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My dad, and mom, and I, have decided we want to try our hand at marine fishkeeping. Nothing difficult, just an all-glass 20-L with a Yellow Watchman Goby and a pistol shrimp.

So, here' s the questions, in order of importance:

1. What is the most important part of a marine set-up?
2. Is there anything else I can have besides a goby and a pistol shrimp?
3. What is the ideeal specific gravity, pH, temperture, and dKH for shrimp-gobies?
4. What equipment do I need besides a filter, heater, and hood?
5. How many pounds of live rock should I use?
6. Do any of these species work with the Yellow Watchman Goby?

- Alpheus bellulus
- Alpheus soror
- anything else

Ok, also, what brand and size of filter, heater, etc. should I use?

In a tank that size, I would just leave them alone. They will be out more often that way.

I personally keep a Stonogobiops nematodes(Hifin Banded Goby) with the Alpheus randalli(Pistol Shrimp).

1. I'd say LR, if you want a reef tank lighting is very important too.

2. No.

3. Depends on the fish. But to have LR and stuff you'll want your specific gravity at 1.024, maybe a touch higher. That should be fine for any of the fish or shrimp. Temperature will vary, but I keep my tank at 79, that would be sufficient.

4. You don't really need a filter at all. I'd get a quality heater(I use Ebo Jagar), and a couple small powerheads for flow. At least 2, maybe even 3. Maxi Jet is a great brand.

5. At least 20, depending on the size and shapes you get maybe even more. 1.5 pounds per gallon usually looks nice, as many as 2 pounds per gallon depending on the type of rock though. Some is denser than others.

6. This Article May Help

Heres my pair

It's also very important you have a sand substrate, mixed with a more rubbly substrate like crushed coral. The shrimp will use the CC to line the walls of their tunnels. Also be sure you place the rock on the bottom of the glass. The shrimp will dig and tunnel all over the tank, if the rock is not placed firmly it may fall.

Good luck finding a pair though, it can be difficult. It's also best to buy them together, if not they may not "find" each other in the tank, because the shrimp will already be under the rock.

It would be easier to buy a Yellow Watchman goby for me. It will purchase them at the same time. I have heard that you should not use a powerhead but rather a bubble wand as this type of goby doesn't like water movement. It is a FOWLR set-up, no corals. Just a goby, a pistol shrimp, and live rock.

You need powerheads. Bubble wands are a bad idea in SW tanks.

Yellow watchman gobies do just fine in a tank with alot of current......and I mean ALOT of current. As mikey stated, bubble wands are only good for 2 things in a marine tank...acclimating fish, and incase of a power outage. Other than that they make a mess by creating salt creep when the bubbles pop at the surface. There is no reason why you couldnt have 20-30 times turn over with powerheads and the gobie be happy.

3. What is the ideeal specific gravity, pH, temperture, and dKH for shrimp-gobies?

Specific gravity for inverts (the shrimp) should be 1.023 -1.025. Inverts do better with the higher salt content (I keep my tank at 1.027). PH should be around 8.2-8.3 with the lights on....and never lower than 8.0 (lights off).....dkh anywhere between 7-11....and alk a little lower than 4 (yes, alkalinity and kh are differnt).

[span class="edited"][Edited by DarkRealm Overlord 2004-07-12 02:07][/span]