Fish Suggestions

[Deltoid]

I currently have a 23(l) x 11.8(w) x 17.7(h) tank. I fill the water to about 1 inch below the top of the tank.

 

In the tank I have 44 pounds of sand. The sand was seeded and is pretty live now, however I intend on getting some more sand to seed it with this week.

 

I have about 8kg of live/base rock in there at the moment (5kg live and 3 kg base). I want to get more live rock. Around 2-5kg depending on how much I can fit.

 

I have a power head doing about 184-237g.p.h.

 

I'm also running a protein skimmer on it and a hangon filter (which I will probally take off as I dont think it is really doing anything anymore, was just still there from my fresh water setup).

 

What sort of fish would you recommend for a tank like this and how many fish? Its been set up for a good while now and had it cycling with the live rock for over a month. Currently just has some shrimp, crabs, worms, other critters, a small damsel and a small gobie in there which have been in there for awhile while I was cycling it.

[NowSnow]

do you plan on taking the damsel out? they are generally very agresive and dont get along with many other fish

[Deltoid]

Yeah I am at odds about the damsel. If it causes any troubles I will remove it. I previously had 6 fish in the tank and it didn't seem to have a go at any of them (those fish were only temporary though and removed them about a month ago). The fish was the smallest of the lot though so possibly now that its had the tank to itself for a month it has gotten territorial. Its still small (about 1-1.5inch) but yeah I will remove it if it causes any troubles as I dont want fish fighting in such a small tank.

[Deltoid]

no suggestions?

[Caesar777]

At 20 gallons ([LxWxH]/231 cubic inches per gallon) I'd limit it to three 1-3" fish. JMO. It can be very difficult to maintain good water quality with so many fish in there.

[Deltoid]

Originally posted by Caesar777

At 20 gallons ([LxWxH]/231 cubic inches per gallon) I'd limit it to three 1-3" fish. JMO. It can be very difficult to maintain good water quality with so many fish in there.

 

Yeah that is about how many fish I was thinking. I was going to add one fish, then leave it a month or two watching all the levels then add the next depending on what I'm adding and stuff to make sure I don't overload it with fish. All depends on how much waste the fish will make and such and making sure I leave enough space for the fish to grow considering they will make more waste the larger they get.

 

But yeah any suggestions on types of fish? I really like the BiColour Angels or Coral Beautys. How would they go in a tank of this size? Too small? I've read that they both grow to about 13-15cm but I've asked people who have kept the fish before and most have said they havn't really seen them get bigger then 9 or so cm after having them a few years.

 

So yeah looking for suggestions. I dont want to rush into anything and get a fish that will not be happy in the tank.

[Kogut]

1-3" fish? lol. Don't look at my tank. I have a perc, mandarin, and a fridmani dottyback in my 20L... I do run a fuge and a remora, though. And I do weekly 5 gal. water changes... The acros like it just fine. You could put a pygmy angel in the tank. Be aware, though, that they are BAD coral nippers. Same odds of them not nipping coral as a mandarin eating frozen mysis.

[Kogut]

Why not get a mated pair of clownfish? There are so many kinds that you're bound to find 1 that suits you. You could do that and then add a shrimp goby (yasha haze being my choice) and a pistol shrimp. That would give you activity everywhere in the tank. Not too much bioload if you're running the skimmer and keeping up w/ water changes. :

[Deltoid]

Well yeah, I'm not too worried about coral nippers as I won't be keeping corals. I figured for my first 'real' saltwater tank (kept saltwater before but not like pretty reef fish) I'd go Fish Only and live rock to make it easier for me considering with the low water amount it will be harder to keep it stable.

 

I do like the Clarkii Clowns and was thinking possibly a pair of them. However I am unsure at the moment as my brother has a pair of Occy Clowns in the tank in the living room so possibly might go something different.

 

I've seen pygmie angels in books and they look nice but I don't think I've seen any in the fish shops near me (Australia).

 

Thanks for the input so far everyone. Keep them coming.

 

Also another question. Alot of fish have certain sizes (ie Coral Beauty says max size is 13cm.) But then alot of people say they won't ever reach their full size in captivity. So when you say 1-3" fish should I take into consideration that they won't get to full size? Or should I just go by their max size.

 

Also as for water changes I'd be doing them weekly or fortnightly 20-30% changes probally. I use water from the sea. We have about 20 25Lt bottles that when my dad goes deep sea fishing he fills up for us and then we store them in the garage.

 

thanks