Suggestions Needed

H

HomeSweetFishTank

Medium Fish
#1
Sep 3, 2007
52
0
0
Southeast USA
#1
I've got a 20G Long and it's been cycling for about a month now.

A friend of mine was breaking down a spare quarantine tank and gave me a three-striped damsel to temporarily throw into the 20G since everything looked good as far as the test kit was concerned.

We had originally planned to start the tank off with a pair of clowns... Long story short, my girlfriend likes the little guy and I'm wondering about what goes well with them. Would it be alright with the clowns? If not, what would you suggest that is compatible, yet small enough for the 20G? I can give the fish back no problem, he just wanted me to give it a shot since I had waited with nothing in the tank for so long.
 

di0nysus

di0nysus

Large Fish
#2
Sep 9, 2007
260
0
0
sunnyside of california
#2
damsels can be very aggressive if you have a lot of hiding spots you could get away with the 2 clowns. but i would put the clowns in first take out the damsel and put him back in when the clowns settle in. maybe someone has a better suggestion as i am still learning myself.
 

H

HomeSweetFishTank

Medium Fish
#5
Sep 3, 2007
52
0
0
Southeast USA
#5
if you are talking about clown loaches then your tank is not nearly big enough for them. They get quite big. But wait for a more exp. opinion
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As this is the SW forum, no, I am talking about clownfish (false percs).

damsels can be very aggressive if you have a lot of hiding spots you could get away with the 2 clowns. but i would put the clowns in first take out the damsel and put him back in when the clowns settle in.
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This is what I wondered about. In the quarantine tank at one point, he had this damsel, a blue damsel and an occasional clownfish. He had quite a bit of washed PVC fittings piled at the bottom of the tank, so I'm assuming that provided enough cover for the clown.
 

TRe

TRe

Elite Fish
#8
Feb 20, 2005
3,645
1
0
ft. lauderdale
#8
i would stay away from the damsels all together..but you live and you learn and there was a reason your friend had them in a quarentine and not his display ;)
 

CAPSLOCK

CAPSLOCK

Elite Fish
#9
Jul 19, 2004
3,682
33
48
39
Cape Cod
#9
If you really wanted to keep the damsel, maybe another damsel and a pseudochromis would work (someone tell me if that wouldn't... I'm not really sure). Pretty much anything else would likely get beaten up. Most of the fish small enough for a 20g are pretty passive.
 

di0nysus

di0nysus

Large Fish
#13
Sep 9, 2007
260
0
0
sunnyside of california
#13
from all our expierence it would be hard to mix other fish in with the damsel without out it nipping at the fins. "if" you were to get rid of it you would be able to keep the 2 clowns safely with some other nano fish.
trust me, i know how your situation goes my girlfriend loved my yellow tailed damsel and when i got rid of it she really wasnt so happy.
 

CAPSLOCK

CAPSLOCK

Elite Fish
#17
Jul 19, 2004
3,682
33
48
39
Cape Cod
#17
If the damsel is gone, you could do about 3 fish, maybe 4 if they're very small... some ideas (obviously not all of these at once):

A clown (or a pair) - stick with percula or false percula, or skunks
A firefish (or a pair)
A smaller flasher wrasse or possum wrasse
A blenny if you've got enough light for some algae to grow
Pretty much any goby - if you get neons they could be a pair, if you get one of the sand sifters you might be able to pair it with a pistol shrimp.
A royal gramma
A jawfish (if you have a deep sand bed)

You'd want to research any of those that interest you to get a nice combination.
 

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