Good "Show Fish" for a 65 gallon?

[footgal]

Hi there! A pair of designer clowns would be lovely, black storms or onyx picasso are always show stoppers in my book.

There are several dwarf angels I would consider that are a little more affordable. My favorites have been cherub, flame, and flameback. They have all been reef safe (occasional nipping, but no damage done) but keeping them well fed is a definite way to curb the behavior.

Anthias (purple square or sunburst are my faves) are always a great way to add a splash of movement and color to a tank. The males are especially impressive.

Wrasses are just incredible, many will also eat flatworms. Ornate/blue star leopard wrasses or hawaiian flame wrasse males are my favorite. I do not recommend keeping more than one wrasse of any species though as they will not pair

your tank is gonna look incredible!

 

[mkwarner77]

I personally like the coral beauty best. I've been looking for a replacement for a while now. If you shop around and are patient you can find the right color variation for you.

 

[Zionas]

I agree that a smaller dwarf angel would be great! Flameback, Cherub, Coral Beauty, etc. Some smaller Fairy and Flasher Wrasses would be great. Clownfish pair. Shrimp and goby combo. Even a pair of more peaceful damsels from the genus Chrysiptera, or get at least one. Royal Gramma or any basslet in the genuses Gramma and Lipoproma. 2-3 Chalk Bass could be yet another option. Hawkfish can be a bit of a threat to shrimp. Bangaii Cardinal (only get Captive Bred). Starry, Midas, Bicolor or Tailspot Blenny. Yellow, McNeill’s, or Randall’s Assessor.

I would not put even a Bristletooth Tang in a tank less than 4 foot long. My tank will have similar dimensions as yours.


Here’s a possibility to look into if I were you:

x2 Ocellaris Clownfish- Captive Bred (personally not a fan of the designer varieties but it’s your call)

x1 Flameback / Cherub / Coral Beauty / any 3-4.5” dwarf angel

x1 Royal Gramma / any other basslet / Assessor of some kind

x1 shrimp and goby pair

x1 Starry / Tailspot / Bicolor / Midas Blenny


The rest can be wrasses. I’d add maybe 2 wrasses.

 

[Zionas]

I don’t mean to hijack OP’s thread but would 10 fish be too many for a 3’ 65-70 gallon tank?

They’ll all be no more than 4 inches.

 

[Bubbles!]

I don’t mean to hijack OP’s thread but would 10 fish be too many for a 3’ 65-70 gallon tank?

They’ll all be no more than 4 inches.

For me, 10 fish, even 3"-4" ones, would be waaay to much. I run a very relaxed maintenance schedule, and the bioload of 10 fish would be too much for me. Thank you for the suggestions though!

I image 10 fish could be kept in a 3' 65-70 gallon tank. Should 10 fish be kept in a 3' 65-70 gallon aquarium? Probably not. In terms of bioload, it could probably be done with one heck've a skimmer and super on top maintenance, but the main thing I'd worry about is aggression. A three foot tank doesn't have a huge footprint. That means less area for territories and less area for live rock. Less live rock means less hiding places. Less hiding places means limited escape from aggression. Not really an ideal scenario. Anyhoo, that's my two cents. Good luck and happy reefing!

 

[OrionN]

Combination of these fish would be OK in a 65 gal tank. The one think about Flasher and Fairy wrasse is that they are short live. You are lucky if you get 4-5 years with them. Flasher wrasses can reside in a 65 gal no problem. Fairy wrasses, you need to carefully select more docile and smaller species. So far my Leopards have much better longevity. Black Leopards are somewhat more unusual and smallest of the Leopards, smaller than Meleagris, Potter and Ornate, which are the species of Leopards I had experiences with. All the Leopards are more difficult to get establish but once establish they should be relatively carefree. I cannot imagine keeping a reeftank that is large enough and not have a Flame angel in it. The picture below is self explanatory for why I think this way. Well fed Flame Angels have not cause problem for me. 65 gal, well run can sustain a Mandarin. I would not add Leopard and/or Dwarf Angel if you choose Mandarin. Ask if you have any specific question.
Carpenter Flasher

My male Flame Angel

My Onyx Percula clowns (A. percula) I like Percula much more than Ocellaris. I am into pure wild type clowns instead of designer clowns.

Meleagris Leopards, female and male

McCosker Flasher wrasse

Naoko Fairy wrasse

Diamond Tail Flasher wrasse male and female. This male is not yet fully develpoped.

Yellow-fin Flasher

Black Leopard female, male and male in nuptial coloration

Blue (Peacock) Flasher wrasse

Mandarin female and male. My female were emaciated and have the gill cover plate on the L side bare with hair algae growing on it. You can see this if you look at the L gill plate on my female Mandarin. You see her fat and full of eggs in this picture. This is a first for me. Having a fish that have algae growing on her bone and recovered and live a long happy live

 

[Bubbles!]

@OrionN
Those are some seriously gorgeous fish!! Thank you for your advice!
What species of wrasse do you find easiest to keep? I'm not very experienced when it comes to wrasses, so a hardier species would be best for me.

 

[OrionN]

Almost all the flasher and fairly wrasse are easy to care for and establish. You need healthy fish to begin with, then they just need to be place in a stress free environment until they eat well then place in DT. I dont QT for disease and I dont treat my fish unless I find specific disease. I realized that most people don't have a 40 gal reef as QT tank. However, I do. In this QT system, I have a pair of clowns as dither fish. This tank is full of flora and fauna and pleny of hiding spots for my new fish. It is a very nice way to acclimate difficult species like Leopard wrasse. Once they do well there and getting fat, I move them to my DT. I have a 320 DT system with 120 gal sump (Texas Todd called it a top view aquarium) and a 65 gal DT in my office.

 

[Dburr1014]

Leopard wrasse is my vote, but it needs sand for nighttime bedding.

 

[Rhoads238]

I used to have a sunburst anthia in my 60 cube. I loved the color of that fish. But my all time favorite was my blue spot jawfish. I loved the color and personality of that fish. It always had this irritable look on its face. I would love to get one again. You would have to add sand to your tank to get one.

 

[Jen1978]

I always go for a variety of activity. Pygmy angel because they cruise and dive through the tank, a pair of clowns bc they’re social, a jawfish or diamond goby for personality, mandarin for cool factor, and a colorful tang just because.

Tank doesn't appear to have sand for the diamond or mandarin. But if it did, I'd definitely vote male green mandarin

 

[topjimmy]

In my 65 I have
A mated pair of clowns , over 20yrs old
Orange diamond spot goby
Melanarus wrasse
Flame back angel
Tomini tang
Flame hawk
Green Mandarin

I am probably going to add more, nitrates are undetectable , I carbon dose.

 

[TrishK]

I love my wrasses....I have the red Ruby head fairy, pink margin fairy, carpenter flasher, yellow fin flasher and then a McCoskers in QT that will go in a FOWLR 60g. Also have a pair of clowns, a small royal gramma, a sunset butterfly and a coral beauty and 2 PJ’s that will all eventually end up in there as well. If it gets too crowded we can put a few in our 180 reef.

 

[living_tribunal]

Mccoskers flasher wrasse

one of the prettiest fish I’ve ever owned

 

[living_tribunal]

I agree. I love wrasses. However, I think that without a sand bed my wrasse would be pretty stressed most of the time.

You don’t need a sand bed for flasher or fairy wrasses, they stay in the column or hidden under rocks.

 

[living_tribunal]

Almost all the flasher and fairly wrasse are easy to care for and establish. You need healthy fish to begin with, then they just need to be place in a stress free environment until they eat well then place in DT. I dont QT for disease and I dont treat my fish unless I find specific disease. I realized that most people don't have a 40 gal reef as QT tank. However, I do. In this QT system, I have a pair of clowns as dither fish. This tank is full of flora and fauna and pleny of hiding spots for my new fish. It is a very nice way to acclimate difficult species like Leopard wrasse. Once they do well there and getting fat, I move them to my DT. I have a 320 DT system with 120 gal sump (Texas Todd called it a top view aquarium) and a 65 gal DT in my office.

They also need a net cover for the tank!!!!

 

[Lindaanne60]

The first thing that comes to mind for show fish in a tank this size is fairy and flasher wrasses.

Mcclosker male firefish disbar anthias

 

[driftin]

I had a pair of Brazilian Flameback dwarf angels (Centropyge aurantonotus) for a good decade, if not longer, in a 70-gallon cube. They have coloration similar to the interruptus, different pattern closer to the african flame, and were peaceful in my tank. Always in and out of the rocks, took frozen food readily. Nipped at some coral polyps but didn't cause damage and never seemed to give a second thought to other fish or inverts. After a period of time together in the tank they mated, which made for quite the show in the evenings - they did an awesome mating dance which also brought all the other fish into a feeding frenzy. So much activity in the tank!

I bought them from live aquaria divers den, they are a seasonal collection from what I recall. Still remain one of my favorites.

 

[Clawfish]

Eww, a centropyge interruptus would look spectacular in there!!! My all time favorite Pygmy Angelfish! That would definitely be a showpiece!

late reply reading this thread! Have you ever had the pygmy angel eat soft corals?

I had one in a 32 bio cube and it would eat my zoas and mushrooms!

 

[JCTReefer]

late reply reading this thread! Have you ever had the pygmy angel eat soft corals?

I had one in a 32 bio cube and it would eat my zoas and mushrooms!

It’s a crap shoot really. Yes, some centropyge are less likely to mess with soft corals. Others are notorious for devouring various coral types. Some softies are petty noxious and probably don’t taste very good. Every fish is different though. I just had to get rid of one of my Azure damsels. Had a group of 6. This one particular individual kept eating at my prized toadstool leather. And Damsels are supposed to be “Reef Safe”.. This fish would relentlessly pick at this one coral. Not to be mistaken with a fish nipping at the mucus coat. There were bits and pieces of the neon polyps floating around the tank. Never saw it mess with anything else. Luck of the draw I suppose!!!