Fish for 20 Gallon Waterbox Upgrade

[Katalyst214]

Hey all!

I currently have an (approximately) 6 gallon cube tank with sand and rock. It is seeded with copepods, dosed daily with phytoplankton and a mix of amino acids, and kept at the usual water parameters. I received a tank upgrade of a 20 gallon cube waterbox aio as an early Christmas present and will be in the process of moving into that tank this week. My dilemma now is that I would like to pick a couple of fish out for my new setup and I'm not 100% sure what will be safe for both my reef and inverts that would also be acceptable in the size tank I'm moving to. I've done some research and have just been too indecisive. I want to avoid the generic clowns and am hoping for some brighter fish, a psychedelic manderin is something I am considering in the future, but I haven't come to a conclusion on that yet. Also, the waterbox is topless (hehe) so I can't have any fish prone to jumping. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions!

My current livestock is:

5 sexy shrimp
1 boxing crab
1 emerald crab
2 astrea snails
1 cerith snail
1 nassarius snail
6 rock flower anemone
4 acans coral
1 duncan coral
1 hammer coral
1 sympodium coral
1 montipora coral
1 black sun coral

 

[ichthyogeek]

Most fish can jump, sooo you're kinda stuck with that.

Sexy shrimp are really quite small. I'm not really sure if the following fish would work because of that size difference. Most reef fish (wrasses, clownfish, dottybacks) would really like sexy shrimp as dinner. However:

Dartfish (firefish gobies, zebra bar dartfish, etc.) might work? They're more zooplanktivores. They're also quite shy.

Gobies. Most gobies (basically all of them except the sand sifter) should work too.

Blennies are a hit or miss. Some of them nip coral.

I'd probably do a pair of gobies + the psychedelic mandarin. However, if conditions aren't right, all of the fish are likely to jump....

 

[tnewell]

I have a water box 20 gallon AIO, definitely needs a lid and an ATO. For this tank, I found it super easy to grow an insane amount of pods in a short period of time with the right amount of rock. Although, mandarins are a very delicate/finicky fish and should only be added to a tank after its been established for a very long time. I would reccomend ditching the inverts and going with a possum wrasse and a hawk fish!

 

[Katalyst214]

Most fish can jump, sooo you're kinda stuck with that.

Sexy shrimp are really quite small. I'm not really sure if the following fish would work because of that size difference. Most reef fish (wrasses, clownfish, dottybacks) would really like sexy shrimp as dinner. However:

Dartfish (firefish gobies, zebra bar dartfish, etc.) might work? They're more zooplanktivores. They're also quite shy.

Gobies. Most gobies (basically all of them except the sand sifter) should work too.

Blennies are a hit or miss. Some of them nip coral.

I'd probably do a pair of gobies + the psychedelic mandarin. However, if conditions aren't right, all of the fish are likely to jump....

Finding a fish that won't eat my sexy shrimp seems to be my main issue.

The original tank was so small I didn't plan for any fish and wanted some neat inverts to liven it up a bit, I've become pretty attached to all my little lives in there so I'm hoping to find something that won't harass them or try to eat them.

I've always loved firefish, I'm just worried about jumping, though I suppose I can start looking into safe screens or something.

I had a yellow clown goby briefly, but unfortunately it's stomach was already too pinched and it didn't last long even after trying a twice day feeding schedule and putting in a sacrificial monti for it to nibble (not that it ever noticed the monti). I was thinking of trying to find a healthier one to try again with.

I keep my water parameters pretty consistent, this is one tank out of three saltwater(and two fresh) in my house between my husband and I, it was my little 'pico challenge' tank. So far it has thrived, I was just feeling a bit confined with it in what I could do and so new tank for Christmas lol Now there are too many things to decide on, like these fish!

Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[Katalyst214]

I have a water box 20 gallon AIO, definitely needs a lid and an ATO. For this tank, I found it super easy to grow an insane amount of pods in a short period of time with the right amount of rock. Although, mandarins are a very delicate/finicky fish and should only be added to a tank after its been established for a very long time. I would reccomend ditching the inverts and going with a possum wrasse and a hawk fish!

ATO is on the list of things to get for sure! I was thinking of looking into lids in order to broaden my fish options, was just seeing if anyone had any suggestions of other fish before I went down that route was all.

I plan on getting some more tisbe to reseed the tank since that's the manderins preferred copepod from what I read, already have the Algae Barn 5280 mix which has those and two others. Gonna do that for a few months before even looking at any to bring home, I want it to have a never ending supply like it should.

Both of those fish would totally be on the list if I didn't have the inverts! I do love my sexy shrimp though and want to work around them haha

 

[Jib]

There are lots of fish that won't mess with your shrimp. Gobies would be a good choice, lot of character and diversity.

This is something I have my eye on for my 14G. Waiting until my corals start to grow first though.

Aquarium Conditioned-Shoaling Masked Goby

Aquarium Conditioned-Shoaling Masked Goby, Coryphopterus sp. This is for a We are very excited to offer our new Shoaling Masked Gobies. These small gobies are very peaceful and actually show shoaling behavior which is really neat to observe in the aquarium. They will sometimes reside on the...

seahorsesavvy.com

These are pretty bad pictures, but you can find folks who have them and havre taken better pics.

 

[Katalyst214]

There are lots of fish that won't mess with your shrimp. Gobies would be a good choice, lot of character and diversity.

This is something I have my eye on for my 14G. Waiting until my corals start to grow first though.

Aquarium Conditioned-Shoaling Masked Goby

Aquarium Conditioned-Shoaling Masked Goby, Coryphopterus sp. This is for a We are very excited to offer our new Shoaling Masked Gobies. These small gobies are very peaceful and actually show shoaling behavior which is really neat to observe in the aquarium. They will sometimes reside on the...

seahorsesavvy.com

These are pretty bad pictures, but you can find folks who have them and havre taken better pics.

Love gobies and they are definitely a type of fish I'm looking at. Have two yellow watchmen in two other tanks.

I've never seen those masked gobies before!! They're gorgeous!! Thanks for telling me about them, I'll be delving into researching them now!

 

[Jib]

Gonna do that for a few months before even looking at any to bring home, I want it to have a never ending supply like it should.

I think it will be challenging in a small tank to have a never ending supply of Pods. Mandarins can eat a lot every day, and will decimate the population quickly. If your lucky, you can get a captive bred one that will primarily eat frozen food. Its a popular fish, and you can find success stories on these threads of folks who have kept them. You can also find posts of people who have starved them to death..

 

[Brandon3152134]

Hey all!

I currently have an (approximately) 6 gallon cube tank with sand and rock. It is seeded with copepods, dosed daily with phytoplankton and a mix of amino acids, and kept at the usual water parameters. I received a tank upgrade of a 20 gallon cube waterbox aio as an early Christmas present and will be in the process of moving into that tank this week. My dilemma now is that I would like to pick a couple of fish out for my new setup and I'm not 100% sure what will be safe for both my reef and inverts that would also be acceptable in the size tank I'm moving to. I've done some research and have just been too indecisive. I want to avoid the generic clowns and am hoping for some brighter fish, a psychedelic manderin is something I am considering in the future, but I haven't come to a conclusion on that yet. Also, the waterbox is topless (hehe) so I can't have any fish prone to jumping. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions!

My current livestock is:

5 sexy shrimp
1 boxing crab
1 emerald crab
2 astrea snails
1 cerith snail
1 nassarius snail
6 rock flower anemone
4 acans coral
1 duncan coral
1 hammer coral
1 sympodium coral
1 montipora coral
1 black sun coral

Yasha goby and pistol shrimp. All fish jump but having a grounding plug and a peaceful tank can greatly reduce the risk.

 

[Katalyst214]

I think it will be challenging in a small tank to have a never ending supply of Pods. Mandarins can eat a lot every day, and will decimate the population quickly. If your lucky, you can get a captive bred one that will primarily eat frozen food. Its a popular fish, and you can find success stories on these threads of folks who have kept them. You can also find posts of people who have starved them to death..

My step father used to breed them back when he was active in the hobby, I have a pretty good brain to pick! If I were to actually decide I'm willing to put in the work for one, I am more than willing to buy pods on a regular basis from AlgaeBarn to keep up the supply until I have my own cultivation setup, which is something my husband and I were considering attempting anyway. I am absolutely, 100% not willing to get one if I don't think I can give it a home where it can thrive and not just survive. We also already have a 110 that will be in the works over the next year or two, so it will more than likely be moved to that once we have it established. I may even just wait until then to get it to make my life easier, but where's the challenge in that?

 

[Katalyst214]

Yasha goby and pistol shrimp. All fish jump but having a grounding plug and a peaceful tank can greatly reduce the risk.

Love a goby pistol shrimp pair! There's one pair in each of the other two tanks we have. All tanks have grounding plugs and we are very careful to get fish that will work well together in our tanks. We had to return a bicolor dottyback that we mistook for a royal gramma when we first got into the hobby. The yellow watchmen goby/pistol shrimp pair replaced it and the tank has been peaceful since!

 

[Jib]

My step father used to breed them back when he was active in the hobby, I have a pretty good brain to pick! If I were to actually decide I'm willing to put in the work for one, I am more than willing to buy pods on a regular basis from AlgaeBarn to keep up the supply until I have my own cultivation setup, which is something my husband and I were considering attempting anyway. I am absolutely, 100% not willing to get one if I don't think I can give it a home where it can thrive and not just survive. We also already have a 110 that will be in the works over the next year or two, so it will more than likely be moved to that once we have it established. I may even just wait until then to get it to make my life easier, but where's the challenge in that?

Wow, sounds like you're in a much better spot than most, if not all, I see. There are about 3 posts per week with someone who wants to buy a mandarin in a 20G or less with zero plan.

Keep us posted with how your new tank developes.

 

[Katalyst214]

Wow, sounds like you're in a much better spot than most, if not all, I see. There are about 3 posts per week with someone who wants to buy a mandarin in a 20G or less with zero plan.

Keep us posted with how your new tank developes.

Well thank you very much! I've seen too many dire posts about too many kinds of fish in the wrong tank circumstances. I can't get into something without researching and in this hobby that's an absolute necessity that most seem to ignore unfortunately.

That and not for nothing, we have a budding zoo in our house, we pride ourselves on our care and husbandry for all of them! We have 3 saltwater tanks, 2 freshwater tanks, 2 dogs, 2 guinea pigs, 1 leopard gecko, 1 snake, and 4 tarantulas.

Will do and thanks for all the feedback!