Ideas for fish?

F

fish 'n crays

New member
As of now, I have a 75 gallon tank with a royal gramma, two false perc. clowns, a sleeper head goby, purple lobster, and a coral banded shrimp. I am looking for some small to medium size fish that have funny "personalities", like clowns. I don't have any deep reds or really bright fish. it would help if they were reef safe, if I were to add some anemones or corals. what would be some good choices? The tank looks empty. I want to fill it up a bit. Thanks.
 
One of the best fish that would fit your criteria is the Flame Angel (Centropyge loriculus): small/mid-sized, brightly colored (can be red to red/orange, depending on the individual specimen, but much more vibrant than the clowns are, also has blue trim on its back fins and black stripes on its sides), active, and reef-safe.

Mind you the reef-safe component is not cut and dry with them; some people swear that they never touch their corals, others say they can't stay away from them. It seems to vary from fish to fish, about 50/50. Even then some specimens are reef safe for a couple of years and then start to pester corals. Best answer is that they can be reef-safe, but it is better if you just assume they are not and work around that, as fish can be very difficult to get out of a tank once you put them in. I doubt they would bother a clown anemone though (probably would be the other way around, if at all), mostly just certain species of coral.
 
Golden Angel are can be very hard to get to eat and they're very shy you'll probably wouldn't see them for quite along time as they'll be hiding in the rocks.

Also try a Kole tang as it's very active, reef safe and is red.
 
what about a goby, or hawkfish. the flame angel is a bit too pricey and i am still trying to work out a brass(copper?) problem. The yellow head jawfish looks pretty nice, or would he be bothered by the sleeper head goby. they both burrow.
 
A flame hawkfish would be good. They definitely satisfy your criteria of being red/orange and having a good personality. They watch you and everything that's going on. They can get bossy, though.
 
Hawkfish are considered to be very aggressive fish, and while they may work with the fish that you have now (I had a longnose hawk with my false percs and blackcap basslet, and never had any problems), it will in all likelihood eat your coral banded shrimp. It will also limit your choices of fish in the future. I don't know which hawkfish you are thinking about, but where I live both the longnose and the flame hawkfish (2 of the most popular species of hawkfish) cost basically the same amount of money as the Flame Angel (around $40).

I like jawfish too, but they are very much a "special interest" fish. Make sure you read the Reefkeeping.com article on Jawfish, it has some good information on how to help them construct their burrows and such. However, I don't know how the jawfish will work with your purple lobster, it does not sound like a good idea. Additionally, I would think that the sand-sifting sleeper goby would be too much stress for the burrow-dwelling jawfish to handle.

As far as gobies go, I would suggest one of the firefish (any of the Nemateleotris species). I believe they are technically considered to be a wormfish/dartfish, but I have always counted them as gobies. They are about as reef safe as they come. A clown goby may also work.

BTW, both jawfish and firefish are considered to be big-time jumpers, so make sure your tank is covered in some way if you get one of them. I've also heard that hawkfish can sometimes be jumpers, but it never happened with mine.
 
i've been looking around a bit more and have been think about tangs, blennies or anthias. i had a lawnmower blenny, but he didnt make it. i think it was because of the brass/copper. what about a blue throat trigger, or would he wreak havoc in the tank? thanks.
 
I have a 75 gallon tank as well, and the only tang that I would ever consider would be the Kole tang, the rest are just too big and need too much room to swim around for my tank to provide. Same goes for anthias, they need a lot of room and are typically considered to be best kept in groups (which gets pricey). They can be difficult to feed as well (need frequent small feedings throughout the day, as well as natural food growing in tank). If your blenny died because of a copper overdose, a tang or anthias would fare no better.

A blenny would probably do fine in your tank (not counting whatever that copper situation is), but most of them are not very colorful (midas is one of the few exceptions). I've never kept a triggerfish, but I think a blue throat would get along with your fish for the most part. However I think it would try to eat your shrimp and/or lobster. Also, they are not considered to be altogether reef-safe (though blue throat is certainly a better candidate than many other kinds of triggers).

Again I would note that if you can afford a blue throat trigger over a Flame Angel, what the hell do Flame Angels cost where you are?
 
i guess it's not just the price for the flame angel. I read that they cannot stand up to copper, and brass is a copper alloy. would the angel and trigger get along as well as the other fish?
 
Why do you have "brass" in your tank?

Fish can stand copper, up to certain levels, as well as some inverts but most inverts and coral will die right away from it.
 
I would imagine that the angel and trigger would both work with your other fish, but I would make the trigger the last fish you buy, let the other ones get settled first, as triggers can intimidate other fish into hiding. Remember, a the trigger may go after your crustaceans, so keep an eye out if you go that route. Hope things work out for you;) .
 
Well, I bought a flame angel today. He seems to be doing well. When he goes by the coral shrimp, the shrimp will brush the angel with his antennas. The angel will just hover in one spot, almost like it is hypnotized. It might just be me or the lighting, but he looks kind of blotchy close to his tail, too. Are these things that I should be worried about? He is the only fish that hangs around the coral banded shrimp. Thanks.
 
You should always quaratine your fish. It just seems people can never say this enough and yet people still put fish right into their tanks. Hopefully the fish dosn't have anything and everything will be alright.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6833762#post6833762 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fish 'n crays
marrone -

i had brass ball valves in my system...a stupid mistake because i didn't know enough...

Thanks for all the help...:)
Click to expand...

If your shrimp/lobster are doing ok, then you dont have a copper issue that would bother fish. You're losing them from something else.
 
I assumed that I could keep the shrimp/lobster because of their harder exoskeleton. I haven't been able to keep any anemones or cleaner shrimp or anything with a thin or no exoskeleton.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6882189#post6882189 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fish 'n crays
I assumed that I could keep the shrimp/lobster because of their harder exoskeleton. I haven't been able to keep any anemones or cleaner shrimp or anything with a thin or no exoskeleton.
Click to expand...

Copper will kill just about any invertebrate, except maybe a hermit crab (they are unusually tough). It doesn't matter how thick their exoskeleton is; they breathe in that water, so it will end up inside their bodies anyway. Cleaner shrimp can be somewhat sensitive, and anemones are often very fragile (the ones that host clownfish, anyway). There are a number of reasons why they may not have survived.

So after thinking about it, I would have to agree with RichConley; it probably wasn't copper that killed the blenny.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

V
Feedback on this stocking list for 30g
Replies
0
Views
102
Varanis
V
A
Stocking Recommendations for established 92 gal
Replies
8
Views
501
Aquado
A
S
New tank inhabitants introduction order?
Replies
15
Views
657
Sermanley
S
P
Can I get another fish?
Replies
3
Views
497
griss
griss
E
Plan for 20 gallon tank
Replies
4
Views
385
Jakesome
Jakesome
Back
Top