1 fish. 30 gallon cube.

heisenberg

heisenberg

New member
Without pushing the limits on size and bioload... what would you pick if you only had one fish for a 30gal cube reef? What kind of fish has the most color, personality, and entertainment packed into the most compact package?
 
#1 i would highly recommend that fits all your needs you listed above would be hawaiian flame wrasse

#2 would be some type of clownfish

and thats it really i have to say but you should consider this.... the hawaiian flame wrasse, and a goby with a pistol shrimp

how much live rock and are you using a sand bottom?
 
I would definitely not do clownfish. If you can afford it, I would go with a Candy Basslet. Otherwise, a pair of flasher wrasses.
 
@snorvich why not a clownfish and +1 on a basslet

how much money are you willing to spend...... give us a rough estimate.... you dont have to tell us if you dont want to just say nothing to cheap but nothing to expensive or along those lines

here something along the lines of this.......
http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?c=2733+3&ddid=108274

and either one of these 2 listed below

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+2124+1436&pcatid=1436

or

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+21+57&pcatid=57
 
Wow, thanks so much for the replies so far. Here are my follow-ups..

The Hawaiian Flame Wrasse is beautiful but like the McCosker's and other similar wrasses, I don't feel I can do a solitary male justice in a smaller tank... let alone have a female or a harem of females to promote good health, activity, and coloration. It's my belief these fish need at least 50-60 to feel comfortable and to have room to move and display. When and if I build a larger reef, I am going to do a species tank of just McCoskers or another flasher, specifically to showcase their interaction. :)

I had a pair of clowns and am sorta burned out on them. Sold them to a proper home as they had gotten large... and aggressive.

I've gone as expensive as a Blue Spotted Jawfish, but wouldn't do it again for this tank. For a tank my size and complexity, I can justify up to about $60 for a good fish, but several hundred is way out of my price range! In any case, the cheaper the better. :)

I love the pistol shrimp and goby idea and have always wanted to do it, but with the BSJ I had sand everywhere and he even killed some ricordea by burying it while I was at work. I'm kinda hesitant to add the shrimp if it'll do any substantial sand moving or burying of corals on my sand. Thoughts?

Money isn't really an object but I don't want to spend more than I need to. Exclusivity/expensive/rare isn't really a draw for me.

So far my go-to fish for this situation is actually a Sixline... believe it or not. They may not be a common favorite of people on the forums, but they're cheap, commonly available, colorful, active, and will probably take care of my pyramid snails. Their aggressive tendencies won't be an issue with zero tankmates, and they're the most colorful fish per dollar that I've ever seen.

I definitely will look into others within the basslet family!
 
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thats great and have fun with your tank

beware if you keep a basslet and a sixline together... i would do the basslet first then the sixline so the sixline isnt as aggressive if you do the sixline first but i would recomend the pair of gobys with the shrimp or even a goby and a shrimp..... what corals do you intend on puting in the tank...
and i wouldnt worry about the goby spiting sand on the ricordeas. go to youtube and watch a vid with a goby and pistol shrimp. the shrimp does the work the goby stands by and guards
 
roushmustang said:
beware if you keep a basslet and a sixline together...
Click to expand...

Yea no worries, it'd only be one or the other. Single fish, so I forgot to mention it can't be anything that requires company to be happy or colorful.

roushmustang said:
but i would recomend the pair of gobys with the shrimp or even a goby and a shrimp..... what corals do you intend on puting in the tank...
and i wouldnt worry about the goby spiting sand on the ricordeas. go to youtube and watch a vid with a goby and pistol shrimp. the shrimp does the work the goby stands by and guards
Click to expand...

Yes I've seen them and the shrimp does the work, quite cute and an interesting symbiotic relationship... just wary of any major excavation projects around my corals these days after the BSJ incident but I doubt that the shrimp could be as devastating.


Would a shrimp goby be compatible with the sixline? I'm sure it would spend most of it's time in the vicinity of the shrimp burrow, but I know that the sixlines can harass some fish enough to cause stress-related deaths or disease even if they are burrow dwellers.
 
i dont know about the sixline picking on the goby but you can always try it and trade him back to your lfs if you want to save your goby and shrimp

heres what i would do

put all corals in and put the goby and shrimp in and see where they move to... then move the corals about 3 inches away from where they burrow then try the sixline
 
roushmustang said:
i dont know about the sixline picking on the goby but you can always try it and trade him back to your lfs if you want to save your goby and shrimp

heres what i would do

put all corals in and put the goby and shrimp in and see where they move to... then move the corals about 3 inches away from where they burrow then try the sixline
Click to expand...

The OP stated that s/he is only going to keep 1 ( one ) ( single ) fish.
 
snorvich said:
I would definitely not do clownfish. If you can afford it, I would go with a Candy Basslet. Otherwise, a pair of flasher wrasses.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't recommend flasher wrasses. Even a 3 ft. long tank isn't long enough when the male is flashing. Need lots of lateral swimming room.

I'd go goby & shrimp. Gobies have tons of personality & between the two of them are endless entertainment.

Edit: You know, if you're only going to go with one single fish, why not go with a damsel? Some of them are very beautiful, and since it'll be alone you won't have to hate it LOL.
 
One of the pygmy angelfish, like a Cherub or Flameback. Once settled in, they're pretty bold and active. That's what I would do, personally, but I'm partial to angelfish :).
 
Toddrtrex said:
The OP stated that s/he is only going to keep 1 ( one ) ( single ) fish.
Click to expand...

I did ask about the sixline picking on the goby... were i to go with the shrimp/goby combo in addition to a sixline. It was more of a hypothetical though... I really like just the one fish idea.


About damsels, I've definitely looked at that possibility too. Their reputation is definitely not for being ugly. :) What do you think the prettiest/best personality damsel is?
 
BADGUS said:
Pygmy cherub?cute little guys always swimming around looking for food.
Click to expand...

I just added one of those little guys to my cube. Very shy at first, but is now out and about picking at the LR and cruising around. Cute little fish!
 
I have a 30g cube right now that I will break down at some point. My dream stocking for that tank would be cuttlefish. The sepia bandesis would fit fine in a 30g tank, can't really be kept with other fish, are amazing to look at, will interact with you, and are relatively cheap. The big downside (IMO) is that they only really live a year.
 
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