19 Gallon Nano Diary - New Corals And Fish Etc

Mine are the same
I can go weeks without seeing or hearing them, then they will re appear. Like I said Ive had no issues with mine in 4 months and they wont grow large enough to cause an issue with anything in my tank. They have however even my stock of small clams..lol

Copepods yay...running along the glass

Now that my tank is seemingly cycled in about a month I can get fish maybe a little sooner. So with my stocking I'm hoping to include, a tailspot blenny and a fire goby any other suggestions except clown fish (I'm not a fan of clowns)

Looking good so far, you seem to have had a few decent hitchhikers on your LR, hopefully more will emerge as the tank begins to mature!

This is a Link for some fish suitable for a nano tank. Have a look as you may see some you might like!

thanks 1entra

While peering into my tank with a torch last night something rather bulky and quick rolled into a ball like a shrimp and shot out of a hole...the size of my little fingers finger nail (not overly big )...Im hoping it's not a baby mantis

The snail is still there trundling about the glass last night

looking at my tank last night found a very large and hairy bristleworm and a black and dark green pistol shrimp..alive in a tank with a mantis...

im close to stocking so im thinking of getting a fire goby this week...would that be safe with a g.smythii with one arm

Or any other fish suggestions?

Nitrate: under 5.0 ppm
Ammonia: 0 ppm


I cannot see how there would be any nitrites being how long the LR has been in there and that there is 0 ammonia so my LR I bought is cured

I may be buying a fish tommorow...a blenny or goby....depends what price really but my water seems ok to me...although there is still the mantis he is becoming easier to find and thus catch when i need

I bought 4 janitor hermits , while needing to be gone later being they could be aggressive or large but at $3 each they are worth it, the mantis has already scared away a hermit, but didn't attack it

I am going to get either a yellow watchman goby or firefish goby.... i think the firefish is the one i'll go for...as aren't gobies terrotorial against their own type

I made the mistake of buying a domino damsel....HOWEVER one it allows me to keep a hardy fish for a time being plus I am a regular in a aquarium who are new but are very experienced and I hope once they start up their marine tanks they might take it ( they give you good advice and don't sell inappropriate fish)

I had not done my research on domino damsels and where i bought it from was a place I trusted but gave me poor advice but if all else fails i can return it to them for giving poor advice. I trust people to much especially fish keepers

Well I made the mistake of buying the Domino Damsel which is alive and very well. Then because my mum wanted a "friend" for him and I had finally gotten rid of my Mantis Shrimp I stupidly bought...an arc eye hawkfish


I annoy myself so much, if it were all up to me now I would go off return the Damsel to where I got it (they are good there) and return the arc eye (loss of $25 but anyway) and buy myself I fish I actually really want.... but my mum gets so attached to my fish tanks I cannot get rid of any fish. The amount of times I have had conversations where it's me using my knowledge and my mum replying with...well why not? ....so now... Im stuck with these two and while I like them want totally different fish which I can keep in my 20 gallon tank....

I annoy myself and need to stop my impulsiveness

Incidently, the tank is running beautifully, with the brain coral alive and well (I haven't done anything to it or anything...just keeps alive) and a lovely crop of 10 button polyps and a couple of nice feather dusters

Heres some photos anyways

Brain Coral

Button Polyps

The tank costs me a bit to keep running as I cannot afford an RO Unit so it's $5.50 for a couple of buckets worth of RO...

The damsel has managed to get in alot of photos

I must say I am amazed I have been as patient as I have been...Im very impatient

Need advice on proper lighting aswell, as I might be getting a Green Zoo frag from the guy I gave the mantis too...

currently it's a 1x 24 watt light that came with the lighting fixture....

general rule of thumb being more is better

t5s ideally or power compacts are the way to go on a budget, metal halides if you have money to spare