Need help deciding on whether or not a fish is right for your tank? Post here and we'll help!

[User]

If the sailfin isn’t already established in the tank and you’re introducing it at the same time as the other 2 you should be ok, but if it’s a pre-existing fish it might not take kindly to the 2 new tangs, especially since all 3 are zebrasoma tangs. It could work out, but at the same time it might not

The sailfin is still at the LFS, and the two tangs were bought 3 days go and are in QT. I just haven’t been able to get that sailfin out of my head though, so thinking of going back for her

 

[a;lksdjf]

I have new-to-me 75 gallon rhat currently has lots of live rock, 3 firefish, 3 clownfish, a royal Gramma, a coral beauty angel, and a flame angel. Also have a bubble tip anemone, a Sally Lightfoot crab, strawberry crab, two pom pom crabs, a peppermint shrimp, a camel shrimp and multiple hermit crabs, and snails. I am looking to put in a blue colored fish, but not sure what would be happy in there. Any suggestions?

For a blue fish, you could do a group of blue/green chromis, a blue sapphire damsel, a yellowtail damsel, a black neon dottyback, or a red-headed solon fairy wrasse.

 

[a;lksdjf]

The sailfin is still at the LFS, and the two tangs were bought 3 days go and are in QT. I just haven’t been able to get that sailfin out of my head though, so thinking of going back for her

You could try it out and return it if it is aggressive towards the other two

 

[eatbreakfast]

I’ve got a 55g sumpless fowlr. I’m about to get a pair of clownfish into quarantine and am interested in a few of the following to add down the road. Any recommendations, do’s/don’ts, pros/cons, etc? What order should I add things? Also, did I miss anything in my research and add anything too large to live comfortably in a 55g? I won’t be upgrading to a jumbo tank (150g) for at least another year or two.

These are the fish I’ve narrowed down to future possibilities (not all of them, I’m very aware of the dangers of a overstocked tank.)

Royal Gramma (2)
Chromis (3+)
Yellow Prawn Gobi (1)
Pink Spotted Gobi (1)
Yellowhead Jawfish (1)
Blue Dot Jawfish (1)
Black Cap Basslet (1)
Yellow Candy Hogfish (1)
Zebra Barred Dartfish (2-5)
Exquisite Fish

Thanks!

I would not do 2 royal grammas, they can be social, but in larger groups than 2.

Blue spot jawfish need cooler water.

A blackcap and royal gramma are not a good fit together.

The firefish and dartfish are fine together. Firefish are intolerant of other firefish, but they are fine with dartfish, and dartfish are social.

Cool Thread!

I am setting up a 32 gallon biocube. I plan to stock it a little on the heavy side but want a very peaceful tank with sociable fish. I am thinking:
1. Tailspot blenny
2. Yellow watchman goby with pistol shrimp
3. Royal gramma
4. Exquisite firefish or zebra dartfish
5. Carpenter, mccosker, possum, or pink streaked wrasse

I am going for bold colored fish with personality. I do not want a clown, i already have a clown in a seperate tank. I know that some say mccoskers and carpenters need a little bit more space but i really think it would be a great centerpiece fish for the tank because of it’s colors and displaying behavior. I will add corals eventually but right now i have plenty of swimming room with a relatively open scape which i think would be nice for a flasher wrasse. I’ve seen some people online recommend a minimum of 20 gallons for these fish before. LA says 55, but it just seems a bit much to me for something that barely gets to 3” full grown, especially if kept with peaceful tankmates.

I do have a question about the blenny and watchman. Will they fight at all? Also my sand is slightly larger grain than what i am used to, will that be a problem for either? Its the carib sea arag alive hawaiian black sand.

The wrasse experts recommend larger tanks for flasher wrasses, exactly because of their displaying behavior. Anyone saying 20g is ok for a flasher, I would be highly suspicious of any other fish info given by them.

The blenny and goby will be fine together. The blenny stays on the rocks, the goby stays on the sand.

Bigger substrate is fine for what you have.

Hi All,
I have a 57 gal plus sump and have the following in my tank-
Pair of Storm clowns
Midas Blenny
Bonded pair of yellow watchmen w shrimp

What can I add with color and movement? I’m not looking for a crammed tank full of fish, just visually appealing color and movement. TIA

A group of zebra dartfish, flasher or small fairy wrasse species.

I have a black leopard wrasse, 4 clarki clowns, tomini tang, dwarf fuzzy lionfish, saddle puffer, foxface and copperband butterfly. I was thinking about adding one more tang, ideally a purple tang, would that be a good idea or bad idea? Its a 120 gal display

Some purples can be pretty aggressive, others arent that bad. You can give it a try, but be vigilent towards aggression.

I have a 180 with the following fish.
2 clowns
Pin tail fairy wrasse
Carpenters wrasse
Potters wrasse
Melanaruss wrasse
Blue hippo tang
Purple tang
Yellow eye kole tang
Citron goby (lives in overflow bc he fits through the weirs, fished him out twice but he keeps going back there.
What other wrasses would be safe to add?
Any other purple fish besides black cap. My wife loves them but they seem to hide a lot?
Thanks in advance

Different flasher and fairy wrasse species would easily be doable. Just use a social acclimation box when introducing new wrasses to established ones.

Blld, but peaceful fish will help blackcap basslets be more outgoing. Even though dottybacks fit the description of being purple, I would caution against adding them to a tank with wrasses.

You could do a ruby head fairy wrasse, a red-lined wrasse, or a yellow wrasse. As for another purple fish you could do a group of the more purple dartfish, a royal gramma, a bicolor dottyback, a purple dottyback, or a group of Evansi anthias

Although purple I would caution against recommending bicolor and purple dottybacks due to their aggression and against evansi anthias because they can be delicate.

An orchid dottyback, however, is a well-behaved dottyback.

Any thoughts on a Purple tang, yellow tang (both 3”, introduced together) and a sailfin tang in a 180, moderate amount rockwork. Other fish are 2 onyx perculas, a 4” Mag Foxface, a Randall’s goby and a single dispar anthias.

Will have a plan to rehire the sailfin if I get the impression she’s feeling cramped.

Thanks

That's a lot of Zebrasommas. Tangs of the same species are more aggressive to tangs of the same genus than they are to tangs of different genus. It can b done, but there will be a bit of aggression, which can be stressful to them and their tankmates.

I have new-to-me 75 gallon rhat currently has lots of live rock, 3 firefish, 3 clownfish, a royal Gramma, a coral beauty angel, and a flame angel. Also have a bubble tip anemone, a Sally Lightfoot crab, strawberry crab, two pom pom crabs, a peppermint shrimp, a camel shrimp and multiple hermit crabs, and snails. I am looking to put in a blue colored fish, but not sure what would be happy in there. Any suggestions?

A note of caution is that firefish aren't social, so 2 will likely pr and kill the third.

A peaceful Chrysiptera damsel, such as azure or springeri will fit the bill.

For a blue fish, you could do a group of blue/green chromis, a blue sapphire damsel, a yellowtail damsel, a black neon dottyback, or a red-headed solon fairy wrasse.

Many have reported that groups of chromis don't work out longterm.

Black neon dottybacks are a bit too aggressive for the listed stock.

 

[RWS6605]

This may be an off topic question but I wasn’t sure where else to ask.

I moved my royal gramma and yellow watchman goby from QT to the DT yesterday afternoon.

YWG was there this morning but no sign of the RG. I didn’t see him in the overflow, sump or on any of the rock. Do they bury in the sand?

 

[eatbreakfast]

This may be an off topic question but I wasn’t sure where else to ask.

I moved my royal gramma and yellow watchman goby from QT to the DT yesterday afternoon.

YWG was there this morning but no sign of the RG. I didn’t see him in the overflow, sump or on any of the rock. Do they bury in the sand?

They do not bury in the sand, but they can be pretty secretive for awhile when moved to new tank.

 

[mta_morrow]

I would recommend against doing a carpenter or mccosker’s wrasse since they like horizontal swimming room. Definitely go with a possum or pink streaked over a fairy/flasher wrasse. Another good looking wrasse that would do well in that tank is a scarlet pin stripe wrasse. Aside from that the list looks decent. I can’t speak for compatibility between tailspot blenny and watchman goby

I currently have a tailspot and flametail blenny, a pink spot goby, and a pair of wheeler gobies with a pistol shrimp.

There are no issues with these blennys and gobies.

 

[mta_morrow]

I have new-to-me 75 gallon rhat currently has lots of live rock, 3 firefish, 3 clownfish, a royal Gramma, a coral beauty angel, and a flame angel. Also have a bubble tip anemone, a Sally Lightfoot crab, strawberry crab, two pom pom crabs, a peppermint shrimp, a camel shrimp and multiple hermit crabs, and snails. I am looking to put in a blue colored fish, but not sure what would be happy in there. Any suggestions?

I have a trio of azure damsels. They are a relatively mild mannered damsel. They will defend their small territory. They are always out and active and are always focused on each other.

 

[JonoB]

Looking for suggestions. I have a new to me 60g Cube. I inherited a coral beauty and a kole tang. I'm pretty positive the tang is going to get way to big for this tank so I'm going to try trading it locally for some coral or something, but will probably end up giving it away. The coral beauty, I'm waiting to see if it picks at corals but if it doesn't I think he will stay.

Just looking for general suggestions, but also wondering about a fish that would swim actively in the top portion of the tank? Maybe that's too specific but always worth asking.

I'm already thinking about getting a 6-line wrasse, and maybe a goby/shrimp pair. I had some clowns previously but they died, not sure if I want clowns again, looking for more "interesting" options first. What ya got?

 

[eatbreakfast]

Looking for suggestions. I have a new to me 60g Cube. I inherited a coral beauty and a kole tang. I'm pretty positive the tang is going to get way to big for this tank so I'm going to try trading it locally for some coral or something, but will probably end up giving it away. The coral beauty, I'm waiting to see if it picks at corals but if it doesn't I think he will stay.

Just looking for general suggestions, but also wondering about a fish that would swim actively in the top portion of the tank? Maybe that's too specific but always worth asking.

I'm already thinking about getting a 6-line wrasse, and maybe a goby/shrimp pair. I had some clowns previously but they died, not sure if I want clowns again, looking for more "interesting" options first. What ya got?

Sixlines can get aggressive as they mature.

Midas blenny or a group of zebra or scissortail dartfish will occupy the upper portions of the tank.

Very few fish match the personality of a flame or longnose hawk.

 

[AlbertaBound]

Just recently purchased a 180 gallon for my very first tank, I was wondering if anyone had experience having multiple lionfish in the same tank. I was looking at purchasing 1 each of Pterois radiata and Pterois volitans. Thanks in advance.

 

[a;lksdjf]

Just recently purchased a 180 gallon for my very first tank, I was wondering if anyone had experience having multiple lionfish in the same tank. I was looking at purchasing 1 each of Pterois radiata and Pterois volitans. Thanks in advance.

They shouldn't have problems, since lionfish will leave fish that won't fit in their mouths alone

 

[eatbreakfast]

Just recently purchased a 180 gallon for my very first tank, I was wondering if anyone had experience having multiple lionfish in the same tank. I was looking at purchasing 1 each of Pterois radiata and Pterois volitans. Thanks in advance.

Lionfish of different species are fine together, as long as one can't swallow the other.

 

[00Barracuda00]

Looking for some help identifying some cool species interactions in a Reefer 350. With the exception of Tangs, which might outgrow the tank eventually, what other fish would interact with cleaner shrimp?

 

[Jon Fishman]

Not sure what a Reefer 350 is, but are you looking for something to interact with cleaner shrimp, or just not eat them?

 

[a;lksdjf]

Looking for some help identifying some cool species interactions in a Reefer 350. With the exception of Tangs, which might outgrow the tank eventually, what other fish would interact with cleaner shrimp?

A tomini, kole, or bristletooth tang would do well in a tank of that size. They may also clean dwarf angels, butterflies, and essentially any other fish that will let them hitch a ride, and there's no guarantee that it will clean them or that the fish will want to be cleaned.

 

[00Barracuda00]

Not sure what a Reefer 350 is, but are you looking for something to interact with cleaner shrimp, or just not eat them?

Yeah I guess I could have made that clearer. Reefer 350 tank, 91g total system, 73(ish)g display.

To answer your other question, I'm looking for both actually. Anything the shrimp would clean would be a priority, but not a necessity. Anything else would hopefully just ignore the shrimp.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Looking for some help identifying some cool species interactions in a Reefer 350. With the exception of Tangs, which might outgrow the tank eventually, what other fish would interact with cleaner shrimp?

Yeah I guess I could have made that clearer. Reefer 350 tank, 91g total system, 73(ish)g display.

To answer your other question, I'm looking for both actually. Anything the shrimp would clean would be a priority, but not a necessity. Anything else would hopefully just ignore the shrimp.

Most fish "recognize" cleaner shrimp as cleaners, but it varies fish to fish and depending on "need" whether they will utilize a cleaner shrimp. Anthias, angels(the genus Genicanthus is reef safe), pyramid or zoster butterfly, tilefish, fairy or flasher wrasses.

 

[jp_75]

Never thought choosing fish is going to be that hard!
Red Sea XL 425
Longnose Hawkfish
Chalk Basslet
Red Line Wrasse
Saphire Damsel
Sailfin Blenny
Purple Firefish( no longer see it/ disappeared after i added 3 Zebra Dartfish )

3 Zebra Dartfish who disappeared right away.... Are they that shy? How long does it take them to come out?

I wang to add 1-2 more fish and i’m done i think. Any recommendations? Need something to be fairly easy to QT and swimming in open area most of the time.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Never thought choosing fish is going to be that hard!
Red Sea XL 425
Longnose Hawkfish
Chalk Basslet
Red Line Wrasse
Saphire Damsel
Sailfin Blenny
Purple Firefish( no longer see it/ disappeared after i added 3 Zebra Dartfish )

3 Zebra Dartfish who disappeared right away.... Are they that shy? How long does it take them to come out?

I wang to add 1-2 more fish and i’m done i think. Any recommendations? Need something to be fairly easy to QT and swimming in open area most of the time.

Zebra dartfish usually are pretty outgoing, a little jumpy, but outgoing.

Some other options include: threadfin bream, a fairy wrasse species, grammistes blenny, or a Genicanthus angel.