20G stocking - How much is too much?

[DirkCourage]

Getting ready to launch my Waterbox 20G and thinking about livestock. I’m as interested in stocking interesting inverts as fish. My definite stock plans:
Couple hermits and typical snail selection
Cleaner shrimp
Emerald crab (seems most useful/hardy?)
Pistol (or other) shrimp paired with a goby

I understand other additions may require specific feeding, but how fast do I run into habitat overcrowding? Do I have room for a Pom-Pom crab and/or a hairy urchin in there?

 

[FangsAndGames]

IMO absolutely. If u target feed on occasion everything will thrive. Here’s a cool tank which is around your size and also cares for some oddballs.

 

[Jax15]

"Room" in a 20g is more about hiding places and rock work than it is water volume or dimensions. If you have 4 good cave-like hiding places, 4 nano-fish is a good fit. Same with inverts, so long as there's enough food lying around, and enough nook and crannies, you can add the pom pom. The urchin is probably more about food - they're voracious eaters. Need to have some algae or something to nibble on all day. All-in-all, seems like a reasonable stock list.

 

[PatW]

That sounds pretty good. You might be able to add one more very small fish like a dart fish or a neon gobie.

 

[Jax15]

One thing about the pom pom crab. I added one to my 100G, and love that guy. He always disappears for like a month, then shows up under my torch or something lol. BUT - when I bought him from Live Aquaria, he didn't arrive with his pom poms! The two little nems he holds that gives him his name. It was pretty sad, because if he doesn't show up with them, there's no easy way for him to get new ones. I've heard they'll sometimes grab a few zoanthids or something to replace them lol, but I've never seen it. Poor guy..

If you can buy one from an LFS or confirm they have pom poms on arrival, would be a good thing to confirm ahead.

 

[DirkCourage]

"Room" in a 20g is more about hiding places and rock work than it is water volume or dimensions. If you have 4 good cave-like hiding places, 4 nano-fish is a good fit. Same with inverts, so long as there's enough food lying around, and enough nook and crannies, you can add the pom pom. The urchin is probably more about food - they're voracious eaters. Need to have some algae or something to nibble on all day. All-in-all, seems like a reasonable stock list.

That’s great, thanks! Yeah, my fish stocking will likely be straight down the fairway with 2 clowns, the goby and either a blend or dottyback. It seems like a lot of people get inverts in response to tank issues, so maybe I’ll hold the urchin in that category.

 

[DirkCourage]

One thing about the pom pom crab. I added one to my 100G, and love that guy. He always disappears for like a month, then shows up under my torch or something lol. BUT - when I bought him from Live Aquaria, he didn't arrive with his pom poms! The two little nems he holds that gives him his name. It was pretty sad, because if he doesn't show up with them, there's no easy way for him to get new ones. I've heard they'll sometimes grab a few zoanthids or something to replace them lol, but I've never seen it. Poor guy..

If you can buy one from an LFS or confirm they have pom poms on arrival, would be a good thing to confirm ahead.

Aw man, a pom-pomless crab? I’d gladly give him some zoanthid hands

 

[Jax15]

Lol thanks, I’m sure he’d appreciate it!

dottybacks are great fish, I have an orchid dottyback that is a beauty. Royal grammas also make great little nano fish, but need a good hide site.

You make a good point, inverts can be tricky in that way. You want to add them before the problem, so algae never is an issue to begin with. If you don’t have enough food though, they’ll die off which is sad and can also cause nutrient problems. So I’d say add all the little critters, but wait on the urchin. If you notice there’s still some GHA in spots, add the urchin then and it’ll get you back to a clean tank in no time.

 

[DirkCourage]

Lol thanks, I’m sure he’d appreciate it!

dottybacks are great fish, I have an orchid dottyback that is a beauty. Royal grammas also make great little nano fish, but need a good hide site.

You make a good point, inverts can be tricky in that way. You want to add them before the problem, so algae never is an issue to begin with. If you don’t have enough food though, they’ll die off which is sad and can also cause nutrient problems. So I’d say add all the little critters, but wait on the urchin. If you notice there’s still some GHA in spots, add the urchin then and it’ll get you back to a clean tank in no time.

Thanks for the advice!