Stocking for 20 gallon cube BRS video recommended this?

[commanderwho]

Hello!

so I have a waterbox cube 20, can’t upgrade as the wife would be pretty upset lol. So I’m stuck with a cube 20 for now.
I currently have 4 fish. Pair clowns, 1 YWG, and 1 royal gramma. Tank has been running over 1.5 years.
Saw this video here from BRS. Looks like I could squeeze one more fish, a firefish, as the video suggested for a 20 gallon stocking a pair clowns, firefish, goby/pistol shrimp pair, and royal gramma. What do you guys think? Should I add one more fish? Which would be a red firefish.
ThAnks

 

[blaxsun]

Offer to trade her for a dedicated shoe closet.

Yes, most definitely. I had 10 small fish all thriving in a 25-gallon, so as long as you have fish with different "swim lanes" you should be more than fine with 5 (possibly more).

With your current livestock you've got a good balance of free swimmers, cave explorers and sand dwellers. A firefish will make a great addition.

Try to ensure you stay on top of your testing as any nitrates and phosphate imbalances tends to get exaggerated in smaller tanks when you're pushing the upper boundaries of stocking limits. I don't know if you run or plan to run a protein skimmer, but that's something that may be a worthwhile investment down the road. Best of luck!

 

[commanderwho]

Offer to trade her for a dedicated shoe closet.

Yes, most definitely. I had 10 small fish all thriving in a 25-gallon, so as long as you have fish with different "swim lanes" you should be more than fine with 5 (possibly more).

With your current livestock you've got a good balance of free swimmers, cave explorers and sand dwellers. A firefish will make a great addition.

Try to ensure you stay on top of your testing as any nitrates and phosphate imbalances tends to get exaggerated in smaller tanks when you're pushing the upper boundaries of stocking limits. I don't know if you run or plan to run a protein skimmer, but that's something that may be a worthwhile investment down the road. Best of luck!

Hello, thanks for your reply! Did you have those 10 fish in the 25 gallon long term? since I won’t be upgrading anytime soon I would like to make sure 5 fish is good

So honestly I haven’t tested the water in my tank since I set it up last year lol. I just do my bi weekly 15 percent water change. I also do not run a skimmer, just an intank media basket. Other livestock are trochus, cerith, bumblee, nassarius snails, blue legged and scarlet hermits, 1 tiger conch, 1 cleaner shrimp, and 1 blue tuxedo urchin.
corals are soft/lps.

 

[blaxsun]

Hello, thanks for your reply! Did you have those 10 fish in the 25 gallon long term? since I won’t be upgrading anytime soon I would like to make sure 5 fish is good

So honestly I haven’t tested the water in my tank since I set it up last year lol. I just do my bi weekly 15 percent water change. I also do not run a skimmer, just an intank media basket. Other livestock are trochus, cerith, bumblee, nassarius snails, blue legged and scarlet hermits, 1 tiger conch, 1 cleaner shrimp, and 1 blue tuxedo urchin.
corals are soft/lps.

Almost a year until I upgraded. It included a small sailfin tang, midnight dwarf angel, yellow belly damsel, flamehawk, a pair of clownfish, two green chromis, lawnmower blenny and indigo dottyback. There was also a pajama cardinal in the mix so it might have been 11 or even 12 because I'm probably forgetting one.

I ran one filter sock, a protein skimmer and the same InTank media caddy with filter floss and ChemiPure Blue. I had a great little cleanup crew with a similar composition to yours, and one of the reason I temporarily overstocked is that I knew I was upgrading to a much larger system.

I would definitely recommend testing if you move beyond 4 fish because sometimes your bio filter is right on the threshold and that 1 fish pushes it over the edge. Fish can tolerate higher nitrates and phosphates for a while, but you don't necessarily want to subject them to that long term.

 

[commanderwho]

Almost a year until I upgraded. It included a small sailfin tang, midnight dwarf angel, yellow belly damsel, flamehawk, a pair of clownfish, two green chromis, lawnmower blenny and indigo dottyback. There was also a pajama cardinal in the mix so it might have been 11 or even 12 because I'm probably forgetting one.

I ran one filter sock, a protein skimmer and the same InTank media caddy with filter floss and ChemiPure Blue. I had a great little cleanup crew with a similar composition to yours, and one of the reason I temporarily overstocked is that I knew I was upgrading to a much larger system.

I would definitely recommend testing if you move beyond 4 fish because sometimes your bio filter is right on the threshold and that 1 fish pushes it over the edge. Fish can tolerate higher nitrates and phosphates for a while, but you don't necessarily want to subject them to that long term.

Wow and you had some pretty big fish and some more on the aggressive side in your 25 gallon tank. What size did you end up upgrading?

I do use the same set up with the intank media as yours just no skimmer. I’ll probably look more into a skimmer down the road.
Hmm I’ll check my waters soon. Thanks!

 

[Nano sapiens]

Always tempting to add 'just one more'

As stated previously, a lot depends on your filtration setup/efficiency and how dedicated you are regarding maintenance.

Having kept an even smaller 12g for 14 years I've found that moderation in stocking makes reef keeping easier over the long term.

 

[Tcook]

IMO the fire fish would likely be bullied by the clowns and grama. It would end up hiding all the time. You could consider a cherub angel which would hold its own. Or consider a pink streak wrasse that would pop in and out of the rocks.

 

[blksubykid]

IMO the fire fish would likely be bullied by the clowns and grama. It would end up hiding all the time. You could consider a cherub angel which would hold its own. Or consider a pink streak wrasse that would pop in and out of the rocks.

Yup mine hid all the time due to my female clown

 

[commanderwho]

Always tempting to add 'just one more'

As stated previously, a lot depends on your filtration setup/efficiency and how dedicated you are regarding maintenance.

Having kept an even smaller 12g for 14 years I've found that moderation in stocking makes reef keeping easier over the long term.

Lol, yea I know it’s always tempting! I also know what I have currently is doing awesome and sometimes that one more fish can cause a huge issue!
What fish did you have in your 12g for 14 years? ThAnks

 

[commanderwho]

IMO the fire fish would likely be bullied by the clowns and grama. It would end up hiding all the time. You could consider a cherub angel which would hold its own. Or consider a pink streak wrasse that would pop in and out of the rocks.

Isn’t a cherub angel too big for my tank? Or needs more space? I’ve considered a pink streaked wrasse but haven’t seen one and thought my gramma might pick on it? ThNks

 

[Tcook]

Isn’t a cherub angel too big for my tank? Or needs more space? I’ve considered a pink streaked wrasse but haven’t seen one and thought my gramma might pick on it? ThNks

I have a cherub (pigmy) angel and pink streak in my 20 AIO.

 

[mindme]

I think the clowns will kill the firefish. If you added all the fish at the same time, it might work. But with an established system, it's going to be rough on a new system. Clownfish are damsels and they get territorial.

I had 2 clownfish in my 29g, thought I would add some firefish. Added 2, both died in days. Didn't see the aggression, but pretty sure it was the clownfish. And they were still pretty new to the tank, had only been in there like a week or so. And they were young and hadn't even paired up yet. Now they spawn and the female is absolutely brutal. I can't even put my hand in the tank because it's constant bites. I wouldn't say it hurts, but it's a bit freaky and not exactly pleasant.

Clowns are seen by people to be really peaceful, but that in my experience that is only when they are young and single and haven't really established any territory.

 

[MaxTremors]

I think 4 fish in a 20g is bordering on being overstocked. Not going to say what I think about putting 3x that many fish in a similar sizes tank.

 

[blaxsun]

Wow and you had some pretty big fish and some more on the aggressive side in your 25 gallon tank. What size did you end up upgrading?

I do use the same set up with the intank media as yours just no skimmer. I’ll probably look more into a skimmer down the road.
Hmm I’ll check my waters soon. Thanks!

Yes, it was a good mix. I actually had a pair of 25-gallon IM Fusion Lagoons, so when I upgraded to a 200-gallon roughly 20 fish went along for the trip. Anything but the IM desktop skimmer is worth considering.

 

[blaxsun]

I think 4 fish in a 20g is bordering on being overstocked. Not going to say what I think about putting 3x that many fish in a similar sizes tank.

In fairness, it was a lagoon style (so the footprint was closer to a 30 or 35-gallon) - they were a very eclectic mix of small fish - and they all did (and still do) get along great. And they were doted on and cared for very well. I'm not advocating that anyone follow suit, just that if you have different types of fish/behavior and a great bio filter you can often have a few more fish.

 

[Nano sapiens]

Lol, yea I know it’s always tempting! I also know what I have currently is doing awesome and sometimes that one more fish can cause a huge issue!
What fish did you have in your 12g for 14 years? ThAnks

Had 2 Oscellaris Clowns for a couple years until they got too large. Then had up to 6 mixed fish (online order delivered too many and steadily increasing nitrate became an issue). Now have 2 fish (Eyebrow Barnacle Blenny & Azure Damsel) and the PO4/NO3 is easily managed with just WCs/detritus removal in this unfiltered mature nano.

IME, for long term systems keeping things simple and inputs/outputs easily managed/balanced makes for happy inhabitants and an even happier reef keeper