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

[Slocke]

Hows this:

50x31x23 150g

1x Yellow Tang
1x Gem Tang
1x White Tail Bristletooth Tang
1x Convict Tang
2x Ocellaris clownfish
2x Banggai cardinalfish
2x Green Chromis
5x Lyretail Anthias
1x Royal Gramma
1x Midas Blenny
1x Helfrichi Firefish

I'm confused. Do you already have all the fish?

• You have two zebrasoma tangs that maybe won't get along but I guess your not having problems?
• Chromis can be finicky and often fight each other till one is left
• Anthias and chromis need several feedings per day
• Firefish is too shy for that tank imo
• Wrasse? I suggest a halichoeres and a fairy at least.

 

[Slocke]

Thanks, just googled a one spot and what I saw said they can get to 8” ‍ I reckon that’s too big for an 80 gallon system don’t you think?

As for copepods we regularly add those and will continue to do so until I put a fuge in to cultivate them properly

They are fairly slow growers so you could have it for a while but its not ideal.

 

[Slocke]

Hey R2R, I have a 40 gallon tank with a 29 gallon sump that has been set running for 11 months. Considering the size of the tank, I have a ton of rockwork, caves, and hiding places.

I currently have
2x black ice clownfish captive bred
2x peppermint shrimp
2x serpent stars
2x emerald green mithrax crabs
1x pencil urchin
Various CUC snails and hermits

Currently going through humblefish's quarantine process are
1x yasha shrimp goby captive bred
1x neon goby captive bred
1x foxface

In addition, I would like to add
1x royal Gramma captive bred
1x harptail blenny captive bred
1x pistol shrimp

I believe all of the fish listed here should be just fine together. My concern is with the neon goby and pistol shrimp. I recently read somewhere that the small neon goby may be susceptible to ambush attacks from the pistol shrimp. What does everyone here think?

Edit to add that I plan on upgrading to a 125 in about 18 months. Hopefully the foxface has not outgrown this setup before then.

I think the neon goby will be fine. The "pistol" will scare it but not harm it IMO.

My worry is the foxface as the previous poster said even the smallest species reaches 8". Other fish are a good fit though.

 

[BamaCoastPyrat]

I think the neon goby will be fine. The "pistol" will scare it but not harm it IMO.

My worry is the foxface as the previous poster said even the smallest species reaches 8". Other fish are a good fit though.

Thank you for the reply. So the pistol shrimp will not kill the neon?

I am going to upgrade tanks to at least a 125 in about 18 months I think that should be big enough for the foxface even full grown? He is currently less than 2", but if he appears to be outgrowing the 40 before I can upgrade, I will re-home him.

 

[Slocke]

Thank you for the reply. So the pistol shrimp will not kill the neon?

I am going to upgrade tanks to at least a 125 in about 18 months I think that should be big enough for the foxface even full grown? He is currently less than 2", but if he appears to be outgrowing the 40 before I can upgrade, I will re-home him.

125 is perfectly fine for one

 

[ReefDreamz]

I'm confused. Do you already have all the fish?

• You have two zebrasoma tangs that maybe won't get along but I guess your not having problems?
• Chromis can be finicky and often fight each other till one is left
• Anthias and chromis need several feedings per day
• Firefish is too shy for that tank imo
• Wrasse? I suggest a halichoeres and a fairy at least.

No not all. I don't have the Anthias, Midas Blenny or Firefish yet.

• I added all the tangs at the exact same time, they get along pretty well so far. I've had them 1.5 months. No physical aggression that I've seen but they do kind of splay out their fins and swim next to each other kind of like they're sizing each other up sometimes. I just worry my tank will be too small for all 4 of them long term. I based my tang selection on the Reef Builders "Kitchen Sink" 4 foot tank which has the same 4 tangs I have plus a Powder Blue and that tank is 50 gallons less than mine. Based on this I thought I'd be OK.
• I had 3 chromis but one carpet surfed and didn't make it. I got a screen top after that. The 2 left seem fine/no visible aggression.
• I have an Avast Plank autofeeder. Currently it runs 3x per day for 45 seconds. Filled with TDO pellets, PE pellets, and nori flakes. When I add the Anthias I'll probably increase to 4 or 5x per day. This is in addition to feeding a variety or frozen food and/or a half nori sheet 1x per day.
• As for the Firefish being too shy, what would be the worst case scenario here? Are you saying it will be killed/starve or are you saying it will hide all the time but be otherwise healthy?
• I was thinking about a Yellow Coris Wrasse or a Leopard Wrasse. My only reservation is what if someday I get an Aiptasia outbreak and and want to use Burgiha nudis. Wouldn't be able to with the Wrasse. On the other hand they eat flatworms which is great.

 

[BamaCoastPyrat]

125 is perfectly fine for one

Thank you for the help.

 

[Slocke]

No not all. I don't have the Anthias, Midas Blenny or Firefish yet.

• I added all the tangs at the exact same time, they get along pretty well so far. I've had them 1.5 months. No physical aggression that I've seen but they do kind of splay out their fins and swim next to each other kind of like they're sizing each other up sometimes. I just worry my tank will be too small for all 4 of them long term. I based my tang selection on the Reef Builders "Kitchen Sink" 4 foot tank which has the same 4 tangs I have plus a Powder Blue and that tank is 50 gallons less than mine. Based on this I thought I'd be OK.
• I had 3 chromis but one carpet surfed and didn't make it. I got a screen top after that. The 2 left seem fine/no visible aggression.
• I have an Avast Plank autofeeder. Currently it runs 3x per day for 45 seconds. Filled with TDO pellets, PE pellets, and nori flakes. When I add the Anthias I'll probably increase to 4 or 5x per day. This is in addition to feeding a variety or frozen food and/or a half nori sheet 1x per day.
• As for the Firefish being too shy, what would be the worst case scenario here? Are you saying it will be killed/starve or are you saying it will hide all the time but be otherwise healthy?
• I was thinking about a Yellow Coris Wrasse or a Leopard Wrasse. My only reservation is what if someday I get an Aiptasia outbreak and and want to use Burgiha nudis. Wouldn't be able to with the Wrasse. On the other hand they eat flatworms which is great.

Yeah the firefish may hide a lot and will definitely try to jump. Sometimes they are also deathly afraid of blennies so you definitely want to add the firefish before the blenny if you do go with the firefish.

I had a berghia "outbreak" with wrasse so that wasn't an issue for me but maybe @i cant think could answer you better. Obviously peppermint shrimp will clean up aiptasia too but may nibble corals. Yesterday I threw a couple in my sump and within a couple hours all the aiptasia in the sump was gone.

 

[bjmartie]

Got a 90g with 40g sump, live rock with mostly zoas and ploys. Couple snails.
2 YWG and a pistol
Coral beauty
Clouded wrasse
2 paired clowns
Midas blenny
Lawnmower blenny
Possibly a leopard wrasse (added going on over a month and have yet to see him. But never had any spike in ammonia. Starting to loose faith he is alive.)

Will eventually make a second attempt at a leopard wrasse, but also really want a 6 line as well.

Should I do the leopard wrasse first and then a 6 line? Making sure the 6 line is smaller than the leopard and clouded wrasse? I would prefer a leoprd over a 6 line. So maybe just a leopard?

 

[Slocke]

Got a 90g with 40g sump, live rock with mostly zoas and ploys. Couple snails.
2 YWG and a pistol
Coral beauty
Clouded wrasse
2 paired clowns
Midas blenny
Lawnmower blenny
Possibly a leopard wrasse (added going on over a month and have yet to see him. But never had any spike in ammonia. Starting to loose faith he is alive.)

Will eventually make a second attempt at a leopard wrasse, but also really want a 6 line as well.

Should I do the leopard wrasse first and then a 6 line? Making sure the 6 line is smaller than the leopard and clouded wrasse? I would prefer a leoprd over a 6 line. So maybe just a leopard?

Yeah I lost a leopard in the same way. They often get mouth injuries in shipping and don't make it.

Don't get a sixline. Members of Pseudocheilinus genus usually don't get along with other wrasse. They are little monsters. Pseudocheilinops ataenia, the pink streaked wrasse is the peaceful yet fairly similar alternative.

 

[Jasongtr]

They are fairly slow growers so you could have it for a while but its not ideal.

Ah ok, I’m not interested in anything that I cannot keep in the tank then

 

[Nemoreef]

55G tank with a 30G sump. This is the planned Stocking list with Mandarin and tang coming in after 6 to 12 months. Among the rest, please give an idea of the order in which I can add these and if I can add more

Royal gramma 1
Ocellaris Clown 2
Blue tang 1[Juvenile, will rehome]
Mandarin 1
Bengai Cardinal 2(Also considering Pajama)
Yellow Coris Wrasse - 1
Sand sifting Goby 1 with pistol shrimp

 

[Slocke]

55G tank with a 30G sump. This is the planned Stocking list with Mandarin and tang coming in after 6 to 12 months. Among the rest, please give an idea of the order in which I can add these and if I can add more

Royal gramma 1
Ocellaris Clown 2
Blue tang 1[Juvenile, will rehome]
Mandarin 1
Bengai Cardinal 2(Also considering Pajama)
Yellow Coris Wrasse - 1
Sand sifting Goby 1 with pistol shrimp

None of those fish are a problem except the two you mentioned. Blue tangs aren't great aquarium fish as they're big, aggressive, and very susceptible to disease. Mandarin can be good but only with a lot of copepods. I'd strongly suggest a captive bred mandarin. They are much easier.

 

[Nemoreef]

None of those fish are a problem except the two you mentioned. Blue tangs aren't great aquarium fish as they're big, aggressive, and very susceptible to disease. Mandarin can be good but only with a lot of copepods. I'd strongly suggest a captive bred mandarin. They are much easier.

Tang is a must have to convince my family
I am also adding copepods now itself so I have a lot of it by the time I get a Mandarin. And yes it will be a captive bred one. Do you have any order in which the rest of the fish should go into the tank? Also any other fish suggestions that will get along with this list?

 

[Slocke]

Tang is a must have to convince my family
I am also adding copepods now itself so I have a lot of it by the time I get a Mandarin. And yes it will be a captive bred one. Do you have any order in which the rest of the fish should go into the tank? Also any other fish suggestions that will get along with this list?

Add the pistol shrimp before the wrasse. Get the right type of goby: Amblyeleotris, Cryptocentrus, Stonogobiops are all good goby genuses. Don't get a Valencienna they don't do well.
As for other things. Try a blenny or a firefish. Cleaner shrimp?

 

[Nemoreef]

Add the pistol shrimp before the wrasse. Get the right type of goby: Amblyeleotris, Cryptocentrus, Stonogobiops are all good goby genuses. Don't get a Valencienna they don't do well.
As for other things. Try a blenny or a firefish. Cleaner shrimp?

Cleaner shrimp is in the CUC list. But I did recently realize that they don't clean up. They just clean the fish. Can blenny and goby be in the same tank?

 

[Slocke]

Cleaner shrimp is in the CUC list. But I did recently realize that they don't clean up. They just clean the fish. Can blenny and goby be in the same tank?

Yeah. Cleaner shrimp are more a fun addition than useful and yes gobies and blennies are fine together.

 

[i cant think]

Cleaner shrimp is in the CUC list. But I did recently realize that they don't clean up. They just clean the fish. Can blenny and goby be in the same tank?

I’ve never understood why people think blennies and Gobies can’t cohabitate with eachother, I’d love to know why you think that

As for the Cleaner Shrimp, they’re honestly a shrimp you can’t regret. They do perfect with larger wrasses as they tend to get ignored due to their job of keeping the wrasse pest free and they also have a funny personality.

If you must have a tang, is there a fish you can convince them is ‘Dory’ without them realising it actually isn’t ‘Dory’?
So for example, a similar body shaped blue fish that isn’t going to get 1’ long or aggressive before it outgrows the tank?

 

[kamkam1999]

Hello, i have a small reef tank which is 40cm*40cm*40cm running for 9 months. Now my tank already have one blue tang(5cm), two amphiprion ocellaris (6cm*1 and 3cm*1), one chromis viridis (4cm). For SPS i have Starburst Polyp*1 Colony Polyp*1 Lemnalia Tree Corals*1. i want to ask what else can i add-in. Because i love all fish or coral, so i would happy to add anything into my tank.

 

[Fish4Me2]

I'm hoping for some input on a final stocking list. The tank is 6' x 2.5' x 22", 205 G. Tank has been running for almost 9 years, but experienced major neglect for the last five years due to major health issues on my part. Parameters have been stable and appropriate care has resumed for several months now.
Currently have:
1 ocellaris clownfish (the lone survivor of the last five years)
5 lyretail anthias
1 linespot flasher wrasse
1 diamond goby

Would like to add:
1 carpenter wrasse
1 pintail wrasse
1 blue hippo tang
1 convict tang
1 purple firefish
1 ruby longfin wrasse
1 adorned wrasse - would not be able to add if I include the cleaner shrimp below.
1 cleaner shrimp

In an ideal world I'd like to add a purple tang some day, but I'm concerned about aggression. Can the others coexist successfully? I feed at least 3 times a day and current inhabitants are doing well.