What's your favorite small fish for a reef?

Privateye · Dec 29, 2020

If we're recommending dottybacks can we recommend damsels too? My Kupang yellow-belly damsels turned out to be pretty fun. I have a breeding trio in my 20 gallon and a duo in my 8 gallon. All 5 didn't work together though.

A Springer's damsel would be a good single addition. They aren't too feisty and they eat flatworms. You'll sometimes see them in frag tanks at coral stores for this purpose.

1ocean · Dec 29, 2020

Chuja's reef said:
2 clowns, a watchmen and a sharknose cleaner.

In my 140 I have some small fish too, neon goby, royal gramma(aka Fairy Basslet) , orchid dottyback( aka purple dotty) , clown fish ( i have 8 right now) purple firefish, fire goby.
Hope this helps, the rest are sligh
I am building a 300 gallon right now to replace my 140..

Large Build - 300 gallon oasis build in AZ

I got many request to start this post, so here it is. I Started building and planning a 300 gallon reef to replace my current 140 gallon. Tank is being made and I have started building the stand out of reinforced fiberglass and gluing it all together with special epoxy which is pretty pricey...

www.reef2reef.com

CanuckReefer said:
Wow...8 clowns and the Royal Gramma is still in existence? I guess with 8 she (the beauty that she is) has learned her place....fascinating. lots of hiding spots I assume....congrats on this , we'd love to see a pic or 2....

yes lots of hiding places ,but they all really get along in the 140 which I put up May 2020 and I already got the upgrade itch. The rest of the fish in the 140 are slightly bigger, yellow tang, cardinal pj fish, a cleaner shrimp and a coral banded shrimp. We are ecited to get this 300 done but we are taking our time to do it all right.
I will take some pic tomorrow for you

Rmckoy · Dec 29, 2020

Mastiffsrule said:
#WelcometoR2R

One of my favorite fish is the fire fish. Colorful, peaceful when kept as a single, usually easy to care for. Only thing is they can be shy and hide.

They are beautiful fish but I haven’t been able to keep them from flying without covering my tanks .

Sigmund · Dec 29, 2020

Creeper behind the Jawfish. Geometric Hawkfish. Reef safe if u don’t include sexy shrimp or a shrimp of that size.

Sigmund · Dec 29, 2020

Sigmund said:
Creeper behind the Jawfish. Geometric Hawkfish. Reef safe if u don’t include sexy shrimp or a shrimp of that size.

CanuckReefer · Dec 29, 2020

1ocean said:
In my 140 I have some small fish too, neon goby, royal gramma(aka Fairy Basslet) , orchid dottyback( aka purple dotty) , clown fish ( i have 8 right now) purple firefish, fire goby.
Hope this helps, the rest are sligh
I am building a 300 gallon right now to replace my 140..

Large Build - 300 gallon oasis build in AZ

I got many request to start this post, so here it is. I Started building and planning a 300 gallon reef to replace my current 140 gallon. Tank is being made and I have started building the stand out of reinforced fiberglass and gluing it all together with special epoxy which is pretty pricey...

www.reef2reef.com

yes lots of hiding places ,but they all really get along in the 140 which I put up May 2020 and I already got the upgrade itch. The rest of the fish in the 140 are slightly bigger, yellow tang, cardinal pj fish, a cleaner shrimp and a coral banded shrimp. We are ecited to get this 300 done but we are taking our time to do it all right.
I will take some pic tomorrow for you

Awesome. I float between 5 and 6 fish in my 90, that's my magic numbers. Currently Yellow Tang , Ocellaris, 3 stripe Damsel ( all of them over 15 years), Coral Beauty (3 years) , and most recent Eibli Angel. A royal Gramma again would really give some spike of colour to the tank. Look forward to the pics.

1ocean · Dec 29, 2020

CanuckReefer said:
Awesome. I float between 5 and 6 fish in my 90, that's my magic numbers. Currently Yellow Tang , Ocellaris, 3 stripe Damsel ( all of them over 15 years), Coral Beauty (3 years) , and most recent Eibli Angel. A royal Gramma again would really give some spike of colour to the tank. Look forward to the pics.

I am looking forward to the 300 reef tank, I want to add like 4 yellow tangs(5 total), a copper band butterfly, a group of blue and green chromis, flame angel, a gem tang if I can get my hands on one for a good price.

Privateye · Dec 29, 2020

CanuckReefer said:
Awesome. I float between 5 and 6 fish in my 90, that's my magic numbers. Currently Yellow Tang , Ocellaris, 3 stripe Damsel ( all of them over 15 years), Coral Beauty (3 years) , and most recent Eibli Angel. A royal Gramma again would really give some spike of colour to the tank. Look forward to the pics.

Whoa, that's my magic number in my 90 too! I keep smaller stuff though. 2 ocellaris clowns, a flame hawkfish, a mandarin, a clown goby, and until recently a flasher wrasse.

Oh, OP, flasher wrasses if you have the space for them to swim!

What's the price range? Can I suggest a candy basslet?

1ocean · Dec 29, 2020

Privateye said:
Whoa, that's my magic number in my 90 too! I keep smaller stuff though. 2 ocellaris clowns, a flame hawkfish, a mandarin, a clown goby, and until recently a flasher wrasse.

Oh, OP, flasher wrasses if you have the space for them to swim!

I had a flasher wrasse and he got pretty bossy over the tank and he had to go back to the store....

CanuckReefer · Dec 29, 2020

Privateye said:
Whoa, that's my magic number in my 90 too! I keep smaller stuff though. 2 ocellaris clowns, a flame hawkfish, a mandarin, a clown goby, and until recently a flasher wrasse.

Oh, OP, flasher wrasses if you have the space for them to swim!

What's the price range? Can I suggest a candy basslet?

Great minds both think and capitulate ( at least in my case after trying higher numbers ) alike! It's a tough size right? You are almost there in keeping the large fish (tried it and Yellow is biggest which for me is ok) , but you / I always probably wish just a bit larger lol. I have always wanted a Flame Hawk.....is this #6? Has to be special....I will wait a bit as the Eibli was recently added ( 6 months wait for me Mr. Cautious), but..........

Privateye · Dec 29, 2020

CanuckReefer said:
Great minds both think and capitulate ( at least in my case after trying higher numbers ) alike! It's a tough size right? You are almost there in keeping the large fish (tried it and Yellow is biggest which for me is ok) , but you / I always probably wish just a bit larger lol. I have always wanted a Flame Hawk.....is this #6? Has to be special....I will wait a bit as the Eibli was recently added ( 6 months wait for me Mr. Cautious), but..........

Haha no kidding! It definitely is a tough size. I always wondered if a tang of any kind would push my balance. The tank is full of coral and I've had enough unpredictable incompatibility with dwarf angels and corals that I won't try them anymore. Maybe a tang though...those eiblii mimics are really cool, but kind of big. I can probably squeeze a Zebrasoma in though! It might have some stiff competition for food. I buy money cowries every chance I get.

CanuckReefer · Dec 29, 2020

Privateye said:
Haha no kidding! It definitely is a tough size. I always wondered if a tang of any kind would push my balance. The tank is full of coral and I've had enough unpredictable incompatibility with dwarf angels and corals that I won't try them anymore. Maybe a tang though...those eiblii mimics are really cool, but kind of big. I can probably squeeze a Zebrasoma in though! It might have some stiff competition for food. I buy money cowries every chance I get.

Tang (Yellow), perhaps a Kole with enough live rock to graze I think you good to go. Problem is the Yellows have gotten so pricey lately, bought mine 16 years ago bout 3.5 inches for 30 bucks, they are easily 3 times that now. These money Cowries also hearing good things....although my CUC is voracious. 3 urchins, Sea Cuc, Hermits, Trochus , Astria, Mex Turbos, serpent Star, sand sift stars....as we hijack the thread lol. Sorry op.

1ocean · Dec 30, 2020

CanuckReefer said:
Tang (Yellow), perhaps a Kole with enough live rock to graze I think you good to go. Problem is the Yellows have gotten so pricey lately, bought mine 16 years ago bout 3.5 inches for 30 bucks, they are easily 3 times that now. These money Cowries also hearing good things....although my CUC is voracious. 3 urchins, Sea Cuc, Hermits, Trochus , Astria, Mex Turbos, serpent Star, sand sift stars....as we hijack the thread lol. Sorry op.

1ocean · Dec 30, 2020

Hi CanuckReefer, here is the pictures I promised of 8 clowns in one tank with Fairy Basslet, tank, purple dottyback , cardinals, a damsel, neon goby etc.
Its only a pic of a portion of the tank I was trying to get close up of the 8 clowns.

CanuckReefer · Dec 30, 2020

1ocean said:
Hi CanuckReefer, here is the pictures I promised of 8 clowns in one tank with Fairy Basslet, tank, purple dottyback , cardinals, a damsel, neon goby etc.
Its only a pic of a portion of the tank I was trying to get close up of the 8 clowns.

Now THAT'S a brood! Bravo....

jlanger · Dec 30, 2020

Any of the Ecsenius spp. bennies are great small fish for small tanks!

Daniel@R2R · Dec 31, 2020

Most any blenny is a winner in my book

NYBumkin · Dec 31, 2020

I just added a sharknose goby... he is super cool and little. Posts up on the back glass, rocks, loves frozen foods.

FangsAndGames · Dec 31, 2020

Pygmy wrasse (Tanaka, Pygmy wrasse)

jcherr007 · Dec 31, 2020

Privateye said:
Clown gobies are highly underrated as well. You can add multiple if they are different colors (e.g. green/warpaint and yellow), but beware if adding multiple of the same color!

I've had my green for 9 years now. His name is Gobias (pronounced similar to "Tobias"). The clown gobies often associate with corals.

He’s gotta be one of my favorites,, right up there is the green banded gobie for me as well..