Cheap ricordea or zoas - Page 2

Nano · #11 11-09-2011, 05:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by howdy20012002

I am not sure what 2 dozen people would disagree with what I said.
I don't know many knowledgable people that would say you can put 6 - 8 fish or more fish in a 20 gallon, sump or not. (which is the numbers I assumed you might be looking at from your post)
however, totally your choice and if you aren't intending to put all the fish mentioned in tank, all the better.
but that is the great thing about this board, there are lots of opinions.
I will keep further ones to myself. good luck
and welcome to the board.
Neal

no the opinions come from 3reef and reef aquatics as well as a few lfs in the area. at any rate, my plan is 1clown, 2-3 chromis and a mandarin, and maybe a blenny. thats not a heavy load for almost 40 gallons.

BlueWorldAquatic · #12 11-09-2011, 05:30 AM

Please don't take Neil opinions personally.

We all know what works for us, may not work for others. He's just trying to help.

I still take a lot of advice on these forums, and help out where I can.

Nano · #13 11-09-2011, 05:33 AM

oh no I appreciate where he's coming from, and yes I'm new so i should take the opinions into mind, but as said i have heard from many that 4-6 smaller fish will be ok. thanks though

BlueWorldAquatic · #14 11-09-2011, 05:38 AM

you can have 10+ fish in that tank, just depends on what you get.

small gobies, clown gobies, etc are all fine.

if you have a clownfish, consider an anemone, as it will give him a home, and he won't travel around the tank much.

As I said before, mandarins are tough, most tanks under 20gal can't handle them unless you get a conditioned one. Pods will be depleted very fast, and he may starve.

If you want corals, angels are not a good choice even pygmy, they all can get a taste for corals.

I would not recommend chromis, for their schooling instincts, they require more space.

Honestly, there are only a few LFS that would recommend that many fish in a 20gal tank.

Nano · #15 11-09-2011, 05:42 AM

thank you! genuine advice thats why I am here. I have thought of an anenome, but am afraid of it either stinging other corals or taking over the tank. My concern with the mandarin is starvation, I do have and enormous amount of pods, but understand that its a small tank and they may not be able to reproduce fast enough. I would love a blenny and maybe a yasha, lol I'd like a lot of things just cant have them all

but I would like to have a few fish with some nice color

Funky_Fish14 · #16 11-09-2011, 06:21 AM

You will likely find that an enormous population of pods will dissapear quickly even with a non-pod-eating fish in the tank. (Just the idea of a 'threat' swimming around will diminish their activity and thus also feeding space, reducing the population).

I agree with the Ken and Neal that it is quite a number of fish intended to go in to the tank. The thing is, you certainly may be able to handle the bioload with a sump and good filtration, but like they said, it doesnt mean the fish will be happy (territorially). Also, the more fish pressure you put on the system, the more likely something is to go wrong (which is often more discouraging to new hobbyists than seasoned keepers), and can also promote more things like algae problems, etc... A tank that ends up with problems is not fun, or ugly with algae... then you dont want to clean it. If its not fun, you wont stick with it. You will find patience to be a virtue in the hobby.

About the pygmy angel... it would be inadvisable to put it in such a small tank.

Chromis are cool fish... cheap, somewhat hardy, eat anything, not agressive to other species, school, are active and relatively colourful. The problem you may find (if you look up chromis discussions on this or any board) is that often, schools that are too small(as in under 20) are kept together and it seems they knock each other off until there is 1 left. It seems they are best kept in larger groups. 1 will do fine in your tank, you may wish to try that instead of a small group.

Cheers,

Chris

Nano · #17 11-09-2011, 06:30 AM

thanks for the reply, I am not sure about chromis for that reason. I think I might try a couple of gobies, and something else that is small hahaha. I have some hermits and a peppermint shrimp, but they dont make and impact on the system really, if anything they help by cleaning up waste

Funky_Fish14 · #18 11-09-2011, 09:07 AM

An appropriate combination of small gobies and blennies, and other little fish, will probably work just great.
Although their impact is fairly small, hermits, snails, shrimp and the like, still contribute to the bioload. Yes they eat up leftover food and stuff.. snails and hermits eat algae... but they also all poop just like the fish do! Haha. I cant say anything for the quantities... but im sure that a few hermits poop just as much as 1 fish might.

A member on the site here, Bev, did a photo or video record of her tank that only had invertebrates in it, (tanks were live rock, corals, and assorted snails/crabs I think?). Anyways, the tanks were barebottom, and she was still syphoning out a nice pile of detritus on a regular basis.

Anyways, not saying the critters dont help. They certainly do, by making algaes and leftovers easier for smaller inverts, bacteria/microbes etc... to 'process', but keep in mind they still transfer the energy back 'out'.

I guess its not a big deal with just a few... but I dont like folks thinking they are entirely inconsequential, haha.

Cheers,

Chris

Nano · #19 11-09-2011, 02:39 PM

much appreciated guys. And Blue I will be coming to check out your store, I have normally gone to marine aquaria which I love for advice and service, and big als, but they dont seem to take awesome care of their fish.
Thanks again guys

BlueWorldAquatic · #20 11-09-2011, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Funky_Fish14

An appropriate combination of small gobies and blennies, and other little fish, will probably work just great.
Although their impact is fairly small, hermits, snails, shrimp and the like, still contribute to the bioload. Yes they eat up leftover food and stuff.. snails and hermits eat algae... but they also all poop just like the fish do! Haha. I cant say anything for the quantities... but im sure that a few hermits poop just as much as 1 fish might.

A member on the site here, Bev, did a photo or video record of her tank that only had invertebrates in it, (tanks were live rock, corals, and assorted snails/crabs I think?). Anyways, the tanks were barebottom, and she was still syphoning out a nice pile of detritus on a regular basis.

Anyways, not saying the critters dont help. They certainly do, by making algaes and leftovers easier for smaller inverts, bacteria/microbes etc... to 'process', but keep in mind they still transfer the energy back 'out'.

I guess its not a big deal with just a few... but I dont like folks thinking they are entirely inconsequential, haha.

Cheers,

Chris

Have you ever saw a Mexican Turbo snail poop? damn, they are like 1/2 mm across, and 2mm long, and they have like 8-10 at a time.

damn, I need a life, when I am talking about the bowel movements of a snail it's a good indication I need a vacation..