Fish for a 50 cube

[Masoch]

Hi folks,

During December's ice storm-induced power outage, we lost a bunch of 9 or 10YO fish.

Boo!

But we did get a new 50g CadLights cube on sale.

Yay!

I moved a pair of ocellaris clowns (1 11 YO, the other ... 8 or so, IIRC) from a 20g into the new tank, and added a juvie yellow tang.

And so ... we need a couple additions. I originally wanted some so ugly they're cute fish (pyjama cardinal, lawnmower blenny, some kind of goby), but my daughters voted me down with my wife scowling in the background.

I haven't bought fish for so long that I'm not entirely sure where to begin, and so ... here I am!

The list of fish the kids want includes a royal gramma and an orchid dottyback. I love those fish, but, IME, they look similar enough that I could see aggression issues pop up. Am I right?

What we need are some bright, colourful fish. No known jumpers (bad experience when I first started in the hobby). Nothing that will pester the geriatric clowns. Long-lived. Nothing high maintenance. Nothing out of this world exotic. The tank has some SPS frags, so nothing nippy.

After that ... I'm at something of a loss. I love mandarins, but I'm currently watching my clowns play search and destroy with the 'pods on the LR, so I doubt a mandarin would be a good option. At least, that's what I hope they're doing and they haven't gone senile on me.

I have fish hospital set up with dewormer, Cupramine at the ready, sponge filter, cheesy fake plant, light, heater and water ready to go so I can QT new additions.

So, folks, any ideas?

Additional tank details: 50g cube, 2' a side. Outsized in-sump turf scrubber. I have a CadLights skimmer, but it's not turned on. 180 watts of 16k Maxspect LEDs. 35ish pounds of LR in an island in the display (lots of caves and crevices). Currently 30X water turnover in the tank, soon to be bumped up. Kalk in ATO, CA at 440, dKH at 7.8, 2-part and magnesium at the ready when kalk no longer keeps up with demand.

Cheers!

 

[Macimage]

I love all of the anthias.

I have a pair of fathead anthias that I think would work well for you. Although Live Aquaria states that they should be in a 70 gallon tank minimum, mine have not hit the 5" maximum mark (my pair is approximately 10 years old) and additionally are not very active swimmers. They tend to lurk in the rockwork and I think they would do fine in a 50 gallon tank.

I think several of the smaller anthias shown here would be great (many of these others swim more than the fatheads do):

http://aquarium-fish.liveaquaria.co...hod=and&af=cat1:marinefish&isort=score&cnt=36

Joyce

 

[dendrite]

I've always had luck with a group, 2 females and a male, flasher wrasses, as well as a small group of purple firefish, Bangaii Cardinals are nice. BRS sells a do it yourself kit for a plastic mesh top. Cheap, inexpensive and very functional

 

[Masoch]

I think several of the smaller anthias shown here would be great (many of these others swim more than the fatheads do):

http://aquarium-fish.liveaquaria.co...hod=and&af=cat1:marinefish&isort=score&cnt=36

Thanks! I hadn't considered anthias -- I'd always assumed, I guess, that they were big tank, semi-aggressive fish. But I showed my kids some pictures, and they're sold.

I've always had luck with a group, 2 females and a male, flasher wrasses, as well as a small group of purple firefish, Bangaii Cardinals are nice. BRS sells a do it yourself kit for a plastic mesh top. Cheap, inexpensive and very functional

Good call on the cardinals.

Now we just have have to see what's available at the LFS.

Cheers!

 

[Marshall O]

FYI, clowns are known jumpers! They don't do it nearly to the extent that Wrasses or Gobies do, but they do jump. Any plans to rehome the Yellow Tang once it grows? They do get pretty large and a 50 cube doesn't afford it a lot of swimming room.

But I agree, get the tank covered and you will have tons of options! Stay away from both Dottybacks (can be very aggressive) and Royal Grammas (very territorial, which can lead to aggression) IMO.

 

[OceanDweller]

You want color and most wrasses come to mind
The flame angle or Coral Beauty might be a good add as a center piece fish
I would go with either a bicolor or tailspot blenny due to low bioload and fun to watch
With a 50 you really have to be strategic with which fish you add, I would look into a shrimp goby pair, shrimp, low bioload nano fish to get the most bang for you $. You could probably fit 8 or so nano fish with two other fish vs 3-4 4" size fish and it would be more entertaining.

I wouldn't get a mandarin for a tank that size but its just me unless you have a large refugium. Anthias are nice but need to be fed often and take up some room.

I would personally stock a 50 with
A tailspot blenny
Two firefish
A couple of neon gobies
A showpiece wrasse
A Royal gramma watch aggression
Two Ocellaris clowns
and either a flame or flameback angel in that order assuming you have good filtration. Thats 10 fish in a 50, granted 5 of those are only 2" or so.