20 Gallon Stocking Advice

[hailey1423]

Just started cycling my 20 gallon standard tank and looking for opinions on stocking ideas.

For background I used to have a 10 gallon cube for a few years and experienced lots of issues it (I kept a pair of clownfish and a few corals but ended up shutting it down when I left for school). In that tank I started off with an extreme Picasso clownfish but could not get it to pair, and it continued to kill any other species I added to the tank. I ended up swapping it out at my LFS for a pair of black Ocellaris and they paired up instantly, and I didn't add anything else to the tank after that.

For the 20 gallon I want to try to avoid any stocking issues by adding the clowns last, my plan is to keep a few soft corals and some macro-algae (still debating this as I've heard it can be difficult since coral and macro like different lighting - I'm not sure if this is worth trying or just pick between the two). I 100% want to keep a pair of Ocellaris clownfish but not sure what else would be best to keep in this tank, here are my ideas:
- 1 Banggai cardinal
- Pygmy filefish - not sure if this would be okay with the 2 clowns
- Scooter blenny - I love these guys but having to keep the tank always stocked with copepods kind of intimidates me
- Firefish

Also would want to eventually add a cleaner shrimp. I'm leaning towards doing the clownfish and banggai, but if anyone has any suggestions of other options/what would be the best for this tank let me know!

 

[Freenow54]

Yes why don't you focus on something special like a mandarin .

 

[Idoc]

I'd recommend only one clown since they are very territorial and 20g doesn't give much space for other fish to get away from them. Clowns are nice to see in a tank, but they can be real jerks. My 75g tank is much happier with only one now.

 

[Zymotic]

Clownfish are going to be mostly at the top in my experience, so you'll want something in the middle or bottom. I would personally go for a pistol shrimp and goby pair. You could also consider a royal gramma which in my experience would stand up to a ocellaris clownfish if it gets rambunctious.

 

[Freenow54]

Blennies are fun to watch as well

 

[Zionas]

If you really want a Clown, get one although personally they’re a pairing fish and I wouldn’t feel good keeping a single one. Ocellaris, True Perc, one of the Skunks (Pink / Orange). That’s it. Not a fan of any designer variants but it’s your tank. Personally a good, healthy captive-bred natural strain of one of these beats the fanciest designer any day.

I agree with the Royal Gramma or some kind of Basslet. A Shrimp / Goby pair. Small Blennies (not the Midas, Lawnmower or Starry). Small Gobies (Biota’s Starry Gobies, Yellow Clown Gobies when available captive bred).

Pink Streak, Pink / Yellow Possum Wrasses.

Bangaii can be finicky including captive bred ones. Pajama Cardinals are an option and available captive bred but IMO aren’t that pretty especially with age. The large adult ones I seen had muted colors. The spots fade with age.

Yellow Assessor or one of the Assessor species.

Since you really want the Clown I’d get a Clown, a Royal Gramma, a Shrimp / Goby pair, another Goby (Yellow Clown, Green Clown, Saffron, Starry) or a small Blenny, and one of the small Wrasses. Maybe an Assessor too but I don’t know how it might do with the Gramma and Clown so keep it at 5.

This way you’ll have used pretty much all sections of the tank from the water column to the sand. The smaller Gobies and Blennies perch on rock. The Gramma picks a cave. Shrimp / Goby in the sand. Wrasse swims around. Clown kinda swims around, clumsily.