What works in 20g?
 

Initially a peacock mantis tank, but unfortantly because of circumstances out of my control it didnt work out. I now have a 20g tank with already planted live rock and large coral substrate. Aside from clown fish, what works in a small tank like that?

predatory fish that don't move a whole lot such as dwarf lions, frogfish, angler, stonefish or scorpions do really well in smaller tanks

Would a frogfish work....? I used to deal with one (I belive a wartskin) at an internship at SIO. They never moved and were pretty inacitve, but all sites ive looked at say tank must be <70g. Could they work in such a tiny tank?

wartskin anglers get about 4" and would work fine in a 20 gallon. I don't know anyone who keeps an angler alone in a 70 gallon tank. most species commonly available will do fine in a 20-30 gallon tank. the bigger ones (7-9 inches) will need a 30. Commerson's anglers and a just one or two others in the trade DO get quite large and need larger tanks, so be sure you have the wartskin ID'd correctly or you trust the store to have it ID'd properly (most don't).

I don't think i'd want a wartskin, their kind of pricey. Im kind of interested in liveaquaria's assorted angler (Antennarius sp.?). So they could work, basically anything sedentary works. Im thinking an angler, a couple of damsels, maybe a clownfish? I also got a handful of tiny hermits, snails, and theirs an 1" long mantis hiding out in there too.

Colored anglers could be anything. I actually received a wartskin once as a "colored" angler, but don't count on that happening. You could take your chances with a "colored angler" and if it outgrew the tank, upgrade or find it a home.

If I were you, I'd look for one at a LFS, maybe ask them to order you one. Two reasons. 1) Anglers aren't the best shippers, and 2) some species are really cryptic, meaning they never come out, and you hardly ever see them, so what you get is an expensive crapshoot.

One reason wartskins are popular is that they are out and about quite a bit.

An inexpensive angler that is out a lot, attractively colored, and easy to ID is the sargassum anglers (Histrio histrio). They get to be about 7 inches as adults, so it might outgrow a 20 eventually. Sometimes striped (striated or hispid) anglers as mislabeled as sargassum anglers. But these get about the same size and are also pretty active and stay in the open.

[img]http://www.starfish.ch/photos/frogfish-Anglerfisch/guest/Buschenreithner-histrio1.jpg[/img]

See Zubi's frogfish site for more great pics and other information (including size) of frogfish species.
[url]http://www.starfish.ch/frogfish/species-arten/Histrio-histrio.html[/url]

You can usually find the Sargassum frogfish for $25-40, cheaper than most anglers, and you will know what you are getting.

If you keep an angler with damsels or clowns, they will end up being expensive food for the angler. Also, that would way overload a 20 gallon tank. Not sure any fish are safe with the mantis, even if it is a smasher rather than a spearer, especially in a small tank.

Im kind of having second thoughts about the frogfish, they are adorable, and I do want one. This is for a school project, when im done and I move everything back [b]then[/b] I can start pursuing more exotic creatures.

The mantis (from what I can tell) is not going to harm a fly. Hes less than an inch long, I think hes a

G. Viridis

[url]http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/species.php?name=g_viridis[/url]


I dont even know what hes eating, but hes lasted about a month so far. I havent noticed any crushed shells or snails missing or hermits missing.

So for now, I think its going to be clowns, anenomes, and damsels...... for now.

I do plan on getting a new tank ASAP, because our DIY tank for the project is starting to buckle :hmm1:

that's probably a good choice, frogfish really aren't beginner fish. hopefully the mantis will behave, but don't underestimate their predatory powers. I have a small one that smashed a sea urchin to pieces that was about 5 times its size. it took on fiddler crabs (they were food) at least 2-3X its size and they never knew what hit them. I never kept my shrimp with fish, but both smashers and spearers may go after them.