stock list for my 29g...what do you think?

clayw · 09/19/2009, 02:01 AM

Hello Everyone,
So I just picked up another nano tank because I wanted to start over again with out losing my other nano =] I also wanted to try the Hamilton 29g nano. It seems to be very well put together and not to much different than my JBJ give or take a few things, also it was a fairly priced tank so I thought I would give it a try and see how it does. I also plan on starting a thread when I begin to set everything up so that you guys can see the progess!!! (a month or so)

Here is a stocklist of what I plan on keeping. I want your feedback, good or bad, all opinions welcome. I realize that I have listed 5 fish for this small tank, and may knock one off to keep it at 4. Let me know if you think these 5 will be ok though!!!

STOCKLIST

fish:
1. mated pair of picassos (not sure where I want to order from yet)
2. Bluespotted Jawfish
3.Helfrichi Firefish
4.Flaming Prawn Goby OR!!! Tiger Watchmen Goby

With the picassos I would like to get a nice LTA for them, or else a BTA...possibly a Rose Anenome???. And as for the fish list throw out any opinions..do i have to many? compatability? personal expierence? etc. etc. etc. anything goes...

invertebrates:
1. Sexy Shrimp (2 or 3) OR!!! Harlequin Shrimp (2)
2. Fire Shrimp
3. Coco Worm

I've never had harlequins...anyone with expierence? I love their look!

snails:
1. Nassarius
2. Astrea
3. ???? anymore ????

I would like to go crabless for this tank. I have never done this with my other tanks. Id like to get some opinions on this from you all. Pros vs. Cons?

All corals will be coming from Vivid Aquariums, its not far from my house...havent decided on what I want yet though

username in use · 09/19/2009, 07:38 AM

I dont see any real problems with the fish list. That being said, if you decide to not get an anemone, as they can be tricky in small tanks, you could get a frogspawn/hamnmer, my clown spends all day in annd around mine. Harlequin shrimp will need starfish to survive, if your ok getting a chocolate chip start eveery now and then, or buying asterina's off someone with a large tank then you should be ok. I dont see any problem with not having any crabs, but Id look into dwarf ceriths as well, they are really tiny and will clean out the ares that the crabs would normaly pick into with their claws. Cant wait to see the setup photos, good luck.

username in use · 09/19/2009, 07:39 AM

sorry about the spelling errors, Im a little hungover today.

clayw · 09/19/2009, 08:39 AM

That's what I was thinking as well witht the fish. In my 40g I don't have an anenome but I do have a branching hammer and my perc won't get in it. He swims directly above it and sometimes picks at it....strange.
I really want this fish list I think it's unique and I'll most definitly check out the dwarf cerith. It's a small tank and I've never had just snails CUC how many would you recommend?

As for the harlequins I don't mind that at all. But it was my impression that they are fairly small...? Wouldn't a choclate chip star be to big for them?

clayw · 09/19/2009, 05:28 PM

Anymore advice from you guys? I know there are people on here waaaaay more the wiser ;]

username in use · 09/19/2009, 06:08 PM

As far as the CUC, I was very pleased with the package that reefcleaners.org put together for me, keeps everything clean, sand nice and white, rocks sparkling. As far as the harlequins, I havent kept any, but have heard of people feeding choco chips to them.

clayw · 09/19/2009, 06:30 PM

You have a snail only CUC? I'll check them out for sure. I to have heard that choco strs will feed the harlequins. Those seem rather large but oh well. I'd like to add a couple sexy shrimp as well because they are so small

fox2589 · 09/19/2009, 06:44 PM

the only problem i c is jawfish are pretty aggressive/territorial and may fight with the watchmen or any other goby..-drew

clayw · 09/19/2009, 07:59 PM

That's what I was thinking, so my plan was to introduce either the prawn goby or tiger , which ever I go with, BEFORE the jawfish...would that help it at all? I planned on addin the jawfish as my last fish - clay

wrott · 09/19/2009, 10:40 PM

Sounds like a good selection, but I would not get a rose BTA w/ the orange clowns, in the long run I believe the color contrast of a nice green BTA will be far more beautiful.

clayw · 09/20/2009, 12:51 AM

I thought I read somewhere that GBTAs can sometimes have an effect on the clowns darkening in color...was this a specific species or all clowns in general hosting that type of nem?

Oh and I'm starting to lean away from the flaming prawn goby. I'm thinking I'm going to take him off the stocklist

username in use · 09/20/2009, 07:13 AM

I think that anything that stings, i.e. anemone's, frogspawns etc, can cause a darkening of the clown. I believe this is called hypermelanization (spelling?) which is a darkening of the area that has been stung. This has happened to my clown with the frogspawn.

bsagecko · 09/20/2009, 07:51 AM

With the harlequin shrimp....

Ppl buy say a choco starfish and keep it in the sump then every couple days or like once a week u cut a leg off off of the starfish and feed it into the display for the harelquin....they get a meal and the starfishes leg will regenerate.......

This eating though can get really messy so be prepared....I would recommend either increased water changes or an overpowered PS

Also the jawfish will require an extremely secure lid as they are prevalent jumpers...in addition they require like a 6" sand bed to make there burrow...which might be a lil hard in a tank that small...

I would seriously consider only doing one or the other of either the jawfish or the prawn goby.....

I would go with an RBTA...for your clownsand let the RBTA settle down before you stock the tank with corals that way there is less of a chance of the coral getting stung....with that said mt clowns host about 20 heads of frogspawn....so i would seriously consider getting frogspawn instead of an nem'

Going crabless is totally fine i only have like 4 in my 150g....I would just get a turkey baster and 'puff' water at the rocks every couple of days to loosen the settled detrius back into the water column so that a filter sock can remove it....

Also coco worms are kinda hit and miss sometimes in a smaller system...I would maybe try doing some small feather dusters first and then go with a coco worm if the feather dusters survive???

As far as corals go i would recommend staying away from anything that is hardcore into stinging or chemical warfare because the tank is so small

Hope this helps

clayw · 09/20/2009, 11:07 AM

see i dont want the frogspawn to darken the clowns more than they have to be if im going to pick up some picassos...thats why I'd like a nem. And i for sure planned on putting the nem in BEFORE everything else once I have a stable tank for that exact reason, that it can anchor and not bother anything else that would have been in if I put the nem in later. thanks for the info User Name!

the harlequin shrimp are something I would really like to keep I think they are an extremely interesting creature. I understand they they eat the stars, cutting one apart seems cruel to do weekly, but I suppose thats just nature because they would eat them anyways...bsagecko, have you heard anything about the homemade PVC den for the jawfish when they have a more shallow sand bed?
why do you seriously consider one or the either? territorial issues?
RBTA is the one I wanted most, again I dont want them getting more stung by the coral than they would by the nem. wow! thats a big tank to have no crabs! really cool, well yes thats what Ive decided to do with the new nano.
what kind of snails do you have? I was going with ceriths, nassarius, and astrea...maybe another type?
I will have a skimmer on the tank and be doing that daily, but I'll probably stay away from a lot of SPS, if any at all for that matter.
-clay

clayw · 09/20/2009, 04:48 PM

Anyone know where I can find picassos for sale?

bsagecko · 09/20/2009, 05:30 PM

I havent heard about the homemade PVC den....If you can get it to work that would be cool....
I would seriously consider one or the other because of territorial issues and that both will be on the sand floor and in a 29G once you put the rock in there wont be a whole lot of floor

I have like 80 astera and about 10 nassarius

I would stay away from all sps except like monti caps...they are pretty easy...
I would also recommend staying away from frogspawn or hammer..or any big leathers to help with the chem warfare......

clayw · 09/20/2009, 05:45 PM

I'll think about all that when stocking for sure...as far as the sand bed, when I get m first large tank 150g+ I'm toying with the concept of dual sandbeds...don't know ifthis has ever been done...if that makes sense. Like a second story smaller sand bed. I've got a few ideas on how to do this so far that seem promising

09/19/2009, 02:01 AM	#1
clayw Moved On Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Southern California Posts: 1,311	stock list for my 29g...what do you think? Hello Everyone, So I just picked up another nano tank because I wanted to start over again with out losing my other nano =] I also wanted to try the Hamilton 29g nano. It seems to be very well put together and not to much different than my JBJ give or take a few things, also it was a fairly priced tank so I thought I would give it a try and see how it does. I also plan on starting a thread when I begin to set everything up so that you guys can see the progess!!! (a month or so) Here is a stocklist of what I plan on keeping. I want your feedback, good or bad, all opinions welcome. I realize that I have listed 5 fish for this small tank, and may knock one off to keep it at 4. Let me know if you think these 5 will be ok though!!! STOCKLIST fish: 1. mated pair of picassos (not sure where I want to order from yet) 2. Bluespotted Jawfish 3.Helfrichi Firefish 4.Flaming Prawn Goby OR!!! Tiger Watchmen Goby With the picassos I would like to get a nice LTA for them, or else a BTA...possibly a Rose Anenome???. And as for the fish list throw out any opinions..do i have to many? compatability? personal expierence? etc. etc. etc. anything goes... invertebrates: 1. Sexy Shrimp (2 or 3) OR!!! Harlequin Shrimp (2) 2. Fire Shrimp 3. Coco Worm I've never had harlequins...anyone with expierence? I love their look! snails: 1. Nassarius 2. Astrea 3. ???? anymore ???? I would like to go crabless for this tank. I have never done this with my other tanks. Id like to get some opinions on this from you all. Pros vs. Cons? All corals will be coming from Vivid Aquariums, its not far from my house...havent decided on what I want yet though

09/19/2009, 07:38 AM	#2
username in use Sciencing Daily Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 6,560	I dont see any real problems with the fish list. That being said, if you decide to not get an anemone, as they can be tricky in small tanks, you could get a frogspawn/hamnmer, my clown spends all day in annd around mine. Harlequin shrimp will need starfish to survive, if your ok getting a chocolate chip start eveery now and then, or buying asterina's off someone with a large tank then you should be ok. I dont see any problem with not having any crabs, but Id look into dwarf ceriths as well, they are really tiny and will clean out the ares that the crabs would normaly pick into with their claws. Cant wait to see the setup photos, good luck. __________________ Joshua "With fronds like these, who needs anemones?" - Albert Einstein Current Tank Info: multiple nano's sprinkled around the house

09/19/2009, 07:39 AM	#3
username in use Sciencing Daily Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 6,560	sorry about the spelling errors, Im a little hungover today. __________________ Joshua "With fronds like these, who needs anemones?" - Albert Einstein Current Tank Info: multiple nano's sprinkled around the house

09/19/2009, 06:08 PM	#6
username in use Sciencing Daily Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 6,560	As far as the CUC, I was very pleased with the package that reefcleaners.org put together for me, keeps everything clean, sand nice and white, rocks sparkling. As far as the harlequins, I havent kept any, but have heard of people feeding choco chips to them. __________________ Joshua "With fronds like these, who needs anemones?" - Albert Einstein Current Tank Info: multiple nano's sprinkled around the house

09/19/2009, 06:44 PM	#8
fox2589 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Indiana Posts: 557	the only problem i c is jawfish are pretty aggressive/territorial and may fight with the watchmen or any other goby..-drew __________________ Back in the game.and no its not the first time haha. Current Tank Info: 40 breeder,20 gallon sump,bubble magus nac 6,eheim 1250 return,175 halide on lumenarc mini.

09/19/2009, 08:39 AM	#4
clayw Moved On Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Southern California Posts: 1,311	That's what I was thinking as well witht the fish. In my 40g I don't have an anenome but I do have a branching hammer and my perc won't get in it. He swims directly above it and sometimes picks at it....strange. I really want this fish list I think it's unique and I'll most definitly check out the dwarf cerith. It's a small tank and I've never had just snails CUC how many would you recommend? As for the harlequins I don't mind that at all. But it was my impression that they are fairly small...? Wouldn't a choclate chip star be to big for them?

09/19/2009, 05:28 PM	#5
clayw Moved On Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Southern California Posts: 1,311	Anymore advice from you guys? I know there are people on here waaaaay more the wiser ;]

09/19/2009, 06:30 PM	#7
clayw Moved On Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Southern California Posts: 1,311	You have a snail only CUC? I'll check them out for sure. I to have heard that choco strs will feed the harlequins. Those seem rather large but oh well. I'd like to add a couple sexy shrimp as well because they are so small

09/19/2009, 07:59 PM	#9
clayw Moved On Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Southern California Posts: 1,311	That's what I was thinking, so my plan was to introduce either the prawn goby or tiger , which ever I go with, BEFORE the jawfish...would that help it at all? I planned on addin the jawfish as my last fish - clay

09/19/2009, 10:40 PM	#10
wrott Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,912	Sounds like a good selection, but I would not get a rose BTA w/ the orange clowns, in the long run I believe the color contrast of a nice green BTA will be far more beautiful. __________________ OK, but where does the meat go! ------------------------------------------------ 120g SPS, 125g mix, 56g FOWLR, 20g qt

09/20/2009, 12:51 AM	#11
clayw Moved On Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Southern California Posts: 1,311	I thought I read somewhere that GBTAs can sometimes have an effect on the clowns darkening in color...was this a specific species or all clowns in general hosting that type of nem? Oh and I'm starting to lean away from the flaming prawn goby. I'm thinking I'm going to take him off the stocklist

09/20/2009, 07:13 AM	#12
username in use Sciencing Daily Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 6,560	I think that anything that stings, i.e. anemone's, frogspawns etc, can cause a darkening of the clown. I believe this is called hypermelanization (spelling?) which is a darkening of the area that has been stung. This has happened to my clown with the frogspawn. __________________ Joshua "With fronds like these, who needs anemones?" - Albert Einstein Current Tank Info: multiple nano's sprinkled around the house

09/20/2009, 07:51 AM	#13
bsagecko Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Florida Posts: 1,752	With the harlequin shrimp.... Ppl buy say a choco starfish and keep it in the sump then every couple days or like once a week u cut a leg off off of the starfish and feed it into the display for the harelquin....they get a meal and the starfishes leg will regenerate....... This eating though can get really messy so be prepared....I would recommend either increased water changes or an overpowered PS Also the jawfish will require an extremely secure lid as they are prevalent jumpers...in addition they require like a 6" sand bed to make there burrow...which might be a lil hard in a tank that small... I would seriously consider only doing one or the other of either the jawfish or the prawn goby..... I would go with an RBTA...for your clownsand let the RBTA settle down before you stock the tank with corals that way there is less of a chance of the coral getting stung....with that said mt clowns host about 20 heads of frogspawn....so i would seriously consider getting frogspawn instead of an nem' Going crabless is totally fine i only have like 4 in my 150g....I would just get a turkey baster and 'puff' water at the rocks every couple of days to loosen the settled detrius back into the water column so that a filter sock can remove it.... Also coco worms are kinda hit and miss sometimes in a smaller system...I would maybe try doing some small feather dusters first and then go with a coco worm if the feather dusters survive??? As far as corals go i would recommend staying away from anything that is hardcore into stinging or chemical warfare because the tank is so small Hope this helps __________________ There are three things that will never be believed- the true, the probable, the logical (Steinbeck) Obey little, Resist much Current Tank Info: 24g AIO

09/20/2009, 11:07 AM	#14
clayw Moved On Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Southern California Posts: 1,311	see i dont want the frogspawn to darken the clowns more than they have to be if im going to pick up some picassos...thats why I'd like a nem. And i for sure planned on putting the nem in BEFORE everything else once I have a stable tank for that exact reason, that it can anchor and not bother anything else that would have been in if I put the nem in later. thanks for the info User Name! the harlequin shrimp are something I would really like to keep I think they are an extremely interesting creature. I understand they they eat the stars, cutting one apart seems cruel to do weekly, but I suppose thats just nature because they would eat them anyways...bsagecko, have you heard anything about the homemade PVC den for the jawfish when they have a more shallow sand bed? why do you seriously consider one or the either? territorial issues? RBTA is the one I wanted most, again I dont want them getting more stung by the coral than they would by the nem. wow! thats a big tank to have no crabs! really cool, well yes thats what Ive decided to do with the new nano. what kind of snails do you have? I was going with ceriths, nassarius, and astrea...maybe another type? I will have a skimmer on the tank and be doing that daily, but I'll probably stay away from a lot of SPS, if any at all for that matter. -clay

09/20/2009, 04:48 PM	#15
clayw Moved On Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Southern California Posts: 1,311	Anyone know where I can find picassos for sale?

09/20/2009, 05:30 PM	#16
bsagecko Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Florida Posts: 1,752	I havent heard about the homemade PVC den....If you can get it to work that would be cool.... I would seriously consider one or the other because of territorial issues and that both will be on the sand floor and in a 29G once you put the rock in there wont be a whole lot of floor I have like 80 astera and about 10 nassarius I would stay away from all sps except like monti caps...they are pretty easy... I would also recommend staying away from frogspawn or hammer..or any big leathers to help with the chem warfare...... __________________ There are three things that will never be believed- the true, the probable, the logical (Steinbeck) Obey little, Resist much Current Tank Info: 24g AIO

09/20/2009, 05:45 PM	#17
clayw Moved On Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Southern California Posts: 1,311	I'll think about all that when stocking for sure...as far as the sand bed, when I get m first large tank 150g+ I'm toying with the concept of dual sandbeds...don't know ifthis has ever been done...if that makes sense. Like a second story smaller sand bed. I've got a few ideas on how to do this so far that seem promising