Fish suggestions for my shallow reef tank

sebi1100 · Feb 17, 2021

Hi,
iam Sebastian and I "try" to running a nice shallow lps-reef.
I have a question about my fish stocking.

My current stock is:
1 sixline wrasse
2 chromis
1 firefish goby

The Bicolor-Blenny on the pic jumped out yestersay - was a pretty sad day , he was so cool

Tank size is 48x17 footprint and 16 high (120x45x40). I will add a Pic.
I just have a minimalistic aquascape and "plenty" of swimming room in this small reef.

I would love to add an cole or tomini tang, is there a problem?
A bigger shallow-tank around 50x21x16 i just plan in 2022/2023, so its a while....
Anybody has other nice ideas for me?

Thanks a lot guys

Greeting from germany
Sebi

polyppal · Feb 17, 2021

Koles and Tominis are closely related and both would have plenty of room in there. They arent quite as open swimmers as bigger tangs. Could easily accommodate your entire stocklist!

Beautiful tank!

sebi1100 · Feb 17, 2021

Thank u very much

I will try add a tomini tang and maybe 1-2 royal gramma to my stock .

Here in Europe there r much people they say u need minimum 120g + for any kind of tang . But when u say the tomini tang is more at the rockwork or the bottom of the tank they exaggerate a bit ?

Bfragale · Feb 17, 2021

Tomini or yellow eye kole are the two smallest tang fish I regularly see in the hobby. I think either would be fine in a tank your size. I think the “minimum gallon” size is a reference but personally I think more important is the foot print and swimming room inside the tank. 4ft should be plenty. But both of those tangs are bristle nose tangs and won’t help as much with algae like a yellow or purple tang will do. But both are awesome fish.

your line is a good choice. Just be careful as they are jumpers

I like the cromis- but I’ve never had great luck with them. Usually they end up with only one left. My last group of fish I did was anthias instead of cromis. They have more color and seem more active then the cromis. as long as they are all females you can mix and match the “styles”. I went with 4 lyre tails. So far I’ve been happy with them.

ive been on a kick for very small fish for my macro/softie tank. The red spot goby and the shark nose goby- are two recent additions. These fish get like 1 inch to 1.5 inch. I thought I would never see them but they are always visible and the shark nose is known to pick and clean parasites off fish should any get into your system. I have enjoyed both of those so far.

I always add a
Algae blenny/scooter blenny- will help keep things clean. Plus they usually have a cool personality and are fun to watch.

to me it sounds like you could add more fish- but really depends on the bio load and if the tank is mature enough to handle it. But it’s a beautiful tank in your photos and it appears mature.
Keep up the good work, and take care my friend. HAPPY REEFING!

sebi1100 · Feb 17, 2021

sebi1100 · Feb 17, 2021

Hey

thanks for ur nice answer.
U tanks r looking nice too - great fish, very big zoanthus?

Thank u very much, i try to put much effort in this tank. I used dry rocks from ATI ( maybe u know them from the T5 lights). The tank is soon 1 year old. I bought pretty small corals, maybe i will add some more and bigger Acans and Euphyllias. Love also the galaxy goniopora.....

Yes - Iam a newbie when it comes to fish. I never had any kind of tang. So iam pretty exited to get one.
In my tank there is not a single pice of algae at the moment , maybe a blenny will get a problem?

I bought my 2 chromis and they seem to be a pair - i have them for 10 months now.

I just worried about the sixline wrasse - seem to be a bit aggressive to new fish.
When i added the goby, the sixline attacked him

Then I put a small mirror at one side of the tank the sixline attacked itself for 2 days. When i removed the mirror the sixline was peaceful to the goby. Its crazy .....