Fish that do well in pairs?

[Silly clownfish]

I am looking to increase the fish pop in both of my tanks over the next several months. I would like to do more in pairs, but I’m not sure how well some species pair up, or which fish get more territorial in pairs. current tans/ inhabitants:

30g (soft coral reef - I don’t want to have to dose this tank for hard coral) currently pair of spotcinctis clowns, 1 green clown goby. Thinking - second green clown, plus?? Single cherub angel, pair of firefish?

75g ( mixed reef) current: 1 ocellaris clown (I have had her for 22 years, so must be female by now), 1 one spot foxface, 1 coral beauty , 1 bi-color blennie. The only fish here I would pair up, is I want to get a small ocellaris for my old lady, in a slightly different color pattern. My current clown pre-dates designer clowns. I have not read that the blenine or coral beauty would pair well, and I don’t think a 75 would be big enough for 2 foxface.

Ideas to add - pair of court jester gobies (I have seen mixed info on how they do in pairs) or pair of flame hawks (my favorite fish, my previous one jumped after 19 years..) it sounds like they can be paired fairly easily.

other thoughts or suggestions? I would consider 7-8 fish to be the max in the 75.

 

[laverda]

A charub angel really needs a bigger tank. They are very active fish. Firefish are big time jumpers, so not a good choice for an uncovered. Other wise they may pair up. Neon gobies are pretty easy to pair and will spawn and they are great fish for a small to large tanks. Your larger fish will enjoy their cleaning service. Sadly they only live to about 3 years maximum.
For your 75 I think 2 foxfaces would not do well. My flame hawks paired up easily in my 300. A 75 g may be pushing it. I have no experience with the other fish your asking about.

 

[ThRoewer]

Cherub angels (C. argi) should only be kept in pairs or harems, singles go crazy in my experience.
A 75 is large enough for a harem group of 4 cherubs.
Coral beauties (C. bispinosus) can easily be kept in pairs or harems if the tank is large enough. 75 is only enough for a pair though.

For foxfaces a 75 is too small. They grow crazy fast as I just experience. Of note should also be that rabbitfish and foxfaces do not change sex. Same sex juveniles, even of different species, will get along and behave like a pair bu once they reach sexual maturity things can get complicated.

Blennies also don't change sex and it isn't particularly easy to sex bicolors.

Hawkfish, on the other hand, are relatively easy to pair as they can change sex both ways.

Same goes for a lot of gobies. All the gobies that pair with pistol shrimp can usually change sex both ways.

Dartfish, close relatives of the true gobies (true gobies are the ones whose ventral fins have fused to form a suction cup) do not change sex and if you put 2 of the same sex together one will get killed. Sexing them is rather difficult.

 

[ichthyogeek]

30g: Another green clown goby could work! I know I've read somewhere about how they change sex. Long story short, is that one of them will change sex (probably). But it would be better if you acquired a smaller individual.

Notes on firefish: It is hard to pair them 1:1. But buying a group and letting them self-select is an okay (6 months in, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) way of establishing them. Freshwater cichlid breeders do something similar: they'll buy a group of 6 non-sexually dimorphic, juvenile fish, and let them hash out who's mating with who; eventually 1 or more pairs is created (granted there's that like, 3% chance of them all being the same sex).

75 gallon: Good idea on not pairing the foxface. A second clown would work, if it's noticeably smaller, chances of there being a nonviolent pairing are higher. I defer to ThRoewer when it comes to blenny sexing. You can definitely keep a pair of dwarf angels in a 75; I believe that Karen Brittain's done this with success with quite a few species. No idea about the court jesters, but it might work, and I've heard of pairing flame hawks with the size difference before.

 

[Silly clownfish]

Thanks all - I definitely wasn‘t thinking of a second foxface. I didn’t think a second coral beauty would be an option either.
so second clown in the 75, plus one or 2 flame hawks (I would give them a nice long quarantine together before moving to the DT. Anything else in that tank would likely be a single.

yep - full glass canopies on all tanks - even so I have lost fish to carpet surfing. I don’t want to go the buy 6 fish and end up with 2 route.

maybe a second clown goby in the 30 (I seldom see the one I have, it is so tiny). Maybe a single cherub - I had one I. That tank for over 7 years with the now 20+ year old ocellaris, the 19 year flame hawk, and a jaw fish. It seemed happy with weaving in and out of the fairly open rockwork.

at the speed I introduce new fish with quarantines, I will take me the best part year to get up to that population, so I am sure I'll change my mind a few more times!

 

[Zionas]

Super long-lived fish. Good job!

You could consider a pair of shrimp gobies and have them share a Pistol Shrimp.

A pair of the more peaceful Chrysiptera damsels like the Azure, Yellowtail, Talbot’s, Springer’s, Rolland’s.

A pair of sexually dichromatic fairy wrasses.

Maybe another Green Clown Goby.

A pair or multiple non-Firefish Dartfish.

 

[Silly clownfish]

Since my aquariums are in my living room and home office, I don’t want the noise of a pistol shrimp. That sound bugs me enough when snorkeling.

back in the 90s I cycled my first tank with blue damsels (that’s what the few books not the subject recommended in those days). After 2 of them paired off and killed the third, they did successfully spawn for a while (promptly eating the newly hatched fry). They needed to be in their own tank because they were so aggressive. Eventually there was some domestic violence, and I ended up with one. Toughest darn fish ever - even survived a non-submersible heatrr falling in the tank and frying (yes, non-submersible heaters were a thing back then too). Talk about electric blue damsel! After that monster finally died, I swore never again for damsels. Yeah, I know there are less aggressive ones, but kinda like tangs, a bad experience soured me on the entire group.

fairy wrasses are a good thought.