12 gallon nano fish ideas!

[DrCooper]

I realize this is annoying but after my failed attempt at pearly jawfish I wanted to give my tank a break and let it really adjust since I am starting from scratch. The sand and rock came from my old tank but everything I had otherwise died. I got a great cleanup crew from reefcleaners and am now ready to research the perfect fish.

I want to make this tank mainly interesting inverts but need a fish (or two)? The tank will house soft corals like zoas and shrooms as well

Any ideas on fish?
Just picking everyones brain as I see some great choices in the tanks I read about on here?

-Cooper

 

[DrCooper]

2 fish I love-->

Gumdrop coral croucher (if can find nice color)
Flame hawkfish

thoughts on in 12 gallon

 

[Chraddam]

Bluespot Goby and a Blenny(to help with cleaning up). A pair of Josh's baby clowns, and a small anemone. Cus clowns are cute

 

[OneTimer]

What size tank does the Hawkfish need?

I like the Fridmani and Bangaii Cardinal- it hovers like a helicopter -looks great against colorful zoa-

 

[DrCooper]

Tank lights wont keep an anemone alive i fear

 

[richardhmc]

gobies are nice like neons, yellow clown

 

[JonnyIce]

Maybe this is a cool alternative to a hawkfish...I read that its more like an anthias than an actual hawkfish:
http://www.petco.com/product/108808/Hawkfish,-Geometric-Pygmy.aspx

 

[aznt1217]

Hey Dr. Cooper,

What happened with the Jawfish?

Anyway, you can do a flame hawk but I wouldn't put any other fish after that lol. They can be pretty territorial (it'll vary) but 12 gallons could be pushing it.

I had a 14 Gallon Biocube when I first started and I had the following:

Pearly Jawfish-- who I fed with Chopsticks lol.
2 Clowns
1 Firefish

 

[cowfish]

Wow, you guys really like to push the stocking limits. IMO 1 or 2 small fish is the max for a 12g. How about a tailspot blennie, court jest/rainfordi goby,Hector's goby or a trio of Trimma gobies?

 

[Chraddam]

Anemone will be fine if you feed it. And the tank will do well with a skimmer...hmmm, happen to have a small one for $????????? for ya Coop, it will definitely handle the bioload.

And Ted- "Chopsticks" lmao!!!

 

[DrCooper]

Anemone will be fine if you feed it. And the tank will do well with a skimmer...hmmm, happen to have a small one for $????????? for ya Coop, it will definitely handle the bioload.

And Ted- "Chopsticks" lmao!!!

what kind of skimmer would you use on this tank? i sold my aqua c remora and still have a das ex1 hahahaha, that would certainly handle the 12 gallon!

 

[aznt1217]

it really depends on how much room you got on those back chambers.

Jeff is referring to the Biocube skimmer with an Air stone. I had it and it was okay. But I would measure the room you have on the back chambers and decide if you want to keep the stock hood first.

I love the Tunze 9002 but not sure if you got room for that

 

[DrCooper]

trying to keep it as stock as possible so keeping the hood!

 

[DrCooper]

anyone have any info on those two cardinal fish listed on page 1?

 

[OneTimer]

Over stocking kills - period- KISS - Keep it simple stupid- 14 gallon 2 fish and less headaches- less feeding- less water changes- etc.

Hawk fish is pushing it- There are some beautiful gobies and blennies that would be great

JMO

 

[noelskii]

i have a 12 gallon NC with 2 percs, purple dottyback, cleaner shrimp yellow clown goby, RBTA,some softies and LOTS of coralline. no skimmer, stock hood. been up for over a year and it's going great!

 

[LaurieC]

Check out liveaquaria.com They have a whole list of nano fish which would be great for your tank. Cardinals need 20G or more. A Falco's Hawkfish would be ok in your tank, but they can eat inverts. Aside from the Gobies and Blennies: most Dottybacks, Firefish, Yellow Tail Damsel, Ocellaris Clownfish, Unarmed Perchlet (very cute fish), Yellow Assesors, Royal Grammas will all do well in your size tank. Might get away with a Six Lined Wrasse.

Personally, I'd look into getting a Shrimp Goby and it's mated shrimp--that would be an interesting relationship to watch and you could still get another fish or two that swims around.

Also, check out www.wetwebmedia.com for loads of info.

 

[adamt]

i have a 12 gallon NC with 2 percs, purple dottyback, cleaner shrimp yellow clown goby, RBTA,some softies and LOTS of coralline. no skimmer, stock hood. been up for over a year and it's going great!

I was speeding on my way to work today and didnt get pulled over or crash, does that mean that I should tell someone that speeding is a good idea?

its great that all of your fish are doing well, but keeping that many fish in a tank that small is not a good idea, and suggesting otherwise is irresponsible.

An interesting fact about anenomes: anenomes' cells have the ability regenerate indefinately, meaning that they have the potential to live for thousands of years under the right conditions.

again, its cool that your anenome is doing well, but anenomes require pristine water, bright lights, and consistant levels, and they are not appropriate livestock for a 12 gallon tank.

As for stocking suggestions...

shrimp gobie and pistol shrimp combo
pair or even a trio of clown gobies
rainfords goby
pair of occilarus
bangaii cardinal
royal gramma
neon gobies are really really cool and you could easily keep four or five
pygmy or fireball angel
helfriechs firefish would be an exotic single specimen
purple or reg. firefish (dont mix though)would be a cheaper alternative, and if you got them all at the same time you could maybe do two or three
dwarf seahorses (i know a guy that breeds them, theyre really really small and you could prolly keep 4-5)

theres a ton of different directions you could go, feel free to shoot me a pm if you wanna talk about some more ideas.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Angler damsel tank

 

[cybermeez]

Pygmy Hawks in my experince are hard to keep. They are very sensitive to water quality and that can be more difficult to balance in a nano tank vs. a bigger tank. Smaller water volume means when things go bad, they go bad in a hurry.

Gobies are great fish and there are several smaller species that are perfect for nano tanks. Be careful in your selection though because some - like Panda and sand sifting Gobies - have specific needs. Pandas for example need a at least one pocillipora in the tank and sifters need live sand with pods to feed on in addition to the usual frozen meaty foods.