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View Full Version : 20g reef invert options/help


customdrum
11/13/2009, 04:02 PM
i havent started this tank yet but i want to do a all invert tank.
what are some good newbie/starter inverts for a 20g high tank
i have found stuff like peppermint shrimp,tubro snails but what else is out there thats a small species. i like the idea of stuff like, crabs,snails,starfish, maybe a clam?

if theres a good list of inverts and care out there that would be great.

DarthAWM
11/14/2009, 12:20 AM
i havent started this tank yet but i want to do a all invert tank.
what are some good newbie/starter inverts for a 20g high tank
i have found stuff like peppermint shrimp,tubro snails but what else is out there thats a small species. i like the idea of stuff like, crabs,snails,starfish, maybe a clam?

if theres a good list of inverts and care out there that would be great.

A Coral Banded Shrimp is a nice addition, as are fire/blood shrimp and skunk cleaners. Crabs can be fine if you aren't keeping corals and other sessile inverts.

Arkayology
11/14/2009, 01:47 AM
Make sure you have the right lighting requirements for a clam if you go there route.

I just got a coral banded shrimp in my tank today. I like him a lot, but you have to be careful with these. They are known to attack small fish and other shrimp so you couldn't have a cleaner shrimp. I don't plan on keep other inverts with this guy other then snails.

Maybe look around at the CBS or cleaner shrimp, different crabs and starfish. Smaller urchins are also a possibility such as the pencil or tuxedo urchin. Look around at some websites from the sponsors to see what is available.

tetra-tag
11/14/2009, 02:02 AM
Personally, I've always felt that the full size cleaner shrimps looked out of place in small tanks, just because the antennae are so long.
You might want to think about Thor amboinensis, the so-called sexy shrimp, best in small groups rather than singly. There's also Gnathophylum americanum, the 'Bumblebee Shrimp' which can be found through online dealers from time to time. They eat echinoderm tube-feet in the wild, but supposedly will take other items in captivity (unlike Hymenocera, the Harlequin Shrimp.)
I have a 10 gallon set-up in which I intend to keep Lybia tesselata, the 'Boxer Crab' which earned the common name from its habit of carrying a small anemone in each claw for defense. You could probably also get away with Colochirus robustus, a small filter feeding sea cucumber, bright yellow in color, if you set up a refugium and dose phyto occasionally.
Shimek, Michael and Lougher have all written reference books focusing on invertebrates commonly kept in the hobby.