Help me pick some fish!!

[Budman93]

You are a gifted artist! Great pictures!

I had a pygmy filefish that i bought captive raised about a year ago. He was the coolest and most interesting fish to watch but he is very fragile. He got along with everyone but i think he came diseased as he passed away about 3 weeks after i got him. They are expensive but i would reccomend them…hopefully you get a healthy one. Also they train them to eat mysis right away which was a plus. Just make sure you have peaceful tank mates.

I disagree with other people here i think a 20g would be fine at first since they come like barely an inch long from biota. It’s not like it needs a ton of space to swim anyways since they are slow. If it gets to be full sized you could just get a bigger tank after a year or two.


I would stay away from damsels. (Besides clownfish) They have great individual personalities but will be aggressive especially in a small tank. I had an azure damsel last year that i ended up having to return because he was bothering one of my fish. Most Gobies/blennies will be great in that tank size.

 

[NanoNana]

Well you sold me. Where can I get me one?

My issue with pajama cardinals is that as free fish, they are very deep ocean swimmers so they live in near darkness. Imagine evolving to exist in a moonlight type atmosphere and getting tossed in an sps tank.
Not judging anyone else’s choices and from what I understand they do very well for most people. But because they have such prominent eyes, it’s all I would wonder about every time I looked at it.

 

[VintageReefer]

My issue with pajama cardinals is that as free fish, they are very deep ocean swimmers so they live in near darkness. Imagine evolving to exist in a moonlight type atmosphere and getting tossed in an sps tank.
Not judging anyone else’s choices and from what I understand they do very well for most people. But because they have such prominent eyes, it’s all I would wonder about every time I looked at it.

I have a cardinal and he hides under a shelf all day long in in the shade except to come out for food. When I got him I didn’t have much coral in the tank and ran the tank in blues only around 30% and he was happier and out in the open. As I added more coral and other fish, my lighting increased and whites were added in and he doesn’t come out much anymore. He has his spot that he likes but he mostly stays in that one place in the shade

 

[Martin2010]

IMO I think you should get a bigger tank as in 30 40 or even 50 gal. I’m not talking about getting one brand new just find one on Kijiji or marketplace and add your own equipment into it. I bought my 60 gal for 40 bucks so that should be a good indicator. I also had a budget but having a budget means that you use your money wisely. To try and save money I bought cheap things and it ended up costing me way more than if I got a good filter, heater, etc. Also it cancels out the aggression because I have two clowns and a damsel in it and they basically coexist because I put so many hiding spots in there so I would 100% suggest going with a second hand bigger aquarium (imo dont get expensive branded aquariums like Red Sea reef mine is hand made by an old man that made it 30 years back and there aren’t any leaks or nothing)

 

[benthicBarbarian]

I wouldn’t have a clown in my tank if you paid me to. (Well depending on how much you’d pay me to. Lol)
No, I didn’t mean the aggression would balance out. With 3 aggressive fish you may well just end up with constant warfare.

One of the keys with smaller tanks is to pick fish with different swimming habits.
Example: clowns with a nem will pretty much stay with their nem (or whatever they host) and protect an area of a specific size that they deem theirs. So if their nem is near the top of the tank, that area is theirs and any fish that crosses their little imaginary line is going to be VICIOUSLY attacked. So the clowns now own the upper part of the tank. Some fish like my firefish likes low mid tank and spends time in that region eating pods from the lower third of the water column. My court jester(rainfordi) goby is a swimmer, not a goby that stays in a den but it does stay near on on the bottom picking at algae on the glass or on low rocks. My clown goby sits on rocks, well mostly on my bernardopora but it doesn’t even close up when the goby is on it, so it’s out of everyone’s way and none of the other fish pay it any attention. My gramma swims the whole water column, top to bottom eating pods ALL DAY LONG. I swear it’s half mandarin. But its preferred area is lower half of the tank which crosses into where the firefish spends his days. Here is where the problems happen. Their territories overlap at times though the gramma prefers the back portion of the tank so territorial behavior is rare but does occur.

The problem with a 20 gallon long is your depth. Clowns are going to claim a big portion as are damsels, and grammas. If you divide it up evenly, that’s an 8” wide by 10” deep spot for each fish at best.

Gobies are recommended for nano tanks exactly as often as they should be. Most of them are the best fit for smaller tanks because of swimming habits. They don’t use and therefore don’t need a lot of space. It’s less about gallons of water and more about free horizontal swimming space in your tank. There are fish I would put in a standard 25 gallon tank that I’d never put in my 25 cube. But free horizontal swimming space is also affected by other fishes territorial behavior.

That makes a lot of sense and clears a lot of things up for me. I wanted a 20 long specifically for the reason of housing a WS filefish. So if I were to go with the stocking I had in mind (clown, file, and gramma) would me putting a nem or other hosting coral in a corner or island be better for the other inhabitants?

Thank you so much!

 

[NanoNana]

IMO I think you should get a bigger tank as in 30 40 or even 50 gal. I’m not talking about getting one brand new just find one on Kijiji or marketplace and add your own equipment into it. I bought my 60 gal for 40 bucks so that should be a good indicator. I also had a budget but having a budget means that you use your money wisely. To try and save money I bought cheap things and it ended up costing me way more than if I got a good filter, heater, etc. Also it cancels out the aggression because I have two clowns and a damsel in it and they basically coexist because I put so many hiding spots in there so I would 100% suggest going with a second hand bigger aquarium (imo dont get expensive branded aquariums like Red Sea reef mine is hand made by an old man that made it 30 years back and there aren’t any leaks or nothing)

I’m under the impression the OP just bought their set up.

 

[benthicBarbarian]

I love your cartoon drawings....

adding on...

The damsel you drew has the another name called the tank wrecker.
Because 90% of us had to tear down our tank to catch him because he was being a complete jerk and we could not add anything.

The Splended and Grama will not live peacefully in a tank that large, and will start a holy inquisition to eradicate each other.

The clown, if it starts hosting something, it will stay in that zone, and kill everyone that comes into its home like a old man with a shotgun watching his porch telling people to get off his lawn.

The file fish is very tough to keep in a tank that small.
Most are very picky eatters, and most reefers only house one temporary, because they one of the solutions for aptasia removal. If you can get it to eat mysis, your in luck, but most rather eat aptasia, and sometimes even your expensive corals.

I have a breeding pair of Bangai.
They are pretty chill, as long as its not another Bangai...

To be honest, id keep a 20gal as peaceful as possible.

So id would do something like 2 Juvi clowns and hope they will pair, and one will transition.
A Yellow Goby, or a Clown Goby, or a Warpaint Goby... these guys are cool as they like to pearch a lot.
Maybe a Bangai...

And the LAST addition... this guy needs to be last... would be the Grama, or a Orchid Dottyback (Pseudochromis fridmani) Make sure its a Orchid, and not a purple... as they are worlds apart in temperment.

Also that Orchid or Grama will seal your tank making sure you can't do any new additions, except replace the exact same fish for fish that may happen to die.

I really like that stocking idea! Is it possible I could skip the second clown and replace it with something else?

 

[benthicBarbarian]

You are a gifted artist! Great pictures!

I had a pygmy filefish that i bought captive raised about a year ago. He was the coolest and most interesting fish to watch but he is very fragile. He got along with everyone but i think he came diseased as he passed away about 3 weeks after i got him. They are expensive but i would reccomend them…hopefully you get a healthy one. Also they train them to eat mysis right away which was a plus. Just make sure you have peaceful tank mates.

I disagree with other people here i think a 20g would be fine at first since they come like barely an inch long from biota. It’s not like it needs a ton of space to swim anyways since they are slow. If it gets to be full sized you could just get a bigger tank after a year or two.


I would stay away from damsels. (Besides clownfish) They have great individual personalities but will be aggressive especially in a small tank. I had an azure damsel last year that i ended up having to return because he was bothering one of my fish. Most Gobies/blennies will be great in that tank size.

Ugh! When I saw videos of them during researching, i immediately fell in love. That’s why I decided I’d go from a 15 to a 20 long aio.

 

[Senor_Minty]

Hey OP. Those drawings of fish. Did you do those? Pretty cool.

 

[NanoNana]

That makes a lot of sense and clears a lot of things up for me. I wanted a 20 long specifically for the reason of housing a WS filefish. So if I were to go with the stocking I had in mind (clown, file, and gramma) would me putting a nem or other hosting coral in a corner or island be better for the other inhabitants?

Thank you so much!

I wanted a 20 long specifically for the reason of housing a WS filefish.

And you’re 12 inches short but you do you.

You’re asking the wrong person about clowns. I have never had them and never will. My guess would be the clowns and gramma will be fine in a 20 long. Lots of people keep them together.

 

[VintageReefer]

That makes a lot of sense and clears a lot of things up for me. I wanted a 20 long specifically for the reason of housing a WS filefish. So if I were to go with the stocking I had in mind (clown, file, and gramma) would me putting a nem or other hosting coral in a corner or island be better for the other inhabitants?

Thank you so much!

Just another discouraging fyi. You can’t “put” an anemone somewhere. Anemone are more of an animal than a coral. They will go wherever they want. Whenever they want. A nano tank is very difficult for an anemone. I was not successful

I bought a beautiful orange anemone, put it in my 15g peninsula. And it was great. For a few months. My clown never showed an interest in hosting it. Then the anemone decided, it doesn’t want to be there anymore. In the morning I would find it behind rocks facing a wall behind the tank, and I couldn’t see it. Then it moved to the middle of a zoanthid garden. Then to random rocks and shelves. It would go anywhere it wanted in the tank and would sting any coral it touched

I bought an “anemone home” essentially a clay cup that is made for them to feel comfortable. It hated it and would leave every day. No matter where I put it. It never settled on a new place, wandered to a new spot almost daily and started to shrink and stopped eating. It shrunk from 6” down to 1” over time and eventually died

I’m sure it was wandering to look for favorable conditions but with tank that size it might not find one

 

[benthicBarbarian]

Hey OP. Those drawings of fish. Did you do those? Pretty cool.

Yes I did! Thank you so much!

 

[benthicBarbarian]

Just another discouraging fyi. You can’t “put” an anemone somewhere. Anemone are more of an animal than a coral. They will go wherever they want. Whenever they want. A nano tank is very difficult for an anemone. I was not successful

I bought a beautiful orange anemone, put it in my 15g peninsula. And it was great. For a few months. My clown never showed an interest in hosting it. Then the anemone decided, it doesn’t want to be there anymore. In the morning I would find it behind rocks facing a wall behind the tank, and I couldn’t see it. Then it moved to the middle of a zoanthid garden. Then to random rocks and shelves. It would go anywhere it wanted in the tank and would sting any coral it touched

I bought an “anemone home” essentially a clay cup that is made for them to feel comfortable. It hated it and would leave every day. No matter where I put it. It never settled on a new place, wandered to a new spot almost daily and started to shrink and stopped eating. It shrunk from 6” down to 1” over time and eventually died

I’m sure it was wandering to look for favorable conditions but with tank that size it might not find one

Ohhhh nooo!! I forgot anemones float around! So is it possible to encourage a clownfish to host another coral? I’ve seen them host various leathers, zoas, I’ve even seen a maroon at an lfs host a clam.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

And you’re 12 inches short but you do you.

You’re asking the wrong person about clowns. I have never had them and never will. My guess would be the clowns and gramma will be fine in a 20 long. Lots of people keep them together.

They won't. The clown/s will go hell bent psycho one day. Gramma is big enough it will get chased or nipped and jump out. without more space to roam free from clown aggression.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I've had a nem in my 25 gallon IM lagoon for about 6 months. It's difficult at best. All pumps and over flows must be covered. Mine has got into both. Luckily there wasn't much injury when he got into the pump or over flow.

Mine wanders endlessly. It will set up camp in a space, hang out for a while maybe a couple of days or a week. Then it takes off and posts up somewhere else. It can and will sting corals. Sometimes I let it. Sometimes I have to run it away from my coral. Either with a pomp directly at it. Sometimes I use these 14 in acrylic rods to put obstacles in its way. Basically every single day I have to locate it to see if any new provisions must be made to keep it safe or my corals happy.

Also, with you over flows covered, your tank gets dirtier faster. So I try to keep at least one over flow uncovered at a time. But never underestimate the speed with which they can move if they want to.

Like I said, it's tricky at best.

One thing I will say about a nem in a nano. It's very easy to broadcast feed it.

 

[Tamberav]

I don’t think most people know what a white spotted Pygmy filefish is from these posts…

I had a spawning pair, they are very active and super personable, very aggressive when spawning (when a fish gets near) but otherwise peaceful.

They stay small and eat just about anything offered.

I never saw them do any damage to corals, but will bite into them to sleep.

They would be fine in a 20g, yes they will use the entire area of a 6 foot tank if given but they are not total spaz speed swimmer, they won’t stress about a 20g.

Unfortunately I lost my pair when the central air broke during a heat wave and I was out of town. Being cooler water fish, they did not do well when tank got into the 90s.

They are not always available to buy and you may have to wait awhile before a batch is released.

If you love this fish, absolutely buy it.

 

[VintageReefer]

Ohhhh nooo!! I forgot anemones float around! So is it possible to encourage a clownfish to host another coral? I’ve seen them host various leathers, zoas, I’ve even seen a maroon at an lfs host a clam.

Anemones don’t just float, they have a super sticky foot and they can crawl like a snail. The foot is extremely sensitive but also strong. If it grabs on in an undesirable place you can’t just pick it up and move it back. It was always a challenge for me to move it. Gently picking at the foot a millimeter at a time trying to get it to peel up and release. Aiming a power head at it and waiting. A few hours for it to randomly let go. They will go and do whatever they want and it can be in the middle of the night when you are asleep. They can climb on a power head and get sucked in and die, so those do need to be protected with anemone guards

You can not encourage a clown to host anything. It will do what it wants. I’ve had nice beautiful anemone and the clownfish went in it once and never again. Leathers are most likely a no but possibly yes. Whatever the clownfish hosts is likely going to be annoyed and close up, as corals don’t like to be touched by anything. Very often clownfish will “host a coral to death” annoying it so much it eventually dies

 

[Tamberav]

I would not do a bta in a nano simply because they can grow large. Mine can touch both ends of my 2 foot wide tank. I could try to force it split it or cut it in half but that’s not something I want to deal with.

 

[VintageReefer]

I just looked up the IM 20 long and that small filtration area is not going to do well with a high bio load. This tank is setup for like…2 small peaceful fish. Maybe 3. If they stay small

If you want a bunch of fish and are on a budget get a 40g breeder tank from petco during the 50% off sale. It’s around 60$ and is 36x18x18 and you can have lots of fish and more options. 40breeders footprint is excellent for fish and aquascaping. You’ll have so many more doors opened with a 40b

 

[NanoNana]

I don’t think most people know what a white spotted Pygmy filefish is from these posts…

I had a spawning pair, they are very active and super personable, very aggressive when spawning (when a fish gets near) but otherwise peaceful.

They stay small and eat just about anything offered.

I never saw them do any damage to corals, but will bite into them to sleep.

They would be fine in a 20g, yes they will use the entire area of a 6 foot tank if given but they are not total spaz speed swimmer, they won’t stress about a 20g.

Unfortunately I lost my pair when the central air broke during a heat wave and I was out of town. Being cooler water fish, they did not do well when tank got into the 90s.

They are not always available to buy and you may have to wait awhile before a batch is released.

If you love this fish, absolutely buy it.

I think most of us are absolutely aware of what the fish is and what it does. We are also aware of recommended swimming space advised. Min 30g (read) 36 inches is for the optimal overall health of the animal. You didn’t mention your tank size or your other inhabitants. Another potential issue with this stocking are fish known to display extreme territorial aggression. The filefish, or any open water swimmer, will likely have very limited swimming space caught between Scylla and Charybdis. Swim one direction and a clown pair is chasing it, swim the other way and a gramma has its mouth open wide enough to swallow a conch. The recommendations are not arbitrary and aren’t being made without thought and consideration for both health of livestock and success of the tank. If it were just the filefish and maybe a shrimp goby and a firefish or a clown goby, a captive bred filefish would possibly be ok.

The OP has many fish on the list that are recommended for larger tanks and/or won’t house well together. In all honesty, the colorful tank they initially described is not attainable in a 20.