how many fish in 20 gallon tank

[fishboy10]

i have three that are doing fine in a soft coral 20 gallon an occelaris a firefish and neon goby weekly water changes green star polyp mushrooms and xenia is this alright or is this too much plus cleanup crew and if you can answer a second question i want a small smasher mantis shrimp for my 10 gallon would a damsel or a clown be tough enough to go with one

 

[LBehr]

Question one: that is probably about right for bioload. Ive seen people get away with more but you have to have good nutrient export.

Question two: I've seen damsels survive mantis shrimp, you really never know though. From what I understand if you keep them well fed they are less likely to attack stuff.

 

[Vaughn17]

Xenia is an excellent nutriant exporter, so you should be fine as long as they all get along. Don't know about the mantis, but I have a damsel you could try, lol.

 

[fishboy10]

whats wrong with your damsel? if u dont mind me asking

 

[Vaughn17]

It's a yellow tail that is really pretty and smart, but it bites occasionally if I start rearranging the tank. It is also fond of uprooting my acro frags. It gets along really well with a clownfish but is not real happy with the splendid dottyback in the tank (38 g). The dottyback is peaceful but can't seem to stay out of the damsel's little corner of territory. On the bright side, the damsel doesn't eat much. The yellowtail is one of the nicer species of damsels, btw. Most have much worse dispositions than mine, I suspect.

I was joking, of course, about letting you put it in with a mantis. If anyone kills it, it's going to be me, not some shrimp, LOL!

 

[fishboy10]

Ah well I was thinking of a 3 striped and my clown is that way with my hand and he's only an inch or so if I get a clown goby I'd be nervous about him