How many galons would I need to keep a goby or a clown

Luke PRA · #1 03/03/2005, 11:55 AM

I have set up a 1 galon nano and its been doing realy well its been almost a moth now and in it at the moment I have 3 left handed hermits, 1 snail, and a small crab that stowed away on some rock that I brought back form Vancouver Isaland. About 1 inch sand bed from Van. and about 4 lbs of live rock. Its being lit by a Auqa Lux 13 watt, 7200 k light. I have a mini power head that circulates water in the back of the tank. And a small filter on the inside.

Now my question is this is obviousely a too small system to house a fish in. So how much biger would I have to go in order to be able to house a goby or a clown? I would realy like to have a goby and shrimp pair. I want to stay under 5 gl.

All input is welcome

Thanks

L

GoodCaviar · #2 03/03/2005, 12:15 PM

I would say, for many reasons, absolutly no less than 10g. Aside from water quality issues, you'd want to offer your fish as much space as possible. One small clown or one small goby could be done in a 10g.

Personally, i'd go for the goby.

Sugar Magnolia · #3 03/03/2005, 03:26 PM

Don't put a fish in there. 1 gallon is not going to be big enough to handle the bioload a fish puts out. Stick with the inverts. If you want something neat in there other than the inverts you have, add a couple of sexy shrimp. They're a member of the cleaner shrimp family and will help keep the tank clean.

Jimsmowen · #4 03/03/2005, 04:26 PM

Hmm, seen people put them in small tanks, since you put you dont want to go over 5gal, then of course your best option is to go with that..

I have a pair of false clowns in my 6.5gal

skipm · #5 03/04/2005, 04:53 PM

If you went with a slightly larger tank then I might consider a single clown gobie (not the citron though), I would say at least a 3 gallon tank for this though. JMO, Skip

rtcpenguin · #6 03/04/2005, 04:57 PM

Single goby - 5 gallons
Single clown - 10 gallons
Goby plus clown - 15 gallons
Pair of clowns and goby - 20 gallons

RocketSeason · #7 03/20/2005, 06:51 PM

penguin has got it pretty good.

If I were you I would consider a 20 gallon high (same footprint as a 10 gallon.) small enough not to take up a ton of room, big enough for a couple of fish.

LeftCoast · #8 03/20/2005, 11:59 PM

A tall tank would not get as much oxygen though. You would have to take that into consideration, too.

LeftCoast · #9 03/20/2005, 11:59 PM

I'd say if you had a 5 gal, that would be good for an eviota, neon or clown goby.

LeftCoast · #10 03/21/2005, 12:00 AM

But you should be good for a clown goby if it was 5 gal.

mightymouse · #11 03/21/2005, 10:50 AM

well i have a 2.5 gallon and i will probably be adding a pitol shrimp goby combo if u cna keep up with water changes in something from 2.5 to 5 gallons then you could do like a yashe hashe(sp) goby and a pistol shrimp and i have 2 clowns and a red sea mimic blenny in my 12 gallon nano cube

RocketSeason · #12 03/21/2005, 11:49 AM

you could agitate the surface pretty good with a powerhead on a 20 high. couple that with a skimmer and you could get some pretty good gas extange.

I am just a little weary of putting fish in something that small. (besides bettas of course.)

xtrstangx · #13 03/21/2005, 11:58 AM

Another question (sorry if this is thread hijacking, but its on topic), I have a 5.5g hexagonal tank (its not set up yet). Would I be able to put a clown fish in it if I had less rock than most? Or would less rock throw off the whole system?

mightymouse · #14 03/21/2005, 01:10 PM

i wouldnt unless u can move it later

RocketSeason · #15 03/21/2005, 02:49 PM

I would not put a clown in a 5.5

I also wouldn't want to house a clown by itself. they do much better in pairs.

DtheDude · #16 03/21/2005, 10:22 PM

Quote:

I also wouldn't want to house a clown by itself. they do much better in pairs.

Not necessarily. Percs and Oscillaris (sp?) do well together, but some types, like Maroons,Tomatos, etc. do better on their own...

But I agree, a 5 gallon tank is small for any fish.

Quote:

If I were you I would consider a 20 gallon high (same footprint as a 10 gallon.) small enough not to take up a ton of room, big enough for a couple of fish.

Yeah, if the footprint is an issue I don't see anything wrong with going with more gallons...but also keep in mind that fish swim horizontally, with very little verticle movement, so you won't be adding very much swimming space unless you increase the other dimensions of the tank.