Fish list for a reefer 425

mdh71 · Feb 25, 2018

I am trying to develop a list of fish for my Reefer 425. I plan on doing some corals and I have 160 pounds of live rock. I do not know if this is to many fish and if they will be compatible. The triggerfish worries me, but I do like the look of them.

I currently have 2 Ocellaris Clownfish

royal Gramma-basslet
green-clown-goby
green mandarin dragonet
six line wrasse
flame tahiti angel
yellow angel
orchid dottyback
yellow eye kole tang
humu picasso triggerfish

Flexin · Feb 25, 2018

The trigger and yellow angel are not reef safe (if you plan on doing corals).

crayon · Feb 25, 2018

The orchid can be an ****** to your smaller fish. Consider a fire goby instead? Agreed about the huma huma trigger. Consider a niger, blue throat or pink tail? They are reef safe(r).

Flexin · Feb 25, 2018

Welcome to the forum. Here is a great source for researching fish and corals to determine compatibility. For fish that say with caution, some are more likely safe than others, but based on hobbyist that I stay in touch with and have a yellow angel, they are most likely to nip at corals. I would trust live aquaria on their recommendations. We have a beautiful one at my LFS with blue over it's eyes, but I know better since I have a mixed reef.

https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1926+253&pcatid=253

Denisk · Feb 25, 2018

It really depends on what you’re going to do with you tank. Will it be a mixed Reef, sps, softie and etc!

Clown goby can eat if not cause discomfort to sps polyps. So it’s a no go for me at least.

Mandarins should only be added when you have an established pod population and it’ll be able to continuously feed on them. So maybe if you have refugium, down the road it’ll be a great fish.

Sixline wrasse can get pretty aggressive and will bully some of your fish if not right away, it will down the road. (The fish is a nightmare to catch haha)

The trigger will outgrow your tank and it isn’t Reef safe.

The dottyback can also get a little aggressive but not if it’s usually the smallest tank.

As far as the other fish go, they seem fine but I’m not familiar with angels so hopefully someone else will chime in to help you! Hopefully this helps out a lot. There are a lot of great fish you can add to a 425 reefer.

eatbreakfast · Feb 25, 2018

mdh71 said:
I am trying to develop a list of fish for my Reefer 425. I plan on doing some corals and I have 160 pounds of live rock. I do not know if this is to many fish and if they will be compatible. The triggerfish worries me, but I do like the look of them.

I currently have 2 Ocellaris Clownfish

royal Gramma-basslet
green-clown-goby
green mandarin dragonet
six line wrasse
flame tahiti angel
yellow angel
orchid dottyback
yellow eye kole tang
humu picasso triggerfish

Sixlines get aggressive, will outcompete the mandarin for pods, and as it matures even outright attack the mandarin.

Flexin said:
The trigger and yellow angel are not reef safe (if you plan on doing corals).

Triggers aren't bad with corals usually, moreoften they are just curious. Motile inverts, however, are squarely in the diet.

Yellow angels are among the worst nippers for dwarf angels.

crayon said:
The orchid can be an ****** to your smaller fish. Consider a fire goby instead? Agreed about the huma huma trigger. Consider a niger, blue throat or pink tail? They are reef safe(r).

Orchid dottybacks are among the most peaceful of dottybacks, so no worries there.