Fish for 60 gallon cube?

[jbrady429]

Hey everyone,

I’m setting up a 60 gallon cube with a focus on soft corals, and am working out what fish to keep. What group of fish would you recommend?

Thanks!

 

[James M]

What type of fish are you looking for ?

 

[jbrady429]

What type of fish are you looking for ?

I’m looking for recommendations at this point. I’m thinking of keeping a clown of some sort, maybe a yellow tang, and maybe a blennie—bicolor or lawnmower. That probably leaves room for another fish or two. What do you think? Would a yellow tang be a good choice? What about dwarf angels (coral beauty or flame angel, for example)? If you were putting a group of fish in this tank what would they be?

 

[James M]

I’m looking for recommendations at this point. I’m thinking of keeping a clown of some sort, maybe a yellow tang, and maybe a blennie—bicolor or lawnmower. That probably leaves room for another fish or two. What do you think? Would a yellow tang be a good choice? What about dwarf angels (coral beauty or flame angel, for example)? If you were putting a group of fish in this tank what would they be?

Tanks to small for a yellow tang . You can do the rest of the list , coral beauty’s are really good addition. I would do chromis for grouping fish

 

[jbrady429]

Tanks to small for a yellow tang . You can do the rest of the list , coral beauty’s are really good addition. I would do chromis for grouping fish

Any worries about a Coral Beauty nipping at corals?

 

[Billldg]

You have to worry about all Angel fish, once they get a taste for corals your done. Not reef safe

 

[davocean]

Tailspot blenny are one of my must haves, royal gramma another.
No tangs, get a lawnmower blenny if you want algae control(I suppose a small bristle maaayybe...but not what I'd do)
Inverts

 

[Billldg]

Maybe some wrasse's

 

[norfolkgarden]

Wrasse, more wrasse.

Yellow coris wrasse for a smidge brighter yellow than a yellow tang.
A few fairies and/or flasher wrasse. Never stops swimming. Doesn't just hover for hours.
No leopards.

Look at Liveaquaria reef safe for some good ideas.

Flame or longnose hawkfish, or falco, or any of the smaller ones. All interesting.
Eats smaller shrimp or small cleaners and fires.
No problems with our small flake hawk and huge fire shrimp.

Always love royal gramma.

Skip damsels, six line wrasse, any dottybacks, maroon clownfish.

Or do them all together and have a beautiful *really* aggressive community tank.
They are similar meanness levels so should all be equal.

 

[Jesterrace]

You have to worry about all Angel fish, once they get a taste for corals your done. Not reef safe

I wouldn't say that completely. I have a CB that takes a once in a blue moon nip at my Euphyllia frags and then spits the little nip out and moves on to algae grazing. Doesn't hurt the corals, they still do really well. I can't comment on zoanthids or others though. @ The OP, Wrasses could work although, I would stick to the smaller ones (ie Flashers, Red Lined) since it's a cube. I definitely agree about skipping the Yellow Tang. I had to remove one that wasn't 40% grown from my 90 gallon after about a month because he turned into a territorial butthead and tried to claim the entire tank as his own (even took a chunk out of my CB's fin and started slapping him with his tail scalpel). Tangs can be jerks and are among the most poorly suited fish for cube tanks.

 

[Billldg]

I wouldn't say that completely. I have a CB that takes a once in a blue moon nip at my Euphyllia frags and then spits the little nip out and moves on to algae grazing. Doesn't hurt the corals, they still do really well. I can't comment on zoanthids or others though. Wrasses could work although, I would stick to the smaller ones (ie Flashers, Red Lined) since it's a cube.

If that were the norm I would be first in line to buy a few angel fish as they are beautiful, but wasn't worth the risk for me.

 

[Jesterrace]

If that were the norm I would be first in line to buy a few angel fish as they are beautiful, but wasn't worth the risk for me.

I agree it's definitely a case by case basis, I had a Flame Angel that was an all around jerk that did repeated nipping of my corals and out he went. Although there are a number of people who have reported long term success with the Coral Beauty and some who have had good luck with Flame Angels. I do think it helps with any dwarf angel to have a well established tank with algae for them to graze on and supplement with daily seaweed/nori feedings though

 

[jbrady429]

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone! I appreciate all the comments. The new tank is cycling, so fish will start going in in about a month!