18 gallons of opportunity - help with the planning stages!

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

My manager let me take home an unused 40cm cube on Sunday: it's 55 litres/18 US gal and completely water tight. I know I want it to be marine but cannot decide what to put in it; so far I know I would like it to be FOWLR/maybe some easy softies but focused on fish rather than corals or inverts, with live rock and sand substrate. 

However insofar as stocking goes I am stuck between a clownfish pair (is 18G large enough for that?) most likely WITHOUT an anemone; or a coldwater marine for sculpins, a catalina goby, and a zebra goby.

I have spare pumps and rock already so would just need sand, lights, and a skimmer. 

 

I have always wanted clownfish, and would potentially be interested in breeding them. We get some spectacularly beautiful designer clowns in at work, which I adore. But I also LOVE gobies - they are probably one of my top fish groups. However, the species I would want would need a chiller which adds an additional expense and it would be harder to source the fish - but whilst I would be buying the equipment/setting up the tank, the fish purchasing would be for my 21st birthday when the tank was ready.

 

Help me decide! 

Have I missed any considerations?

[Sturgi_0225]

Sounds like You really want the clowns so why not go that route. 

[seabass]

5 hours ago, InAtTheDeepEnd said:

I have always wanted clownfish, and would potentially be interested in breeding them. We get some spectacularly beautiful designer clowns in at work, which I adore. But I also LOVE gobies - they are probably one of my top fish groups.

1. Clownfish and gobies are compatible, and your tank is large enough for a pair of designer clowns as well as two or three small gobies.  I get that you like Catalina Gobies, but there are several neat tropical gobies to choose from.  This might be my first choice.
2. Or, you could do a tank dedicated to gobies.  An 18 gallon tank is still small enough that they would be showcased.  This is also, a very intriguing possibility.  Load the tank with lots of rock for the fish to have their own safety dart holes, like a negative space aquascape:
3. A temperate tank would be unique.  But as you said, it would require additional equipment (expense and space).  If you are looking to setup something out of the ordinary, I might be tempted to go this route.

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

omg, I could really have BOTH clowns and gobies in 18 gallons? Wow - I thought it was only large enough for one or the other! 🥳🥳🥳🥳

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

OK! So it's HAPPENING. Old dry rock I had lying around has been added (a bit haphazardly) to my reef scape to start cycling and fish research is beginning in earnest. 

 

So: Other than a clownfish pair. All fish species must be happy at 1.025sg & 25C, get no bigger than 11cm at maturity,  not require livefood or be a hugely fussy eater, and have a minimum lifespan of 2 years and not be too aggressive. Bonus points if it can be got captive bred. And I know already I don't want coral gobies.

 

I already know I want a pair of Hi fin banded gobies. Sulphur, Randall's (those are technically 12cm 😕 ), Yasha, and pinkspot gobies are all lovely too....oh, decisions, decisions 

 

off to go to some research lol!

[seabass]

 

 

[Tired]

High fin red banded gobies would be a good choice, as their small size means less impact on the bioload. With a pair of them and a pair of clowns, you'd probably be able to add one or two pico-sized gobies. I'd suggest trimma gobies. They'll perch up on the rockwork, meaning the high fins won't mind them, and clownfish should generally leave them alone. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

For perchers, you can look into various type of clown gobies, neon gobies or even a small group of green banded gobies (GBGs). There are a lot of sand-dwelling goby options. Yasha or hi-fin pairs work well - you can even team them up with pistol shrimp. Since they're quite small, the bioload will be much lesser as compared to larger sand-dwelling goby species like Yellow Watchman, Wheeler's etc. 

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

 I do love the dwarfgoby species (trimma, eviota) but they are not easy to get hold of here 😪 

For stocking levels I don't want it to be hugely high maintenance so a pair of clowns, pair of hi fin banded gobies and two other small fish (or 4 if <5cm/quite sedentary species) sounds ok

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

Or 6 fish (maximum) + cleaner shrimp - cos my mum likes them, and this tank will be number 10.....

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

Oh and just by the way, you lot are SHAMELESS ENABLERS of my aquatics addiction!

[Snow_Phoenix]

10 minutes ago, InAtTheDeepEnd said:

Oh and just by the way, you lot are SHAMELESS ENABLERS of my aquatics addiction!

The dangers of wandering into Nano-Reef and asking if you should set up more tanks/get fish...

[seabass]

33 minutes ago, InAtTheDeepEnd said:

Or 6 fish (maximum) + cleaner shrimp - cos my mum likes them, and this tank will be number 10.....

Depends on which gobies you go with.  I originally suggested two or three small gobies (thinking 8cm or less, like @Snow_Phoenix suggested).  The clownfish make a pretty big contribution to the bio-load, but I might be even more concerned about territories in a 40cm cube.  Make sure to establish your gobies first.  Then introduce the juvenile clownfish.

 

Out of curiosity, why are you against coral gobies (which I assume are clown gobies)?  I was originally imagining something like a neon, clown, and hi fin goby.  That's five fish, so a sixth isn't all that much more (so probably doable).  But try not to get too carried away.

 

 

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

10 hours ago, seabass said:

Depends on which gobies you go with.  I originally suggested two or three small gobies (thinking 8cm or less, like @Snow_Phoenix suggested).  The clownfish make a pretty big contribution to the bio-load, but I might be even more concerned about territories in a 40cm cube.  Make sure to establish your gobies first.  Then introduce the juvenile clownfish.

 

Out of curiosity, why are you against coral gobies (which I assume are clown gobies)?  I was originally imagining something like a neon, clown, and hi fin goby.  That's five fish, so a sixth isn't all that much more (so probably doable).  But try not to get too carried away.

 

 

I wouldn't say I am 'against' them per se - they are actually gorgeous little fish. My reluctance to add them to this tank is threefold: one, I look after our nano marine display at work, which has a yellow clown goby in already, so I don't really feel the need to get another; two, I owned a yellow and a midnight myself until October of last year, I was really attached to them and lost them due to a lot of stupid mistakes on my part, so the idea of getting another for a home tank is quite painful still; and three, there's a lot of other fascinating, less common goby species out there I am interested in.

 

I'm currently thinking just stick with the idea of 2 hi-fins, clowns, and one other more unusual species - and what that other species is could end up being dependent on what I can get hold of. The work tank also already has a common clown pair, so the clowns I do get won't be those. Might get shot down in flames for this but I love some of the designer clowns lol!

 

More conservative stocking is always easier and I'm fundamentally a lazy fishkeeper who doesn't want to have to do a ton of maintenance all the time/be able to leave a water change a few days late without causing a catastrophe. I'd be happy with 2 clowns, 2 hi fins and one of a more bottom dwelling/perching species.

[Tired]

I like designer clowns, too, as long as they're bred with some care for quality of life. I'm real skeptical of those "stubby" ones, for example, and the couple of albino strains. 

 

How about a circus goby? They're not very outgoing, but they are unusual, and they stay pretty small. Alternately, you could try to find a skilletfish. They're not gobies at all (I don't think), but they're weird little lurking/perching fish. They do have decent-sized mouths, so avoid combining them with things like sexy shrimp and baby fish. Or a tailspot blenny? Again, not a goby, but big personality and a generally similar idea. 

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

Soooooooooo a couple of conversations with my lovely manager later and a slow Saturday as pond season winds down spent looking through our livestock lists has made this much harder lol! It would seem nothing is out of bounds; any type of clown I want, though he did say perculas might be better to go with for my tank size and and I am rather underwhelmed by the fiji pink skunks we've got in right now. I am going to go clownfish windowshopping at some point round some other local branches, and if nothing really jumps out at me, probably keep this tank for JUST those little jewelled delights, the gobies. 

Regardless of what I end up stocking with I have also decided that I am going to add an external refugium/sump of 12-30 litres so the total volume will be larger - as my preferred species are all relatively sedentary and stay small I can have six + shrimp comfortably, and indulge my love of macroalgae with nutrients high enough to actually keep it alive. 

My current stocking goby wise are (I have checked I can get these!) 

 

> 2 tryssogobius colini 

> 1 elacatinus spp.*

> 1 gobiodon quinquestrigatus (Because LOOK HOW FREAKING CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!)

> 1 stoniogobiops xanthorinica - I know originally I said I wanted a pair of these but as we obviously get juvenile fish in it they'd probably be too small to reliably sex and on balance, given the volume/shape of my display it would end badly if I ended up with two males. 

> 1x pistol shrimp

 

Feedback appreciated.....ngl, my colleagues are bad fish enablers and tend to just say, 'if you want it, we can get it for you.' (Lol!)

 

 

[Tired]

Aren't fairy gobies a shoaling species? From what I know of them, they're pretty nervous fish, and they might not do well as just a pair. 

 

Clown gobies have a tendency to not eat on arrival, and are often underweight if not emaciated from going through the supply chain. Maybe see if you can get one of those captive-bred? If not, definitely have the supplies on hand to hatch BBS. 

 

I don't think you'll have any territorial or bioload issues, though. A hovering goby species, two relatively chill perching gobies, and a shrimpgoby are probably fine together.

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

7 minutes ago, Tired said:

Aren't fairy gobies a shoaling species? From what I know of them, they're pretty nervous fish, and they might not do well as just a pair. 

 

Clown gobies have a tendency to not eat on arrival, and are often underweight if not emaciated from going through the supply chain. Maybe see if you can get one of those captive-bred? If not, definitely have the supplies on hand to hatch BBS. 

 

I don't think you'll have any territorial or bioload issues, though. A hovering goby species, two relatively chill perching gobies, and a shrimpgoby are probably fine together.

It's a bit debated whether they shoal. They tend to be observed in groups of 2-3 in fairly deep water hovering above sandy substrate near rocky outcrops afaik. Sociable rather than shoaling is probably more accurate, they don't need to be in a large group anyway. IMO I could have up to 4 comfortably anyway - just because they're all small, sedentary, low bio load fish. 

If I got them imported through work I would make sure they were all eating there before bringing them home and adding to my tank as well:)