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

eatbreakfast

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My ocellaris clowns (two) are almost done with quarantine and ready to go into my tank. I'm now starting to think - what's next?

I have a RedSea Reefer 250 (54 gallon ID), 6 weeks old. I know I want a pistol shrimp/watchmen pair at some point. I will have corals (mostly LPS) and invertebrates. The corals and invertebrates are the reason I wanted a reef tank to be honest. There's nothing like that available for freshwater!

So options? I've managed to rule out a lot of things already... but clearly not enough!

Banggai cardinals
PJ cardinals
Blue neon goby
Small wrasse (flasher or fairy type)
Firefish or purple firefish
Blenny of some sort (midas, canary, bicolor)
Royal Gramma

My preferences are for interesting personalities (which, I think, rules out cardinals), so right now the wrasse is high on my wish list. Is it going to be too early (tank will be 4 months old by the time they'd be out of QT) for a wrasse?

Can I keep any of the blennies or neon gobies with the watchman goby?

Any of these do better in pairs or trios than solo?

How many fish is too many? I've found numbers ranging from 4 - 8.

I'm wanting to pick the next 1-2 fish for QT in the next week or so in order to make sure I can find them or, if necessary, have my LFS order them.

Thanks!
Will the tank have any type of cover? Wrasses and firefish are accomplished jumpers.

Neon gobies and midas will coexist well with a watchman/pistol pr.

Neon gobies and firefish can be kept as pairs, as long as they are bonded. Otherwise they will kill other conspecifics.
 

ThunderGoose

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Thanks. That gives me some good information to try and make my decisions. And yes, the tank will be covered (cover ordered, waiting for arrival).
 

alex.mccann99

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You can get away with those fish. You should do some research, if you haven't already, on Leopard Wrasses. They're really my favorite fish I've ever owned, but you need to know how to care for them. They also have a high mortality rate and if ordered online it can be hit or miss. If you happen to find one at the LFS that is eating frozen, or even pellets, then I would say they are a much safer bet. They will compete with your Mandarin for copepods and between the two if you're not making sure to replenish every now and then, they'll wipe them out.
 

loweryphil

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125L i have two clowns a foxface and a baby regal tang ( yes i will be getting a bigger tank this year) i want another striking interesting fish to go with this. Any ideas?
20170131_210013%7E2.jpeg
 

alex.mccann99

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Depending on how many other fish, might check out a Yellow Coris Wrasse. Very nice flash of color and very active swimmer all throughout the liverock. Will leave your Clowns alone also. I've always had great success with them, pretty common in the industry, but always fun fish to watch. Mine always ate anything I threw in there. They do bed down in the sand as your lights go out in the evening, so need to have a nice sandbed for them. You might also look at a Yasha Goby, High Fin or Yellow Watchman, paired up with a Pistol Shrimp. Always entertaining to have in a tank.[/quote]
 

eatbreakfast

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125L i have two clowns a foxface and a baby regal tang ( yes i will be getting a bigger tank this year) i want another striking interesting fish to go with this. Any ideas?
20170131_210013%7E2.jpeg
Some interesting fish include midas blenny, longnose or flame hawkfish, royal gramma, fairy and flasher wrasses, or a starry blenny.
 

TechnicalFisher

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In most cases any aggression is shown through flashing displays, which are desirable.

@eatbreakfast or any others knowledgeable about wrasses, I've got a follow up to some earlier questions. I went ahead and got two flashers, a McCoskers and a Yellowfin. During their time in my 10G QT, they had an intial dustup or two with the Yellowfin picking on the McCoskers, but after that the McCoskers stayed out of the way and the two seemed to get along peacefully. I moved them over into my DT late last week and on Monday observed them in a full-on fight, scales flying, etc. The Yellowfin started it as he had in the QT, but this time the McCoskers held its ground and it turned into a full-on fight. The McCoskers eventually hid inside a small cave and it subsided after several minutes. I was worried enough about it that I tried (to no avail) to pull the Yellowfin out, but couldn't get him trapped. Both fish had a number of scrapes. The Yellowfin clearly is the more aggressive of the two.

Yesterday and this morning, they seemed to be getting along better, eating well and the scrapes I saw look to be mostly healed, so I'm assuming I've avoided a disaster. Now I'm trying to figure out whether that was just them figuring out the pecking order in the new tank or if I need to get one out of there to avoid future problems. Many thanks for any advice.
 

eatbreakfast

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@eatbreakfast or any others knowledgeable about wrasses, I've got a follow up to some earlier questions. I went ahead and got two flashers, a McCoskers and a Yellowfin. During their time in my 10G QT, they had an intial dustup or two with the Yellowfin picking on the McCoskers, but after that the McCoskers stayed out of the way and the two seemed to get along peacefully. I moved them over into my DT late last week and on Monday observed them in a full-on fight, scales flying, etc. The Yellowfin started it as he had in the QT, but this time the McCoskers held its ground and it turned into a full-on fight. The McCoskers eventually hid inside a small cave and it subsided after several minutes. I was worried enough about it that I tried (to no avail) to pull the Yellowfin out, but couldn't get him trapped. Both fish had a number of scrapes. The Yellowfin clearly is the more aggressive of the two.

Yesterday and this morning, they seemed to be getting along better, eating well and the scrapes I saw look to be mostly healed, so I'm assuming I've avoided a disaster. Now I'm trying to figure out whether that was just them figuring out the pecking order in the new tank or if I need to get one out of there to avoid future problems. Many thanks for any advice.
That is perfectly normal during early stages, they are just setting up a hierarchy as you suspected. As long as the mckoskers is not firced into constant hiding, it will be fine.
 

Bryces

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I have a standard AGA 10g. My planned stock list is 1 ocalaris clown, 1 royal gramma basslet, 1 tail spot blenny, and 1 yellow watchman goby. I realize this is bordering on grossly overstocking, so what do you guys think can those 4 fish coexist in 10g system? To me the only issue I foresee is the clown and gramma possibly occupying the same space and not getting along. The goby should stick to the substrate and blenny to the rocks so I don't see an issue there.
 

eatbreakfast

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I have a standard AGA 10g. My planned stock list is 1 ocalaris clown, 1 royal gramma basslet, 1 tail spot blenny, and 1 yellow watchman goby. I realize this is bordering on grossly overstocking, so what do you guys think can those 4 fish coexist in 10g system? To me the only issue I foresee is the clown and gramma possibly occupying the same space and not getting along. The goby should stick to the substrate and blenny to the rocks so I don't see an issue there.
As long as you keep the nutrients under control, and don't add a second clown you should be fine.
 

Jmas4

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I have a standard AGA 10g. My planned stock list is 1 ocalaris clown, 1 royal gramma basslet, 1 tail spot blenny, and 1 yellow watchman goby. I realize this is bordering on grossly overstocking, so what do you guys think can those 4 fish coexist in 10g system? To me the only issue I foresee is the clown and gramma possibly occupying the same space and not getting along. The goby should stick to the substrate and blenny to the rocks so I don't see an issue there.
It could be OK but i would be ready to get rid of one of them if they get aggressive. You might have to do more work and WC to keep nutrients under control. Having an HOB skimmer and Refugium will help a lot.
 

eatbreakfast

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Does anyone have (or had) a pearl jawfish?? I've been debating on one instead of a goby...
They are a peaceful fish. A sandbed 2" or deeper is necassary. They also use rubble to construct a burrow. Serpent and brittle stars should not be kept with them.
 

Cirzuh

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Hello there, I am 100% new to this hobbie. I want to start simple,easy and cheap if that's even possible. I got a 20G tank just to start with. I've gotten some salt and a few other things. I was wondering you're guys' input on fish to put in there. Thank you
 

eatbreakfast

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Hello there, I am 100% new to this hobbie. I want to start simple,easy and cheap if that's even possible. I got a 20G tank just to start with. I've gotten some salt and a few other things. I was wondering you're guys' input on fish to put in there. Thank you
The best suggestion is patience. Get the tank setup. Moniter your parameters and keep them stable. Once comfortable with that, then work on livestock.

A 20g is limited in the stock it can handle. 1-4 fish will be about it. A clown, royal gramma, or a damsel in the genus Chrysiptera.
 

jsbull

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Hello there, I am 100% new to this hobbie. I want to start simple,easy and cheap if that's even possible. I got a 20G tank just to start with. I've gotten some salt and a few other things. I was wondering you're guys' input on fish to put in there. Thank you

First following the new tank guides on here to get it cycled well. Then, when you're ready for fish get a Midas blenny for sure. They are hilarious.
 

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