Originally Posted by
Clay12340
It sort of reminds me of a majano, but I'm no anemone expert. IMO if you didn't buy it purposefully just get rid of it. The little anemones that tend to spring up will spread like mad and be a real pain since they can sting your corals. However, it may be harmless and I know nothing about anemone identification, so I'd get a second opinion and probably a third.
With regards to your fish selection in an earlier post:
The emerald crabs will probably kill your other shrimp and potentially kill your fish. The camel shrimp will eat your corals and dusters. The peppermint shrimp is fine and will eat pest anemones and rarely bothers corals. The pom pom crabs have been reported as hard to keep by some, but I've got no experience with them.
The mushrooms, zoas, and dusters are all great choices. You've got lots of options and they are easy to maintain. Research the gorgonian you choose VERY carefully. Some of them are next to impossible to keep even for experts.
Give your tank some time and you'll probably end up with a few little sponges for free. These are your best bet for sponges. Buying sponges to add to a tank is a chancy thing.
Most sponges have very particular diets and no one really knows what they are. Deep water sponges have no means of removing air from their structure and if they are not constantly submerged they can slowly die from the trapped air, which will pollute your tank and could potentially do so for months before you notice the problem. The other possibility is that the sponge may completely change shape or color based on your tank conditions. Google Ron Shimek and sponge for a great article.
Fish are a pesky thing to pick out for a nano. With each fish you add the tank gets exponentially harder to maintain. The Yellow Watchman, Occellaris, and Firefish are all great choices. I'd add the two gobies first and give them time to settle in. If you want the clowns to pair, then add them together and get one smaller than the other.
I would skip out on the one other very small fish until you are sure that your tank can support the extra bio-load. Having a balanced tank is a beautiful thing. Squeezing in one more fish and having to fight an uphill battle with algae is not. The hawkfish will kill just about any ornamental shrimp and it will get too large.
In the opinion of many experts a fish shouldn't be kept in a tank smaller than it needs for its adult size at any point in its life. The reasoning is that it is stressful as the young fish will travel just as much as the adult would in the wild. This is especially true for tangs who swim for miles and miles in the wild.
I would say it is best to say no to the flame angel for now and wait on the 105. They are a common fish and you'll easily be able to get one then. Waiting also gives you the chance to change your mind later and is a safety net in the case of a financial hardship etc.
When it comes to snails there are a lot of choices and a lot of them arn't good ones. Google Ron Shimek and snails for some good articles. Ron Shimek is one of if not the most knowledgeable person out there when it comes to the creepy crawlies in a tank. His articles are a bit deep, but they are full of information and definitely worth the time.
I'm personally partial to the tiny pea sized nassarius snails(maybe 8-10 in your tank) and the astreas(maybe 2 or 3). It is better to under stock, than overstock and have the snails starve and rot.
However, be aware that with 10 hermits in a tank that size there is a good potential for conflict between the hermits and the snails. The hermits always seem to win this fight leaving behind a dead snail. If the dead snails arn't eaten quickly they can foul a small tank very rapidly.
I've got one dwarf blue legged hermit in my nano and he has claimed his fair share of my shelled friends despite my leaving him more than enough empty shells. It is rather annoying as he will kill the snail, try the shell on and end up changing his mind and getting back in the original shell.
Anyhow, thanks for reading my novel if you got this far!
Wow! What an informative post. Thanks for your input.