Opinions on shrimp goby pairing in a 14g nano cube?

[camilenoel]

I have a 14g nano cube with a CUC and a fairly aggressive maroon clown.

I wasn’t planning on adding any other fish due to the clowns aggression. Long story short he was at the LFS I work at for 8 months, killed 2 other maroons before getting buddy privileges revoked and would bite any finger that came into his tank. I got him home in a tank I set up just for him and now he’s a wuss that hides behind the power head.

My nitrates are bottoming out so I’ve been thinking about possibly trying another fish and was leaning towards a goby because they would occupy completely different areas in the tank and if the maroon decided to go after it, it would at least be able to go into its cave to get away.

I keep seeing shrimp gobies Watchmans and Yashas on lists of nano tank fish but then in their description it recommends 30 gallons so I don’t know what I should do.

This tank wouldn’t be their forever home, I have a planned upgrade In the future but it would be a few years so I want it to be sufficient.

My tank also doesn’t have a lid and I don’t particularly want to add one so I’m not sure if they would be the right fit.

Opinions on adding them or alternative options greatly appreciated!

 

[lil sumpin]

I have a 14g nano cube with a CUC and a fairly aggressive maroon clown.

I wasn’t planning on adding any other fish due to the clowns aggression. Long story short he was at the LFS I work at for 8 months, killed 2 other maroons before getting buddy privileges revoked and would bite any finger that came into his tank. I got him home in a tank I set up just for him and now he’s a wuss that hides behind the power head.

My nitrates are bottoming out so I’ve been thinking about possibly trying another fish and was leaning towards a goby because they would occupy completely different areas in the tank and if the maroon decided to go after it, it would at least be able to go into its cave to get away.

I keep seeing shrimp gobies Watchmans and Yashas on lists of nano tank fish but then in their description it recommends 30 gallons so I don’t know what I should do.

This tank wouldn’t be their forever home, I have a planned upgrade In the future but it would be a few years so I want it to be sufficient.

My tank also doesn’t have a lid and I don’t particularly want to add one so I’m not sure if they would be the right fit.

Opinions on adding them or alternative options greatly appreciated!

Maybe your evil clown only is only bloodthirsty for other clowns and hopefully not all fish in general? The only way of telling is by putting in more fish unfortunately. I think a shrimp goby pair would be great in your cube, they would probably mostly stay at the bottom of the tank but you should definitely consider putting a lid on as gobies are known jumpers. What are your nitrates and phosphates like?

 

[camilenoel]

Maybe your evil clown only is only bloodthirsty for other clowns and hopefully not all fish in general? The only way of telling is by putting in more fish unfortunately. I think a shrimp goby pair would be great in your cube, they would probably mostly stay at the bottom of the tank but you should definitely consider putting a lid on as gobies are known jumpers. What are your nitrates and phosphates like?

Yes exactly. My plan is to try once and if he murders them I’m done giving him friends. I haven’t tested phosphates in a bit as it still new (only about a month old) but my nitrate has bottomed out which is part of why I’m looking to add another fish to raise it a little bit naturally! I’ll probably eventually end up putting a lid on it but Im working on trying to find one that doesn’t refract light to the point of lowering my par and isn’t a billion dollars

 

[camilenoel]

Update:
I ordered a Yasha goby and a Candy Cane pistol shrimp and I’m obsessed with them. They settled in nicely on the opposite side of the tank from Little Evil and I put a lid on the tank to prevent jumpers and went to bed after anxiously watching them for hours. Woke up this morning and immediatley checked on them, found the yasha on the carpet, crusted.

So if anyone has any recommendations for how to help a pistol shrimp thrive without his buddy and any recommendations for another small fish I could add that the clown might not kill and won’t be a jumping hazard that would be greatly appreciated.

Spending $80 for a fish to unalive itself in the first night is something I will not be doing again