shrimp and goby tank?

i have a spare eclipse tank laying around and i was trying to think what i could put in there and it hit me. some nano sized gobys and some ornamental shrimp. they are both nice to look at and should be ok in a tank this small. i have a rio skimmer filter that works pretty good i think this will be enough filtration. i do have a number of tanks forr anyone who gets to big .... could i get away with just a dsb and afew smalll rocks in this or should i stick to 1-1.5 lbs per gallon?

 

I think you could give a short as described. Sounds like a great set up.

 

the tank is getting a nice vinegar bath now and then ill start the tank up later this week ... whats the opinion on less rock and more sand ...theres not much room in there lol dont wanna waste too much of it on rock

 

I'm sure you can get by with less rock, just be prepared for the lag time until the DSB kicks in as well for denitrification. It takes a while for the DSB to really get established and build up the anoxic zones where the denitrifying bacteria live.

I wouldn't necessarily go with just a "few" small rocks, I think the shrimp/gobies like having a good amount of rock to burrow under. In my tank my shrimp and gobies have burrowed completely under my left rock pile and have exits established on all sides. It's a pretty solid 6"x12" rock that is their home right now and they still use multiple exits.

I would say give the shrimp a mansion to build, not an apartment, something to do besides perfect the same 6" of tunnel.
That said, just having a good amount of rock to tunnel under doesn't necessarily mean the display is filled up with rock, so you could still keep the amount of rock low relative to a lot of reef tanks I would just give them a good amount of surface area to burrow under. Also make sure it's not pure sand the shrimp has to work with. I think it's more difficult to build good tunnels just with fine sand. I threw some crushed coral around the burrow exits after I added the shrimp and gobies and the shrimp has cleared out the area around the burrow entrance a few times building up the tunnels under the rock.

Anyways, I think it's a great idea. I love shrimp/goby pairs.

 

im not really going for a pair just mabe a fire shrimp and a catalina goby mabe 1 or 2 other small guys. ill hafta make a trip to the lfs and pick out afew rocks and see wat i can do thanks guys

 

Oh that's too bad. ;D

Be aware catalina gobies are temperate species and do better in cooler waters than most reef tanks. Some of them manage to adapt but I hear a lot of them slowly die due to not acclimating well to the higher temps.

 

thanks screw tape ... i have heard that but 2 friends have them for awhile now and theyr doing great but i can keep this tank slightly cooler because theres no coral involved.

 

well im picking up sand tmo and afew pieces of rock if they have anything i like

 

well i added water and im thinking id like more water volume it is a 7 gal tank withh about 5 inches of sand as of now i may cut it down to4 inches to get more water in. im also kicking around the idea of a sump wich i am still not sure how id set it up just yet this is on my dresser so i thought about clearing out a draw an putting it in there or mabe behind it. i think ill start a new thread on this now that im done typing lol

 

Cool, a 5" sandbed is really really deep for such a small tank hehe.

Be careful putting it in a dresser, the humidity may cause the whole thing to mold and rot.