Recommendation what fish to add to a pair of Clowns for my first tank

[Hank The Tank]

I just finished doing a fishless cycle of my first tank, a 15G Waterbox. Water parameters are in good shape now. I'm planning to pickup two regular clowns, but want to add another 1 or 2 fish that will do well with the clowns. I would consider a dragonette but I heard they require special food like pods. Appreciate some feedback as I plan to go shopping at a LFS. Thanks.

 

[footgal]

Try a goby/shrimp pair! Very fun to watch! Maybe a chromis would do well, but I recommend some neat inverts instead of fish for a tank that size. A large shrimp like a peppermint, fire (my favorite), or skunk would be very interesting to watch and they are trainable to eat from your hand. Sexy shrimp also add some nice movement! Sorry I don’t have more suggestions

 

[Hank The Tank]

Try a goby/shrimp pair! Very fun to watch! Maybe a chromis would do well, but I recommend some neat inverts instead of fish for a tank that size. A large shrimp like a peppermint, fire (my favorite), or skunk would be very interesting to watch and they are trainable to eat from your hand. Sexy shrimp also add some nice movement! Sorry I don’t have more suggestions
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You provided some great suggestions. I will look them all up. I do plan to add some hermits and snail when there is more food for them to eat. The guy at the LFS once recommended a cleaner shrimp for $30. If I add that, will there be enough food in a new tank for them to survive? I heard they are like a medic but if there isn't food in there, what will they clean?

 

[Saltyreef]

Id stay away from chromis as every single one ive ever gotten recently has had uronema.

Try a pair of red firefish. Theyre always a great nano starter fish and dont take up too much territorial space.

 

[Saltyreef]

and +1 on a goby/pistol shrimp pair.
My favorite is the high fin red banded goby


Something like a dragonette or pod eater will need a highly established tank. Id consider seeding with live pods, rotifers and phyto now if you want one in the future.

 

[Hank The Tank]

Id stay away from chromis as every single one ive ever gotten recently has had uronema.

Try a pair of red firefish. Theyre always a great nano starter fish and dont take up too much territorial space.

I'm on Liveaquaria looking up the firefish now. good reco. Thanks.

 

[Hank The Tank]

Id stay away from chromis as every single one ive ever gotten recently has had uronema.

Try a pair of red firefish. Theyre always a great nano starter fish and dont take up too much territorial space.

I like the look of those Chromis blue or green and add good contrasting colors to the orange clowns. I'm reading that they are schooling fish, so i'm concerned if I get one, it will not do well and I don't have space for two or more.

 

[marcwjj]

Nice nano tank! I'm also beginning my reef tank and got first batch of fishes and coral recently. I've got recommendations for my 32g tank to accompany clowns:
- Yellow watchman goby + pistol shrimp pair
- Banggai cardinal (1 or 2 max)
- Royal Gramma (absolutely gorgeous, quite and shy fish)
- Azur Damsel (semi aggressive - add last)

As others suggestions, add some clean up crew as well, reef gardens seems to be a highly recommended site.

BTW, you should check out some vendors review post on this forum. I was also contemplating buying all fishes from Liveaquaria, but read some mixed reviews recently. I ended up buying my first fishes and corals from local shop, and so far they are holding up great, looking very healthy.

For the goby and shrimp, the LFS don't carry them so I will have to find a reputable site... any suggestion would be welcomed

 

[marcwjj]

Oh, not sure if the tank has a cover, but you should add a cover / net at the top...

 

[Hank The Tank]

Nice nano tank! I'm also beginning my reef tank and got first batch of fishes and coral recently. I've got recommendations for my 32g tank to accompany clowns:
- Yellow watchman goby + pistol shrimp pair
- Banggai cardinal (1 or 2 max)
- Royal Gramma (absolutely gorgeous, quite and shy fish)
- Azur Damsel (semi aggressive - add last)

As others suggestions, add some clean up crew as well, reef gardens seems to be a highly recommended site.

BTW, you should check out some vendors review post on this forum. I was also contemplating buying all fishes from Liveaquaria, but read some mixed reviews recently. I ended up buying my first fishes and corals from local shop, and so far they are holding up great, looking very healthy.

For the goby and shrimp, the LFS don't carry them so I will have to find a reputable site... any suggestion would be welcomed

Thanks for the recommendations. I only have a 15G Nano so I can afford to add just one more due to bioload. It will be between the high fin goby or the fire fish + a skunk cleaner shrimp. My LFS have these currently. Right now, I have 40PPM Nitrate so I can't add the shrimp, cleanup crew, or corals until I get it down to a respectable number. The tank just finished cycling so the Nitrate is always high with 0 Ammonia and 0 Nitrite. I don't have a skimmer or sump so I'm going to start a new post to get some feedback. I also found a clown breeder on Cragislists and picked up two Snowflake clowns for $30. These are selling for $49 each on Liveaquaria. The clowns are legit and so adorable. See pic.. Check out Craigslist for corals and fish but i recommend quarantine them if you are adding to an existing stocked tank. Lastly, I do have a net on the tank now that I have the fish in. Thanks again for the recommendations.

 

[Saltyreef]

A good cleaning of the sandbed along with a 100% water change will fix that nitrate issue.....

But who wants to do that...lol

 

[Hank The Tank]

A good cleaning of the sandbed along with a 100% water change will fix that nitrate issue.....

But who wants to do that...lol

I might resort to doing that. I'm not that patient and I'm afraid if I leave Nitrate and Phosphate high, I will get an algae blum.

 

[marcwjj]

I might resort to doing that. I'm not that patient and I'm afraid if I leave Nitrate and Phosphate high, I will get an algae blum.

Or 50% water change daily over the course of 3 days would reduce it to 1/8 => 5PPM

I've read that growing macro algae (e.g. chaeto) in the back chamber is very effective in reducing nitrate and phosphate organically, and people doing that (in addition to other filtering and skimmer) only do monthly water change , so I'm planning to add some chaeto to the back of the tank.