Over the past 20 years I have had many saltwater tanks, started with some basic fish only tanks and moved on to a packed reef tank. During those 20 years I have made more mistakes than I care to think about. Far to many times I saw an awesome fish at the LFS and put him in one of my tanks without research or knowledge and next thing you know I was tearing apart rock work trying to get him out.
My tank is a center piece in our basement, I had a reef that was doing really well...lots of SPS, LPS, etc and lots of rock for all of that to grow on. Although I had a lot of cool stuff it took lots of time and most people were more impressed with Nemo than the beautiful acro that I had grown from a 1/2 inch frag into a beautiful colony. About a year ago I decided I wanted to move towards more fish and less corals. While most of us in the hobby love many of the details of a reef tank I think those outside that hobby are more impressed by the bright colored fish that inhabit our tanks.
My current reef has been setup for about 8 years, over that time the tank got several scratches and it was time for a fresh start so a few months ago myself, along with an employee of the LFS broke down the tank and started again. I traded in a lot of rock, corals, etc and now have an aquarium that still has rock work that extends for the length of the tank but lots more caves, swim throughs, and in general swimming area for fish. It looks awesome, I have some nice mushrooms, zoas, and a few leathers growing which should have the rocks covered in no time.
Now it is time to begin to add fish and I want to make sure I make good decisions and add fish that are interesting and compatible. I have had some awesome fish over the years, for instance I had a black cap basslet, beautiful fish but he spent his days hiding and only came out when I fed. I want fish that you don't have to look for or explain to someone why they should be impressed that I have them. I want an active, healthy, colorful tank. I have a 90 gallon tank with a healthy 40 gallon fuge that grows cheato well. I have an ASM G3 skimmer which is suggested for a 250 gallon tank. I do regular water changes and all parameters in check. In my opinion the limiting factor for adding fish for my tank will be less about bio load and more about territory.
With all of that said below is a list of fish that I currently have and some fish that I like. My tank is not covered and I prefer to leave it that way thus no wrasses on my list although I have owned several and think they are an awesome fish. I understand I won't be able to add all of the fish I have listed and am open to other suggestions....If you have read this far thank you and any input would be appreciated.
Current Fish:
2 Ocellaris Clown Fish
Yellow Tang
Flame Angel
Lawnmower Blenny
Diamond Goby
Fish I like:
Fire Fish
Purple Fire Fish
Orchid Dottyback
Fathead Anthia
Banggai Cardinal
Swalessi Basslett
High Fin Red Goby
Orange Stripe Prawn Goby
Yashi Goby
My tank is a center piece in our basement, I had a reef that was doing really well...lots of SPS, LPS, etc and lots of rock for all of that to grow on. Although I had a lot of cool stuff it took lots of time and most people were more impressed with Nemo than the beautiful acro that I had grown from a 1/2 inch frag into a beautiful colony. About a year ago I decided I wanted to move towards more fish and less corals. While most of us in the hobby love many of the details of a reef tank I think those outside that hobby are more impressed by the bright colored fish that inhabit our tanks.
My current reef has been setup for about 8 years, over that time the tank got several scratches and it was time for a fresh start so a few months ago myself, along with an employee of the LFS broke down the tank and started again. I traded in a lot of rock, corals, etc and now have an aquarium that still has rock work that extends for the length of the tank but lots more caves, swim throughs, and in general swimming area for fish. It looks awesome, I have some nice mushrooms, zoas, and a few leathers growing which should have the rocks covered in no time.
Now it is time to begin to add fish and I want to make sure I make good decisions and add fish that are interesting and compatible. I have had some awesome fish over the years, for instance I had a black cap basslet, beautiful fish but he spent his days hiding and only came out when I fed. I want fish that you don't have to look for or explain to someone why they should be impressed that I have them. I want an active, healthy, colorful tank. I have a 90 gallon tank with a healthy 40 gallon fuge that grows cheato well. I have an ASM G3 skimmer which is suggested for a 250 gallon tank. I do regular water changes and all parameters in check. In my opinion the limiting factor for adding fish for my tank will be less about bio load and more about territory.
With all of that said below is a list of fish that I currently have and some fish that I like. My tank is not covered and I prefer to leave it that way thus no wrasses on my list although I have owned several and think they are an awesome fish. I understand I won't be able to add all of the fish I have listed and am open to other suggestions....If you have read this far thank you and any input would be appreciated.
Current Fish:
2 Ocellaris Clown Fish
Yellow Tang
Flame Angel
Lawnmower Blenny
Diamond Goby
Fish I like:
Fire Fish
Purple Fire Fish
Orchid Dottyback
Fathead Anthia
Banggai Cardinal
Swalessi Basslett
High Fin Red Goby
Orange Stripe Prawn Goby
Yashi Goby
