What next?

[swannyson7]

Even the ORA mandarins that eat prepared food seem to have a habit of going feral eventually and only eating pods.

 

[Captain Nemo]

I would forget the Kardinals IMO, they just sit there ad look funny. I would want something that swims, like a Dottyback, so +1 Skinz!!

 

[btkrausen]

Agreed, cardinals are pretty boring. I have one Bangaii in my tank now, and want him out. He just sits in the same spot all day...boring. This is why I added wrasses, to get activity and color.

 

[tangboy]

In a tank that small I wouldn't go many more fish unless you have a good sump or fuge going to help with that bioload. I would almost rather run a gobby farm that results in less of a bioload.

If you were to add more fish, the question is do you want movement, color, uniqueness, personality, aggression, or what? Movement = Chromis, color = royal gama or firefish, personality = most blennys etc etc

 

[noo2usa]

Thanks for the ideas. I'll pull up some photos of those species and make some decisions. A good friend had a mandarin and it didn't last long; I'm not experienced enough yet for that. My goal is to increase my aquarium size eventually after I make this one work so I need easy fish to care for.

 

[btkrausen]

Sounds good. Post up some options and we can help you narrow it down from there. There are a lot of knowledgeable people on the board, so we'll help push in the right direction :)

 

[Captain Nemo]

+1, let us know what you narrow it down to and we will help!

 

[noo2usa]

I definitely want to add a couple of cleaner shrimp as I have been told that they do not impact the bioload. The purple dottybacks look great but I would luv to add some sort of sifting gobby. I don't want to overload the tank, obviously. I was also considering a six line wrasse. But I still want to add some soft corrals eventually.

 

[Captain Nemo]

skip the six line, they get aggressive! If you are looking for a sand sifting goby, try a yellow headed goby or a diamond watchman! Both work well and look good too!

 

[btkrausen]

Cleaner shrimp should be fine, I've had better luck with keeping them in pairs. Dottybacks are semi-aggressive, but may not be towards your clowns, but you can never tell. Sixline is also aggressive, but mostly to other wrasses. If you were close you could have the sixline out of my frag tank :)

None of those fish should harm any soft corals you put in there.

 

[noo2usa]

I just want to make sure everyone will get a long. With having the three fish in the tank, could I go with a yellow headed goby and maybe a pair of chromis? Plus a pair of skunk cleaner shrimp? Plus I live about an hour and a half from the Kentucky line. So I'm not sure about the distance.

 

[btkrausen]

Just make sure you have plenty of sand for that goby, as thats where it'll live. At least a few inches deep is ideal for these guys.

 

[Captain Nemo]

Yeah that would be fine. No probs there bro!

 

[noo2usa]

Who should I add first and how long should I wait between adding fish? I added the clowns and blenny Monday night.

 

[BlazinNano]

Who should I add first and how long should I wait between adding fish? I added the clowns and blenny Monday night.

Give it a week. Check you water. If it is normal you be ok to add another fish.

 

[btkrausen]

Like your first addition, the goby will will head down to the sand area and hide out, and then the chromis will start swimming around. You should be able to add them at the same time, as they should add very little bioload since they are smaller fish.

 

[beaner_12]

dotty backs are very agressive. i had a pink one and it turned my tank into hell. i had to give it away.

 

[beaner_12]

if you add the cleaner shrimp is better to add two because they are less timid. you will see more of them. i added one and i rarely saw him so i added another one and there always in the front of the tank.