Best Small Fish For Reeftanks ?

My little Flame Hawk is only about 2" long. Cute little dude with tons of personality. He'll come over to the end of the tank where you are, park his self and eyeball you. Then he'll double-clutch like he's getting ready to leave. Then just stare at you. He doesn't really bother any other fish. Likes to eat my smaller Emerald and Mithrax crabs. Cleaner Shrimp don't last too long either. He has to be the one gettin' em. Never see it, but they all disappear. I'm thinking of trying a Scooter Blenny, small one and a Court Jester Goby. Get the Tang and the Bi-Color Chromis out and maybe add a Fathead Anthias or a nice pair Firefish ??? I tried a One-Spot Foxface. Worked out great at first, then he started eating corals.
 
I had a bad experience with fat head Anthias. It perches like hawkfish inside of caves, mostly comes out during feeding time and wouldn't eat anything but frozen.
 
Curtis1 said:
  1. Yellow Tang
  2. Percula Clownfish
  3. Matted Filefish
  4. Flame Hawkfish
  5. Green Mandarin
  6. Blue Green Chromis
  7. Blk & Wht Bicolor Chromis
  8. Pajama Cardinal
  9. Kaudern's Cardinal
  10. Royal Gramma
  11. Pyle's Wrasse
  12. Lubbock's Wrasse
  13. McCosker's Wrasse
  14. Yellow Watchman Goby (In the Sump)
I have two Cardinals, and yes you are correct, they just sit there all day till the lights go off, then they start hunting at night. Ok here's my current list. I am trying to catch the Blk & Wht Chromis to take it out. The tank is a 75 gal w/ 30 gal sump.
Click to expand...
If I am you, I would add fish that you already have to get breeding units.
Get another Mandarin to make a pair that is if you think you got enough food for them.
Add more Royal gramna to make a harem. Two more to make a trio.
I am sure you can tell male from female Madarin.
Royal Gramma turn male very quickly, in the mater of days when not supressed by another male. lone RG are male after a week. Have the LFS order several and keep them together. Just avoid getting the largest in the group and you have a female. Male RG will fight to the death, even in my 450 gal tank (my tank in the 1990's). Now I have a 320 g with 6 Royal gramma in it. Once fully develope, male RG have longer pelvic fins than female RG
 
OrionN, funny that you suggest that. I been thinkin' of that all along. I was thinking of adding another Mandarin. It would be cool to have a group of the really small Cardinals too.
 
Marine Bettas may not qualify as small but are docile enough to keep with more passive fish in my experience. Plus, you might be able to snag one of the captive bred ones on DD.
 
Marine Betta will eat small fish.

There is nothing better than watching fish spawn in our tank. If this happens, you know that you are proving them with what they need to thrive.
 
Fishlist Update : Ok so I changed things around a bit. First I took the tank apart to catch out what I no longer wanted. My thoughts are of only stocking smaller, less aggressive fish and trying to stock with the emphasis on fish that actually contribute to the natural control of pests and algae. So here's what I took out.
  1. Large Red Serpent Star (Looking out for new smaller fish )
  2. All Blue Glove Polyps ( Invasive )
  3. 6"+ Duresa Clam ( Grows too fast, need more room )
  4. Yellow Tang ( Killed 2 CBB's, stays hidden ? )
  5. Flame Hawkfish ( Will eat Peppermints for control of Aiptaisia )
  6. Blk & Wht Chromis ( Pig, way too aggressive )
  7. Matted File Fish ( Ate corals, not Aiptaisia ! )
  8. Pyle's Wrasse ( Way too aggressive, messed with my other Wrasse'
So here is what I replaced them with :
  1. Harem of 4 Lyertail Anthias
  2. 1 Baby Bartlett's Anthias
  3. 1 Baby One-Spot Foxface
In between, I have also tried a Twin-Spot Goby , a Yashe Hashi Goby , and a Ruby Red Dragonet. I also tried another CBB. The CBB would not eat, after cleanin-out all Aiptaisia and Featherdusters. I tried everything, nearly destroying my water quality, trying to get the CBB to eat. It last about 5 weeks. No More CBB's here !!! The Ruby Red Dragonet and the Twin Spot gobies both disappeared after one night !!! I found the CUC with the Yashe after about a week. I also added a Red Blotched Perchlet. He is still doing fine. I think that sometimes the fish can be just too small for a larger tank. Would still like to add a Goby w/Shrimp. I did add two small Peppermints. I checked the water from the LFS for his SG,,, good thing I did !!! His SG was .019 , my water is kept around .026, it took me 3, that's right, three hours to acclimate two little shrimp !!! I slowly dripped them till the salinity was within .001 The first two that I bought were gone within 2 hours or less. I only acclimated them for 1/2 hour. I always heard that you should not acclimate more than 30 mins. True w/ fish, not with inverts. The LFS told me that he only floats them for 15min to match temp, them dumps them in. I think that it is ok to go from higher SG. But not vice-versa.
 
Forgot to list,,, also added a Lawnmower Blenny. The first Foxface I had, quickly developed a taste for my zoos !!! He wiped out about 6 colonies. I hope that this second one doesn't follow suit ! So far, so good. It eats like a pig, I have Ulva and Red Graciluris in the DT. He nibbles on them all day. He is also eating the GHA , which I have developed as a result of overfeeding the tank for the last three mos, trying to get CBB's to eat !!! He also eats any stray pcs of Bubble Algae, that I may miss, especially if they are floating in the water column. The Anthias have calmed down, finally decided on which was male. Overnight his coloration has changed. He is beautiful !!! Dark black outter parts of his fins w/ bright purple, dk blue edges. The main portions of his tail and at the base of the fins are bright orangey -yellow !!! He has two symmetrical dark patches on the pelvic fins. The Bartlett's gets along fine with them ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

JeannineC
Fish suggestion
Replies
19
Views
2K
rwbroadnax
R
T
New 55g setup. Advice for fish appreciated
Replies
6
Views
285
Uncle99
Uncle99
N
75 gallon set up and stocking advice
Replies
8
Views
2K
Newham94
N
V
Feedback on this stocking list for 30g
Replies
0
Views
297
Varanis
V
R
Getting back into the hobby.
Replies
3
Views
3K
Cjs305510
C
Back
Top