How many fish in a 29 gallon?

[jennwest]

Hello,
How many fish can you have in a 29 gallon? I currently do not have a sump or skimmer on it. I have 2 clowns and wanted to add a mandarin goby.

 

[senji]

in my opinion a 29 is too small for a mandarin because u cant house enough pod population to keep him fed he would starve and die. especially without a sump.

 

[ReefGeeker]

I'm gonna say you should not have a mandarin dragonet (not a true goby) in that small of a tank with two aggressive fish. I have kept one in a 28 gal but it was the only fish for a while and then i added a pajama cardinal which is also very timid, this wasn't ideal by any means and now I have a 90g to house my mandarin. What do you have in terms of filtration? Oh yeah and welcome to the forum as I see this is your first post!

 

[jennwest]

I'm gonna say you should not have a mandarin dragonet (not a true goby) in that small of a tank with two aggressive fish. I have kept one in a 28 gal but it was the only fish for a while and then i added a pajama cardinal which is also very timid, this wasn't ideal by any means and now I have a 90g to house my mandarin. What do you have in terms of filtration? Oh yeah and welcome to the forum as I see this is your first post!

Thanks!
Right now I just have lots of live rock rubble and a carbon filter. I'm thinking about getting a skimmer but I've always done well without one so I'm not sure. I do weekly water changes. Bummer on the tank being to small for a mandarin! I've always wanted one, I think they're awesome! Any other fish you would suggest?

 

[ReefGeeker]

Well there are so many to choose from but I love my firefish. Hopefully your clowns aren't teritorrial though. And I would always advise a skimmer even if you are faithful with the WC it constantly removes nastiness from the water. Do you have any corals?

 

[jennwest]

Yes, not many right now but I plan on getting more. I have a mushroom, some xenia, and a frogspawn.

 

[ReefGeeker]

You should start a thread in the Members Showcase section of the forum and post up some pics, lots of friendly/helpful people and advice here on RF.

 

[jennwest]

Will do, thanks!

 

[pandora32]

Would love to seeit your setup

 

[SeaLion]

Firefish, Royal Gramma, Yellow Watchman Goby are some of my favorite Nano type fish.

I tend be very conservative stocking wise, my preference in that size tank is 3 fish/4 max.

Some Clowns get really large like Maroons, not appropriate for Nano's long term in my opinion.

In my 28 gallon I have had 4 fish max. Less fish = decreased amount of food introduction = more corals.

 

[pandora32]

GENERAL rule of thumb is 5 gallons of water for every inch of fish. Somebody wise from here told me this when setting up my hospital tank. Also, i would get a skimmer for sure. A cheap one, to me, is better than none at all. And welcome to the site!

 

[ak_reefer]

Welcome to RF!!! There are several Blenny's or Goby's that would be great for a tank that size. Also some Pseudochromis would work if your clowns are a little more fiesty.

 

[jennwest]

GENERAL rule of thumb is 5 gallons of water for every inch of fish. Somebody wise from here told me this when setting up my hospital tank. Also, i would get a skimmer for sure. A cheap one, to me, is better than none at all. And welcome to the site!

Oh thanks!
Are there any skimmers that you would suggest for a 29 gallon biocube?

 

[pandora32]

You should message a member here named skimmy. Hes the skimmer guru. I belive he recommends 600 lph of air going into a skimmer. Whatever skimmer you do get, just remember that what the manufacturer says as far as tank size, is most likely misleading. Take my skimmer. Says good up to 700g heavily stocked. I have it on my 215g and might use it up to 350g heavily stocked.

 

[TJL]

Another BIG WELCOME to Reef Frontiers, we do have a "Nano Tanks " Forum that is just below "Members Showcase " that could be of use to you in choices of both livestock and equipment for your Bio-cube. On Mandarins wild ones definitely not but there is an option for ORA tank raised that are conditioned to eating pellets. Down side is $60-80 instead of $15-20.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Naso2]

As everyone else has said mandarins need lots of live foods that are not sustainable in a 29g especially with out a sump.
As far as nano fish are concerned I like fire fish and a goby/ shrimp pair is always cool

 

[Derbird]

What type of clowns and how old are they. If you have juevenal percula or occelaris clowns they should be fine with adding a fish or two. If they are full adults or a more aggresive spiceies you may have aggresion issues. But a lot will depend on your fishes personalitys too, gotta love salty fish

You have many, many options for good fish for a smaller tank Here is a link to liveaquarias nano section. Its a good place to begin to reserch your new pet

Nano Fish