary species of porcelain crabs in the industry. One hides a lot, think its green colored, then the blue ones are nem hosters or something along those lines and seem to hang out outside on rock anywhere and don't care about being hidden.

 

Pom Pom's do hide a lot. Be wary of the sexy shrimp if you have coral. Make sure you watch how they act around your coral and how the coral is doing. Mine were great for almost 6 months until I added 2 more to the gaggle and those 2 went right after my hammer and frogspawn corals. Killed them dead in a night. ;/

[Cintax]

My porcelain anemone crab hangs out in the open right in the middle of my tank and never hides at all. I can actually pick him up and he just sits in my hand filtering away. Not sure if this is normal but i think its cool.

 

My pom-pom hides except when it is feeding time, once food hits the water he is out shuffling away grabbing whatever food comes by him.

 

Any small invert would be awesome.

[northeastern]

my new pom pom hides most of the time but i see him during feeding and before lights out, he sure is cool looking.

 

my also new sexy shrimp are fun they just walk around shaking their butts.

 

my fireshrimp is fun sometimes he hides in the back corner behind the lr but when hes hungry he comes out.

 

 

i am somewhat nervous about the fireshrimp eating one of the sexies... one of the sexies keeps walking through the fireshrimps territory and today i noticed for the first time the fire shrimp going after him but im still not sure if he can catch one of these little guys they can absolutely fly when they want to.