Good Recommendations for Nano Reef Fish?

M

MD11

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Do anyone have any recommendations for fish for a 29 Gallon Nano Reef? I currently only have one clown in my tank. I am looking for colorful fish that aren't too expensive or too hard to keep.

I really love Yellow Tangs and Blue Powered Tangs but I read online that you can't put them in a 29 Gallon tank. Is that true? My LFS has tangs that are not even 2 inches long. But I don't have a chiller so my tank's temp fluxuates about 2 degrees during the day.
 
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1) Lot of smaller gobies like the Yasha are very suitable for a nano.
2) one of the dartfish
3) how about a pygmy wrasse of the wetmorella family
 
A tang won't work in a 29. Lots of smaller fish will,though. Dartfish and possum wrasses are very nice fish. Tailspot blennies are great, too. Is your tank covered? Lots of little fish are jumpers. Also, what kind of clown do you have? Some of the more aggressive ones will be very hard on other fish in a tank that size.
 
I say a Unicorn Tang, they would do great in a 29.

Kidding aside, I say Royal Gramma, Firefish, Tanaka Possum Wrasse, maybe a Hawkfish.
 
I have a False Percula clown. I have no cover over my tank.

I may look at my local fish store for gobbies or wrasse. I like the Tanaka Possum Wrasse.

But what about the anthias? Can I get one of those? And I'm assuming I can't get any type of tang no matter what size it is?

Thanks for all the help! ;)
 
no tangs. sorry. The tank isn't really big enough for anthias either. Not even a single. Do a search for my name and yasha and you will find a thread when I had my yasha goby with a candy cane pistol shrimp and I have videos :) The candy cane's stay small and aren't near a threat as Tiger pistol's are. It's cool to watch them borrow. Diver's Den occasionally sells them paired up already and conditioned, but you could buy them individually as well.
 
Sweet! Thanks for the info. I look into the yasha goby and the candy cane shrimp. I'm assuming that they borrow together?
 
yea. it's a symbiotic relationship. The shrimp is nearly blind. The goby will sit at the burrow entrance and the shrimp will nearly always remain in some sort of contact with the goby when it nears the burrow entrance. This way the goby can alert it when danger is near. Did you find the video? I have more time now.

Here's 1

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You might try a pair of yellow head jawfish. The yellowheads are smaller than other species and seem to be more outgoing as well.

a trio of stoplight cardinals, bright red and peaceful.

royal gramma, very beautiful and interesting fish

a small group 5-6 red spot cardinals

group of 3 barnical blennies
 
I'm in charge of a 29g Biocube where I volunteer and I put 3 yellow head jawfish in. They are about 4" so adults and pretty much fully grown. They share the tank wonderfully so far. Lets see... I put them in the tank in April. The only thing about them is they just started taking a few pellets and not with gusto. They mostly eat mysis.
 
I really like the Royal Gramma! I also like the cardinals!

How about any ideas on fish that are really colorful but aren't in the goby / wrasse. At my petstore, I feel like the gobies are very interesting to watch, but I'm looking for fish that swims in the tank and stays very active.
 
MD11 said:
I really like the Royal Gramma! I also like the cardinals!

How about any ideas on fish that are really colorful but aren't in the goby / wrasse. At my petstore, I feel like the gobies are very interesting to watch, but I'm looking for fish that swims in the tank and stays very active.
Click to expand...
What's wrong with wrasse? Sixlines can be quite aggressive, but there are a few more that are "all over" swimmers and awesome fish! Possum wrasse and pink streaked come to mind, as do flashers (which might need a little more room). Some more ideas:
Cherub angelfish (most will argue against this though...they really do need a mature tank with grazing opportunities). They're not always reef safe though.
Threadfin cardinals are a great idea. No one keeps these but they are gorgeous iridescent blue, silver, and gold (hard to capture in pics). They are also fine in groups!
Orchid dottybacks tend to stay near caves but swim out and about a bit...they also generally keep their vibrant purple color unlike a lot of purple fish (which tend to dull over time).
Fang blennies are awesome and uncommon. Their fangs (used for defense, not offense) make them more outgoing. They're always swimming in the water column and some are very pretty in a subtle way (I like the Disco blenny and Harptail blenny). They are poisonous though.
 
clowntriggerfis said:
wrasse are jumpers and he has no top
Click to expand...
I guess I didn't read/see that. :fish1: In that case, it's going to be pretty hard to find fish in general. Most fish have a tendency to jump - some are just more vulnerable than others. In particular, no jawfish, no firefish. If you want open-top, I would suggest a cardinal, but I don't see why they don't make a mesh lid? They're very easy to make, inexpensive, and can look fine when done right (plus they protect your investments and allow you to keep some really cool fish IMO).
 
MD11 said:
Do anyone have any recommendations for fish for a 29 Gallon Nano Reef? I currently only have one clown in my tank. I am looking for colorful fish that aren't too expensive or too hard to keep.

I really love Yellow Tangs and Blue Powered Tangs but I read online that you can't put them in a 29 Gallon tank. Is that true? My LFS has tangs that are not even 2 inches long. But I don't have a chiller so my tank's temp fluxuates about 2 degrees during the day.
Click to expand...


Tangs not even close.

Flame angel, cherub(pygmy angel)
Yellow watchman goby, green/yellow goby, yasha... most gobies
Clownfish - false/true percula
Wrasse - might be able to get away with some fairy wrasse such as mccoskers.....Six-line will become super aggressive, would never recommend
 
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