Cryptic fish for a nano

[ZipAdeeZoa]

I vote forvthe perclet, but its about preference of personality. I had a chalk in a 14g and he never really grabbed me. I like more cryptic elusive fish, and I am sure the perchlet would hunt down ghost shrimp as well.

Thanks for the input! I saw a video on youtube of a little perchlet taking out a ghost shrimp, had no idea they could be so wicked when they want to be!

Do you think my tank would give a single chalk basslet enough space to thrive?

To me the lovely thing about the perchlet is that in perching on the rocks it kind of “activates” the aquascape - you notice the nooks and ledges of the scape in cool ways. The basslet will more likely hover over the rocks and sandbed and in a cave. It’s a beautiful fish but I’d do the perchlet first and then consider the basslet as a second fish. Just my opinion and I am super biased in favor the perchlet.

A great point! I saw photos of your perchlet on your build thread and can certainly understand why you would be biased! Originally that aspect really sold me on the perchlet but then I got to thinking (a dangerous thing I know;Hilarious) and after planning out how I want to place all the corals I’d like, I realized that there wouldn’t be much open rock for the perchlet to enjoy and I feel like the Zoas (50-75% of the rockwork hopefully), clove polyps, blastos, candycanes and mushrooms wouldn’t enjoy being constantly sat on. I doubt the dragons breath algae would be bothered and I’d just be impressed if it managed to sit on the xenia. Is this something you ran into with yours?

Thats why the other fish I was going to mention was a hovering species like the chalk basslet in case everyone said the perchlet would stress out the corals (which no one has yet). I realize theres a better chance of the 2 hermits I have planned bothering the corals more than the fish but it pretty easy to find homes for hermits compared to the less mainstream fish I like.

Again I really really like the perchlet but I want to make sure I’ve thouroughly explored all possibilities. I know everything can go wrong for any reason but I want to put the odds of succes with this tank in my favor as much as I can!

 

[mort]

I really like chalk bass and think they are one of the best group fish we can add in larger tanks but I wouldn't personally base a tank around one. The reason is they do great with stimulation from other fish and that's why groups work well but they can become quite sedentary and simply sit in the same area all day, which is fine if you have lots of other fish but a little boring if it's the only thing you have. I also think they have a significantly higher bioload than the perchlet, so I vote for perchlet as well but keep the chalk bass for a later, bigger tank when you can keep more.

 

[Pbh-reef]

I wouldn’t worry about the perchlet bothering coral - it is a small fish and will
Have space to perch even in a full tank

 

[ZipAdeeZoa]

Thanks for all your input everyone!

Well I think I've done my due diligence and exhausted all my resources. I must admit the perchlet has an undeniable appeal to me and certainly seems like a near perfect fit! Now for one of my favourite parts, the thrill of the hunt! I know they're in Canada so I'm already way passed the yellow spotted scorpionfish. I'll let you all know how it goes!