Help Me Pick My Fish

[Neon Reefer]

So the 75 G I set up a few months back is maturing nicely and I'm ready to add some new fish as I am only sporting a pair of small clowns, a pair of fire fish and a neon goby. I need to increase my fish fertilizer factory as my Nitrates and Phosphates register 0.0 on Red Sea Pro testing. I know they are not truly 0.0 but is an indication of a pretty ULN system. Not really good for a mixed reef. The Softies and LPS are barely growing these days, and before I push the coral foods I want to go ahead and get my fish population up to speed and see where the NO3 and PO4 will go. I want it up but only modestly

Currently my needs are such. I have a friendly easy going tank and want to keep it that way. I like smaller fish and want no herbivores. I have virtually no pest Algae to speak of except for some really slow growing Vilonia Bubble Algae, guess I should get A Sally Lightfoot crab or an Emerald for that. I have been looking at Flasher Wrasses and even considering some Altheas. I have a crushed coral bottom as another limiting factor so question is what do you think? Anyone with some good suggestions. Gotta be reef safe for sure. Here is a pic of where they'll be heading. Thought I'd start with two and end up with a total of five new fish.

[Bpb]

Anthias arent really low maintenance fish. They're so active that they require 2-3 times daily feedings to keep up with their metabolisms...Or so I've read. That's what has kept me from getting any. They really are beautiful though. Have you considered perhaps a midas blenny? They're very nice looking and have tons of personality, and unlike many blennies, they're carnivores.

[subsea]

If you like schooling fish, I would suggest Cardinals. I bought 20 juvinile five spot cardinals 9 months ago. I like the way that they line up with the flow of current. They are always feeding on zooplankton as it passes by in the vertical loop current. These fish are beginning to show breeding habits and I will be thinning this school out. If you look at vidio on my website, it is listed as #1 lagoon tank.

Patrick

PS I like the open look to your tank aquascaping. Very nice.

[Timfish]

I've kept several different Anthias species for years with pellets and an autofeeder. I like Ehiems and sett all 4 feeding times to 2 feedings. I also mix in some krill meal or powder with the pellets. I also use a piece of tape over the opening to help control the amount of food each feeding. If you have a QT you can try pairing off a couple of Flame Hawkfish, pretty cool to watch them follow each other around in a tank and staring at you waiting for you to feed them some frozen mysis or brine shrimp

[jestep]

Springer's damsel is one of my favorites and probably the only peaceful damsel. Make sure it's a Springer's and not an incorrectly marked blue damsel if you get one of these. These also eat flatworms if you ever end up with any.

Cardinals would be great.

Female Genicanthus angelfish. The males get quite a bit larger.

Royal gramma.

[Sascha D.]

First off, Nice Tank! I don't see Orange Skunk Clownfish very often and yours look great.

Next, the basic limiting factors for choosing fish are temperament, size, and diet. For peaceful, small, carnivores you are going to be picking from Chromis, Dottybacks, Clownfish, Dwarf Angels, Anthias, Blennies, Hawkfish, Gobies, Dragonetes and Wrasse.

Coral Beauty, Lyretail Anthias and Royal Gramma are on sale right now at Liveaquaria.com

Green Chromis and Yellow Watchman Gobies are on sale right now at Reefs2go.com

If you're worried about shipping fees, check out the group buy forum to see if anyone else is ordering. Getting your fish locally is an excellent option, but I haven't had any luck finding what I want without special ordering. My last special order fell through two weeks in a row so there's risk in that as well.

[Neon Reefer]

Thanks for the responses so far. I always wanted a drangonet green or red and thought i could not as i had Gobies already and I do not have many pods in my tank. Now after researching again i am getting some mixed info on their needs. I am now seeing that w/ a 75 G tank they should not bother other gobies, and that they will readily take frozen mysis and brine. Do we have any dragonette keepers out there w/ experience of keeping them in a situation like mine. Or anyone who has input?

[Sascha D.]

The Neon Goby and Firefish will also eat pods, which is probably why you don't see them. I wouldn't count on a Mandarin Dragonet eating mysis or brine unless you buy one from a breeder or plan to try and train him yourself. I've heared mixed reviews on training them to eat worms, brine, or mysis. Some accept the food and some die of starvation. Your best bet is to get a young fish. None of your fish are aggressive and the Mandarin won't fight with any of them.

Generally, it's not recommended unless you have a refugium that is fairly mature. Of course you could always buy pods every month, but that can get expensive. An alternative is to raise your own pods in a seperate tank. It's pretty simple, but it's extra work.

[Neon Reefer]

Thanks Sascha D.I beleive you are correct about Mandarins. As far as Anthias goes I can't feed X3 a day and not wanting an aito feeder at this time, besides my larger Clown would eat herself to death. Also looked at the Midas Blenny and like the idea of owning one but Live Aquaria said they tend to nip at Firefish, One of my first thoughts was the PJ Cardinal but i afraid they just don't really excite me much. The Springers Damsel is beautiful and is considered the most peaceful but is still considered semi aggressive towards dart fish like my firefish. Definitly thinking about the Royal Gamma, Chromis will pick each other off,, Dottybacks-posiibly a blue indigo, , Clownfish - dont want to add any more clowns Dwarf Angels most will nip at LPS corals,

Looks like so far the reef safe wraesses such as Flasher and Fairys, and the Royal Gamma.

Any other suggestions?

.

[jaggedfire]

Dotybacks are full of character. Any opinion on a pygmy wrasse?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[Sascha D.]

I'm not a fan of the Pj Cardinals myself. The Bangai are starting to grow on me, but they're not very active fish so they blend into the background. I know that Ozarkawater has a Lyretail Anthias in his tank and he doesn't feed 3 times a day. I've heard the magic to Green Chromis is to keep them in multiples of 3. I'm not sure how much truth there is to this. I have personally kept Coral Beauty and Flame Angels in full LPS tanks without any problems, but it's a chance that you take with those fish.

Most Wrasses will want a 3" sand bed to sleep in. A Pearly Jawfish would also need a sand bed. You could try a Big Eye Squirrelfish.

[jestep]

I've heard the magic to Green Chromis is to keep them in multiples of 3. I'm not sure how much truth there is to this. I have personally kept Coral Beauty and Flame Angels in full LPS tanks without any problems, but it's a chance that you take with those fish.

I think the chromis benefit from odd numbers like many schooling fish. I've never been able to keep more than 1 without them eventually tearing the school down to 1. It may take months, but you eventually end up with 1. Possibly if you could add 10 or more at the same time to even out the aggression. My chromis were much more aggressive than the springers. Not sure if anyone's tried to keep multiple springer's but they are much less aggressive in my observations.

The swallow tail (genicanthus) angels are reef safe which includes watanabi, lamarcks, and bellus. I think dwarfs are a coin toss. They are fine until they're not fine anymore. It's funny you mention yours are fine with LPS because most people have the most problems with clams and LPS like duncans.

Also, I'm not sure I would try any dottyback with a gramma or any other basslet or similar fish. Have heard multiple stories of the dottybacks bullying any similar shaped fish.

[Bpb]

+1 pj cardinals are a bore. I have had one for years and its huge now but I barely even notice it in the tank because it just sits perfectly still right below the overflow box and never moves until I drop food in. Such a dull fish and the olive drab color with spots isn't very striking. I like the banggai cardinals way more. They may behave the same but at least they look awesome in the process

[Sascha D.]

I'm setting up a group buy for Reefs2go. Delivery date is September 3rd and shipping will be free. If you want in let me know what you decide to get and how much it costs.