Final fish for 20 gallon!

[Suohhen]

I seriously lowered my phosphates by floating my frozen cubes in display water and then draining all the liquid. I know people do that for PE Musis. But oretty much all frozen foods have phosphate that can easily be removed

Randy Holmes Farley has tested this and says it is a very negligible amount for most foods and not worth the effort. You also lose certain things like potassium but that isn't necessarily a problem depending on the tank. I could see how PE mysis might be different because there is a ton of small particulate but with typical mysis the water is clear.
edit:

Aquarium Chemistry: Phosphate And Math: Yes You Need To Understand Both

Foods are by far the most important source of phosphate in most aquariums. In considering whether sources of phosphate other than foods are important, one must carefully look to the actual amounts involved to determine whether other sources are even worth trying to minimize.

reefs.com

 

[LukeSivyer45]

Trochus snails love diatoms. 6 lines are mean but the fish you have can handle their own so small tanks like yours are the one place I think they fit albeit as already mentioned they are quite the active swimmer so a 20 isn't the best environment. One fish I personally love that doesn't get anywhere near the attention it deserves is the meiacanthus or 'fanged tooth blenny'. They are awesome, small, active fish that other fish don't get too aggressive with and they are also commonly available captive bred. It is just tricky adding any new fish to established tanks so it is best if you can qt or at least ask a store if they can for you, or at the very least find a fish that has been in the store for a while. It is weird, fish can be hard to find since the pandemic started but if you can find a store that keeps a lot of fish chances are a lot of those fish have been there a while. I am fortune to have a store like that near me...2 hours away, called Aquatic Collection in Fremont CA. They keep 10x the fish of most stores, a true gem.

I have got actually 4 banded trochus snails which are chunky bois. I have seen my lfs get fang blennies however ive always been scared by their poison. Another problem which people may disagree on is i put my fish in the tank by hand. Now there are pros and cons but ive always found them more stressed to the net rather than my hand. I live in the uk and my lfs does get some rare fish such as there red sea 900xxxl with a gem tang, powder blue, longnose black, bellulus angel pair and a beautiful blue spot jawfish.

 

[BiggestE222]

OfRandy Holmes Farley has tested this and says it is a very negligible amount for most foods and not worth the effort. You also lose certain things like potassium but that isn't necessarily a problem depending on the tank. I could see how PE mysis might be different because there is a ton of small particulate but with typical mysis the water is clear.

Maybe but I was fighting GHE even with an oversized skimmer and an algae reactor. In the last month of drain8ng the cubes there is no longer any hair algae. Although I did add 7 astrea snails during that time

 

[Alchameth]

Lots of choices to fill that last spot. The last fish I added to my tank are probably near the most docile. Just added a pair of Longspine cardinals and Banggai cardinals about 6 weeks ago. None of my fish are anything other than full and happy, and all of them come up to the feeding port at feeding time. They are competing with a half grown Mimic tang, Linespot Flasher Wrasse, pair of clows, pair of scissortail goby's, about the fattest flametail blenny I've ever seen, a firefish and a pair of Lagoon Shrimp Goby's. I usually feed 2-4 times a day and struggle to get nitrates up to single digits and detectable phosphates. Tho I do wish the tang would stop crapping on my Elegance coral, but I digress.

Both those cardinals while not strong swimmers, have no problem with with quick darts to get food. The bigger concern would be harassment, but they are so different from the other fish you have I probably wouldn't worry about it. You could also go with something like a zebra barred or scissortail dartfish. Nice fish, all the ones I've had have had good personalities, swim up to the glass and are quick enough to get away from annoying fish without constantly going into hiding like some other dartfish eg... firefish.

 

[Reef.]

Ok will take this into consideration. What are your nitrates at because im just trying to work out what is too high. Mine sit at around 17ppm.

Mine are around 10, I'm happy with anything under 20, as I don't do sps.

As long as your nutrient export is good then feeding more shouldn't increase nitrates, nitrates are very easy to control in a small tank with a water change, so I wouldn't let them going up too much worry you.

Happy and healthy fish will be a bigger benefit than slightly less nitrates.

I keep my powerheads on when feeding this makes sure that the food goes to all parts of the tank and also keeps the food from landing on the sandbed, any uneaten food goes into the filter floss and removed.

 

[Suohhen]

I have got actually 4 banded trochus snails which are chunky bois. I have seen my lfs get fang blennies however ive always been scared by their poison. Another problem which people may disagree on is i put my fish in the tank by hand. Now there are pros and cons but ive always found them more stressed to the net rather than my hand. I live in the uk and my lfs does get some rare fish such as there red sea 900xxxl with a gem tang, powder blue, longnose black, bellulus angel pair and a beautiful blue spot jawfish.

Belus pair... quite possibly my favorite fish. Apparently the bite is comparable to a bee sting and they are super peaceful fish, I usually just use the bag they come in and drain it which usually isn't an issue but you could always just wear gloves. I've never had one of mine bite me. They are super peaceful fish and I think part of the reason other fish leave them alone is because of their bite but it also helps to be a small slim mobile fish because I find it to be similar to the way other fish treat flasher wrasses.

 

[LukeSivyer45]

Belus pair... quite possibly my favorite fish. Apparently the bite is comparable to a bee sting and they are super peaceful fish, I usually just use the bag they come in and drain it which usually isn't an issue but you could always just wear gloves. I've never had one of mine bite me. They are super peaceful fish and I think part of the reason other fish leave them alone is because of their bite but it also helps to be a small slim mobile fish because I find it to be similar to the way other fish treat flasher wrasses.

They are more of a carnivorous blenny right?

 

[Suohhen]

They are more of a carnivorous blenny right?

More of yes, but definitely an omnivore just as any fish that is highly aquarium compatible as adapting to prepared foods is the limitation of many species. Ofc there is the occasional claim of invert predation but that can happen with any fish especially from the wild. Every one I've kept has been as peaceful and chill as can be which is pretty common for tank bred fish, especially fish that have been tank bred for so long. The biggest pitfall of these fish is that they need to be fed often as they are active and have small mouths. The active part being the bigger deal and it is true will all active fish. It is the price of keeping active fish so if you're concerned about overfeeding it might not be the best. Pellet food is what let's me get away with keeping so many active fish, but pellet food can require even better filtration.
As others have mentioned Ecsenius are good fish that generally do much better in a mature system but the Red Sea Mimic Blenny stays a bit smaller and I think if you can find one that is eating nori it may be a good choice but I have never had one. I absolutely love my black sailfin but he is big and active so the only way I see one doing well in your tank is with consistent nori supplementation.

 

[LukeSivyer45]

More of yes, but definitely an omnivore just as any fish that is highly aquarium compatible as adapting to prepared foods is the limitation of many species. Ofc there is the occasional claim of invert predation but that can happen with any fish especially from the wild. Every one I've kept has been as peaceful and chill as can be which is pretty common for tank bred fish, especially fish that have been tank bred for so long. The biggest pitfall of these fish is that they need to be fed often as they are active and have small mouths. The active part being the bigger deal and it is true will all active fish. It is the price of keeping active fish so if you're concerned about overfeeding it might not be the best. Pellet food is what let's me get away with keeping so many active fish, but pellet food can require even better filtration.
As others have mentioned Ecsenius are good fish that generally do much better in a mature system but the Red Sea Mimic Blenny stays a bit smaller and I think if you can find one that is eating nori it may be a good choice but I have never had one. I absolutely love my black sailfin but he is big and active so the only way I see one doing well in your tank is with consistent nori supplementation.

I need to try more pellet foods because my vitalis ones have way to much protein and my clownfishs poop went white. Are nyos goji berries aswell as reef nutrition prime flakes any good?

 

[LukeSivyer45]

More of yes, but definitely an omnivore just as any fish that is highly aquarium compatible as adapting to prepared foods is the limitation of many species. Ofc there is the occasional claim of invert predation but that can happen with any fish especially from the wild. Every one I've kept has been as peaceful and chill as can be which is pretty common for tank bred fish, especially fish that have been tank bred for so long. The biggest pitfall of these fish is that they need to be fed often as they are active and have small mouths. The active part being the bigger deal and it is true will all active fish. It is the price of keeping active fish so if you're concerned about overfeeding it might not be the best. Pellet food is what let's me get away with keeping so many active fish, but pellet food can require even better filtration.
As others have mentioned Ecsenius are good fish that generally do much better in a mature system but the Red Sea Mimic Blenny stays a bit smaller and I think if you can find one that is eating nori it may be a good choice but I have never had one. I absolutely love my black sailfin but he is big and active so the only way I see one doing well in your tank is with consistent nori supplementation.

I just thought about it and i would probably need more rock work for a blenny so if i do definitely want one it will be a while.

 

[Suohhen]

I need to try more pellet foods because my vitalis ones have way to much protein and my clownfishs poop went white. Are nyos goji berries aswell as reef nutrition prime flakes any good?

I feed RN TDO, and Hikari Seaweed Extreme. TDO is quick becoming one of the most popular pellets, but most anything from RN is solid.

 

[LukeSivyer45]

I feed RN TDO, and Hikari Seaweed Extreme. TDO is quick becoming one of the most popular pellets, but most anything from RN is solid.

Ok thanks for clarifying ill try them out when i can get my hands on it. I think ive decided to go with a pink streak wrasse or fang blenny however ill have to wait a while to get one. Thanks for the help I appreciate it!