Upgrading the nano - larger tank, smaller fish - stock ideas welcome

[Kyl]

So this winter I'm planning on upgrading my nano system from an Innovative Marine Fusion 20 to a custom shallow ~60 gallon (48l x 18w x 16h) + sump. The stock list that will be moving to the new larger "nano" tank includes:

2x Ocellaris Clownfish (anemone hosted)
1x Pink-Streaked Wrasse
1x Tailspot Blenny
1x Gold Assessor Basslet
2-4x Greenbanded Gobies

I've had some ideas on what increased, nano-appropriate stock will be possible but there's always people that have been there and done that, or bring up a favorite fish that may never have been given a thought. Eventually this will be a sister tank joined to a shared sump with a 5.5' - 6' long peninsula housing some of the larger guys, so the more gentle / delicate smaller species are of most interest. I do like ornamental shrimp and other inverts, so that's always a concern so that the sexy shrimp don't become a sexy snack.

So far I've been throwing around ideas that could include:
Dragonface pipe fish
Leopard Toby Puffer
Pistol shrimp & goby pair
Bluespotted Jawfish
Possum Wrasse

Any thoughts?

 

[eatbreakfast]

So this winter I'm planning on upgrading my nano system from an Innovative Marine Fusion 20 to a custom shallow ~60 gallon (48l x 18w x 16h) + sump. The stock list that will be moving to the new larger "nano" tank includes:

2x Ocellaris Clownfish (anemone hosted)
1x Pink-Streaked Wrasse
1x Tailspot Blenny
1x Gold Assessor Basslet
2-4x Greenbanded Gobies

I've had some ideas on what increased, nano-appropriate stock will be possible but there's always people that have been there and done that, or bring up a favorite fish that may never have been given a thought. Eventually this will be a sister tank joined to a shared sump with a 5.5' - 6' long peninsula housing some of the larger guys, so the more gentle / delicate smaller species are of most interest. I do like ornamental shrimp and other inverts, so that's always a concern so that the sexy shrimp don't become a sexy snack.

So far I've been throwing around ideas that could include:
Dragonface pipe fish
Leopard Toby Puffer
Pistol shrimp & goby pair
Bluespotted Jawfish
Possum Wrasse

Any thoughts?

The puffer may be able to take out the sexy shrimp.

Blue spotted jaws require cooler temps than most reef inhabitants.

Some other options include: a group of barnacle blennies, firefish, a group of pike blennies, paraclinus blenny.

 

[Kyl]

Does the temperature concern also extend to the yellow headed jawfish?

 

[spiraling]

the goby/shrimp combo is a good addition and fun to watch.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Does the temperature concern also extend to the yellow headed jawfish?

Nope. Yellow head jaws do fine at reef temps.

 

[Kyl]

the goby/shrimp combo is a good addition and fun to watch.

I had a Randals / Candycane combo in my first tank, an IM Fusion 10. The Randal jumped, and the pistol just kind of disappeared during the move from the 10g to the 20g, never did find it. Will probably get another pair, but I'm not sure at this point what shrimp goby to go with.

Nope. Yellow head jaws do fine at reef temps.

Good to know, I keep my tanks at the standard 78° F. Cooling fans will kick on when it gets above 78.4°, and this summer have been able to hold steady at 78.5°

 

[shrimped]

Get a yellow head Jawfish Pair. So much fun watching them. Get like 50 mini dart fish lol.

 

[Kyl]

Get a yellow head Jawfish Pair. So much fun watching them. Get like 50 mini dart fish lol.

I like to keep a rather shallow sand bed, ~1.5". Wondering if that wouldn't be adequate for those guys.. though they do look spiff.

 

[Kyl]

So I've done some more research and there's going to be two definite new additions as I've put in the LFS wait list:

Yasha White Ray Goby - Stonogobiops yasha
White Banded Possum Wrasse - Wetmorella albofasciata

And I'm still trying to source Greenbanded gobies (Tigrigobius multifasciatus) with no luck, even out of province.


That would leave the list at:
2x Ocellaris Clownfish (anemone hosted)
1x Pink-Streaked Wrasse
1x Tailspot Blenny
1x Gold Assessor Basslet
2x Greenbanded Gobies
1x Yasha White Ray Goby
1x White Banded Possum Wrasse

Really would be nice to get a bit of blue in the tank, or some more active fish. Possibly some of the smaller flasher wrasses as I plan to keep the fairy's in my other tank. Also looking to see if a Springer's damsel (Chrysiptera springeri) would be suitable long term. Seems they are pretty docile but get ornery as they age, and get as large as the clowns..

The other thought was to have a section of the tank with a barnacle cluster and home it with a few Barnacle blennies (Acanthemblemaria macrospilus), assuming they wouldn't squabble with the tailspot.

 

[shrimped]

For a 60g cube I would also do a pair of Janss Pipefish, potters Wrasse, McCoksers Flasher Wrasse, Pintail Wrasse, maybe even a Lineatus Wrasse. I would say don't go for the blue stripe pipes. I have had them before and god they cant compete for food. Mine rarely take food from the water column and would only take food that sank to the sand or rocks to eat with flow off. It's weird but maybe it's just mine

 

[Kyl]

It's going to be 48 x 18 x 16, long and shallow

I've read that pipes shouldn't be in tanks with anemones, which I have a rather large RBTA that will be moving into the larger tank as well (hosted by my clowns). If I was going to go the pipefish route, it would be a dragonface just because I think they look exactly as the namesake suggests, little underwater dragons and having seen a few in fellow hobbyists tanks, fell for them almost instantly.

I guess the other option is a mandarin, since this tank would probably be a gentler environment than what I have planned for the 65g (then ~160g upgrade) eventually.

 

[eatbreakfast]

So I've done some more research and there's going to be two definite new additions as I've put in the LFS wait list:

Yasha White Ray Goby - Stonogobiops yasha
White Banded Possum Wrasse - Wetmorella albofasciata

And I'm still trying to source Greenbanded gobies (Tigrigobius multifasciatus) with no luck, even out of province.


That would leave the list at:
2x Ocellaris Clownfish (anemone hosted)
1x Pink-Streaked Wrasse
1x Tailspot Blenny
1x Gold Assessor Basslet
2x Greenbanded Gobies
1x Yasha White Ray Goby
1x White Banded Possum Wrasse

Really would be nice to get a bit of blue in the tank, or some more active fish. Possibly some of the smaller flasher wrasses as I plan to keep the fairy's in my other tank. Also looking to see if a Springer's damsel (Chrysiptera springeri) would be suitable long term. Seems they are pretty docile but get ornery as they age, and get as large as the clowns..

The other thought was to have a section of the tank with a barnacle cluster and home it with a few Barnacle blennies (Acanthemblemaria macrospilus), assuming they wouldn't squabble with the tailspot.

Springeri damsels are very well behaved.

As long as there is enough cover there won't be any issues between a tail spot blenny and a group of barnacle blennies.

 

[Kyl]

Think I'm going to roll the dice on the c. Springeri, worse comes to worse I can put it in the larger tank, or just re-home it to another person locally. Will be going through 6+ weeks of QT too so the timelines should work out.

 

[Kyl]

Amazing at how some more time to reflect, and trips to looky-loo at the LFS can make you re-focus. I've been taken by the fairy wrasses in my 65g, and as noted previously included flashers in the possible stock list . We really only have one shop in the entire region that gets somewhat healthy stock in, and the common options seem to boil down to three:

• p. Cyaneus - Blue Flasher
• p. Carpenteri - Carpenters
• p. Mccoskeri - McCoskers

The Carpenters and McCoskers look almost identical in the store, but the McCoskers seemed to have a stronger colouring. I'm going back tomorrow and will most likely be picking up both a McCoskers and Blue flasher.

Spoiler: New Stock List

2x Ocellaris Clownfish (anemone hosted)
1x Pink-Streaked Wrasse
1x Tailspot Blenny
1x Gold Assessor Basslet
2x Greenbanded Gobies
1x Yasha White Ray Goby
1x White Banded Possum Wrasse
1x Blue Flasher Wrasse
1x McCoskers Flasher

I think that list will add a fair bit of activity and colouring to the tank while keeping everyone civil. Still going back and forth on the c. Springeri, can't quite pull the decision trigger one way or another.

 

[Kyl]

Completely overlooked the Royal Gramma (Gramma loreto), wonder if it would cause issues if added last..

 

[Kyl]

Thought I'd update this a bit as with everything, plans change based on availability.. and whim

Current stock list is as such:

2x Ocellaris Clownfish (Anemone hosted)
1x Pink-Streaked Wrasse
1x Tailspot Blenny
1x Gold Assessor Basslet
1x Midas Blenny
1x Social Wrasse

1x Blue Star Leopard Wrasse (QT)
1x Yellow-head Jawfish (QT)
1x Royal Gramma (QT)

I got the call that Midas are back last year, and I had to get one. This one did QT like a champ and has been very well behaved so far, aside from spitting sand all over the place. Still on the lookout for Greenbanded gobies, and on the list for a shrimp goby (Yasha) and the Possum wrasse. That would about finish the tank for livestock, but I'm not sure on adding the possum at this point. While it may seem like a high load of fish, I feel they'll be decently segregated. The clowns never leave the anemone rock, the assessor hangs out upside down under the left monticap, two of them would be bottom dwellers (jaw/yasha), there will be more rock work when the clams are moved over (tailspot/midas/gramma) and the rest are tank nomads. My only worry lies in the Royal Gramma, I'm hoping there aren't aggression issues with the others that have claimed territory.

 

[Kyl]

Another update to the plans with dt / qt stock, I feel like the tank will probably be at the max, at least for anything other than little gobies.

DT:
2x Ocellaris Clownfish - Amphiprion ocellaris
1x Pink-Streaked Wrasse - Pseudocheilinops ataenia
1x Tailspot Blenny - Ecsenius stigmatura
1x Gold Assessor Basslet - Assessor flavissimus
1x Midas Blenny - Ecsenius midas
1x Social Wrasse - Cirrhilabrus rubeus
1x Blue Star Leopard Wrasse - Macropharyngodon bipartitus

QT:
1x Yellow-head Jawfish - Opistognathus aurifrons
1x Royal Gramma - Gramma loreto
1x Blue Flasher Wrasse - Paracheilinus cyaneus
1x Springer's Damsel - Chrysiptera springeri
1x Neon Goby - Elacatinus oceanops

Let me say that my bio filter, even feeding the DT guys heavily is still showing zero nitrate on both the RedSea and Salifert tests, and PO4 is steadily hovering around 0.01-.02, which is right where I want it. No worries that the bio load processing can't keep up, the refugium chaeto really hasn't taken off yet and NO3 is not visibly detectable. So the focus is on tank real estate, and territory / behavior / swim ranges.


territory by Kyl, on Flickr

The established turf has worked out to the midas perching at 1, the assessor upside down below the monticap at 2. The clowns at three with the anemones, the tailspot hangs around under the arch at #4. Numbers 5 and six will be where the crocea clams are going to be living, they're attached to some marco rock right now so that will bring some more hiding spots. I also intend the arch to be acro covered eventually, and the birdsnest on the back left of it is already growing like a weed. Since there are no substrate dwellers the jawfish should have run of the bottom, though I may still go for a shrimp goby (on the waiting list for a Yasha). Even with two substrate guys in the tank it is still 48 x 18, a decent area to reside.

So, outside of the mythical greenbanded gobies (I'd like to get four of them) and a shrimp goby, it looks like the stocking list is pretty much final. Not exactly kept nano, but nothing outrageous like a tang. The five in my frag tank right now (QT) are all getting along, so hopefully that transitions to the DT as well. The Springer's damsel has been a model little citizen in that tank, it hangs out near the jawfish most of the time.

Thanks for the suggestions all!