How many fishes can I put in 24 gallon nano?

[alikhan2004]

Hi I have a 24 gallon nano cube with 25 pounds of live rock and I want to know how many fishes can I put in it?

[Woodstock]

Not many. The rule of thumb is 1" of adult fish per 3-5 gallons of water. Figure in that the sand and rock displace water also so you don't have a full 24 gallons. A rough figure would be 4-6" of fish... small fish that would be okay with the small amount of swimming area. Maybe a couple of gobies?
You can add fun to watch shrimp! Sexy shrimp are super cool and would add a lot of entertainment

[Fishhead Junkie]

i've got a 29BC and i over did the fish thing to the max. at one time i probably had at least 10 fish in there...way way too many. i just couldnt help myself. nature slowly weeded it down for me and now i am left with 5 fish...some of them are already too big for the tank, especially the maroon clown and the banded bullet goby.

my advice would be to get some really small and peaceful fish that wont kick the crap outta each other. if i started all over..i grab a yellow watchman goby and a pistol shrimp to start off with, a 6 line wrasse, maybe a lawnmower blenny or scooter blenny, you'll enjoy your tank so much more if you arent worrying about your fish beating each other up when new ones are added. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY...do not add any type of damsel to your tank, even if it is to cycle it....they get big, they get ugly, and they are impossible to get out.

steve

[dobejazz]

I have 2 fish in my 24g nano cube a yellow watchman and a Percula clown - I have tried to add a 3rd fish a couple times in the beginning and they never did well so for the last 2 years it's been the originals and they are doing great

[lcstorc]

Sounds about right Kelli.
You have managed to strike a balance in your system.

I know it is tempting to add more fish when they are small but experience and knowledge also play a part. If you have one or two small fish now it will be fairly easy to maintain the system. As the fish grow so will your knowledge and your system will mature.

[Illuminati]

You could easily get away with 4-5 smaller fish in there if you stock it right.

The goal is to find fish that stick to a certain part of the tank.

Yellow Watchman Gobies always stay in the sandbed and make burrows:




Blackcap Bassletts prefer to stay in and around the rockwork





Clowns can host a variety of corals. This guy hosted a Torch coral 24/7 and wasn't very active in the display:



A final fish could be a Bangaii Cardinal or a Red Firefish. Both are very colorful and prefer to hang out in the open parts of the tank.


Lot's of other options as well.
You could replace the YWG for a Jawfish.
You could do a semi-aggressive tank with Tomato or Marron Clowns and a Pseudochromis.
Your final fish could be a smaller flasher Wrasse like a McKosker Flasher Wrasse.

Just make sure to research your selections as best you can and be picky, it's a small tank and you will soon be full

[Fishhead Junkie]

i like your choices of fish illumanti...good selection, plenty of color. i know everyone wants a clownfish in their tank, it kinda just screams saltwater tank, but they are just so darn territorial. i am sure my maroon is more so than the standard clown but i think all of them will pick on other fish if they get too close.

i gave up on the firefish because they kept jumping into the rear and dying.

the yellow watchman seems totally docile

i've never had one of those basslets, just a lantern basslet and he kept to himself but had no problem laying down the law if he had too.

a purple pseudo would be nice, or how bout a diamond sleeper goby. i personally really miss my red hawkfish...everyone loves them and he left my peppermint shrimp alone unlike the long nosed hawkfish.

steve

[lcstorc]

I would not put another clown in with a maroon particularly in a small space. Maroons are very very territorial.

[alikhan2004]

Thanks for the replies people but I am definitely going to get 2 clowns about half inch each and I am also going to get a cleaner shrimp for sure. But what else should I get...I don't like any gobys because they always hide so what else can I get?

[Fishhead Junkie]

if you have some nice sand in your tank get yourself a diamond sleeper goby...he'll sift your sand for you and they arent always hiding as long as you have some nice open sand area for them to clean.

steve

[Emg]

Six line wrasse...they're pretty active and you'll see it swimming around and about the rockwork all the time..... but......don't get one if you plan on ornamental shrimp....it may eat them. Mine did....

My yellow watchman is always out and about and very friendly too. He comes right to the front of the tank when he sees me and will just sit there and stare at me. Not shy at all.

I have a pair of percula clowns and they get along fine with everyone else in the tank. I have the watchman and a coral beauty dwarf angel. The clowns pretty much hang around the two hairy shrooms they've adopted with occasional excursions over to my patch of macro. I wouldn't go with maroon clowns or tomatos....they get way too big for a 24 and they tend to be more aggressive than the percs and occelerus.

Dwarf angel ?