Am I at max capacity on my fish tank?

RV Reefs

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I have a 20 gallon aquarium with 5 gallon sump. It has 2 /14 pieces of live rock and one is a cave. I have a scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp and pygmy cherub angel that tend to hang out in the cave. My other fish is a pair of clownfish and they have an anemone. (There is a skimmer and a heater btw) I have two turbo snails and more than 5 hermit crabs. I plan to get a starfish that is reef safe (does anyone know if chocolate chip stars are reef safe) I want to know if I can put some other fish that is reef safe in my tank.
 

Zionas

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A 20 is IMO going to be small for a Cherub in the long run. I don’t recommend any dwarf or Pygmy Angel in a tank smaller than a 40 Breeder. They’re not exactly open water swimmers but still need more swimming room than other “nano” fish. I think in a 20, you could fit maybe 3 more smaller fish (and not too active ones) and that would be your limit.
 

damsels are not mean

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(does anyone know if chocolate chip stars are reef safe)
No Way Meme GIF
 

damsels are not mean

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A 20 is IMO going to be small for a Cherub in the long run. I don’t recommend any dwarf or Pygmy Angel in a tank smaller than a 40 Breeder. They’re not exactly open water swimmers but still need more swimming room than other “nano” fish. I think in a 20, you could fit maybe 3 more smaller fish (and not too active ones) and that would be your limit.
agree with this I'd get the cherub out and get some tiny gobies or blennies if you want more action
 

Coralsdaily

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Tanks size isn’t as vital as it is to compatibility. For example, you can house a dozen of cardinals in that same 20G system as they are social, peaceful, and aren’t open water swimmers (most of them). But as Zionas pointed out, your biggest blocker is the cherub angel. I have had them in the past and they are the pomeranians of the reef world- small but nasty. Almost anything you want to add from this point on is at risk of getting shredded by the angel, and that wont change even if it is in a 75G. So if you are really hoping to expand your livestock choices, you will almost have to compromise. Oh, clowns can be real jerks too once they establish territory.
And tbh 20G is really limiting your options. Humanely I can only recomment you shrimp gobies, small blennies, damsels/chromis and pseudochromis outside of the cardinals aformentioned.
 

MaxTremors

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You may be able to add a small goby, but you’re pretty close to stocked (the clowns will get pretty large). As mentioned, I would rehome the angel, if you did that you could add two small fish (a total of 4). I would strongly urge you not to get any starfish. There are a few that are considered ‘reef safe’ (chocolate chip stars are not one of them), but nearly all starfish do not survive long in captivity, they generally slowly starve to death. They really shouldn’t even be stocked by fish stores. Unless you have a massive tank (150+ gallons), full of real live rock from the ocean, it’s unlikely you’ll keep one alive more than a couple months. A good alternative would be a serpent or brittle star (avoid green brittle stars, they are active fish predators). They readily take prepared food and do well in aquariums.
 

i cant think

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I wouldn’t do anything else with a pair of clowns in that tank. Gobies are a BIG No as well. They cannot deal with any form of aggression too well and will jump. I own 3 different gobies and they don’t care about the fish in there, and yes this is a 20g Red Sea max nano. I wouldn’t do anything else unless it was as aggressive as an established pair of clowns. The only thing I can think of that are like that are Pseudochromis (The dottybacks.)
 
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RV Reefs

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A 20 is IMO going to be small for a Cherub in the long run. I don’t recommend any dwarf or Pygmy Angel in a tank smaller than a 40 Breeder. They’re not exactly open water swimmers but still need more swimming room than other “nano” fish. I think in a 20, you could fit maybe 3 more smaller fish (and not too active ones) and that would be your limit.
I was planning to upgrade in the next year or two
 
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RV Reefs

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Tanks size isn’t as vital as it is to compatibility. For example, you can house a dozen of cardinals in that same 20G system as they are social, peaceful, and aren’t open water swimmers (most of them). But as Zionas pointed out, your biggest blocker is the cherub angel. I have had them in the past and they are the pomeranians of the reef world- small but nasty. Almost anything you want to add from this point on is at risk of getting shredded by the angel, and that wont change even if it is in a 75G. So if you are really hoping to expand your livestock choices, you will almost have to compromise. Oh, clowns can be real jerks too once they establish territory.
And tbh 20G is really limiting your options. Humanely I can only recomment you shrimp gobies, small blennies, damsels/chromis and pseudochromis outside of the cardinals aformentioned.
my angel is incredibly shy and spends all of its time in the cave
 
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