Fish for new tank...

[3fsh]

Well, I am just about finished with the "construction" part of the tank, so I couldn't help but compile a list of all the fish/invertebrates that I thought looked interesting for the *future* reef I am going to build. I am NOT putting all of these fish/invertebrates together in the tank... I just wrote this up to get your opinions/experiences of/with these fish. Feel free to recommend any small reef-safe fish or invertebrates that you think would be a good addition to my tank!

2 Percula Clowns (true pair)

1-2 Mandarin Gobies

1 Neon Goby

1 Red Scooter Blenny (when the tank is WELL established)

3-4 Banggai Cardinals

1 Pipefish (when the tank is WELL established)

Cleaner Shrimp

Peppermint Shrimp

Blue-Leg Hermit Crabs

Red-Leg Hermit Crabs

Snails... what type?

Horseshoe Crab

BTW- It is a 38 gallon tank with a 10 gallon sump underneath. Dimensions: 36in long x 12in Deep x 20in high.

 

[J-Money]

would a horseshoe crab be able to live there long??? Don't they get huge?

 

[3fsh]

Well, I don't know how big horseshoe crabs get... or how fast they grow. I am planning on getting a larger tank, but it is going to be a fish only tank for my spoiled rotten clown trigger, who would definitely kill/mutilate anything I put in with him. So, I guess that takes the horseshoe crab off of the list.

 

[Navarre]

definately not thehorseshoe crab, they grow HUGE
(can grow up to 3 ft including tail) They are very destructive and clumsy so unless you have a public aquarium they are not really suited for home tanks )

If you are planning this tank for your clown trigger the nalso forget the shrimps or any other invert as they will have em for breakfast ) if i read the message wrong then I would be very carefull when adding red and blue hermits together as the blues are far more aggressive and will kill the reds of they are similar size.


For a tank of this size, its nowhere near large enough to support 2 mandarins and a scooter blenny (i know you mentioned that you were not going to add all these in the tank) I would not recomend a mandarin or scooter blenny to anyone with a tank under 50 gallons. It doesnt need the space but its needs enourmous amounts of live rock to grow Pod life as they both feed almost entirely on this food.

A mandarin can easily wipe out a tank of pods in under a week with less volume. ) I have a large system by many standards on here and evennow i am reluctant to get a mandarin (even though i love em so much )



Hmm.. now i have shot down most of your wishlisted fish I guessi had better offer some alternatives )

The problem is that you are faced with a very dangerous ticking time bomb in the shape of that clown trigger. They are renowned for being angels for months on end and then suddenly without warning you come home and find the trigger has killed everything in teh tank!

Perhaps a dwarf angel.. Coral beauty or flame angel. Maybe a royal gramma as long as there is plenty of rocks for it to hide in perhaps a 6 line wrasse or maybe a banana wrasse? i would not ad much more than this though as triggers are very messy eaters and your bioload will take a hammering with this bad manners eater in the tank

 

[hyrookin]

I would have to agree as well that you should not get the mandarins
or scooter as they need a very well established system with very large
amounts of live rock.

I would suggest as navarre did that you also reconsider the trigger, and
instead go with a pygmy angel, this way you can still have all the inverts
without worrying about them becoming snacks!

 

[3fsh]

LOL! I am DEFINITELY not planning to put my triggers in with anything. They are just going to be in the tank temporarily until I can afford more suitable housing. I am talking about what I will put in when they have moved out of the tank. Don't worry, I have seen the damage they can do... there are already little pieces of LR strewn all over the 25g that they have bit off. (I can just imagine the damage those little teeth would do to a shrimp. )

As for the blenny... are there any that you would recommend instead of the scooter or mandarin? I just think that blennies are soooo cute....

I was considering the pygmy angels... but I read that they "may nip" at corals and small invertebrates. Is this true?

 

[hyrookin]

your shrimp will be happy to hear that! lol!

blennies can be troublesome.. I myself like the red-lipped, but they
become very territorial. the lawnmower blenny has a much better disposition,
but you have to have a lot of algae to sustain them.(like letting the back of
the tank grow out).I heard the zebra is peaceful, but I never had one.

as far as pygmys, I think it's kind of hit-or-miss. when I had my reef going,
I had a bi-color and a coral beauty and never once seen any picking, but
also had a eibli in there and had to remove him because he was nipping at
everything!

 

[Navarre]

As has been said, pygmys are hit and miss but i have seen alot of posts saying that coral beautys are good with corals.. as are cherub angels. Lemon peels tend to get a bad report.

p.s. Triggers need hard stuff to help their teeth. Theyir teeth dont stop growing so they must break them or they are in trouble. Of course, shrimps and crabs are ideal but in a fish only tank you will find they will eat your live rock! TO save this rather expensive passtime from turning your prescious liverock to live grog, I would feed shellfish a coupleof times per week. Mussel or similar so they can brek it with their teeth.

 

[3fsh]

Well, I was considering the lemon peel... but I read that they do nip corals and such... hmmmm... maybe I won't have any angels, because I don't want to have to chase them around the tank and inbetween the rocks trying to fish them out if they do. Okay, so here is the revised list (with some additions):

2 Percula Clowns (true pair)
1 Neon Goby
3-4 Banggai Cardinals
3-4 Green Chromis
Cleaner Shrimp
Peppermint Shrimp
Blue-Leg Hermit Crabs
Snails... what type?

Does anyone know anything about the Banggai Cardinals or Green Chromis? I read that they school, so I thought that keeping a small group would be a good idea.

Any suggestions on other (small) fish that would do well in my tank?

 

[jimdogg187]

i hear green chromis make excellent reef inhabitants. i've read you should introduce them in groups of 3. i think i might buy some for myself soon

 

[Navarre]

Chromis are great fish for a reef tank. Theyt do shoal but for some reason they tend to shoal less often when in a tank. It might be because of the lack of threat from predators ?

Cardinals do shoal even in a tank. They are less frantic than most fish so a quiet tank is needed for them to feed happily. Mind you with either fish in your tank Im sure they will look great!

 

[hyrookin]

yeah, green chromis are a great fish. not only can you keep at least three
together with minimal problems, they tend to swim in the upper portions
of the tank, which not many other fish do, so you get that added activity
at the top of the tank.

 

[3fsh]

Hmmmmm.... decisions, decisions... I just read an article saying that Cardinals only school when they are juviniles and that when they "pair off" they don't school any more and they actually become aggressive towards one another. So, it's going to be the Green Chromis! Which makes my list:

2 Percula Clowns (true pair)
1 Neon Goby
3-4 Green Chromis
Cleaner Shrimp
Peppermint Shrimp
Blue-Leg Hermit Crabs
Turbo Snails

Can anyone think of a... erm... centerpiece fish? You know, something out of the ordinary that likes to be by itself, but likes to be the center off attention? Doesn't have to be big, just beautiful/unusual...

 

[Navarre]

hmm.. thats a tough one!

1 persons eye candy is another persons nightmare!

I have had many similar dilemmas with having a "centrepiece fish" for my tank and i still am not happy (Achilles tang is next on the list when i get the larger tank)) )

Because space is limited with the tank you cannot go for the obvious choices such as tangs etc. So we must consider the types of fish happier in a smaller environment. Dwarf angels are excellant for this. If you want a truely stunning eyecatcher then a Flame Angel. These are pricey though and you may find that you will have alot of Orange/red in the tank with the 2 clowns.

A Potters angel is a remarkable fish and the pictures on the internet really dont do them justice. A trusted favorite with most hobbiets is the Coral Beauty. Much can be said for their bueaty, hardiness and temperments in a reef tank.

Royal Grammas are fantastic fish and absolutely stunning to watch! Not as large as most Centerpiece fish of course but it is lovely to watch.

How about a Purple Mask Angel? Not many of them around and they have a great temperment. (Paracentropyge venusta)


Lastly, and i say this with caution. Possibly a small Majestic Angel. These have been kept very successfully in reef setups and once their initial shyness is overcome they can be very hardy angels indeed.
I do advise this with caution though because of the size of hte tank. Perhaps a small one would be ok for a year to 18 months but after that you should be looking at rehousing it in a larger tank (maybe when its big neough you could house it with the triggers?) I would still advise that you do alot of research on this fish first though.


My own personal preferance would be a Male Bluethroat trigger Not the stunner visually of the other fish mentioned or when compared to the other triggers but its reef safe and the fact its a trigger in a reef tank tends to make people stop and think!