stocking a 20H

[KafudaFish]

Hello.

I have been thinking of stocking a standard 20H and would like some ideas please.

I am pretty much open though I am leaning more towards a community tank vs. a species only such as an angler. My wife says I choose boring things sometimes like mantis shrimp.

I was thinking maybe a dwarf angel as the "show fish" such as a coral beauty, a trio of cardnials and maybe a pair of green striped gobies.

I would also consider a chalk bass or yellow coris wrasse too.

Please note I would not throw all of those fish in together rather making a list so to speak.

Thanks.

[JHemdal]

Mike,

I'd skip the yellow coris wrasse, at around 5" full gown, and a very active fish - even if you leave all of the tank open for swimming room, the fish length to tank L+W ratio is only around 1:7, so that isn't much space for it to cruise.

You might go a "small" pygmy angel, C. argi and the group. Watch the big mouths some cardinals have if you go with tiny green striped gobies.

I'm not a fan of chalk bass in small tanks - sure they hover, but out on the reef they do move around a bit, so I suspect they need a bit more room than some people think.

Personally, I'd go with a Trimma goby, maybe a shrimp/goby pair (smaller ones).


Jay

[namxas]

You could also consider a leaf scorp or waspfish. Our c.ockatoo wasp is a delightful little fish. One caveat is that leaf fish are hard to wean onto frozen foods, but the waspfish seem to be pretty EZ (we currently keep 2 species of waspfish).

Both leafs and wasps have relatively small mouths, so as long as they get their share of food, they are fine in a community setting.

[KafudaFish]

Thanks to both of you for the suggestions.

Yeah the yellow was iffy. I figured he would jump at some point but did not know about the bass. I just miss my old one.

The idea of a waspfish etc. sounds interesting and have looked at the tanks showing them here and I like them.

Trimma or Eviota spp. sound interesting too and have seen a tank with a few so I know they are colorful and I like the idea of fish that "come and go" and are not seen glued to the front glass all the time.



I am trying to keep the fish small and nothing that will out grow the tank in a year though I have plenty of room available if necessary.

[KafudaFish]

Well I was surfing around RC and remembered one of those "man I want to try this" ideas I have had in my head forever.

I may try to do a mangrove display tank. I would have some LR in the display but want the structure to also be the root systems.

I remember collecting mojarras one day for class and always thought it was interesting.

Any good ideas for fish stocking?