Newbie friendly stocking options 33 Gal

meh180 · Apr 28, 2021

My tank is finally ready for it's first in habitants. Going to start off with a classic pair of Clown fish.

Trying to start planning what else to stock and what order to go in (and of these what does a max stock list look like). I haven't thought too much about what kind of CUC to introduce so suggestions on that would be great as well. Planning on adding corals at some point. Pic of tank included to show what rock work looks like.

Fish I'm interested in, though open to other cool looking fish as well.

Purple Firefish

Yellow Watchmen Goby

Orchid Dotty Back

Royal Gramma

Flametail Blenny

Jawfish

Mandarin

KingTideCorals · Apr 28, 2021

A couple firefish, the orchid dottyback, and the watchman goby would be a really cool group of fish for that system!

Love the tank and scape! Welcome to the hobby and to R2R!

Neros503 · Apr 28, 2021

I'm currently running a biocube 29 with a pair of clownfish, a yellow watchman goby, and a mandarin fish. I 100% recommend the clowns and the goby. If you are looking for easy most definitely do not get the mandarin. Mandarins have a high ongoing cost, as well as being high maintenance. Firefish are great. royal grammas are also a good option. I'd probably steer clear of the orchid dottyback as they can be aggressive. Some other fish to look into are cardinals. A clown pair, yellow watchman goby, and some cardinals would be a good start.

Welcome to r2r, nice looking aquascape, and happy reefing

elorablue · Apr 29, 2021

I have a new 20 g cube and the first fish I added were a pair of clowns. It may be cliche but they really are awesome characters. 3 weeks after that I added a firefish who was apparently getting the crap kicked out of him by the other firefish at the LFS. (Tattered fins). After a couple of headbutts by the clowns everyone has settled in nicely and after 2 weeks his fins are looking much better. So I highly recommend this combo of fish as excellent and hardy first inhabitants. It'll be awhile until I add anymore fish as I've started to add corals now. As far as cuc, ive added 2 Nassarius, but I think 1 may be 'no more'. . No crabs and no other snails yet, as there isn't any food in there for them. I also added a Blood red fire shrimp who is a spectacular addition.

I would love a mandarin but I won't attempt it (if at all) until the aquarium has been up for at least 10 months.

Andreas' Reef · Apr 29, 2021

I have some cool fish in my nano too! My favorites are watchman goby, red or purple firefish, and ocellaris clownfish

fish farmer · Apr 29, 2021

I have a standard 29 gallon which had a pair of clowns and a royal gramma for a while which worked well. looking at your rockwork you may want a cave or two, my gramma really liked having a spot to hide but did come out.

I currently have the same pair of clowns and a six line wrasse which have been doing fine together, but the pod population took a hit when I added the wrasse.

Uncle99 · Apr 29, 2021

I like your list, just make the mandarin way last like 6-9 months, then if he’s the only exclusive pod eater, should be able to sustain.

I think the orchid and the gramma may be problematic in 33g, and while I find the orchid, is less aggressive than others, if you must try then orchid would be second last.

Enjoy