Hmmm . . . Let's let the brain spin a little, and open up the wishlist valve . . .
Here's (kinda) what I've done and am dreaming of doing, into the future, in a tank that's currently 65 gallons and will be rehomed into something about half the size of yours.
I began with mild, mellow fish -
A small group of zebra-bar dartfish, soft and peaceful green with intricate salmon bars, a long slender arrow high in the water column.
A pair of firefish, a little lower in the water and with that entertaining twitch of the dorsal.
A pair of tiny "percocellaris" clownfish (I have a granddaughter, m'kay?)
A brace of flasher wrasse (Carpenters and Linespot), orangy-red, zooming through the tank above the rocks.
A tailspot blenny (lost to ich, but would/will have another any day of the week!)
A yellowline goby, a brilliant cleaner
A pair of yellow watchman gobies; yellow male and grey female. Wish they actually _liked_ one another!
A blackray shrimp goby. Wish at least one of the three would pair up with the pistol shrimp!
Then a little bigger and feistier -
A trio of azure damsels provide spots of sparkling blue and yellow. By and large, they keep their feisting and fighting among themselves.
A midas blenny lends his rich yellow color and sinuous undulation to the levels just below the surface.
More yellow - and a dash of magenta - are provided by a shy royal gramma, who I hope to eventually pair / harem up with a couple more.
Fairy wrasses; larger than the flashers, they offer a range of colors and displays, from the pumpkin and cerulean of the orange-back to the Christmas colors of a Bali exquisite. (I lost a Naoko's and a pintail to jumping, but would add them again - and would love a Labout's wrasse as well.)
If you're up for a bit of risk, dwarf angelfish. I have a coral beauty and a flame - the flame chases the beauty a bit, and has been spotted nipping at corals which are in poor health. (Given the dedication of my tank, "Zoey's Reef", Angels are an important part of the community, in addition to being beautiful additions!) I would love to try a multibar again, as I had one that I loved, but didn't make it through QT.
A small kole tang, nibbling on the rockwork. She gives algae a hard time, but doesn't really do much damage to it.
A starry blenny gives the algae as much grief as the kole, but the kole despises the starry.
A blue-throat triggerfish. This guy was kind of unplanned, and part of the impetus to upgrade. I think he's stressed in my smaller tank, and has taken on a yellow-brown wash that makes him look female. (Still has a 5:00 shadow, though!)
A trio of Bartlett's anthias provide a hard-to-believe combination of violet-pink and clear yellow, and a feisty display of social hierarchy.
Believe it or not, all of those fish are currently milling about in my tank! (I think I have a clue why my corals might be struggling...)
Once everyone's safely in the 220, I'd like to add a few more fish.
The electric yellow-black-blue-white banding of a regal angelfish. (Might have to move some of my zoanthids to some sort of refuge if I want to keep 'em...)
The impossible, hurt-your-eyes greens, blues, oranges and pinks of a Quoy's parrotfish. (A parrotfish? In a _reef_ tank?! From what I'm given to understand, they're pretty darned safe.)
The yellow and patterned black of a one-spot foxface.
The stately elegance of a pair of Banggai cardinalfish.
The peek-a-boo of green clown gobies.
The cerulean blues and brilliant yellow of a powderblue tang.
The dark drama and flaming elegance of an achilles tang.
And inverts, 'cause it's a reef tank!
Tuxedo urchins.
Cleaner, peppermint and blood shrimp. (I think the trigger may have taken out the sexy shrimp . . . )
Rock-flower and maxi-mini carpet anemones.
Feather dusters, arranged in a "garden".
Emerald and hermit crabs.
Nerite, Cerith, Astraea, Trochus, Stomatella, Colonista and Ninja-star snails; sand-tiger conchs.
Serpent and brittle stars - and Asterina.
A pink and black sea cucumber, and a tiny yellow one.
Copepods, isopods, amphipods.
Bristle worms and spaghetti worms.
And maybe ... some corals?
It's almost as though I think of things like this ... all day long ... when I'm supposed to be doing other things . . .
~Bruce
