Bottom dwelling fish?

[ArmoredBlenny]

Hi!
I have for quite some time now been thinking of starting up a tank around 75-90 gallons and have been wondering about bottom level fish that live on the substrate.
Alot of the fish that have interested me turn out to be great invert consumers and I do quite like inverts so I was wondering what people stock? Personally, I always loved the look of scooter blennies, so I looked alittle into sea robins and found them to not fit my needs as they can easily and happily eat shrimp. I looked into the "lizard blenny" and "sand hopper blenny" on live aquaria a while ago, turns out they are sand perch . So what fish would be good to stock that has a similar look to it but is generally peaceful in around that tank size?

For a shrimp I think I will be getting a cleaner shrimp eventually and from the research I have done they seem to make acceptions for certain predatory species and be compable to a degree.

Sorry for the long post!

 

[nereefpat]

The scooter blenny is a fine choice. Why not go with that?

The sand perch is an interesting fish. I had one for a long time. Just don't add any smaller fish after this is added.

Lots of gobies to choose from too. How about a pink and blue spot watchman (Cryptocentrus leptocephalus, I think)?

 

[Sk8r]

My favorite is a yellow watchman: they don't greatly disrupt the sandbed, and unless you've got a rowdy tank, they're often front and center and full of bluster,, but I've never seen one harm another fish, just shove him. Max length about 4" and brilliant yellow. They dig a burrow and live in it a few months, then dig another.

 

[crawlerman]

I've always like the Blue Spotted Jawfish. Love the way they poke in and out of the sand.

 

[ArmoredBlenny]

I had planned to go with a scooter blenny because I think they look great and interesting, but was also looking more along with lines of oddball fish that could be there on that level of the tank living with one.
Love the look of the pink and blue spot watchman goby and few others, I was wondering how territorial are gobies generally? Can you house multiple together (of different species)?

Also, is there anything resembling a ray that could be housed in such a tank? I know rays are out of the question themselves but any thing like them?I have always loved rays and similar bottom fish, I have looked a little at walking batfish and thought they were interesting....

 

[Sk8r]

The yellow watchman and his cousins are territorial for their burrow, wherever it is this month, but not violent. You can keep gobies of different species if they don't look like each other and if you can give them about a foot of space between burrows. There are inverts that will entertain you along the bottom, but I would not advise getting anything fragile for your first go at a tank. Blennies, gobies, pink margin wrasse, dartfish, maybe some brittle stars (no serpent star) and maybe a pair of basslets like the royal gramma would all do nicely in that tank. My own tank (see my sig) is a 105, and the mix I've got gets along, but I haven't gotten a mandy yet (as ditto any scooter blenny) because it takes so much to keep them fed. Yellowhead jawfish is intended, but as yet haven't found one.

 

[scooter31707]

For me, my Starry Blenny does not really venture no more than half way up the water column. He mostly spends majority of his time at the bottom third of the tank.

 

[LeJeune981]

I've got a blue spotted watchman... pretty cool fish. and he doesn't bother anyone... my scopas tang will pick on him here and there. But that's because he is the new guy in town (I think)

It did try and eat my baby urchin the other day... and learned a valuable lesson at the same time lol

Sent from my SM-S907VL using Tapatalk

 

[LeJeune981]

And a male/female pair of scooters...

They will let me feed them mysis and brine by hand..and are quick to come say hi (look for food) whenever I have to put my hands in the tank... awesome Lil fishies

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[ReeferNoob4ever]

I like engineer gobies. If you don't mind them rearranging your substrate. I have one and a banded coral shrimp. The engineer doesn't even acknowledge the shrimp.