Fish For A 20 gallon

[HappyPotatoes]

I'm currently planning on making a 20 gallon aquarium that will have live rocks, 1/2" of sand, and 4 dwarf blue-leg hermit crabs. I also want to add fish in, but with so many options, I'm not sure which to get. Hopefully with your experience, I can finally decide. No corals or anemones planned.

Requirements for the fishy:

- Must be compatible with the 4 dwarf blue-leg hermit crabs (Clibanarius tricolor) planned
- Must be okay without coral or anemones.
- Rather hardy, I'm new to the saltwater aquarium hobby and want my fish to survive any mistakes I'll make.
- I'd also rather have a lot of small fish than one big fish, it's just an aesthetic thing of mine.

Thanks to everyone who'll advise me! :)
If extremely useful, I'll add coral or anemones or anything else, but I'd rather not at the beginning (since I'm new to this).

 

[HappyPotatoes]

Oh shoot.... did I post this in the wrong section?

 

[mta_morrow]

Your fine posting here.

Will you have a sand bed?

If so here are some suggestions.

Pair of wheeler gobies w candy cane pistol shrimp for the sand bed

Purple firefish or royal gramma for mid tank. Can do both if you like.

Azure damsel for rock work living area.

If you plan on coral in the future, stop there.

If not, you may have room for 1 more small, nonaggressive fish.

 

[HappyPotatoes]

Yep, I'll have a 1/2" deep sand bed.
Do the fish you posted need coral or not?
And are there any other fish anyone has in mind?

 

[BestMomEver]

Any kind of chromis... not damsels unless you research first. They’re are some nice ones and they’re are some nasty ones. Firefish or Gramma are always good. Clowns are fine with no anemones. Ocellaris don’t get too big. Even if you had a nem there’s no guarantee they’d get in it. The main thing is to not overstock. About 1” of full grown fish per 3-5 gallons.

 

[BestMomEver]

You could try a Goby/pistol shrimp too but if if you’re hermits get too close they may become dinner.

 

[mta_morrow]

Any kind of chromis... not damsels unless you research first. They’re are some nice ones and they’re are some nasty ones. Firefish or Gramma are always good. Clowns are fine with no anemones. Ocellaris don’t get too big. Even if you had a nem there’s no guarantee they’d get in it. The main thing is to not overstock. About 1” of full grown fish per 3-5 gallons.

Any damsels of the chrysiptera species are not jerks. Most all other damsels are major jerks.

I find if you properly select fish to inhabit specific parts of your reef, and they are not “aggressive “ fish, you can have more than you think;)

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-much-is-too-much-are-there-really-any-rules.582739/

 

[mta_morrow]

Yep, I'll have a 1/2" deep sand bed.
Do the fish you posted need coral or not?
And are there any other fish anyone has in mind?

None of the fish need coral.

Others to consider are tailspot blenny, a single blue chromis, possum wrasse.

 

[Salty Lemon]

Here are a couple links that might give you suggestions:
https://www.liveaquaria.com/category/2124/nano-fish?c=15+2124&r=
https://www.fishtankworld.com/small-saltwater-fish/

 

[HappyPotatoes]

Why a single blue chromis? Is it because it grows large or because it's aggressive?
And is a green chromis practically the same as a blue chromis in terms of behavior and needs?

 

[mta_morrow]

Why a single blue chromis? Is it because it grows large or because it's aggressive?
And is a green chromis practically the same as a blue chromis in terms of behavior and needs?

The standard blue/ green chromis. Chromis vindis. In small groups they are highly likely to kill each other off until only 1 is left. Large groups, 7-9 or more do much better.

I love their color in a reef tank and always have 1

 

[BestMomEver]

Why a single blue chromis? Is it because it grows large or because it's aggressive?
And is a green chromis practically the same as a blue chromis in terms of behavior and needs?

Chromis aren’t aggressive except occasionally with each other. I started with six and now have three. I think that’s fairly common. Otherwise they are peaceful and stick together. And in my opinion, blue/green, blue, and green are so similar. I’m not sure they’re separate species although they may be.

 

[HappyPotatoes]

Thanks! Because of all the help, I've got a few in my mind, but I'm still curious:)
Any other fish that meet the requirements?

 

[mta_morrow]

Purple tile fish, Pygmy wrasse, hi fin red banded gobies

 

[mta_morrow]

Check out the link provided above for liveaquaria

Go to Marine fish-nano fish

 

[actik]

with my nuvo 20g i went with 2 clowns, im hoping they pair. and a midas blenny, cleaner shrimp and Bubble tip anenome. thats prob my limit. but its very pretty :)

 

[Fiesty]

Deep water cave basslet. Or one of the other basslets. You didnt mention anything about price, right?

 

[HappyPotatoes]

Hmmmm.....For price I would say my budget is under $25 U.S.D. Whether it be one big fish or ten small ones.

 

[btmedic04]

I have a pair of black snowflake clownfish, a six line wrasse and an orange spotted goby + tiger pistol shrimp in my nuvo 20. In my nuvo 10, i have a tail spot blenny and a green clown goby. just be aware that of those choices, the six line can become quite aggressive, though mine is a baby. my orange spotted goby wards him off if he gets too close to where the tiger pistol shrimp is working

 

[actik]

Hmmmm.....For price I would say my budget is under $25 U.S.D. Whether it be one big fish or ten small ones.

for that price, Chromis ? beautiful fish, get an odd amount, like 3 or 5 they live longer from what i was reading. other options are like.. green, citronis,yellow gobies for that price