Help me stock my tank

BranchingHammer

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Hi everyone,
I have a 65g mixed reef. Dimensions: 36in, 18in, 24in. I currently have a yellow-eyed Kole tang, an ocellaris clownfish, a six line wrasse, and a azure damsel. I was thinking of adding some springer’s damsels, but I wanted some fish that were a bit more colorful and had some personality. I love damsels, but I’m looking for other possible fish. Let me know what you guys think!
Thanks so much!
 

smol_reef

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Personally I love my diamond goby. So much fun to watch it sifting sand, which keeps it clean. I know some will throw sand all over the place and cover up corals, but mine hasn't been too bad in that aspect.
 
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BranchingHammer

BranchingHammer

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Thanks for the reply. My sand is a bit course, so I worry that it would hurt its gills. Plus I’m worried that it would cover the clam and trachy with sand.
 
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BranchingHammer

BranchingHammer

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The six line has been pretty docile to new additions in the past. He never attacked the Tang or the damsel (which was smaller than him). Would a hawk fish be okay with the six line?
 

Rednamalas

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Probably go for a longnose hawkfish or flame hawkfish, just be wary that they might eat crustaceans. I personally have a flame hawk in my 75, and he hasn't ever touched my two cleaner shrimp, but I know many other people have not had this good of an experience. But if you aren't too worried about crustaceans, probably introduce the hawk in an acclimation box to see if the six-line gets aggressive. I love hawkfish because they have such big personalities as stated above.
 

nereefpat

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Rednamalas

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Yeah, horseshoe crabs aren't the best for aquariums in general as they get huge and can easily topple your rock structure, and on top of that, the hawkfish will probably eat the crab.
 

gaki

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You should get another clownfish to pair with your current one! They’re my personal favorite. There might be some aggression at first, but if you get one that’s much smaller or much larger than your current one, that should tone it down a bit. Also an anemone might be cool (watch out cuz they sometimes walk around and sting corals)

In terms of other fish... maybe try a pair of banggai cardinals?
You could also do a small school of chromis.
Also a small addition that will probably love your tank (mixed reef) is a yellow clown goby. They’re a nice community fish and you’ll probably find it sitting near/on corals (still reef safe though)

That’s what I would do, but you can also go on liveaquaria just to get ideas - they have a pretty large selection, especially for marine fish. Have fun with it!
 
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BranchingHammer

BranchingHammer

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Thanks everyone! I’m in a dilemma about the horseshoe crab because my LFS will just sell it to someone else if I give it to them. I purchased the crab at a frag swap, and it seems to be doing alright so far in the tank. Unfortunately, it does get flipped around a bit by the current sometimes... The cardinals or the chromis could be cool. How many of these fish would be appropriate? 3?

Also, I’m setting up a 50g grow out tank for acros. The swimming dimensions will be 32inches by 23in, and the tank is 10in high. I love the look of wrasses other than the six line, would any of those work in small tank like that? Any other ideas for this grow out tank? I might end up just putting the hawk fish in the grow out tank?
 

Rednamalas

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So on the topic of the horseshoe crab, they get up to 2 feet long and would most likely need a bigger tank. No to mention they might knock over corals if you have any in your tank. On the topic of chromis and cardinals, many people have really bad experiences with keeping them in groups as they seem to dwindle down to only one. Cardinals would probably be your best bet as a lot of them can co-exist in groups. I had a group of 3 PJ's a long time ago and they did well. I've heard that banggai cardinals can be aggressive within their groups, but I have no personal experience. If you wanted to put wrasses in the acro grow out tank, I'd recommend smaller species like lubbock's fairy wrasse, ruby longfin fairy wrasse (one of my favorites), possum wrasses, and pink-streaked wrasses. You'd also have to have a tight lid on your tank if you wanted wrasses. If you wanted to shy away from the hawk in your 65, you could put one inside the acro tank if you wanted.
 
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BranchingHammer

BranchingHammer

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Thank you for the advice and recommendations. I'm thinking of doing wrasses and a hawk in the acro tank. I'll investigate into the schooling fish and see what would work best, might just end up going the springer's damsels route?
 

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