[VT4Me]

I currently have:

Pair of gold occies
Three 2" inkfin calvus

Set up is a 20L with rocks for the calvus at one end and a shell bed at the other. There is currently no bad behavior in the tank and after three weeks of being set up things are going as well as I could have hoped.

One of the cookie cutter suggestions is for a pair of shellies, a pair of julies and a pair of punks. Given that my calvus are rock dwellers like the julis, does it follow that I could add a pair of punks? I guess my main concern is upsetting my currently well behaved male occie.

I'm determined not to add non-tang dithers so am wondering if the punks would bring the calvus out more.

Alternatively, could I add a single juli?

Thanks

 

[Darkside]

Whatever you add to the aquarium will compete with what you have in there right now. If you add julies or cadupunks they will almost certainly fight with the calvus and try to take over the rock pile. Things may be going well right now, but if a spawn happens things will change and a 20 long is rather short on space, I'd leave the aquarium as you have it currently.

 

[prov356]

I agree the tank's a bit short for the 3. I've got all 3 in a six footer, and the punks harass the occie's a bit if they decide they want the shells they happen to be in. Once they establish turfs, they're fine. I've not seen the punks actually interested in inhabiting the rocks, just hovering above them, so they wouldn't compete with the calvus for the one rock pile. They're only interested in the shells when spawning. A single rock with a couple of nearby shells in the middle of the tank would probably do it for them.

I've got a single pair that claims a shell near the rocks and spawns regularly and 4 other males that just cruise the tank doing exactly what you're looking for. But you'd go through some pain to get that worked out in a small tank. I lost two to aggression even in a large tank. If you could get a single pair established in the middle of the tank, it'd be a nice setup, but getting there would be the challenge. I've found they only defend an area the size of the fry cloud. They don't try to take over half the tank or anything.

if you wanted the challenge and could monitor things and remove problems, might be worth a try. But, you may experience something very different in 30" than I have in a 6 footer. Just get them very young. Letting the others get established first like you have will be helpful. If you started with 6, you'd probably end up either leaving a pair or leaving single males. Although they have a way of making those decisions for you.

If you're looking for dithers for the calvus, I don't think the julies would do it. They'll stick to the rocks as much or more than the calvus. I can't think of anything better as dithers than the caudopunks for a tank that size.

 

[Gryph]

I always used rainbowfish as dithers. A small school of active little fish do wonders!