[weez1959]

Ok, here's a weird one (for me anyways)!
In my nano24g I have on the sand, 3 plate corals, one 4" green, one 4" purple and one 3" orange.
They've been in there for several months now doing their thing but one morning I woke up and found the purple one more than 1/2 on top of the green one and sliming like crazy
My husband said maybe it was the current so I seperated them and switched the green one with the purple one.
Two days later same thing happened, purple on the green one again! So it's not the current because he moved in the opposite direction to get on top of the green one!
Is this normal?

[Ninong]

It is normal that they will roam at night as much as a few inches to attack their neighbors.

[SomeHairyOldGuy]

yup like fish some are aggresive some arent. keep a eye on them as they can kill each other.
SHOG

[Ninong]

At first I thought it was my imagination. I had one that was moving about four inches every night. Then I would move it back where it was supposed to be and it would stay put all day but then the next morning it would be back it the wrong spot again, closer to the other one. Finally I moved it about 18" away from the other one and that solved the problem. For some reason or other it only moved at night.

[charlie]

Have you got a piece of rock you could put between them?

[weez1959]

So I'm not crazy! I guess a seperation is in order then. It's strange because they didn't move for so long and then all of a sudden I can't keep Mr. Purple off Mr. Green

Other than that, I still can't figure out what fish to put in there. So far my 2 clown gobys from my 90g are living the good life, all alone in the 24g cube. I looked up fish suitable for this tank size in the pocket guide MARINE FISH by Scott W. Michael and this is what I came up with:

CHALK BASS Serranus tortugarum
ORCHID DOTTYBACK Pseudochromis fridmani
ALLEN'S DOTTYBACK Pseudochromis sp.
ROYAL GRAMMA Gramma loreto
YELLOW ASSESSOR Assessor flavissimus
BLUE ASSESSOR Assessor macneilli
FLAME ANGEL Centropyge loricula
POTTER'S ANGEL centropyge potteri
AFRICAN FLAMEBACK ANGEL centropyge acanthops
PEARLSCALE ANGEL Centropyge vroliki
SUNSHINE CHROMIS Chromis insolatus
BLUE CHROMIS Chromis cyanea
PRINCESS DAMSELFISH Pomacentrus valuli
NEON GOBY Gobiosoma oceanops

I'd like to get one or two of those depending on the size of course. If I go with an angel it will be the only one but if I decide to go with something small like the neon gobys or assessors I may add 2. I'm just trying to find out which of these are compulsive hiders.
The book says they are all suitable for 20 gallons but then again books say alot of stuff!

[charlie]

What about a pair of true perculas? On the other hand, I don't really know if I would add anything, if the gobies are doing fine, why not just leave them be???

[weez1959]

Ya, I thought of that too but they look soooo alone in there. You barely know there are fish in the tank.
I already have a pair of clowns in the 90, not the true percs but still clowns so that's why they aren't on the list
I guess it all depends on what J&L has in stock too. I've been pretty patient so far but now that I'm sitting on my butt not being able to do much (thanks to my surgery), I'm getting a bit bored/cabin fever/anxious

[Ninong]

I don't think you will have any problems with Mr. Purple Fungia going after Mr. Green Fungia if you can separate them by at least ten inches or so. You don't need a rock or anything, just enough space between them.

As far as fish are concerned, I don't think 20 gallons is anywhere near large enough for a flame angelfish (Centropyge loriculus), so I would scratch that one off the list for sure. The same goes for the Royal Gramma (Gramma loreto). I don't know why they think those two fish can thrive in a 20-gal tank. In my humble opinion, the minimum should be at least 29 gallons but 40 gallons would be better.

The Neon Goby (Gobiosoma oceanops) would definitely work but it has such a short lifespan. The Yellow Assessor (Assessor flavissimus) is certainly small enough, so it should work. I don't know about the Orchid Dottyback (Pseudochromis fridmani). I had one in my 120-gal tank and it was one of my favorite fish. I would hate to see one cooped up in a tiny 20-gal tank.

[weez1959]

I won't be able to put 10" between them but I will open up the space a bit more and add a piece of rubble and see what happens.
I'll scratch the flame and gramma. I had a funny feeling the flame would not be a good idea but I had no idea about the gramma.
I still don't know how anyone manages to keep fish in anything smaller than a 24g must be really hard to maintain properly and have a happy fish at the same time!

[Live Rock Ricky]

guess bigger is better in more ways than one!!!!! lol

[weez1959]

[zhenya]

Louise, how about a small pistol shrimp and a shrimp goby? That could be quite entertaining pair to observe... They don't need much but a decent sand bed and some rock to hide under.

[weez1959]

Originally Posted by zhenya

Louise, how about a small pistol shrimp and a shrimp goby? That could be quite entertaining pair to observe... They don't need much but a decent sand bed and some rock to hide under.

ya, I've always wanted to try one of those duos but not enough sand in the bottom of that tank, they look like a lot of fun to watch!

Either way adding a fish to that tank is on hold right now because I'm holding a Red Stripe Anthias Pseudanthias fasciatus for someone while she gets settled. It's only about 1 3/4" long so it should be ok for about a month.