What else to put in...

[RocketSapp]

OK, so as I had said in another post I was going to test my water and get some live rock for my little 20 gallon tank, which I set up next to my desk. After a rather poorly timed visit to the ER it was obvious that I was not going to get it done earlier in the week. So now that I am feeling better I'll be getting the LR to put into the tank to start the cycle of the base rock that I have in the tank.

This is going to be FOWLR wile I am finishing off the stand for my big tank. I'll also use some of this rock to see the big tank once I set it up.

So, while this tank is cycling I am starting to think about a stocking list. I think I want to have a few shrimp in this tank and maybe one fish. I love the looks of the peppermint shrimp and maybe another type of shrimp just so it's not all the same thing. I was also thinking about some of the small crabs and a few snails. I am just not sure what all I should get along with the shrimp.

As for the fish, I am thinking maybe a Ocellaris Clownfish, primarily because my wife wants a Clownfish. That one is smaller and according to liveaquaria.com they will work in a 20 gallon tank and are a good beginner SW fish.

My problem is while the LA site is great, they don't really tell me what can be mixed and matched. Am I safe in a 20 gallon tank to go with 5 or 6 shrimp, a Clownfish, and a cool little clean up crew?

Anyone else want to suggest a good selection for me?


Tim

 

[RocketSapp]

So, if anyone is interested, here is a quick photo of what I have set up.

Sorry for the low quality photo... it's late and I did not want to pull out the camera so I just snapped this with my phone.

Tim

 

[reefnoob]

Are you sure you want that many shrimp? It should be ok, but there could be some fighting. Have you looked into cleaner shrimp or blood shrimp to try? I think in a 20 you can have up to two small fish. A clownfish and one more fish should be ok. Clean up crew maybe at most 5 hermits (I don't really like them). Snails are the best. You can get a wide variety such as ceriths, dwarf ceriths, nerites, nassarius, astreas, turbos, etc.

 

[RocketSapp]

Are you sure you want that many shrimp? It should be ok, but there could be some fighting. Have you looked into cleaner shrimp or blood shrimp to try? I think in a 20 you can have up to two small fish. A clownfish and one more fish should be ok. Clean up crew maybe at most 5 hermits (I don't really like them). Snails are the best. You can get a wide variety such as ceriths, dwarf ceriths, nerites, nassarius, astreas, turbos, etc.

Thanks for the info on the Shrimp. Based off your reply I started looking at having multiple shrimp in a single tank. It appears that I should be able to have multiple shrimp in the tank as long as I have only two of each kind, and having two different types. So I may go with two Peppermint Shrimp and maybe two of one other type...

But then again, I may go with just the two shrimp and then two or three fish. The wife really wants a clown fish, so I can't get out of having one in a tank. I could put it off until the big tank is ready so I don't have to get one right now. But I would still like to have a fish or two in this tank until the big tank is ready,

Today I dropped by the LFS and picked up some LR rubble and put into the tank. I did rinse it off with some tank water, and I hope I did not do anything wrong by doing that. I checked all the parameters and everything is looking good so far. Now I do need to figure out how I am going to stock the tank.


FYI, I did go over to ReefCleaners.org last night and I think I am going to order a quick crew once the tank is done cycling.




Tim

 

[rems]

In my 20g tank I have two clowns, one orange and one black. The combo is really cool. I also have one fire shrimp, they are stunning.