Clownfish Pair? Good or bad idea?

[Sharkbait19]

How are royal grammas in nano tanks? I’ve heard they can be either nasty little buggers or very shy fish. Then again, same can be said about a damsel...any thoughts?

 

[ichthyogeek]

No idea about royal grammas. What's the footprint (LxW) of your tank?

For scooter blennies (and other dragonets as well), what matters is the food available in the tank. You can rectify the lack of food in smaller tanks by building a brine shrimp feeder (search "PaulB dragonet feeder"), and training the dragonet to eat frozen/pellet foods.

 

[Sharkbait19]

My tank is 22 L x 12 W footprint

 

[Sharkbait19]

Here’s a good story. I went to a Petco that’s really pleasing, better than most lfs ive been to. However, I asked for a clownfish, honestly the nicest one I’ve ever seen, health and color, only about 1/2”, and they refused to sell it to me, claiming my tank is too small. Now I think I should ask this question, who here keeps a clownfish in their fluval 13.5? It seems pretty common. They said it would get full grown in a month (yeah right) and would be too big. Meanwhile there’s almost seven in a 3 gallon enclosure lol.
It’s hard dealing with their customer service. Otherwise, the store was great, with an actually healthy coral frag tank!!! And underpriced frags!!!

 

[dhavalsp]

My tank is 22 L x 12 W footprint

hi, did you end up adding yellow tail damsel or royal gramma to your evo setup? How did it go?

 

[Sharkbait19]

hi, did you end up adding yellow tail damsel or royal gramma to your evo setup? How did it go?

After the events of this thread, I had lost all of my fish (clown, gramma, firefish, sharknose goby) to ich, because I didn’t feel like quarantining (my first lesson).
After restocking and properly quarantining, I picked up evil incarnate (Luxo the female mocha clownfish). I did attempt another firefish and royal gramma with her, along with her mate and an aurora goby. She killed all but the goby.
I eventually upgraded to a 40B (and Luxo stays in the 13.5).

I’ve never tried a yellowtail damsel in a 13.5, but imo they are too active and really should be in at least a 30 gallon tank. The springers damsel I got for the 40B used every inch of the tank.
A royal gramma will definitely be comfortable when young, but I’ve seen some really big ones that make me say they should also be in at least a 30 gallon.
Even clowns really should be in bigger, but for just a solo and a mate they will do okay in a 13.5 due to lack of activity. I just would never recommend tankmates with them.

 

[dhavalsp]

So sorry to know about the unpleasant turn of event. I am glad things have picked up again.

I have fairly new tank, 4 months old, which is same as my experience with salt water aquarium. I have clown fish and six line wrasse both are on the smaller size. They get along well. The boss in my tank is a cleaner shrimp! I also have few snails. I have seen some really small yellow tail damsels at a local fish store and I might get one to round this up. If things continue well - I see a blue tail spot bleny in the mix. Enjoying the saltwater journey so far!

 

[Sharkbait19]

So sorry to know about the unpleasant turn of event. I am glad things have picked up again.

I have fairly new tank, 4 months old, which is same as my experience with salt water aquarium. I have clown fish and six line wrasse both are on the smaller size. They get along well. The boss in my tank is a cleaner shrimp! I also have few snails. I have seen some really small yellow tail damsels at a local fish store and I might get one to round this up. If things continue well - I see a blue tail spot bleny in the mix. Enjoying the saltwater journey so far!

I wouldn’t do all that in a 13.5 gallon. As the clowns mature that’s just asking for trouble. Same goes for the six line.