Stocking plan/order for ~50g softie reef

[Mat3833]

Tank is 36x20x16, current stocking is liverock/livesand, Misc inverts/sponges/tube worms from the liverock, 1 GSP frag, 1 Zoa frag, and 1 astraea snail. Tank was started as a 20g long about 5 weeks ago and moved into the main tank about 10 days ago. Cycle is complete(2ppm ammonia into nitrate in 24 hours) and I'll be picking up more CUC members and a few more frags this comming weekend.

My intention for this tank is to keep a watchman goby/pistol shrimp pair, a diamond goby, a bicolor blenny, and possibly a clown/pair of clowns down the line. This will be a Soft coral and macro tank, maybe 1 or 2 beginner LPS coral.

A few local people have said I should be looking to add a wrasse of some kind or something like a royal gamma for pest control but since this is my first saltwater tank I'm unsure of space requirements and compatibility beyond the goby's and blenny and there is alot of conflicting information online.

I'm able to pick up the watchman goby this weekend if it's a good first stocking option, but I'd like to get some advice before I move beyond the snails and coral. The small Zoa frag I have has already developed 5 new heads in the last 4 weeks and the GSP has expanded by about 1/3rd as well so I'm excited to add some more color to the tank.

Thanks in advance,

Matt

 

[Zionas]

Your list looks good, although it seems like many people can have issues keeping wild-caught Diamond Gobies because their tanks don’t have enough microfauna to sustain their constant eating throughout the day. They may or may not transition to prepared food.

I’m not sure if there’s captive-bred ones, so ask to see if there are any and if they take pellets and frozen food.

A Gramma, a smaller Wrasse, and a dwarf Angel would be nice additions.

Perhaps consider something like this:
-Shrimp / Goby pair
-Bicolor Blenny
-Clownfish pair
-Royal Gramma
-Small Wrasse or Dwarf Angel

No Dwarf Angel is 100% immune to nipping at corals, but many have had success with the likes of Coral Beauties, Flames, Flamebacks and Cherub Angels.

I don’t want you to stock too heavily, so if just one Clown, you might be able to do both a small Wrasse and a Dwarf Angel.

6 fish total sounds about right.

 

[Mat3833]

Your list looks good, although it seems like many people can have issues keeping wild-caught Diamond Gobies because their tanks don’t have enough microfauna to sustain their constant eating throughout the day. They may or may not transition to prepared food.

I’m not sure if there’s captive-bred ones, so ask to see if there are any and if they take pellets and frozen food.

A Gramma, a smaller Wrasse, and a dwarf Angel would be nice additions.

Perhaps consider something like this:
-Shrimp / Goby pair
-Bicolor Blenny
-Clownfish pair
-Royal Gramma
-Small Wrasse or Dwarf Angel

No Dwarf Angel is 100% immune to nipping at corals, but many have had success with the likes of Coral Beauties, Flames, Flamebacks and Cherub Angels.

I don’t want you to stock too heavily, so if just one Clown, you might be able to do both a small Wrasse and a Dwarf Angel.

6 fish total sounds about right.

Besides the color, what's the appeal of a wrasse/royal gramma? I know some wrasse are cleaners and eat pests/parasites but they seem to have alot of downsides, lol. Ill probably skip the angel simply because of the nipping tendancy.

I forgot to mention I'd like to have a mandarin Dragonette after the tank matures since I have copepod available about 20m away from a local store and can build a booming pod population. I didn't realize diamond gobys were a direct competitor to them. My understanding was diamond gobys were less copepod more food particulate shifters.

Gobys are one of my favorite species of marine fish so I was really hopeful I could find something that would co-exist with a watchman in my tank size. I do have the tank set up with good burrowing spots on both ends of the tank with the middle more sparse with the intention of keeping 2 different gobys. Unfortunately I haven't ordered a lense filter yet so I can't take any useful photos at the moment.

Matt