Looking to add a new fish to the Nanocube

[cmcimino]

I have a JBJ 28 with 2 clowns and a royal gramma in it, but I'm looking to add one more fish. The tank is about 7 months old so I feel like I'm ready to add a fourth and last fish. Just need help selecting a species. My clowns tend to hangout at the top and back of the tank, and the royal gramma hangs out near the middle and in the central rock work. I'm leaning towards a bottom dweller, but I feel like him and the gramma may fight over the main cave so I'm open to suggestions. I also don't want something that will outgrow the tank because this is all I have at the moment. Picture below...

 

[HmoneyReefOkc]

Clown goby, green zebra goby, noctornus (circus) goby. Those would be my pics for a hardy nano sized goby.

 

[Tori]

Randall's goby and pistol shrimp

Edit:
A possum wrasse would also be awesome in that tank.

 

[HmoneyReefOkc]

Yes, Pygmy possum wrasse or Pygmy perchlet(hawk fish) would also be ideal. Also, I love Hi-fins and Yasha Goby's with a candy stripe pistol. Do not get a tiger pistol for a nano

 

[eatbreakfast]

A watchman goby/pistol shrimp pr, pygmy rooster waspfish, dusky jawfish, plectranthias, neon goby are a few options.

 

[cmcimino]

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I'll keep an eye out for any of these at my LFS. I know they carry different goby species for sure. That pygmy rooster waspfish is so cool, might have to wait until I can get my hands on one.

 

[Mikedawg]

Molly Miller Blenny (Scartella cristata) has a lot of "personality" and will eat some types of algae.

 

[40B Knasty]

(Male)Spotted Mandarin is great. 4" No one will bother it, it eats all frozen foods, tiny thin pieces of fresh scollops, shrimp, and clams. Likes to sleep with any fish around. Model citizen/tank mate. Swims around all day either up and down the glass or cruising the rock work. They like an arch to sleep under.
Swissguard basslet. 3 1/2" Loves flake food. Eats everything listed the mandarin likes. Honestly for the money it is worth it. The best fish in my tank. He is best friends with my clown and shares a cave. Likes to swim the tank when everyone is settled and sleeping for an hour before lights on and off. Moonlight LED time. They will eat a peppermint shrimp and any kind smaller. Not a fire or skunk. To be honest you could have both. I had 6 fish in a 20g. Grammica lined dartfish, Randall's prawn goby(mine was a jerk in the 20g), spotted mandarin, yellow&purple wrasse(he needed more room. Major swimmer), clown, and swissguard.
The grammica I could also recommend. Very to himself. Beautiful fish, but 100% needs a sand bed cave to hide in and pops out during feeding time. Then darts back in.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I would advise against keeping a mandarin in a 28g tank. They constantly are on the hunt for copepods, and it will it quickly deplete the population in that size tank. Occasionally there are exceptions to this, but for the most part this is not a recipe for success.

 

[40B Knasty]

I would advise against keeping a mandarin in a 28g tank. They constantly are on the hunt for copepods, and it will it quickly deplete the population in that size tank. Occasionally there are exceptions to this, but for the most part this is not a recipe for success.

I would not get a Green or Red. Just the spotted/target. Make sure they eat frozens at the store. It is highly one of those fish you never take the word of the owner that it eats frozen foods. My little dude is a chunker as you can see. I took the time to target feed him 2x a day. Now a year later. Bigger tank and more flow. He can hunt food passing by. It is their eyesight. Takes them a bit to pick up on what they are looking for. The way they swim is like a little fishy hummingbird.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Regardless of what species of mandarin, even the spotted, a 28 is on the small side. Even if they are eating frozen, while that helps a little, does not offset the fact that they eat constantly. They have a very short digestive tract, which makes them relatively inefficient at getting their needed nutrition in just a few meals a day.

It's also, not so much their eyesight in being slow, deliberate eaters. As they watch the food they observing it's 'edibleness'. Which is why the vast majority of mandarins refuse frozen, because they are looking to see if the food is alive.

 

[ahiggins]

Any goby would do really well (although Im not a huge fan of "perchers") there are some super small species like panda gobies that are just too freakin cute.

 

[LetItReef]

A Two spot bimaculatus blenny or a Tail spot blenny.

 

[40B Knasty]

Regardless of what species of mandarin, even the spotted, a 28 is on the small side. Even if they are eating frozen, while that helps a little, does not offset the fact that they eat constantly. They have a very short digestive tract, which makes them relatively inefficient at getting their needed nutrition in just a few meals a day.

It's also, not so much their eyesight in being slow, deliberate eaters. As they watch the food they observing it's 'edibleness'. Which is why the vast majority of mandarins refuse frozen, because they are looking to see if the food is alive.

Agreed and these are typically known about the dragonets. From experience and a friend/LFS owner who sold me mine. He says he never has a problem with them. Hardy eaters. It's true. I think they are the exception from my experience. Get 2 medicine containers. Chop the frozen cubes into 4s of each kind listed from before. Fill those up with 3 types of the frozen. Easy to have it prepared. Use a turkey baster. Fill it with tank water. Thaw out the food. Put a few drops of vitamin dosing. For the first 6 months in the morning. Feed them 3x a day. They will eat. Trust me. Key is not to big of food chunks, feed them 3x a day when they are young, get them to know the turkey baster, put their food on the rock work to feed off of, also have an almost no flow spot to target feed them on the sand bed.