Jump to content
inTank Media Baskets

Office Tank Stocking


liquid_wind

Recommended Posts

I have a 20 gallon high tank in my office that I would like to finish stocking. Due to local laws I am unable to keep inverts or corals really, so it will always be a FOWLR with artificial corals. So far it has had a Occ clown and Orchid Dottyback for about five months and I'm looking to complete it's stocking here soon, the only pet store on island is Petco, so nothing rare is too accessible. It's in a dental office, and mostly kids as they're checking in and waiting that enjoy it most, so I would like mostly to add more color and personality/movement for the last 1-2 fish.

 

What I've been considering is a hi-fin goby to occupy the bottom, but not sure how much they would be out and exploring as I've never kept one and an azure damsel. My other plan would be a green/yellow clown goby with a blue neon goby, but again not sure how active neon gobies are or if it would mostly stick to the rock work, also doesn't add as much color as option A, but would be a safer bet.

 

Any advice appreciated!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
NoOneLikesADryTang

I’ve got a pair of hi fins, and while they’re a cool fish, they aren’t active and mostly hang out in their cove at the back of the tank. 
 

Have you considered a Blenny?
 

I’ve got a little yellow clown goby that perches and is pretty active. It’d probably be a solid choice for that tank as well. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment

A high-fin can be expected to stay roughly 2-5 inches from the mouth of its burrow at all times, usually hovering, sometimes perching. That's about all they do. They do tend to sit out, unless spooked, but they can spook easily.

 

A clown goby and an azure damsel would work. Clown gobies hop around the rockwork, as do neon gobies, but it's very active rockwork-hopping. A barnacle blenny would pick a hole and stay in it, but would be visible in said hole, and kids tend to like their funny faces and how they pop in and out.

 

Where do you live that you can't have any saltwater inverts? 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
3 hours ago, liquid_wind said:

I have a 20 gallon high tank in my office that I would like to finish stocking. Due to local laws I am unable to keep inverts or corals really, so it will always be a FOWLR with artificial corals. So far it has had a Occ clown and Orchid Dottyback for about five months and I'm looking to complete it's stocking here soon, the only pet store on island is Petco, so nothing rare is too accessible. It's in a dental office, and mostly kids as they're checking in and waiting that enjoy it most, so I would like mostly to add more color and personality/movement for the last 1-2 fish.

 

What I've been considering is a hi-fin goby to occupy the bottom, but not sure how much they would be out and exploring as I've never kept one and an azure damsel. My other plan would be a green/yellow clown goby with a blue neon goby, but again not sure how active neon gobies are or if it would mostly stick to the rock work, also doesn't add as much color as option A, but would be a safer bet.

 

Any advice appreciated!

 

You have the perfect setting for a Nemo tank and so far made excellent choices on the fish:

 Dental Office

 Nemo (clownfish)

 Fake plants/artificial corals (same as in the movie, lol.  But, I understand you didn't have a choice. 😉)

 

And great choice with the Orchid Dottyback.  I just finished reading that out of all the Dottybacks, they're one of the best kinds.

 

I've had both the Azure Damselfish and the Yellowtail Damselfish, either would make a great 3rd fish for your 20 gallon.  Both are the more peaceful types of Damselfish, although I'd lean more towards the Yellowtail Damselfish due to its resemblance of Dory whom I'd think the children would just adore.

☑️ Dory (Yellowtail Damselfish or Azure Damselfish)

 

I've had a Yellow Clown Goby in the past, but mine was quite shy and kept hiding under the rockwork.  Over time, they may get a bit braver, but as another pointed out, I'd vote for a Tailspot Blenny or something similar due to their awesome personality and are always out and about and will usually stop and stare at any passerbys.  And mine loves to eat the algae off of rocks and the glass, an added bonus.

 

2 hours ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

Have you considered a Blenny?

 

 ☑️ Tailspot Blenny (or other small Blenny due to their huge personalities for anyone watching the tank)

 

And that rounds out my picks for a great Nemo themed Dental Office tank with some added bonuses. 😉

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment

When my captive orchid turned a year old, it turned mean. Watch that dotty closely. Small rock dwelling fish like blennies and gobies and such may piss it off. 

 

It also attacked my cleaner shrimp. Was an angel for the first year though. 🙂 Maturity has a way of changing some fish. 

Link to comment
18 hours ago, NoOneLikesADryTang said:

I’ve got a pair of hi fins, and while they’re a cool fish, they aren’t active and mostly hang out in their cove at the back of the tank. 

 

17 hours ago, Tired said:

A high-fin can be expected to stay roughly 2-5 inches from the mouth of its burrow at all times, usually hovering, sometimes perching. That's about all they do. They do tend to sit out, unless spooked, but they can spook easily.

Alright, I probably won't get a Hi-Fin then, I assume most of those red gobies that hang out under the rocks in the substrate are similar too.

 

I suppose four fish is probably the max I wanna throw in there, so it comes down to a damsel, tail-spot blenny, and a clown goby, pick two. I'm probably going to put the blenny then damsel in last.

 

17 hours ago, Tired said:

Where do you live that you can't have any saltwater inverts?

 

And it's on Maui, where both FX and SW inverts can't be sold, there's a bit of a grey market between people, but haven't managed to find any SW inverts yet, only cherry shrimp for my FW tank. I would like to have a CUC with some snails/hermits is what I would really like though, a cleaner shrimp would be a nice touch too though.

 

14 hours ago, Tamberav said:

When my captive orchid turned a year old, it turned mean. Watch that dotty closely. Small rock dwelling fish like blennies and gobies and such may piss it off. 

 

It also attacked my cleaner shrimp. Was an angel for the first year though. 🙂 Maturity has a way of changing some fish. 

 

That's too bad, him and the clown just hang out together all the time, he's so chill so far, hopefully he remains behaved.

Link to comment

I wonder if you could collect your own inverts. It may be worth looking into, whether you could legally go somewhere with tidal pools and just pick up some snails and things, maybe some macroalgae. No cleanup crew is tough! At the very least, maybe a beach trip would allow you to collect amphipods to seed the tank with.

Link to comment

If this fish only then using less powerful lighting would limit algae I would think since you can't get CUC. 

 

Do they have molly miller blennies there? or similar? An algae eating blenny could be an idea. While they lack bright colors, they have a TON of character/personality and will snack on algae.

Link to comment
3 hours ago, Tired said:

I wonder if you could collect your own inverts. It may be worth looking into, whether you could legally go somewhere with tidal pools and just pick up some snails and things, maybe some macroalgae. No cleanup crew is tough! At the very least, maybe a beach trip would allow you to collect amphipods to seed the tank with.

 

Well I did once go to some tide pools and got some snails, I'm not sure if these are the right terms but...I think they may have been the "in water some of the time and on land some of the time" snails, since they all seemed to try to escape and crawl out, and none made it long term, not sure where to find the, "always in the water" snails that are a good CUC. I would get some macroalgae, but not sure what I would get and due to space constraints, it would need to be in the display.

 

2 hours ago, Tamberav said:

If this fish only then using less powerful lighting would limit algae I would think since you can't get CUC. 

 

Do they have molly miller blennies there? or similar? An algae eating blenny could be an idea. While they lack bright colors, they have a TON of character/personality and will snack on algae.

It was much worse on the algae before I limited to sunrise one the office opens and set as it closes, even during the day the light is at 50%, it's not too bad in most spots, but the artificial corals on the top get pretty dirty quick even with that. Do Tailspots eat much algae? I looked into lawnmowers, but looked like they got a bit large for a 20 gallon.

 

1 hour ago, Tired said:

Or, heck, an actual molly. Sailfin mollies acclimate fine to saltwater, and their wiggling is nice. 

I think I've seen them, had no idea they could be in SW though.

Link to comment

Plenty of macroalgaes look nice in the display. In fact, you could do a macroalgae display instead of a fake coral display, which would probably stay looking clean for longer, and would outcompete some of your algae. It would also reduce the water changes required, since macros suck up nitrates. 

 

You could look up an ID guide for snails and find out what species are local that might work. You probably have some local. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
10 hours ago, liquid_wind said:

 

Well I did once go to some tide pools and got some snails, I'm not sure if these are the right terms but...I think they may have been the "in water some of the time and on land some of the time" snails, since they all seemed to try to escape and crawl out, and none made it long term, not sure where to find the, "always in the water" snails that are a good CUC. I would get some macroalgae, but not sure what I would get and due to space constraints, it would need to be in the display.

 

It was much worse on the algae before I limited to sunrise one the office opens and set as it closes, even during the day the light is at 50%, it's not too bad in most spots, but the artificial corals on the top get pretty dirty quick even with that. Do Tailspots eat much algae? I looked into lawnmowers, but looked like they got a bit large for a 20 gallon.

 

I think I've seen them, had no idea they could be in SW though.

You could always add a lid. Most fish jump out anyway.

 

Molly Miller's are smaller than lawnmowers. A tailspot will eat some algae but not as much as some of the other types.

Link to comment
4 hours ago, Tired said:

Plenty of macroalgaes look nice in the display. In fact, you could do a macroalgae display instead of a fake coral display, which would probably stay looking clean for longer, and would outcompete some of your algae. It would also reduce the water changes required, since macros suck up nitrates. 

 

You could look up an ID guide for snails and find out what species are local that might work. You probably have some local. 

That may be a better option to get macroalgae, when I was first setting up the tank I was considering it and even found a guy on Big Island that sold macros. The artificial stuff doesn't look too bad though, I got some quality stuff to put in there. I'll check out a snail guide, maybe hermits too.

 

2 hours ago, Tamberav said:

You could always add a lid. Most fish jump out anyway.

 

Molly Miller's are smaller than lawnmowers. A tailspot will eat some algae but not as much as some of the other types.

I have since added a lid, most of those snails seemed like they were trying to escape the water anyways though. I can try to order a molly miller, but that seems a bit more specialty and I doubt Petco could get one.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

@liquid_wind I ordered some snails from Kailua-Kona. I think you are right in that you can not purchase freom them even though you live there and they are all local snails, so silly. 

 

However if you can collect them yourself (not sure the permits), you basically have access to the best inverts. Trochus intextus snails, Strombus snails, turbos, and for hermits... Calcinus seurati???

 

I am guessing the ones you collected before were black nerites. It is normal for these to try and climb out. I have some nerites as well, they do this but also eventually go back under in search of food. 

 

it looks like most of these are listed as in shallow sandy water under stones. 

Link to comment
13 hours ago, Tamberav said:

I ordered some snails from Kailua-Kona. I think you are right in that you can not purchase freom them even though you live there and they are all local snails, so silly. 

 

However if you can collect them yourself (not sure the permits), you basically have access to the best inverts. Trochus intextus snails, Strombus snails, turbos, and for hermits... Calcinus seurati???

 

I am guessing the ones you collected before were black nerites. It is normal for these to try and climb out. I have some nerites as well, they do this but also eventually go back under in search of food. 

 

it looks like most of these are listed as in shallow sandy water under stones. 

Yeah, I tried emailing them like a year ago to no response and their site does list they don't ship to HI. I'll look up those species to see if I can ID and find them anywhere. I haven't seen any hermits around, so think they may be the trickiest.

Link to comment

when I lived in Maui I got a permit to collect fish from the DNR I believe  that what it was called. it was 5-7 years ago. but I pretty sure you can collect some stuff. check the rules talk to some folks and see what is allowed. 

 

I also was gonna suggest macros its like a SW planted tank. 

you could do a tide pool themed biotope? 

I always found lots of stuff washing up on the beach i even got a cool book on macro from the library. 

 

 

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...