cool centerpiece fish?
- Thread starter Clarkii3
- Start date
emperior911
New member
neon dottyback would be nice, any small dotty back would work.
The issue with leopard wrasses isn't so much sustaining their diet as it is with finding a healthy specimen. They are easily stressed/hurt in shipment without the comfort of a sand bed.
Once you do find a healthy one, obviously the next hurdle is converting them to prepared food, but you face the same difficulty with the possum especially. Keep in mind I was suggesting the smaller bipartitus.
Anyway, good luck with your search. A nice blenny (tailspot, midas...) is a good alternative.
Once you do find a healthy one, obviously the next hurdle is converting them to prepared food, but you face the same difficulty with the possum especially. Keep in mind I was suggesting the smaller bipartitus.
Anyway, good luck with your search. A nice blenny (tailspot, midas...) is a good alternative.
This may give you some ideas, I also have a skimmerless 30 gallon reef with just a refugium. I have leathers, different micro algaes and three anemones. The fish I have include a flame angle, two yellowtail damsels, five blue green chromis, two scooter blennies, two engineer gobies, Royal Gramma, a banded coral shrimp and two pink skunk clowns in a green bulb anemone.
I know I will have to remove some of the damsels when they get bigger but itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s not a problem now. My 180 is setup the same way with just a refugium and it has twenty four fish most are tangs and two triggers and everything has been fine for years.
If you keep small fish it wonââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t be a problem. I would say keep it lighter, you have a smaller tank but donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t be afraid to add that cool court jester goby or other small fish you like. The clowns in my thirty stay in their anemone the cromis swim together, The yellow tails paired up, the engineer gobies I hardly see and the scooters stay on the rocks.
If you keep small fish it wonââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t be a problem. I would say keep it lighter, you have a smaller tank but donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t be afraid to add that cool court jester goby or other small fish you like. The clowns in my thirty stay in their anemone the cromis swim together, The yellow tails paired up, the engineer gobies I hardly see and the scooters stay on the rocks.
finsurgeon
New member
Negative on the neon dottyback. Mine more than doubled in size in 6 weeks and has gotten pretty aggressive. It is the most likely fish of the 25 in my 215 reef to get shown the door. It was about 1.5 inches and purchased for $45 from my LFS, tankraised from ORA. It's healthy and looks cool, but will be over 5 inches and has a lot of attitude. I'm pretty sure it will whack the goby eventually. I agree with the suggestion of the shrimp goby and pistol. Maybe a pair of "High fin" or "antenna"gobies and a shrimp - I have a pair purchased separately that all moved in together with their respective shrimp and make a great foursome that takes up almost no space. They'd probably be out and visible a lot once they realize there are no big fish coming by to hide from. I'd consider other shrimp gobies or a 2 spot "four wheel drive" goby as well
Psionicdragon
New member
Pearly Jawfish that always hides 
Is the tank covered? If so, a blue dot jawfish would be a true center piece.
A smaller option would be a Yasha Goby:
http://tinnguyen.smugmug.com/gallery/526599/1/21808673
A smaller option would be a Yasha Goby:
http://tinnguyen.smugmug.com/gallery/526599/1/21808673
Angel*Fish
cats and large squashes
People who have long term success with bluespot jawfish provide specialized conditions for the fish.
Getting a healthy one is not always possible. And there are also legal collection issues.
Also, some say that our reefs may be too warm for some of the ones that are collected.
The yasha would be a delightful choice - especially a pair with a shrimp!
Getting a healthy one is not always possible. And there are also legal collection issues.
Also, some say that our reefs may be too warm for some of the ones that are collected.
The yasha would be a delightful choice - especially a pair with a shrimp!
Angel*Fish
cats and large squashes
That's a fabulous choice! Better than blackcap basslet I posted above.
Fatheads also act like they know they are beautiful - great centerpiece fish for a 30g - not sure about the dimensions of your 24g tank though, they do get big like maroon clowns..... & big = more bioload. However they aren't superactive like many other fish of that size so maybe...
The maroon wouldn't work in your tank not so much because of space issues for the fish -- it's just that she would use the entire space & knock over any rock or coral that wasn't nailed down good. She'd also be inclined to chase most any fish out of her territory, that being the whole tank in your case...well I'd hate to imagine
Angel*Fish
cats and large squashes
If it helps, S.Michael says he kept one in a 10g but when he moved it to his larger reef tank it swam into the rocks never to be seen again. He thought it might be because of being bullied by some of the other fish
He doesn't recommend them for super lit SPS tanks as they come from deeper waters & maybe not great adapters- also not always easy to find a healthy one as they are especially sensitive to inadequate decompression
He refers to them as being delicate fish that should only be kept with docile tankmates & should have some overhangs & hiding places. They get up to 5.1 in. long
I had one for several months but it was one of the fish I lost when I had a couple of 90 degree temp. spikes due to a/c failure -
Beautiful graceful fish - kind of had an intelligent look in his eye, too - don't know if they are any smarter than other anthias --- but there is something to be said for staking a hideout rather than swimming around like a maniac out in the open with a bunch of other maniac fish :rollface:
He doesn't recommend them for super lit SPS tanks as they come from deeper waters & maybe not great adapters- also not always easy to find a healthy one as they are especially sensitive to inadequate decompression
He refers to them as being delicate fish that should only be kept with docile tankmates & should have some overhangs & hiding places. They get up to 5.1 in. long
I had one for several months but it was one of the fish I lost when I had a couple of 90 degree temp. spikes due to a/c failure -
Beautiful graceful fish - kind of had an intelligent look in his eye, too - don't know if they are any smarter than other anthias --- but there is something to be said for staking a hideout rather than swimming around like a maniac out in the open with a bunch of other maniac fish :rollface:
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