Best bang for the buck FISH? It's an all around great fish for the money!

[revhtree]

When it comes to being healthy, nice looking, good tempered, and an asset to the overall vision of your saltwater reef aquarium, which fish is the best bang for the buck? Let's talk about it!

Please consider the health, looks, temperament and activity.

Which fish do you think is the "best bang for the buck" fish?

image via @bubbaque

 

[Dolphins18]

Scopas tangs! Cheap and effective

 

[Bpb]

May seem a silly answer, but If you can manage to get them without uronemia, a group of standard issue $2 green chromis are still one of my absolute favorite must-have fish. Especially if you can manage a decent sized shoal of them. Not much utility in them but they’re fun to watch

 

[Sump Crab]

Yellow tail damselfish. Beautiful, always out, peaceful, hardy, and downright cheap.

 

[dwair]

Occelaris clowns. Cheap and beautiful!

 

[NashobaTek]

For my tank and for me, it's the pinnatus batfish. Gorgeous colors as a juvenile, very peaceful to tank mates, eats like a pig, and does eat some of the algea as it gets bigger and adult stage. Plus they're captive bred now, but they are a little spendy ( $150. For a small juvenile ).

 

[ChiCity]

for putting in work on pests,
yellow coris wrasse for the win

 

[kenchilada]

May seem a silly answer, but If you can manage to get them without uronemia, a group of standard issue $2 green chromis are still one of my absolute favorite must-have fish. Especially if you can manage a decent sized shoal of them. Not much utility in them but they’re fun to watch

Can you let me know where you get $2 green chromis? My wholesaler would like to buy some.

 

[adsf430]

royal gramma, so pretty, cheap, and easy/peaceful

 

[Gtinnel]

For me it's my melanurus wrasse. It is one of my favorite looking fish in the hobby and it only cost me $30, which compared to most other fish is a good price. I will have one in any tank that is big enough to keep one. They're always out swimming around the rocks hunting and mine doesn't bother anything else.

Plus they're utilitarian because they will eat some pests.

 

[Stoney]

I've always thought lyretail anthias were the quintessential reef fish. They're relatively easy to keep, peaceful, and look amazing when schooling. Reefs just dont look complete to me without anthias.

 

[ClownWrangler]

Azure damsel. If that's still too expensive, a lyretail Molly

 

[Dolphins18]

For my tank and for me, it's the pinnatus batfish. Gorgeous colors as a juvenile, very peaceful to tank mates, eats like a pig, and does eat some of the algea as it gets bigger and adult stage. Plus they're captive bred now, but they are a little spendy ( $150. For a small juvenile ).

Holy seaweed! Batfish save reef › News in Science (ABC Science)

www.abc.net.au

 

[ying yang]

My silver belly wrasse is cheap at £ 22 and constantly looking to eat stuff off the rocks,very peacefull so far,most intense brighest yellow i seen in any fish,if look compared to my ywg makes it look drab coloured

 

[saltyhog]

If utilitarian duty is considered I have a couple. Yellow Halichoeres wrasse (they're not a coris wrasse!) are stunning in person as they mature. Mine never bothers inverts, is very peaceful and they are excellent at controlling pests in the tank. The other one may not be beautiful to some but my Matted Filefish is invaluable as well. They are full of personality....inquisitive and completely unafraid of human activity outside the tank. Mine also is the absolute best at eliminating aiptasia.

 

[Clo]

Bangaii cardinal! They’re so different in their movement yet still eye catching!

 

[Bpb]

Can you let me know where you get $2 green chromis? My wholesaler would like to buy some.

I got a group of 10 for under $2 a piece from sea dwelling a couple months ago. Maybe they were on special

 

[BanjoBandito]

NEON GOBY!!!! Lil' fish, big personality. Costs like 10 bucks. It'll always be the first to "inspect" your hand when it goes in the tank and keep everyone nice and clean. They also love to "CHILL" on rock work - one thing I would say is though, they are small. Great nano tank fish, maybe gets lost in the shuffle in bigger tanks.

 

[MaxTremors]

People are going to disagree with me, but for me it’s a sixline wrasse. You obviously have to be careful with tank mates, but I think they get a bad rap. They are great for pest control, active, curious fish that also act as a sort of fire alarm, if you put a new piece of coral or rock in your tank and you notice a sixline paying close attention to it and continually coming back to it, you know you should probably pull it and give it a close inspection. Overall it’s a hardy, cheap, active, useful, attractive fish.

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

I would say both my starry blenny and my harlequin basselet fit this bill.