Help picking out fish

[ichthyogeek]

My 55 gallon semi-reef only has a pair of clownfish and a pair of banggai cardinalfish along with a lot of bubble algae, snails, and hermit crabs. I'm going to add two more fish and plug in a 10/20 gallon refugium-esque macroalgae tank to the system (which also holds a 10 gallon sump). I run a coralife super skimmer(which is rated for 125 gallons) in the sump and the tank has approximately 50 pounds of live rock. I've made a list and was wondering if some people could help me pick out a pair of compatible fish?

• Centroypyge eibli(Red Stripe Dwarf Angel)-It looks ike a small enough dwarf angelfish, but is it hardy?
• Oxycirrhites types(Longnose hawkfish)-They look fascinating, but how active are they? I'd like fish that also action throughout the tank.
• Canthigaster valentini (Valentini Toby)-I used to have one of these in a 29 gallon tank, and he's exactly what I'm looking for! But I worry about overt aggression towards the banggai cardinalfish...
• Synchiropus splendidus(Mandarin dragonet)-Enough said. I'm not sure if my tank, even with the refugium, will be able to feed the fish.
• Pseudocheilinus hexaenia (Sixline Wrasse)-These are super colorful and would also be perfect for my tank! Except I worry about it bullying the fish.

 

[Hal]

Can you post their common names? I'd like to help but don't want to have to look them up.

 

[mcgyvr]

-red strip angelfish
-long nose hawkfish
-valentini sharpnose puffer
-mandarin
-six line wrasse

 

[squeakymcmurdo]

Scientific names make me happy. I'm new to saltwater but have been doing native US fish for 12 years. Do you know how many common names some fish have?! And some completely different species are known by the same common name. :headwallblue: So when asking questions about them it's actually easier to refer to them in Latin so nobody is confused about wether you're trying to house a 3" fish or a 3' fish.

The puffer will eventually eat all your snails and hermit crabs, I guess it depends on how much you like having them as a clean up crew and if you are somewhere they can be easily replaced. I would avoid anything you aren't sure you can feed long-term.

 

[ichthyogeek]

Done! Edited the original post to include the more common names!

I'm not all that attached to the CUC, since snails are like $2 and the crabs are $1, and they aren't personable enough to get attached to...I guess I should mark off the dragonet then, since, although it's colorful, I just can't see my tank producing enough pods to feed it, much less anything else.

Would the sixline wrasse and the toby be a good combination? Or one of those with the dwarf angel? Which is the best combination for the tank? Oh, right: the clownfish I have are ocellaris clownfish(Amphiprion ocellaris), and the banggai cardinalfish are Pterapogon kaudernii!

 

[Valentini89]

Scientific names make me happy. I'm new to saltwater but have been doing native US fish for 12 years. Do you know how many common names some fish have?! And some completely different species are known by the same common name. :headwallblue: So when asking questions about them it's actually easier to refer to them in Latin so nobody is confused about wether you're trying to house a 3" fish or a 3' fish.

The puffer will eventually eat all your snails and hermit crabs, I guess it depends on how much you like having them as a clean up crew and if you are somewhere they can be easily replaced. I would avoid anything you aren't sure you can feed long-term.

I have a pair of valentini puffers in a 26 g with an emerald crab and some snails and they leave them alone. They would eat the snails if they were big enough or if the snails were small enough, but valentinis simply don't get big enough. I highly recommend this fish. They are so awesome to watch. I enjoy watching them sleep even, because their fins keep moving and they sleep in such a weird way. I also have an anthia, a pair of clowns, and a firefish in the tank. Just to give you an idea, the puffers get along great with everyone and despite having been told valentinis are not supposed to be kept together, I have had no problems with mine.

 

[squeakymcmurdo]

Neat to know about the valentini puffers. I wrote them off because I'm really rural and can't easily replace snails and hermits. Are they fin nippers? And would they harass a tuxedo urchin?

 

[ichthyogeek]

They can fin nip if bored/hungry enough, or if the fish has long flowing fins (so basically a saltwater tiger barb). I wouldn't know about tuxedo urchins though, but I'd assume it'd go after the pedicellariea. Any other questions would warrant another thread .

 

[Valentini89]

They can fin nip if bored/hungry enough, or if the fish has long flowing fins (so basically a saltwater tiger barb). I wouldn't know about tuxedo urchins though, but I'd assume it'd go after the pedicellariea. Any other questions would warrant another thread .

As far as the aggressive behavior from the valentinis towards the banggai cardinal, I had a banggai cardinal in the the tank and they left it alone... But the fish died anyway.. I never found out why.

 

[ichthyogeek]

So....does anybody have any suggestions? I'm leaning towards some combination of the sixline, the eibli angel, and the toby...

 

[Hal]

I've never had an issue with my sixline. It got along great with everything. It's an active swimmer and nice blue/orange stripes.

I'm also a fan of flame angels. Bright coloration. They'd get along fine too.

Longnose hawkfish gets along with most fish, but will eat any shrimp you put in the tank.

 

[fabulousfavia]

Six line wrasse will out compete your mandarin for food. The Longnose won't be very active but will perch on your rocks. The Toby may nip at the banggi but the main problem is that he will eat your coral.


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[on the spot]

What do you mean by semi-reef? Midget angels may (can) cause problems here, but of your choices I'd go for the angel anyway and the wrasse.

The hawk has similar coloration (sort of, allow some latitude) to the angel and isn't as active - and I've never cared for puffers so that's out.