Cart before the horse

[Spike_in_AR]

Hello all, I got a shiny new tank as a sort-of christmas present and plan on bothering y'all for lots of advice.

Quick background: I always kept NW cichlids and got the wife into the hobby until a 2 week long power-outage a couple years ago killed everything. We were going to start a fresh cichlid tank and went to the LFS a couple months ago to get started and she saw a huge reef display tank; after that the firemouth just didn't stand a chance.

We set up a 29 gallon SW tank that's been running for 2ish months, and none of the livestock she wanted would fit, so she surprised me and got a 65 gallon tank "for me", and proceeded to make "requests" for the finished product .

So to the question: I'm planning on a reef tank with LPS, soft/leather coral, an ocellaris clown and something interesting to host it, I know anemones are a bad idea in a reef tank; a mandarin down the road once my tank is sufficiently established, and lots of inverts/shrimp etc. Other fish to give the tank plenty of activity, but haven't decided yet.

What I'm really stumped on, and why I say I am putting the cart before the horse, is a "show" fish that a) wont outgrow the tank and b) won't eat all the inverts/other fish/be a colossal jerk. I've been looking a little outside the box and loved the Marine Betta (might never see it, and it'll eat all the inverts) and a Dwarf Fuzzy Lionfish (might eat everything and will probably send me to the hospital). Any suggestion/comment/just calling me an idiot is appreciated. Really hoping for a dramatic fish that will interact with me and the wife.

Setup/Plans: 65g Crystaline rimless tank 36"x20"x21" w/ 20g trigger systems crystal 30 sump; 70ish# live rock and refugium
Reef Octopus 110INT skimmer
Jebao wp25 and koralia 850
Orbit Marine Pro light

Thanks in advance for any help, and sorry for the huge, rambling post.

 

[gone fishin]

congrats on the new tank. For your size tank and it sounds like you would appreciate some movement I would suggest looking into wrasses. Go to live aquaria a browse the reef safe wrasses. good luck just my 2 cents.

forgot to mention welcome to the forum.

 

[TauntingBeef]

+1 on the reef wrasses and maybe look at the dwarf angles those are my show fish

 

[TangingOut]

A flame hawk can entertain you for hours.

 

[ericarenee]

i agree
Wrasses and I think every tank should have a Lawnmower blenny .. They are not the best fish to look at but there personality is awesome..

 

[davocean]

If this is putting the cart before the horse, more people should do that!
I think forethought or meditational thinking on what you think you might plan to keep helps in building a tank to provide it's needs.
So my input, many make the mistake of getting clowns, whatever looks shiny and is stock that day, and then later they get whatever anemone looks pretty, or available, and that usually means a BTA, and then people wonder why their clown ignores it.
So, my advice is look in the clown/anemone forum at the sticky, which clowns are hosted by which anemone as they would be found in the wild, because that pretty much always means immediate hosting, and all anemone's are different, some need sand, some rock, some heavy light and flow, others not so much.
So I would research that to help you decide how you build your tank, DSB, SSB, BB, and also helps select what clowns you may want to get since you will most likely get them much sooner than the nem, and then when you do, you'll have an immediate and natural symbiotic relationship going on.

I also agree lawnmowers are great in personality, and their looks grow on you, kinda like a bulldog, and they help control algae.

 

[crocogator106]

I agree with others, your not putting the cart before the horse, just being careful and planning everything out beforehand---makes perfect sense. I love the Flame Hawk and Lawnmower Blenny. I've got both in my setup and they have lots of personality without being overly aggressive.

 

[Spike_in_AR]

Thanks so much for all the suggestions, I hadn't even thought about a lawnmower blenny. So follow up questions: Would a mystery wrasse or an exquisite fairy wrasse be too big for my tank? and does anyone have experience with them?

Also someone mentioned angels, I read that they will pick on soft corals, which is mostly what I'm planning on, how bad is that problem?

 

[GoVols]

You can get a BTA after six months of maturity but there's no guarantee your clowns will host it.

I've put in a BTA clowns ignored it for months then one day they were biting on the tips, next day hosting it.

Also if you get a little BTA and your clowns host it, they could love it to DEATH because it was too small.

 

[GoVols]

Thanks so much for all the suggestions, I hadn't even thought about a lawnmower blenny. So follow up questions: Would a mystery wrasse or an exquisite fairy wrasse be too big for my tank? and does anyone have experience with them?

Also someone mentioned angels, I read that they will pick on soft corals, which is mostly what I'm planning on, how bad is that problem?

Lawnmower blenny's are great algae eaters.

Love a small Longnose Hawkfish but better have a top. Their jumpers.

 

[Spike_in_AR]

I love the longnose hawkfish, I saw one at a store and liked the look and the personality. I keep reading that they're shrimp eaters though, and I was planning on having plenty of different shrimp in the reef. Is there a way to avoid the shrimp eating? or is it inevetable mass shrimp carnage?

OK so far:
Mystery or exquisite fairy wrasse
maybe one additional fairy wrasse?
lawnmower blenny
flame angel or coral beauty angel
ocellaris clown with Ritteri? anemone (appears to be the best bet for hosting per the thread)
longnose hawkfish if he won't massacre my shrimp
Mandarin dragonete 6+ months later with established refugium/pod population

I'm guessing thats probably overstocked for my 65? but yall have given me a great list to work from. Thank You!

 

[davocean]

I'd skip the hawk and any angel can nip corals so I'm not a risk taker there, and ritteri(magnifica) is my choice for perc host but in a 65g it's going to limit you on corals and swim space

 

[GoVols]

ritteri(magnifica) is the most beautiful anemone out there but any reefer better do the research to see if they can truly meet it's demands.

 

[ReefsandGeeks]

I had a dwarf flame angel in my 65g that did great with my corals, never nipped at any of them, soft or hard. Of course, that's all luck of the draw and you have to be willing to catch them and take them back to the LFS if you notice the one you got is nipping. Flame angels are one of the least likely to nip at corals, so for me it was worth the risk.

Other fish I'd sugest would be a hawkfish because they have a hilarious personality,
there are some puffers that stay small, like 4ish inches that would work well and have good personalities. Would likely eat your snails though.
I also used to have a foxface that wad a very good personality, and they dramatically change their colors when scared or at night. I've had people come over and would not belive that it was the same fish after seeing the colors change. Turns from a bright yellow to black and white like a cow. They are venomous, but also peaceful. I always have my hand in the tank and never once thought I'd ever get stung. He even ate from my hand. One funny thing they do is try to eat the bubbles at the top of the water. After feeding the tank, there's be some bubbles at the top corners of the tank, and from across the room you can here him trying to eat them, and see the bubbles coming out their gills.

I got into reefing for the bright colors of the fish, but after starting, what I like the best is learning the funny habits of the fish, and seeing the life on live rock. Just the other night I saw a 5 inch serpent starfish in my tank that I had no idea I had. When I first setup my tank, I could spend hours just watching the rock closely to see what was living on/in it.