Your stocking suggestions

[dancin_trancy]

Hello all.....well I'm getting ready to purchase my 2nd species of fish (already have a pair of clowns) I have an idea of what I want...but would like your opinion, experiences etc on specific fish that would work well in my system.
I currently have a 20g Berlin System (I know its small...so I cant have much in there) But here are some ideas of fish I was considering:

Spotted Mandarin (If I can find on that also eats prepared food,but doubt it)
Domino Damsel
Purple Fire Fish or Clown Goby
Royal Gramma
Bi-Color Dwarf Angel
Scooter Blenny or Midas Blenny
Yellow Tang (Are there any that stay small enough for my tank???)

I obviously could only pick a few out of that list given the size of my tank, but any opinions on those selections?

Also, I'm assuming I need to add the fish in order based on their aggressiveness...since Damsels are more territorial, if I do infact get one, should he be the last to be introduced?

And does anyone think I'm going to have a problem with the female clown out of the pair I currently have in the tank now, will she be aggressive to any new fish, and will that chance increase the longer I wait to get the next tank mate?

Any comments are appreciated! Thanks a bunch you guys, everyone here is always so helpful!

[Diver_1298]

Goby's and Blennies. I can't get enough of them. Be cautious of their feeding habits. Some require live pods or mature sand sifting. But they are usually the least aggressive and the most fun to watch. Just my 2 cents on that.
I believe another clown would be out of the question.
The tang you could buy as a baby, but would have to give up later.

Jim

[rickzter]

I would stay away from scooter blenny's. Although they are neat and fun to watch, those guys rely on live pods and real established sand beds for micro-fauna. I would get the clown goby, but they are soo small that you will have one heck of a time finding him if you have a lot of LR. I would suggest a neat yellow watchman goby and pistol shrimp as well, they are (IMO) the most attractive of the known watchman gobies. Clown gobies stay reliably small and are not as heavy on the load as tangs and such.

I agree with Diver, for tangs, get a baby tang, they take time before they outgrow the tank, but be prepared to give him away once he grows. Also, baby fish, like the tangs are more subceptible to dying because of young unbalanced tanks, so I would stay away from baby tangs for a while till your tank establishes maturely.

As for the Damsels, I would just stay away from these species of fish, they are cheap, aggressive and eat a lot. Not very attractive at all, that's why people use them for cycling purposes. Domino's are asses, I would not add one if I were you.

Good luck on the purchases,
Rick

[RAVEN]

Stick with non aggressive small fish for that sized tank. Royal Gramma's are peaceful and beautiful fish and can be kept in that size tank. Rickzter gave excellent advice. Stay away from larger fish such as tangs. They will be too stressed in a tank that size and will become sick or very aggressive. Also, Domino Damsels are very territorial and aggressive towards other fish. They also get big.
Be patient and resist the urge of over stocking and the allure of big fish. I would not put more than 4 small fish in that size tank.

[telman2010]

I'm with rickzter on this one. Especially about the dominos. They are very aggressive and can get very big. The one I've got in my tank even attacks me when I've got my hand in the tank.

[billy31422]

a bangai cardinal would be cool. i would recommend a lawnmower blenny but they get kinda big and i think they need more rocks to graze from. i could be wrong about that.

[corebond]

I vote purple firefish!

[dancin_trancy]

Thanks to everyone for your comments! Ya, the more I thought about the damsel the more I knew it was a bad idea...I do like the black/white color combo though...but they are what they are...

Luckily, I am a small tank owner that can come to terms with how small it actually is , and not try to "fool" nature and overstock...but that will be the motivation to get a larger tank I guess...being able to acquire more of the fish I love! Although I learned through researching prior to starting my tank that the larger the easier as far as maintenance & success rate, I wanted to start small, still seemed more manageable to me for some reason.....just to get my feet wet anyway.....so I will soon upgrade now that I am comfortable with it...

Anywho, Think Ill get a Royal Gramma next...has anyone has any experience with the Yellow Assessor?? I would like a Purple Firefish, but have a few small openings on my tank hood that I need to figure out how to cover first....

I would like another fish that is more prone to be seen swimming in the water column, but again, with the tank size, my options are limited...

Well, thanks again for all your replies! Really helped out a lot!! Post some pics of my new fishy when I get him! Wish me luck!

[RAVEN]

A six line wrasse is a nice fish that swims around although they might attack any shrimp you may have.

[dancin_trancy]

Ya, was actually considering that, until I learned it had the potential to harm my fire shrimp...beautiful fish though...