Stocking Ideas for 29 Gallon Biocube

[rosetc16]

Just got my 29 gallon biocube and here is what I like:

-Black Onyx Clownfish (I am for sure getting a pair of these and building the rest of my tank around these guys but they will be added last)
-Emblemania hypacanthus (I believe he is a type of blennie, but I don't know his price)
-Six Line Wrasse (tons of people have suggested this guy, but don't know much about it)
-Leopard Wrasse/Blue Star Leopard Wrasse (super cool looking but don't know much about these guys either)
-Scissortail Dartfish

I would love any suggestions or what you think my tank can handle. I plan on filling the tank with a bunch of corals as well so I don't want any fish that may nip the corals. Thanks you for your help!!

 

[Marshall O]

Answers in red below.

Just got my 29 gallon biocube and here is what I like:

-Black Onyx Clownfish (I am for sure getting a pair of these and building the rest of my tank around these guys but they will be added last) -Ok
-Emblemania hypacanthus (I believe he is a type of blennie, but I don't know his price) -Emblemaria (not mania), should be ok if you can find one!
-Six Line Wrasse (tons of people have suggested this guy, but don't know much about it) -Aggressive little Wrasse. Once established, it will likely go after any new fish. Do some research on them. Many have had to remove them from their tanks.
-Leopard Wrasse/Blue Star Leopard Wrasse (super cool looking but don't know much about these guys either) -Tank is too small IMO for two reasons. They hunt for pods all day long and a biocube will likely not be able to supply enough pods. Second, they do get rather large in size (up to 5") as well, and would not have nearly enough room in a 29 once or near full grown.
-Scissortail Dartfish -Should be ok, but again, these do get a bit large for a biocube.

Look into nano fish, those that are listed as a 10 gallon minimum on liveaquaria. Those will all be best suited for this tank IMO.

 

[rosetc16]

Answers in red below.



Look into nano fish, those that are listed as a 10 gallon minimum on liveaquaria. Those will all be best suited for this tank IMO.

How many nano fish can I hold outside of my two clownfish? Out of the ones listed on liveaquaria, I like these:

-Neon Blue Goby
-High Fin Red Banded Goby
-Firefish, purple
-Blackcap Basslet
-Panamic Barnacle Blenny
-Royal Gramma Basslet

Also thank you so much for you feedback on the last post, it helped a ton and I found it very interesting to read!!

 

[Marshall O]

How many nano fish can I hold outside of my two clownfish? Out of the ones listed on liveaquaria, I like these:

-Neon Blue Goby
-High Fin Red Banded Goby
-Firefish, purple
-Blackcap Basslet
-Panamic Barnacle Blenny
-Royal Gramma Basslet

Also thank you so much for you feedback on the last post, it helped a ton and I found it very interesting to read!!

Depends on your specific tank (rockwork, maintenance schedule, etc), but my guess would be 4-5 total fish.

 

[Coralsdaily]

Agree with Marshall on his remark for leopard wrasse, they are very delicate fish and is very demanding in care. But everything else in your list should be fine. Though I personally have NEVER encountered an aggressive six line wrasse, must just be my luck! for nano tanks I always suggest a small school of blue thread fin cardinals.

 

[rosetc16]

Agree with Marshall on his remark for leopard wrasse, they are very delicate fish and is very demanding in care. But everything else in your list should be fine. Though I personally have NEVER encountered an aggressive six line wrasse, must just be my luck! for nano tanks I always suggest a small school of blue thread fin cardinals.

How big of a school can I fit in a 29 gallon biocube? How many does it take to school?

 

[Coralsdaily]

I have tried various cardinal fish and thread fin cardinal are the best schooling in my opinion. I started with a small quartet, they grouped just fine! Overtime I slowly expanded the group and currently have nine. for a 29, I think you can safely have 4-5 without making it seem too crowded.

 

[kopaczjm]

interesting reading. i've recently found myself in possession of a 29g biocube. it currently has a clown and a fire fish. came with a cleaner shrimp and i've added about 8 hermits, and emerald crab, and 10-15 asst. snails. still dont know what this tank will be. my goal was a pair of clowns, a fire fish, and a wrasse. if everything is fine and theres room for a 5th fish really love the look of a royal gramma. or a goby... OR a jawfish! this hobby is full of decisions... either way its going to be stuffed with corals. have a bunch of mushrooms in htere right now. in the next 2 weeks i'll be picking up an acan, some zoas, a hammerhead, and a chunk of montipora. any more opninions on a leopard wrasse? have they been succesfully kept in such a small tank?

 

[Viracon13]

Common combo I see in that size tank is a pair of clowns, a firefish, blenny and/or goby. The six line wrasse really can be the devil though lol. It seems like a great pick because they don't grow much but they can get very aggressive. Some people are luckier and say their six line is an ideal tankmate. Add him last if you choose to make him part of the tank

 

[bawest47232]

I know this is an older post, but it's new to me. I also have recently set up a BioCube 29. It has a little liverock and I'm fixing to start adding stock as soon as the cycle is completed.

But here's some questions on stocking:
1. Does the clean up crew count toward load? Snails? Crabs? shrimp?
2. from the list of nano-fish, it says you can get so many fish in .5 gallon, 1, 10, 15, 29 etc. The list is divided by tank size, so if I get a fish that is rated for the 1 gallon tank, can I do the math and say that the 1 fish is good for 1 gallon, so I could put 29 in my 29 gallon? I'm sure it's not quite that easy and I wouldn't put 29 into the tank, but if I could get 12 small fish, I would like that other than getting just 2 clowns. I want to see activity, not just 2 fish.

the listing is below with the fish
0.5g Pico (1.9 L) (Includes Red Sea 0.5g Deco Art) (1 extra small fish)

-Blue Neon Goby**
-Catalina Goby [cold water]
-Clown Gobies**
-Eviota Gobies
-Panda (Clown) Goby
-Redhead Goby**
-Trimma Goby
-Yellow Neon Goby**

2.5g Pico - 5g (9.46 - 18.93 L) (Includes 2.5g Minibow, Eclipse Explorer, JBJ 3g Pico, 5g Minibow) (1 fish)

All of the above plus:
-Citron Goby
-Green Banded Goby (added by c'est ma)**

6-7g (~26.5 L) (Includes 6g Fluval Edge, 7g Minibow, 6g Eclipse, 6g CPR, 6g Nano Cube, 8g Aquawave) (1-2 fish)

Note: Keep in mind that the display area of all-in-one tanks hold less water than the total tank since some of that water is in the filtration area. When picking out fish, pick fish based on the display area volume, not the total tank volume.

All of the above plus:
-Ocellaris Clownfish (False Percula)** (1, if you want a pair, move up to 10g+)
-Percula Clownfish (True Percula)** (1, if you want a pair, move up to 10g+)

10g (38 L) (Includes 12g Aquapod, 12g Nano Cube, 12g Eclipse, 11g Via Aqua, 12g Biocube) (2-3 fish)


Note: Keep in mind that the display area of all-in-one tanks hold less water than the total tank since some of that water is in the filtration area. When picking out fish, pick fish based on the display area volume, not the total tank volume.

All of the above plus:
-Atlantic Pygmy/Cherub Angelfish
-Yellow Assessor**
-Blue Assessor
-Tailspot Blenny (added by Steelhealr)
-Threadfin Cardinalfish
-Green Chromis Damsel
-Yellow Tail Blue Damsel
-Three Spot Damsel
-Talbot’s Damsel
-Three Stripe Damsel
-Firefish Goby
-Helfrich’s Firefish [$$$$!]
-Purple Firefish Goby
-Bicolor Psuedochromis
-Diadem Pseudochromis
-Fridmani (Orchid) Pseudochromis**
-Purple Pseudochromis
-Springeri Pseudochromis** (added by spazizz)
-Scooter Blenny [with caution, not for beginners]
-Red Scooter Blenny [with caution, not for beginners]
-Painted Frogfish
-Wartskin Frogfish
-Blackray Shrimp Goby
-Orange Stripe Goby
-Orangespotted Goby
-Randall’s Shrimp Goby
-Yasha Hasha Goby
-Wheeler’s Shrimp Goby
-Yellow Watchman Goby
-Rainfordi Goby
-Royal Gramma
-Falco Hawkfish
-Flame Hawkfish
-Pearly (Yellowhead) Jawfish
-Possum Wrasse

20g (76 L) (Includes 24g Aquapod, 24g Nano Cube, 20g Finnex M Tank) (3-5 fish)


Note: Keep in mind that the display area of all-in-one tanks hold less water than the total tank since some of that water is in the filtration area. When picking out fish, pick fish based on the display area volume, not the total tank volume.

All of the above plus:
-Coral Beauty Angelfish
-Flame Angelfish
-Halfblack Angelfish
-Potter’s Angelfish
-Rusty Angelfish
-Chalk Bass
-Lantern Bass
-Bicolor Blenny
-Midas Blenny
-Redspotted Blenny
-Redlip Blenny
-Yellowtail Fang Blenny (V)
-Bangaii Cardinalfish**
-Orangestriped Cardinalfish
-Flame Cardinalfish
-Pajama Cardinalfish
-Clarki Clownfish **
-Maroon Clownfish **
-Orange Skunk Clownfish **
-Pink Skunk Clownfish **
-Tomato Clownfish **
-Dwarf Golden Moray Eel (added by lakshwadeep)
-Bar Goby
-Blue Gudgeon Goby
-Green Mandarin Goby [with caution, not for beginners]
-Yellow Target Mandarin [with caution, not for beginners]
-Blackcap Basslet **
-Arc Eye Hawkfish
-Longnose Hawkfish
-Bluespot Jawfish (added by fish n' pets)
-Dusky Jawfish (added by fish n' pets)
-Fu Manchu Lionfish (V)
-Fuzzy Dwarf Lionfish (V)
-Dragon Pipefish [with caution, not for beginners]
-Banded Pipefish [with caution, not for beginners]
-Bluestripe Pipefish [with caution, not for beginners]
-Bennett’s Toby
-Valentini (Saddleback) Toby (placement in 20g min suggested by Bread)
-White Spot Toby
-Carpenter Flasher Wrasse
-Filamented Flasher Wrasse
-Fourline Wrasse (placement in 20g min suggested by Travis)
-Longfin Fairy Wrasse
-Pink Streaked/Cryptic Wrasse (suggested by bnaef17)
-Redfin Fairy Wrasse
-Sixline Wrasse
-Tricolor (Lubbock’s) Fairy Wrasse
-Twinspot Hogfish

lgreen's Ultimate Guide To Nano Fish - Beginners Discussion - Nano-Reef.com Forums

 

[LetItReef]

Pygmy Wrasse?

 

[KillerKlownFish]

I've been told you can have 2-3" fish per gallon so a 30 gal can have 15"-10" which is 7-5 fish. You want the max inch of fish growth per gallon.
I have a RSM 34 gal
In it I have:
2- clowns
Scooter Blenny
Flame tail Blenny
Royal Gramma
Yellow watchman
Solar fairy wrasse
I should be at my limit I may have room for one more.
Your choice of fish should be based on color/activity/coral safe/tank size/l and fish compatibility.
The royal gramma is the meanest so I put him last. Yesterday I got the fairy wrasse and the gramma is bulling him. If I can't keep him I'm gonna get a dottyback and start a war lol

For you I would do
2-clowns since you want clowns
Def a Blenny some of them are fun to watch
A few colorful fish
You got 5 right there add a few shrimp and your done!!!

 

[bawest47232]

thanks. Based on above, would say that I could put 14 1" gobies in the tank with nothing else? But would they all want to maintain the same space and compete with each other. I like the combination of the clowns and blennies, but could I get more smaller colorful fish than the clowns? The clowns would be 4inches themselves. Could I replace them with 4 smaller fish? I know all of this will be based on the load and the filtration f the tan, but I'm trying to get an idea for stocking.

 

[KillerKlownFish]

Not really 14 gobbies would grow 3" or more each so that's way to much 42".

 

[KillerKlownFish]

I would say 2 clowns a watchman paired w a shrimp a cleaner shrimp and maybe 2-3 more fish.

 

[saltyphish]

I've been told you can have 2-3" fish per gallon.......Sorry but this is not true! This used to be the math but is highly inaccurate! Each tank is different and how many fish depends on a few factors. Type of fish,bioload, and filtration to name a few. Some fish add a higher bioload than others. Also most fish tend to be territorial and if there is not enough space which in a 29g biocube there isn't much will lead to fighting, stress, and probably disease. In my 29G Biocube I have 2 clownfish, a green clown goby, and a midas blenny. I might end up adding one more fish but I am close if not already at my max. You also have to account for the snails crabs, shrimp, and coral you are going to add.

I've been told you can have 2-3" fish per gallon so a 30 gal can have 15"-10" which is 7-5 fish. You want the max inch of fish growth per gallon.
I have a RSM 34 gal
In it I have:
2- clowns
Scooter Blenny
Flame tail Blenny
Royal Gramma
Yellow watchman
Solar fairy wrasse
I should be at my limit I may have room for one more.
Your choice of fish should be based on color/activity/coral safe/tank size/l and fish compatibility.
The royal gramma is the meanest so I put him last. Yesterday I got the fairy wrasse and the gramma is bulling him. If I can't keep him I'm gonna get a dottyback and start a war lol

For you I would do
2-clowns since you want clowns
Def a Blenny some of them are fun to watch
A few colorful fish
You got 5 right there add a few shrimp and your done!!!

 

[bawest47232]

Thanks. For taking time to answer this. I still have much to learn. Like, how do you find corals with the lowest bioload and fish with bioload. But you've given me enough to research

 

[KillerKlownFish]

I don't think the clean up crew effects the bio load.
It's should have said 2-3 inches per every 2 gallons sorry. So a 30 gallon tank would give you 15" of fish so if a fish max's out at 3" you can only fit 5 fish... And yes you have to take into account your filtration.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I don't think the clean up crew effects the bio load.
It's should have said 2-3 inches per every 2 gallons sorry. So a 30 gallon tank would give you 15" of fish so if a fish max's out at 3" you can only fit 5 fish... And yes you have to take into account your filtration.

Wile cuc doesnt add.much to bioload whipe alive, far too often aquarists are sold too much cuc for their tank which results in deaths, and when a snail dies can add significant bioload to a small tank.

Also, never go by certain gallon hold certain inches of fish, according to that reasoning a 10" grouper would be just fine and the same bioload as 4 firefish, that is illogical to draw those conclusions.

 

[KillerKlownFish]

That's hilarious that someone would consider putting a grouper in a tank.
When considering fish for your tank in this case it's a 29 gallon bio cube nano fish are the fish someone would be considering to put in their tank. So in a 29 gallon tank you loose water to the sump and rock so let's go with 20 gallons divide by 2 you get get 10" worth of nano fish not a 10" fish so if the fish you choose are maxed out at 3" you can put 3 of those fish and maybe 1 1" fish=10" this isn't set in stone it's a guideline water parameters should be checked frequently. As well as water changes