Stocking a Biocube 32

[antigonus]

Iv'e asked for stocking ideas before, but now that my tank is actually cycled and has a clean up crew, the prospect of getting fish seems considerably more real, so I have given it more thought and come up with ideas.

 

These are a few tentative combinations I thought of, obviously a lot of it is up to personal preference, but i'm curious which combination might be the best. What do people think?

 

Plan #1: Two Pajama cardinalfish, one ocellaris clownfish, one starry blenny

Plan #2: One purple firefish, one banggai cardinalfish, one ocellaris clownfish, one starry blenny

Plan #3: One watchman goby, one starry blenny, two ocellaris clownfish

Plan #4: Green clown goby, Banggai cardinalfish, ocellaris clownfish, starry blenny

Plan #5: One royal gramma, one banggai cardinalfish, one ocellaris clownfish, one starry blenny

Plan #6: Two Pajama cardinalfish, one starry blenny, one royal gramma

[Dutchymomo]

I like option one, three, and 6 the best!! post a pic of the tank plzz

[Aurortpa]

I like plan 5, my gramma adds lots of color and movement to my tank.  

 

He lives peacefully with 2 clowns, a PJ cardinalfish, a springerii damsel, a fang blenny, and a yellow watchman.  

[antigonus]

1 hour ago, Dutchymomo said:

I like option one, three, and 6 the best!! post a pic of the tank plzz

Thanks.

Here's the tank pic

 

1 hour ago, Aurortpa said:

I like plan 5, my gramma adds lots of color and movement to my tank.  

Thanks. Would you suggest adding the gramma before the others? I heard they can be shy. 

[antigonus]

1 hour ago, Aurortpa said:

I like plan 5, my gramma adds lots of color and movement to my tank.  

 

He lives peacefully with 2 clowns, a PJ cardinalfish, a springerii damsel, a fang blenny, and a yellow watchman.  

Thanks. Would you suggest adding the gramma before the others? I heard they can be shy. 

[Aurortpa]

22 hours ago, antigonus said:

Thanks. Would you suggest adding the gramma before the others? I heard they can be shy. 

Actually I added my gramma second to last.  Shy at first perhaps but once he got settled in he holds his own. They are experts at retreating into any crack, hole, or cave so nobody bothered him while he was acclimating except the yellow watchman when he accidentally went into his cave. The YWG quickly taught him that his cave is off limits but besides that one incident, he was out and about a week or so. 

[Brianr24]

If I were stocking that tank I would 

1. Pair plain clown fish

1. 1 royal gramma

1. Lawnmower or tailspot blenny

1. Fire or cleaner shrimp

Cheap low maintenance low bioload yet still very beautiful. Just some ideas.

[antigonus]

2 hours ago, Brianr24 said:

If I were stocking that tank I would 

1. Pair plain clown fish

1. 1 royal gramma

1. Lawnmower or tailspot blenny

1. Fire or cleaner shrimp

Cheap low maintenance low bioload yet still very beautiful. Just some ideas.

I rather like that idea, do you think I starry blenny would work instead of the lawnmower? 

[Brianr24]

2 hours ago, antigonus said:

I rather like that idea, do you think I starry blenny would work instead of the lawnmower? 

Yeah definitely.  I could be wrong but I think They’re are pretty much same as lawnmower blenny with better color. The nice thing about having a blenny on the list is cheap easy and they eat algae. I loved my lawnmower blenny. I love the way he use to eat the algae. Like he was angry at it. I like that lol.

[alpinestar]

option 3 for sure!

[Snow_Phoenix]

Option 3, 4 & 5 sounds good to me. 

[antigonus]

2 hours ago, Brianr24 said:

Yeah definitely.  I could be wrong but I think They’re are pretty much same as lawnmower blenny with better color. The nice thing about having a blenny on the list is cheap easy and they eat algae. I loved my lawnmower blenny. I love the way he use to eat the algae. Like he was angry at it. I like that lol.

Cool. The main reason I prefer starry Blennies is because I like their color pattern, other than that I dont have a huge preference. 

[antigonus]

2 hours ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Option 3, 4 & 5 sounds good to me. 

Thanks.

[antigonus]

2 hours ago, alpinestar said:

option 3 for sure!

The only thing I am slightly worried about is the blenny and goby getting along. Do you think I should add the goby first? 

[alpinestar]

39 minutes ago, antigonus said:

The only thing I am slightly worried about is the blenny and goby getting along. Do you think I should add the goby first? 

not sure on goby/blenny compatability. hopefully someone else chimes in. I would guess goby 1 blenny 2 clowns last

[antigonus]

9 minutes ago, alpinestar said:

not sure on goby/blenny compatability. hopefully someone else chimes in. I would guess goby 1 blenny 2 clowns last

Thanks, I was just curious. 

[WhatsReef]

I whole-heartedly endorse your strict "one starry blenny" policy for all options being considered. I like option #3 with a pistol shrimp for the watchman goby.

[antigonus]

1 hour ago, WhatsReef said:

I whole-heartedly endorse your strict "one starry blenny" policy for all options being considered. I like option #3 with a pistol shrimp for the watchman goby.

Haha, I guess they just seem pretty cool to me. That could be interesting, would a pistol shrimp bother other inveribrates. 

[WhatsReef]

5 hours ago, antigonus said:

Haha, I guess they just seem pretty cool to me. That could be interesting, would a pistol shrimp bother other inveribrates. 

They are really cool. I had one when I had my last tank years ago and they are awesome. They may knock corals around a little if they aren't secured well but I loved the one I had.

 

I don't know for sure on the pistol shrimp... I am looking into getting a goby and pistol shrimp combo with the new tank I'm starting and people online seem to be saying that the tiger or candy cane pistol don't really cause any problems unless a hermit or snail comes too close to the den then they might attack them. But I don't have any experience with them myself.

[antigonus]

4 hours ago, WhatsReef said:

They are really cool. I had one when I had my last tank years ago and they are awesome. They may knock corals around a little if they aren't secured well but I loved the one I had.

 

I don't know for sure on the pistol shrimp... I am looking into getting a goby and pistol shrimp combo with the new tank I'm starting and people online seem to be saying that the tiger or candy cane pistol don't really cause any problems unless a hermit or snail comes too close to the den then they might attack them. But I don't have any experience with them myself.

Thanks, i'll do more research into pistol shrimp. 

[Aurortpa]

On 1/12/2019 at 11:29 PM, antigonus said:

The only thing I am slightly worried about is the blenny and goby getting along. Do you think I should add the goby first? 

Every tank is different but in my 28—a gramma, goby, and blenny all get along—they usually occupy different areas tho and note that I have lots of caves, crevices and fauna for them to hide around in.

[antigonus]

11 hours ago, Aurortpa said:

Every tank is different but in my 28—a gramma, goby, and blenny all get along—they usually occupy different areas tho and note that I have lots of caves, crevices and fauna for them to hide around in.

That's good to know. I have a fair amount of rock work which should provide plenty of hiding places.