Stock for a 20-L reef

[TonyO]

Hey, quick question. . .

Can someone give me examples of appropriate stocking levels for fish in a 20-L reef? I don't need exact, but a couple of examples to give me some ideas. I have a few species in mind, like clownfish and Randall's gobies.

Thanks!

[nacra99]

Really depends on your filtration, like how much live rock and whether you are running a skimmer and a sump / refugium. I would really reccomend a sump of the same size because the tank is so small, say if you have 10 gal of rock, you're only left with 10 gal of water, which is pretty little for a reef tank.

But for something that small, you'll want fish that normally don't move around the tank alot, probably small gobys that like to hide out in caves such as an antenna goby and maybe a skunk cleaner shrimp. Or if maybe even a yellow watchman and a pistol shrimp.

IMHO, I would only recommend the clowns if you have excellent filtration and an additional sump, or if you have a rigorous WC routine. And even so, not more than a pair of young (small) ocellaris.

[soymilk]

Blue regal tang!

Like nacra said, it all depends on how much work you wanna do. I kept 2 clowns, 1 yellow assessor, and a Lawnmower blenny together for a while. But maintaince was a pain.

After setting up my sump and getting a skimmer and better powerheads was I able to keep the tank a little cleaner between maintenance. Po4 and no3 was always present. Look at the court jester goby, purple firefish, yellow assessor. Fun and active fish. Can't go wrong with clowns either.


Watchman goby and Randall are ok. They arent very active, so not much to look at. I just see them leering out of they're caves.

[TonyO]

You're telling me exactly what I had thought you would probably tell me. . . so, no worries. I will be filtering the crap out of this tank, and I do plan on adding a skimmer. I've been going back and forth on what type of filtration, and I've been asking around about it, but needless to say, it will be more than plenty.

I realized the tank was pretty small, so I was looking at just small fish. You've confirmed everything I was thinking, but I had to be sure.