Fish for invert based tank

[supercichlid]

Hey guys,
I will soon be converting a 24"x12"x12" 15g freshwater tank to saltwater. (This SW thing is ADDICTIVE!)
I am wanting an invert based tank..
Lighting wont be all that great..2x Normal Daylight Tubes and 1x Actinic Tube..
here are some of the inverts i like...
dwarf hermits
decorator crab
arrow crab
Tube Worms
Feather Dusters
Some sort of Starfish (i like the brittle star, but they get a bit big dont they?)
Purple Urchin
A Shrimp or two (any reccomendations?)
Caulerpa
Those are the inverts that i LIKE..i know i probably wont be able to have all of them...and probably wont be able to have the Caulerpa because of the low light, right?
What of those inverts mentioned would make a good tank system? Like, is there anything in there that will eat something else etc?
Now, fish...I was thinking a pair of captive bred false percula Clownfish. Any opinions on these or other ideas?
Thanks for any replies,
James

 

[carrie1429]

Most of those inverts are compatiable but here is some info about what is and isn't compatable:
I wouldn't reccommend having an arrow crab, they get pretty big and since your tank is kinda small that gives the arrow more chance of maybe catching your fish, they will sometimes eat fish. The brittle stars do get pretty big and they are mostly nocturnal so you don't see them out very much during the day. I reccommend the chocolate chip starfish, I have three of these stars and they are very active and good cleaners. The purple sea urchins are cool, I used to have one. But they get big and they love eating your purple coraline algae so soon wherever they go they'll leave large white spots on you LR. Also they will topple over rocks alot too. There are a lot of shrimp that are compatable. I like the skunk cleaner shrimp a lot, these shrimp will help clean parasites off your fish and have good personalities. Other shrimp that are compatiable are peppermint shrimp, and camel shrimp. These can be skiddish but are good cleaners. I would say no on the caulerpa, they require more light. The false percs are great fish to start out with, I also have a pair of false percs and they are very hardy with great personalities.

 

[fishfood]

I would disagree with Carrie1429 about the caulerpa. Mine is growing in my sump under a single GE plant and aquarium 15 watt bulb. It was slow but that light has also made my coraline algae cover the entire sump in 4 months. A cool shrimp is the fire shrimp which is also a cleaner type shrimp. My peppermint shrimp is sort of shy but does come out often during the day also. I would also say think again about the arrow crab. They are interesting but i have had one in the past and all he did was sit there and try to catch the fish as they swam by. It wasn't a problem in a 110g tank but might be in 15g tank. As far as starfish go you could also try a red fromia. I just purchased one and he is bright red and will bring color to your tank. You could also try an emerald crab. They have been rumored to pick on stuff in a reef tank(mine hasn't yet), but you don't plan on having corals right. 15g isn't going to be able to house too many fish so if you do decide on a clown pair you might want to look at a goby or blenny of some sort to put with them. Or you could try a pair of cardinals. Now that i think of it gobies and blennies my not be good with the dwarf hermits. I have no idea how big those guys get but would think they my try to catch the fish(I have no idea though). In place of them i might suggest some scarlet hermit crabs. Good little cleaners that bring a little color to the tank. As for other fish that would work in there check out Royal Grammas, six line wrasse, blue or green chromis, cardinals, jawfish. Oh and one last thing to look up..Fighting Conch. Get a small one, they dig into the sandbed and poke their eyes out above the sand. Kind of funny to see plus they help keep the sand clean.
Hope that gives you some ideas.

 

[shadow678]

As far as fish go, you are going to be EXTREMELY limited on selection and number for a 15gal tank. If you get a percula, only 1, as they get just over 3" and will place a heavy burden on your biofilter. Same for the sixline wrasse. If you get one of these 3" fish, that will be the only fish you will be able to keep in it. Basic rule of thumb for fish is 1" of fish for 5gallons of water. I would suggest clown gobies, as they stay small and have great personalities. Also, a cleaner goby would be a good choice, as they also stay very small. As for the hermits, the dwarf hermits will not bother your fish, but remember that you should only need two or three hermits in a tank that small, as there will not be much waste for them to feed on. Same for snails, only one or two. No arrow crabs, they will eat any small fish they can catch, regardless of species. I had one that ate my cleaner wrasse(among other things), which was really tough for me, because the wrasse had taken to eating finely shredded frozen food, something cleaner wrasses very seldom do. I would also very much advise against any type of conch. These things grow very large and need a very well-established and large sand bed. You will have plenty of cleanup from a few hermits and snails, and will not need anything else to help clean the sand bed. My personal suggestion for a wonderful nano is to upgrade your lights with a PC light and have a few crabs, a couple of snails, a couple of clown gobies, and some mushrooms and polyps. HTH and good luck.