Wrasses in a 15g AIO IM?

[cdemoss01]

Hello,
I am planning on making a 15 gal AIO reef soon. Stocking plans are: 2 blueface pipefish one starry goby one tail spot blenny. Now with these I was wondering if I could put a wrasse in there. Any wrasse will do. Or will this be overstocked? And if I take the tail spot out and add a wrasse what wrasse could work?
Thanks
Cam
#reefsquad

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Four fish in a 15g is very much pushing it. Five would be way over the stocking limit. Any wrasse in a 15g would become too large and then become extremely aggressive. IMO, I would not do it.

 

[cdemoss01]

Heard. I think I'll just do the two pipefish and a goby OR a blenny of somesort. Although I have heard of people keeping a six line in there? Pipefish are an indefinite add but I don't really know what to do either tailspot, starry, or something unique. This tank is mainly so I can keep fish and inverts I cant keep in my 65 gal due to my wrasse. Just looking for unique creatures I guess.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Heard. I think I'll just do the two pipefish and a goby OR a blenny of somesort. Although I have heard of people keeping a six line in there? Pipefish are an indefinite add but I don't really know what to do either tailspot, starry, or something unique. This tank is mainly so I can keep fish and inverts I cant keep in my 65 gal due to my wrasse. Just looking for unique creatures I guess.

Yes, people definitely have kept 6 lines in nano tanks, but they will get so aggressive.

 

[cdemoss01]

H

Yes, people definitely have kept 6 lines in nano tanks, but they will get so aggressive.

Heard I will scrap that idea.

 

[nereefpat]

A pink streak wrasse or one of the species of possum wrasses is okay fir a 15 gallon.

 

[cdemoss01]

A pink streak wrasse or one of the species of possum wrasses is okay fir a 15 gallon.

Thanks I don't think I'll be doing one safely.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/im-15-gallon-aio.1055443/ here is the build thread for my plans.

 

[saltcats]

I disagree on a possum for a 15 gallon; can't speak to the pink streaked as I haven't kept one but possums are very active. Mine is the reason I upgraded from my 15 AIO to a 50!
Glad to hear you decided against it already :)

For some other unique fish ideas have you seen the masked gobies? They're supposed to shoal apparently. Or any of the other nano gobies (biota has a few).

You can check my "old tank thread" link in my signature to see mine - I saw you were looking for aquascape ideas! :)

 

[cdemoss01]

I disagree on a possum for a 15 gallon; can't speak to the pink streaked as I haven't kept one but possums are very active. Mine is the reason I upgraded from my 15 AIO to a 50!
Glad to hear you decided against it already :)

For some other unique fish ideas have you seen the masked gobies? They're supposed to shoal apparently. Or any of the other nano gobies (biota has a few).

You can check my "old tank thread" link in my signature to see mine - I saw you were looking for aquascape ideas! :)

If you check my new thread you should see my stocking options. I might have to cut down on inverts though lol.

 

[i cant think]

Four fish in a 15g is very much pushing it. Five would be way over the stocking limit. Any wrasse in a 15g would become too large and then become extremely aggressive. IMO, I would not do it.

Actually, there are wrasse suitable for these tanks - PseudocheilinOPS ataenia (not to be confused with PseudocheilinUS species) and any Wetmorella species :)

Both of these genera stay around 1 inch with the largest species getting 1.5-2 inches (Nigropinnata usually hits 1.5-2 inches, the rest remain an inch if not smaller).

 

[i cant think]

I disagree on a possum for a 15 gallon; can't speak to the pink streaked as I haven't kept one but possums are very active. Mine is the reason I upgraded from my 15 AIO to a 50!
Glad to hear you decided against it already :)

What species of possum do you have? The Gold Band - Nigropinnata is more active than the others but is still suitable for these tanks.
If the rockwork is designed around the fish it will work. If the rocks a wall and has minimal caves that they can swim through it should work.
Pink streaks are incredibly placid swimmers. I’ve had a trio and 5-6 in total. They’re generally hanging out in the caves but once settled they will come out further in the day.

 

[Falc!]

Add a 6 line and replace it yearly

 

[cdemoss01]

I disagree on a possum for a 15 gallon; can't speak to the pink streaked as I haven't kept one but possums are very active. Mine is the reason I upgraded from my 15 AIO to a 50!
Glad to hear you decided against it already :)

For some other unique fish ideas have you seen the masked gobies? They're supposed to shoal apparently. Or any of the other nano gobies (biota has a few).

You can check my "old tank thread" link in my signature to see mine - I saw you were looking for aquascape ideas! :)

What does shoal mean exactly?

 

[exnisstech]

What does shoal mean exactly?

From the web



What's the difference between schooling and shoaling fish?

Both terms describe fish behavior, but they are technically two different things. Fish that socialize or hang out in loose groups in the same place are said to be shoaling. They can be different species or all the same. Schooling is when they all move together in the same direction, at the same speed, at the same time.

My yellow banded possum wrasse would be fine I think. It's in a 24x20x20 tank and and never comes out of the rocks except to eat. Kind of a boring fish actually. I think six lines get a bad rap because too many are put in too small of a tank because they are a small fish and that causes aggression. Mine have never shown aggression but the smallest tank I have one in is 36x24x24"

 

[i cant think]

My yellow banded possum wrasse would be fine I think. It's in a 24x20x20 tank and and never comes out of the rocks except to eat. Kind of a boring fish actually. I think six lines get a bad rap because too many are put in too small of a tank because they are a small fish and that causes aggression. Mine have never shown aggression but the smallest tank I have one in is 36x24x24"

How often are you watching the tank? I find that if you only watch it for a few minutes a day then these smaller species are sometimes boring but if you actually watch the tank and don’t move for a good 20-30 minutes or longer then you see more personality in these tiny fish than you will in any other species.

 

[dmsc2fs]

A Possum wrasse could do ok in the tank but it will run into the Tailspot often. The Tailspot will become territorial and chase the Possum out of its area. This can be mitigated. For example you can put your rock work on an acrylic stand. This will open up the entire bottom of the tank for swimming and the acrylic stand is clear to us, but it will "sense" as a roof/shelf/cave to the fish's lateral line. This will open up another "layer" of swiming space "through the rocks as well as keep the gravel open for your inverts. The Tailspot will still be an issue with territory in a 15 however. Perhaps a Clown Goby is a better option.

 

[exnisstech]

How often are you watching the tank? I find that if you only watch it for a few minutes a day then these smaller species are sometimes boring but if you actually watch the tank and don’t move for a good 20-30 minutes or longer then you see more personality in these tiny fish than you will in any other species.

I watch it quite a bit. I can see it from bed and probably spend more time there than I should now that I'm retired lol. Its been in for a year and a half but has never been very active. Nothing like my six lines which are a bit shy but still cruise the rock work constantly.

 

[saltcats]

I watch it quite a bit. I can see it from bed and probably spend more time there than I should now that I'm retired lol. Its been in for a year and a half but has never been very active. Nothing like my six lines which are a bit shy but still cruise the rock work constantly.

That's interesting! Mine has been incredibly active as long as I've had him; he's cruising the entire tank all day long, poking in and out of all of his caves and swim throughs. He's nosy and not at all shy (although he doesn't like to come out over the top of the rocks).
When he was in my nano he developed glass surfing behavior pretty early on... Maybe I could have mitigated it with a different rockscape but I still had a good amount of overhangs and swim throughs I feel?

I've seen a few other long time users share similar experiences with the activity level of possums; I wonder if they have a good bit of variation within the species and that's why the reports are so conflicting?

 

[exnisstech]

That's interesting! Mine has been incredibly active as long as I've had him; he's cruising the entire tank all day long, poking in and out of all of his caves and swim throughs. He's nosy and not at all shy (although he doesn't like to come out over the top of the rocks).
When he was in my nano he developed glass surfing behavior pretty early on... Maybe I could have mitigated it with a different rockscape but I still had a good amount of overhangs and swim throughs I feel?

I've seen a few other long time users share similar experiences with the activity level of possums; I wonder if they have a good bit of variation within the species and that's why the reports are so conflicting?

I've heard similar. It was one of the reasons I got mine. Maybe it's the tank layout. It's pretty much a cube and the rock structure isn't really great for swimming around in that much. I'm going to read up and see if they eat pumpkin flat worms. I have some that I must have stirred up when I moved tanks. I was going to add a sixline but if the possum will much on them I'll move it out. Tank is much larger with more rock so maybe it will get it more active. It's barebottom so my wrasse selection to eat flatworms is limited.

 

[exnisstech]

How often are you watching the tank? I find that if you only watch it for a few minutes a day then these smaller species are sometimes boring but if you actually watch the tank and don’t move for a good 20-30 minutes or longer then you see more personality in these tiny fish than you will in any other species.

Thank you. I haven't been spending enough.