Inexpensive but beautiful fishes.

[i cant think]

Oh I don’t know if they are captive bred but flames I find for $50-$60

Dang… I find flames for £150+

 

[OrionN]

I bought a purple tang for$50

That is very inexpensive for a Purple

 

[dakoop]

That is very inexpensive for a Purple

It was a long time ago

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Why all those fish are so inexpensive for you guys
Here everything is expensive.. Firefish is around 60-70 bucks...
Centropyge aurantia is 399
A flame is 180

And I am talking about CHF not USD.

It may be that they are bred inland and more facilities here but really don't know.

 

[Nemo&Friends]

How’d they do with the flow?

That tank did not have a very strong flow, just an HOB filter. I am trying to grow macro algae, not very successfully so far. Mollie did well and behaved for a few weeks, then one day, my caulerpa which was finally taking off, was completely destroyed. As it was the only fish in the tank it was easy to deduct which was the responsible party, so back to fresh water it went.

 

[Rene']

I'm in england so different prices, bit got a coral beauty for £ 35 about 4 months ago so that's about $ 42-$45 I think and all 9 my fish under £50
Ywg £ 22
2x clowns £18 each
Silver belly wrasse £ 22
Cleaner wrasse £21
Coral beauty £ 35
Copperband £ 40
Bi colour blennie I think £ 29
Tail spot blennie £ 20
So all cheap fish but silver belly my favourite 100%

We get charged high for hannah checkers with cheapest being £ 65 going upto £ 80 so that's like $ 80- $ 95 pffft

My last purchase was a week ago. Shockingly, Petco and some LFS have some great deals. The trick is to not buy on impulse and wait for that good price. Good luck with that

 

[Rtaylor]

These are beautiful....my friend has 2 but they are in a separate tank than his main display. Aren't they difficult to keep because of their eating habits? All the fish in my tank, although not aggressive, are aggressive eaters and as such guys like these can starve. Just what I was told anyway. What has been your experience?

Mine have actually been very easy. They immediately took to Masstick. Now they’ll go for anything they can fit in their mouths. I don’t have them with any really aggressive eaters. I also feed heavy 5-7 times a day. My fish don’t need to compete for food, so everyone gets to eat. The filefish are actually pretty aggressive eaters, the issue is they can only eat very small sized food. So they often have to peck at a pellet a few times or abandon something too big.

 

[davidcalgary29]

2. Orchid Dottyback (P. Fridmani)

So maligned, and yet so stunning. They're number one for colour in my book, and captive-bred specimens are cheap, too.

 

[Zionas]

They’re definitely stunning fish. That bright purple throughout isn’t easy to find. I didn’t know even Orchids had a bad reputation, how long in your experience do they live for and what do they bother if anything? I think whenever possible they should be kept in pairs or maybe groups.

 

[davidcalgary29]

They’re definitely stunning fish. That bright purple throughout isn’t easy to find. I didn’t know even Orchids had a bad reputation, how long in your experience do they live for and what do they bother if anything? I think whenever possible they should be kept in pairs or maybe groups.

I've only had mine for a year. Someone's set up a page of "incredible orchid dottyback facts" in which it's suggested that they'll live between 5-7 years, but I'm sure that's an underestimate, as everyone seems to kick them out of their tanks the moment they cast a hard look at another fish. I also note that the picture at the top of their page features a purple dottyback, so let's just take their advice with a bucket of Tropic Marin salt.

I can tell you that captive-bred orchids are incredibly hardy. One of mine was the only survivor when bleach got into my Evo, and I found another in anoxic conditions (a powerhead failed) that left other fish gasping.

 

[Zionas]

That’s incredibly hardy indeed. I’d rather have a somewhat assertive fish over a too passive one (like Firefish and Dartfish). Those sites suck, yeah, they say the lifespan of a Clownfish is only 10 years yet plenty keep them for 15+ and 20+.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Ironically, my purple firefish bullied the orchid dottyback. It died from the bleach, leaving the dottyback to its freedom.

 

[Zionas]

Hah! That’s quite a surprise lol.

 

[bondsgot73]

What are some of the less expensive but very beautiful fishes in your tank? Please name them and if possible post pictures please. I am at work so I don’t have access to my photos, but I can post a few pictures later this evening.

Let’s limit the price to no more than 50.00 when you bought the fish. If we all posted, this will help new reefers a lot IMO. Here are some of mine on my cell phone:
Red Head Solon wrasse. 17.00 as a young female.

30.00 at Petco in Corpus Christi

37.00 in Houston

18.00 at Petco

Small transition wrasse at Petco. In the store for weeks so 50% discount. I paid 21.00

assorted female Flasher for 12.00 in Houston

Where in Houston did you get them? I’m from Houston myself.

 

[PeterEde]

I paid $140 for flame hawk.
That's the most expensive fish I have.
Latest is a six line wrasse

 

[dawi03]

Okay!
Hmm.. for $18.83 (£14) I got a Gobiodon strangulatus (The second of my three gobies) for my nano and I will never regret his grouchy face!

I also love my Koumansetta hectori that I got for $43.04 (£32) and he is now making me want to go goby dominant with the variation (The third of my 3 gobies at the moment)
I will attach a photo in the morning

And just because I thought he was dead for 20 days (Gave me a VERY nice surprise one night and scared me) for $10 I got this Pom Pom crab:

That’s most of them for the nano (I’ll have to redo this in the morning due to it missing a few species since they’re asleep) and the main 4’ tank will also be done tomorrow

I knew you would chirp up mr goby!!

 

[i cant think]

Okay!
Hmm.. for $18.83 (£14) I got a Gobiodon strangulatus (The second of my three gobies) for my nano and I will never regret his grouchy face!

I also love my Koumansetta hectori that I got for $43.04 (£32) and he is now making me want to go goby dominant with the variation (The third of my 3 gobies at the moment)

And just because I thought he was dead for 20 days (Gave me a VERY nice surprise one night and scared me) for $10 I got this Pom Pom crab:

That’s most of them for the nano (I’ll have to redo this in the morning due to it missing a few species since they’re asleep) and the main 4’ tank will also be done tomorrow

So, I need to update this list because I missed a few out. Well actually I missed them all out, all of my nano fish are under £50 haha, although together I think I have a nano worth over £100 in fish.

Escenius lineatus (£20) you will never see this fish have the exact same color

The first of all three gobies, Stonogobiops yasha (The only goby I would love over this one is a black ray but I have never seen one) for £15

The K. hectori:

Macropharyngodon bipartitus for £25 as a .25” specimen who is still with me and now is hitting 1” after 6 months.

Cirrhilabrus naokoae for £35, I missed my first one so when I saw this one I got him in an instant.

 

[i cant think]

I knew you would chirp up mr goby!!

Yeah, Gobies are beautiful (And I’d rather not go into having 3 fish that total to £300 in the bank like I do in my 4’ tank haha) and often overlooked due to some of them being extremely common, my LFS has a D. griessingeri in now and I’m trying to not see it until my leopard and naoko are too big for my nano haha.

 

[Bars]

2 of my favorites. Very pretty, easy to keep and mostly peaceful
Talbot's damsel €12/$14

Pink bar shrimp goby €40/$45

 

[dawi03]

Yeah, Gobies are beautiful (And I’d rather not go into having 3 fish that total to £300 in the bank like I do in my 4’ tank haha) and often overlooked due to some of them being extremely common, my LFS has a D. griessingeri in now and I’m trying to not see it until my leopard and naoko are too big for my nano haha.

It may just be me but every time you mention a goby species I have to look it up on google to know what you are talking about lol