Stocking Question For NUVO 20

[Crabgrass]

Super beginner question..  I have a 20G NUVO Drop-off, 25-27lbs of rock and about 13.5 - 14 Gallons of water.  Tank is currently cycling.

 

CUC - Starting small and scaling up..  end state may be 10 snails / cleaner shrimp / 1-2 hermits.

 

Corals - I plan on stocking it with 10-15 soft and lps corals initially (1-3 months after cycling).  this may increase after the first 6 months / year.

 

I was considering stocking the following fish:

• Tailspot gobby (after cycling)
• Pair of clowns (1-2 months after cycle)
• Six-line wrasse (1-2 month after clowns) 

 

Is a 20G tank (13.5 in water) capable of holding this much bioload?  Or better to target 3 fish (dropping the wrasse probably).

 

 

[joshthebox]

Assuming you plan on doing regular water changes, that stocking level is just fine. Add the goby and clowns before the six-line. Sometimes six-lines can be a bit aggressive, so by adding the other tank mates prior to introduction of the wrasse, they have an opportunity to claim some territory. 

[less than bread]

I have the 20g Nuvo Dropoff as well. Currently have a wheeler's goby and 2 clowns. I am looking at possibly adding a six line wrasse due to some flatworm sightings. I'm back and forth about the idea. Planning on going to my LFS today to talk to them about it. I'm sure we'll get many differing opinions. I've heard people say you can't even have a pair of ocellaris clowns in anything less than a 30 gallon...

[less than bread]

So I went to my fish store and talked to a couple guys there. They said keep up with water changes and from a bioload aspect it should be fine. Now, they said things might get interesting from an aggression standpoint but it's possible things will be okay.

 

I ended up getting a sixline and so far things have been fine. The larger clown has chased it around a few times but my rockwork has plenty of hiding spots the wrasse seems to enjoy a lot. My smaller clownfish is freaking out a bit so hopefully he settles down after a while.  The goby has just kind of stayed at the opening of his cave. Will keep updating

[Crabgrass]

@less than bread thanks!  Out of curiosity, how old is your tank and when did you introduce each fish?

[less than bread]

On 4/23/2022 at 4:31 AM, Crabgrass said:

@less than bread thanks!  Out of curiosity, how old is your tank and when did you introduce each fish?

This tank has been going since September of last year. I introduced the two clownfish from my previous tank in October after it cycled and then the goby in November.

 

Things have still been going pretty well with the six line. All the fish have kind of their own spaces but they do swim together sometimes and there is no aggression. I don’t really see the goby much during the day since adding the wrasse so I think it’s still a little scared of it. But when the lights go down the goby comes out and forages