I need suggestions, please.

[Alberta_madcow]

Best clean up crew for my 3 gallon nano?

Best fish for my 3 gallon nano?

I was thinking one turbo snail, two of the tiniest hermet crabs I can find, an emrald crab and a peppermint shrimp??

As for fish I was thinking a green chromis, cheap and pretty and they stay small.

I have deep sand so was thinking a small jaw fish or some other sand loving fish?? Any thought or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Some details on tank :
3.3 gallon
2" of sand,ten pounds I know it's way to much...
3 pounds of live rock rubble
Water depth 8" to 9"
Live rock has tons of Hitchhikers, mushrooms,coco worms, different algae ect. All doing well
I use a hang on back filter meant for a 10 to 15 gallon tank,it has a replaceable cartridge filter and a bio filter that looks like a mass of black worms..
Tank temp is 80 f

[FishyFishy!]

I would probably do one hermit (but something nice like a Halloween), one snail, and the peppermint. I wouldn't see much of a point with the emerald.

If you want a crab, I would suggest maybe a porcelain crab. They are far more lively, and their diet is more filter feeder style. Emeralds would probably die off quickly in a small tank like that.

As for the chromis, they definitely are not a nano fish. They prefer to be in groups, and are also very active swimmers. I would stick to a small clownfish or a clown goby.

Jawfish are not nano fish either. They probably need at least 20-30 gallons.

With the deep sand bed, You could get away with a pistol shrimp and goby pair.

In a tank this small.. I would stick to one fish max.

[Alberta_madcow]

Cool! Thanks fishyfishy, I'll do some reading on porcelain crabs !! They look really neat :)

[Skimmer Juice]

yes I was going to suggest a Halloween hermit as well. They are the best cleaners out there for algae on rocks IMO. I would also stay clear of the chromis , maybe look at some of the smaller blennys they have great personality . Had a few griesenger gobies a while back when I had a nano a little bit harder to find but one of the coolest fish out there. Or you could look for a panda gobie also not as common but would be perfect for a nano .

[Alberta_madcow]

Awesome!! Thank you!! This is great please keep the suggestions coming.

[Alberta_madcow]

I think I'm falling in love with gobies !!

[lastlight]

Trio of Trimma gobies!

[gregzz4]

A deep sandbed can cause issues, so be aware of what you're getting into

I haven't retained all I read about them, so you'll have to look on the web

All I remember is I stay away from them

[Craigdillman]

You could do a shrimp goby pair like the candy cane shrimp they are like an 1" long and one of the small goby's randals I think only get 2" I can't remember but there are some small ones my bro has a 5 gallon with them awesome little guys mess up the sand a lot but cool to look at

[Alberta_madcow]

I'm definitely going with a shrimp gobie combo! As for deep sand,I know I messed that up. That's why I'm looking for sand dwelling criters and fish... I heard of snails that burrow in the sand as well??

[Alberta_madcow]

Hello world!!

[FishyFishy!]

Nice! They are fantastic grazers and they look awesome. Good pick.

[Alberta_madcow]

Already bonded and not even in the tank yet.

[Alberta_madcow]

Small update nano is going strong.halloween hermit,pistol shrimp and goby all still alive and well lol. Been doing 10-20% water changes every 7 days :) things seem to be happy!! :mrgreen:

[Alberta_madcow]

Halloween hermit crab moulted :)

[Alberta_madcow]

When using hang on back filter how often do you change the replaceable filter? the one with carbon stuff in it? I know not to touch the bio filter.

[intarsiabox]

The carbon has a very limited effective lifespan. After a week it does very little but still works to some degree for another couple of weeks. I would personally change the filter every 3-4 weeks but rinse it out with each water change. If I understand you correctly you are using the type of filter pad that has the carbon and filter pad as a single disposable unit. If you have one with a sponge and carbon separate then just replace the carbon and rinse out the sponge as the sponge will last a very long time.

[Alberta_madcow]

Thank you!! :)

[reefy]

spike-fin goby is the best goby for a "stablished" nano IMO

[strider]

Look into clown gobies and neon gobies too.
Small tanks get tons of algae so might want to get an spiny star Astraea to clean the glass.
If u have good lights than a rock flower Anenome may do well too.