Stocking Suggestions

[darb]

I am going to be stocking my open top 25 gallon (31 X 12 X 16) nano over the next several months and am looking for stocking suggestions.

I haven't decided if I am going to go clown or sans clown yet either ...

Also, ideally I would like to go with captive bred fish.

[subman]

Bangaii cardinals

[darb]

Thanks.

LiveAquaria is has a list which is another good starting point:

Neon Blue Goby (Elacatinus oceanops)
Court Jester Goby (Amblygobius rainfordi)
Clown Goby, Green (Gobiodon atrangulatus)
Clown Goby, Brown (Gobiodon spp.)
Clown Goby, Yellow (Gobiodon okinawae)
Greenbanded Goby (Elacatinus multifasciatum)
Hector's Goby (Amblygobius hectori)
Clown Goby, Citrinis (Gobiodon citrinus)
Yellow Stripe Clingfish (Diademichthys lineatus)
Cave Transparent Goby (Coryphopterus glaucofrenum)
Red Striped Goby (Trimma cana)
Red Head Goby (Elacatinus puncticulatus)
Catalina Goby (Lythrypnus dalli)
Clown Goby, Black (Gobiodon strangulatus)
Neon Goby (Elacatinus oceanops)
Red Spotted Goby (Trimma rubromaculatus)
Two Spot Goby (Signigobius biocellatus)
Yellow Prawn Goby (Cryptocentrus cinctus)
Hi Fin Red Banded Goby (Stonogobiops nematodes)
Orange Stripe Prawn Goby (Amblyeleotris randalli)
Orange Spotted Goby (Amblyeleotris guttata)
Wheeler's Shrimp Goby (Amblyeleotris wheeleri)
Longspine Cardinalfish (Zoramia leptacantha)
Yellowstriped Cardinalfish (Ostorhinchus cyanosoma)
Fowleria Cardinalfish(Fowleria isostigma)
Firefish (Nemateleotris magnifica)
Firefish, Helfrichi(Nemateleotris helfrichi)
Firefish, Purple (Nemateleotris decora)
Yellow Banded Possum Wrasse
Black and White Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris var.)
Swales Swissguard Basslet (Liopropoma swalesi)
Jawfish, Yellowhead (Opistognathus aurifrons)
Barnacle Blenny (Acanthemblemaria macrospilus)
White Blenny (Meiacanthus smithii)
Ocellaris Clownfish, Tank Bred (Amphiprion ocellaris)
Dwarf Seahors (Hippocampus zosterae)
Jaguar Goby (Astrabe sp.)
Tanaka's Pygmy Wrasse (Wetmorella tanakai)
White Banded Possum Wrasse (Wetmorella albofasciata)

How often is either of Tanaka's Pygmy Wrasse or White Banded Possum Wrasse see around in the Vancouver market?

Also, trying to decide on either the rainford or hectors goby, there really doesn't seem to be alot of difference between the two ...

I was also thinking about a jawfish and probably a goby/shrimp combo.

[daplatapus]

I have to admit, I LOVE my yellow watchman goby/pistol shrimp combo. I can sit and watch them for hours. I also have a pair of rescued clowns in there. You can see my YWG/shrimp here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTPpi60FA3M

[darb]

nice, you should call him dozer.

one problem for me though is that I was going to go with a layer of siliconed substrate and a token amount of crushed coral. I wonder how that would affect the burrow making process.

do you always have to buy them paired or can you buy two individuals and have a reasonable chance of pairing?

[Proteus]

The possum or taniaki wrasses are good but are harder to get eating

Assesors are good and captive bred. I have a yellow assessor and a Midas blenny. Both great nano fish

[daplatapus]

Originally Posted by darb

do you always have to buy them paired or can you buy two individuals and have a reasonable chance of pairing?

I bought the YWG almost a year before the shrimp. The goby was being terrorized by my starry blenny in my main DT so I put him down in a hospital tank to rest and heal. In the meantime my wife didn't like him being downstairs all alone so I built him his own 20gal cube in the dining room tied into my basement sump. Then she felt he was lonely (geeze) so I bought him the shrimp. They bonded immediately!
Then my friend broke their tank in a move and in went a paired set of clowns (because I already had a set in my main DT) and the GSP they hosted. Crazy how these things evolve, lol.

[darb]

So I picked up my first two fish on the weekend, the last Yasha from J and L and either a Rainford or Hector goby. I can't recall which one I ended up with and haven't see it since I released it on Saturday ...

The Yasha is feeding and I am on the wait list for a randalls pistol shrimp.