NEED HELP CHOOSING FISH AND CORAL!!!

[ASWoodsy]

I’m creating a 32.5g lps and softie tank with a 10g sump. I need help choosing fish! I keep doing research, finding a fish I like, then finding out it isn't comparable with another fish or coral that I want, leaving me to choose between the two. Currently, I have three fish, my cuc is all set (I’m open to suggestions, but I’m pretty solid on my choice), and I’m also pretty solid on my coral choices. My tank has a lot of swimming room, but also many rocks and crevices to explore (picture below). What do you think I should add?

My Current Livestock:
- 1x Tailspot Blenny
- 2x Ocellarus Clownfish

Possible Livestock additions:

Fish:
- 1x Yellow Coria Wrasse
- 1x Royal Gramma
- 1x Firefish
- 2x Bangaii Cardinal Fish

CUC and Coral:
- 3x Trochus Snails
- 3x Serith Snails
- 2x Giant Nassarius Snails
- 1x Fighting Conch
- Acan Coral
- Zoanthid Garden
- Torch Coral
- Mushroom Coral
- Frogspawn Coral
- Kenya Tree Coral
- Hammer Coral
- Bubble Coral

 

[Screwgunner]

I like the neon goby. The wrasse might eat some of your clean up crew.

 

[Tamberav]

I assume you don’t mean to add all the fish?

Any of the fish you want to add should work as long as the cardinals are a mated pair. The wrasse will eventually get too big and be cramped. A pink streak or Pygmy wrasse would easily fit for its lifetime.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Personally, I would say stick to 5ish fish for that tank.

All the corals look good except for Kenya tree, my suggestion is don't do it.....

And think twice about the bubble coral, I have a 32 gallon, and always wanted a bubble coral , but I read they are very aggressive with long stingers, so they will take a lot of space in a 32. Try to stay away from aggressive and invasive corals or you will run out of space very quickly.

 

[Tamberav]

If you like the Kenya tree. You could do a colt coral instead. Grows fast but won’t drop babies all over. You will just have to frag it due to its massive speed of growth. Personally, I think the colt is much nicer looking. It is a lot more fluffy. It is a deep purple under led.

Green nepthea is another option.

I agree with @LordofCinder on 5 fish being a good number also.

 

[Shibaken3]

too small for wrasse go for pink streak or possum

 

[i cant think]

Don’t do a Pseudocheilinops ataenia or any Wetmorella with the two clowns. The Wrasses mentioned do not do well with aggression and must be some of the first in the tank. So if you want them, you’ll have to sacrifice the clowns.

I would disagree with those saying Kenya Trees are invasive, I have had 2 in my 4’ tank for the past 5-6 months and neither of them have gone crazy with invading. I do have a leather dominant tank and my Sinularia grows faster than my Kenya’s do.

Also, if we’re talking about aggression from coral, Acans and Torches are a bad move as well. The others should be alright though (Depending on the mushroom you get).

Fish is a hard one to do, everyone is different and what I like you may not like. Can we have an idea of what you enjoy in fish? For example;
I enjoy the simplistic patterns over the absolutely covered fish (I don’t enjoy too many solid coloured fish though). Personality is another thing that plays a big role in what fish I get for my tanks. In my 3’ nano I have;
- Discordipinna griessingeri
- Pseudocheilinops ataenia trio
- Macropharyngodon bipartitus
- Stonigobiops yasha
- Gobiodon acicularis

Don’t go for a trio of anything unless you know for a fact you like that fish and they are able to be in trios. The same thing can be said for any fish you want in multiples, make sure you like them. You wouldn’t want a tank full of fish you dislike (For example Chromis cyanea is a fish I dislike). That would just take away from what a tank is supposed to bring to you.

 

[ASWoodsy]

Don’t do a Pseudocheilinops ataenia or any Wetmorella with the two clowns. The Wrasses mentioned do not do well with aggression and must be some of the first in the tank. So if you want them, you’ll have to sacrifice the clowns.

I would disagree with those saying Kenya Trees are invasive, I have had 2 in my 4’ tank for the past 5-6 months and neither of them have gone crazy with invading. I do have a leather dominant tank and my Sinularia grows faster than my Kenya’s do.

Also, if we’re talking about aggression from coral, Acans and Torches are a bad move as well. The others should be alright though (Depending on the mushroom you get).

Fish is a hard one to do, everyone is different and what I like you may not like. Can we have an idea of what you enjoy in fish? For example;
I enjoy the simplistic patterns over the absolutely covered fish (I don’t enjoy too many solid coloured fish though). Personality is another thing that plays a big role in what fish I get for my tanks. In my 3’ nano I have;
- Discordipinna griessingeri
- Pseudocheilinops ataenia trio
- Macropharyngodon bipartitus
- Stonigobiops yasha
- Gobiodon acicularis

Don’t go for a trio of anything unless you know for a fact you like that fish and they are able to be in trios. The same thing can be said for any fish you want in multiples, make sure you like them. You wouldn’t want a tank full of fish you dislike (For example Chromis cyanea is a fish I dislike). That would just take away from what a tank is supposed to bring to you.

Surprisingly, my clowns are model citizens so far in the tank. And what I look for in a fish isn’t so much as the coloration (even though if I had the choice, I would get a large diversity of different sizes and color), but more so, as you said, their personality. I want fish that swim freely, not very skiddish (like my tailspot even though I still love him), always picking at rocks or swimming around (and through my rock work).

 

[DeniseAndy]

Clownfish are model citizens until they begin to lay eggs. Then, watch out for your hands and any fish that gets too close to them. In a 32g, that is every fish. So, get your full fish introduced prior to the clowns getting to adult hood and spawning. They tend to leave current inhabitants alone, but new adds are tortured.

With a 32g like yours, I would go with a shrimp and shrimp goby pair. They are great to have. Maybe a small sand sifter, Biota has some captive bred that are small and stay small.

I love talbot damsels and azure damsels. In your tank, I would stick to 2 talbots. Looks like plenty of room for two to settle nicely. Same with azures.

The yellow Coris wrasse will get too large. As others suggested, pink streak or possum could be option. As long as you have a good top.

In the end, you have to decide on the fish. I am not a huge cardinal fan, but many are. I have had many, but never really liked them much.

 

[i cant think]

Surprisingly, my clowns are model citizens so far in the tank. And what I look for in a fish isn’t so much as the coloration (even though if I had the choice, I would get a large diversity of different sizes and color), but more so, as you said, their personality. I want fish that swim freely, not very skiddish (like my tailspot even though I still love him), always picking at rocks or swimming around (and through my rock work).

Clowns will become aggressive and rule the tank as they age. Mine will go at almost any fish (or hand) near her Ricordea rock in my 4’ tank. If you didn’t have the clowns, I’d definitely say go for a Pseudocheilinops ataenia. While not the most colourful, they definitely have some personality.
Another personality filled fish is Assessor macneili, a close relative with more colour is Assessor flavissimus. Both of these show the same personality and interesting swimming patterns but prefer dim light (You can do this as none of the coral you plan for have a high light - 200-300+ PAR -need). However in the future if you want SPS then these guys may hide more often.

 

[Tamberav]

Tailspot may get more bold with time. Mine started out shy but swims up to me and now takes center stage in the tank. Yesterday I caught the 3" tailspot chasing the 5" yellow tang away from a rock it was grazing on.

 

[Tamberav]

I didn't have any problems with small wrasses with my clowns in a 20g long but mileage can vary. They were spawning and hated the open water swimming fish (damsels, chromis, firefish, midas blenny, royal gramma, etc) but ignored the more rock dwellers like perching blennies, gobies, or those that hugged the rocks like pinkstreak. I think maybe the wrasse just wasn't stupid and knew not to go stick its face in the clownfishes area like a derp. I found firefish and cardinals to be a little derpy haha

 

[ASWoodsy]

Clownfish are model citizens until they begin to lay eggs. Then, watch out for your hands and any fish that gets too close to them. In a 32g, that is every fish. So, get your full fish introduced prior to the clowns getting to adult hood and spawning. They tend to leave current inhabitants alone, but new adds are tortured.

With a 32g like yours, I would go with a shrimp and shrimp goby pair. They are great to have. Maybe a small sand sifter, Biota has some captive bred that are small and stay small.

I love talbot damsels and azure damsels. In your tank, I would stick to 2 talbots. Looks like plenty of room for two to settle nicely. Same with azures.

The yellow Coris wrasse will get too large. As others suggested, pink streak or possum could be option. As long as you have a good top.

In the end, you have to decide on the fish. I am not a huge cardinal fan, but many are. I have had many, but never really liked them much.

I’m the same way about the cardinals, but thought I should give them another try. I think I just got two males last time which cause a problem. With the clownfish breeding, I think that would be coming up within the next 6 months to a year since they are a little over 2 years old now. I’m probably going to get a pink streaked wrasse and a fire goby (or another type of goby). Do you have any suggestions on gobies I could add besides a goby shrimp pair?

 

[ASWoodsy]

Tailspot may get more bold with time. Mine started out shy but swims up to me and now takes center stage in the tank. Yesterday I caught the 3" tailspot chasing the 5" yellow tang away from a rock it was grazing on.

How long did it take for your tailspot to swim freely with you by the tank?

 

[Tamberav]

How long did it take for your tailspot to swim freely with you by the tank?

I am not sure, maybe two months? It was a gradual thing. He is by far the smallest fish in the tank and he owns the place.

All fish are individuals though.

When I was little we had horses, I had a pony... the pony was the boss of all the big horses, sometimes it is all in attitude and how good you are at giving dirty looks lol

Also he may be more comfortable once coral is grown in. Coral provides more cover/hiding and such and fish will be more bold and hide less when there is actually more places to hide. I already have many big corals and he sits and swims among them often.

 

[i cant think]

If you go the pink streak route, make sure they have a peaceful introduction and NOTHING gets too curious about them. My trio had to be the first to go in out of my long term stocking plan of 5 fish in a 3’ tank. I have had 5 of this species total and my 2nd attempt passed due to aggression. The other 4 times I introduced them all with no aggressors and they thrived (or are thriving). Be warned this species needs to be bought as a juvenile (<1”) to have a long lifespan with you. My first one was rather large when I bought it and he was with me a year unfortunately. My trio have been with me for 2 months and were all bought as very small juveniles, the photo below is the three with trochus snails.

Now they’re all out for about 10-15 hours each day. However I only have 2 other fish that are constantly out, and both of these are peaceful (One is a Leopard Wrasse and the other is a Clown Goby). With Clowns in the tank you’ll likely not see your fish or they’ll be too aggressive for these guys.