is this an ok community?

[rick2010]

24 gallon nano cube with 20lbs live rock and about 20 lbs of base rock. Please give me advice on if this is an acceptable group of things for this tank.

Royal Gramma
Firefish
Ocellaris Clown
Yellow Goby

3 peppermint shrimp
Coral Banded Shrimp

I would like a crab...which species could I get?

I would like to get a colt coral, or some sort of tree leather. Which would be best?
Also maybe a torch coral.

Other than that I only plan to keep mostly mushrooms and polyps.

Also, I would like to get a starfish, but I can't seem to find one that would fare well in my tank. are there any that stay small that would be ok in only 24 gallons?

My tank is finally finished cycling (5 LOOOOONG weeks :x ) so I would like to get my first critters this week!

 

[Anonymous]

24 gallon nano cube with 20lbs live rock and about 20 lbs of base rock. Please give me advice on if this is an acceptable group of things for this tank.

Royal Gramma
Firefish
Ocellaris Clown
Yellow Goby

For a 24, I'd be tempted to skip one of those fish simply due to bioload, and if it were my choice I'd do without the clown which could have some aggression issues, and eventually will get too big with regard to the tank size. But that's just IMhhO

3 peppermint shrimp
Coral Banded Shrimp

I would like a crab...which species could I get?

I've not had good luck with crabs, other than the standard hermits so I can't give ya any suggestions on that.

I would like to get a colt coral, or some sort of tree leather. Which would be best?
Also maybe a torch coral.

Either would be nice, my personal chouce would be a nice yellow leather. Torches are another fav of mine.

Also, I would like to get a starfish, but I can't seem to find one that would fare well in my tank. are there any that stay small that would be ok in only 24 gallons?

None that come to mind, but hopefully someone else may have a suggestion here.

 

[Mike612]

I agree with everything that lawdawg said. I would also personally leave out the clownfish because of the tank size. I think that you should also leave out the Coral Banded Shrimp because they're known to be a little agressive and they are known to eat other shrimps like the Peppermints. In terms of starfish, there really aren't any that you can keep in a tank that size. They need big tanks with tons of live rock, more than a 24 gallon can support.

 

[rick2010]

I knew that starfish get large and would starve, I was just wondering if there were any.....I guess not... What about micro stars, dont they stay less than an inch in diameter?

I will wait till I have a larger tank then for the clownfish,..once I graduate college, I plan to start a 75 gallon reef.

Thanks for the advice guys!

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, the astrina (sp?) stars do stay small, and come in as hitchikers on liverock.

 

[cindre2000]

By yellow goby do you mean clown goby or watchman goby or cleaner goby? All very different fish.

Watchman would fight the firefish but the rest should get along. I would personally either go with the firefish or the royal gramma, but not both. For no other reason than firefish tend to be delicate and I would not want to stress them.

Either way, you could place all those fish in there when they are small; however, they will grow and eventually you would need to remove the clown and royal gramma, but that could be years away.

Also, skip the coral banded, they are aggressive and will kill any other shrimp and the occasional fish. As for crabs, you would be best off with hermits; however they are usually opportunistic, so you have to face the consequences if you get a snail killer (scarlets and blue legs are the best in this regard).

Only issue with the colt and tree is they both grow fast, I would us a torch/frogspawn/hammer, etc to keep it from spreading to quickly.

 

[mr_X]

i have a coral banded and the only thing he ever killed was bristleworms.
i'm not sure if being in a small tank like that would make them behave differently, but if he sees a shrimp close-by, he just stands there with his claws out, and does nothing until the shrimp backs away, then he goes about his business.


porcelain crabs, i've had good luck with. they don't bother anyone. the trouble is, they rarely come out in the light, so you'll be catching a glimpse here and there, i don't know if it's enough to warrant buying one.

emerald crabs don't seem to bother with anything until they are large(about the size of a half-dollar), then they knock over frags and sometimes pick at xenia- which doesn't seem like such a bad thing :wink:

i bought a colt coral about the size of an apple, and it turned into a football in under a year.

 

[cindre2000]

I have had some experience with coral banded shrimp in small tanks and they will take out other shrimp. Fish are less likely to be attacked, however, the shrimp probably will be opportunistic.

 

[rick2010]

making my first purchase tomorrow....thanks for the advice, Ill update this after I acclimate everything.. oh and I meant a yellow clown goby.