Looking for Birthday Fish Idea

[HobosReef]

Looking to getting my wife a new fish for her 270G mixed reef aquarium and need some ideas. The tank has been up for about 5 years with the following fish:

The first batch
2 cinnamon Clowns - 5 years, 1st fish
1 Blue Tang - 5 years, probably the boss
1 Yellow Tang - 5 years
1 Foxface Lo - co-boss. Nobody messes with grumpy
2 Bar Gobies - 5 years. Down from 3:{
1 Scissor Tail Goby - 5 years. Down from 3:{
1 Cardinal - 5 years. Down from 2, lost 1 due to cyst
1 Cardinal - Stuck in overflow. Child of first 2 Cardinals.
1 Chromy - 4 years

Recent additions
1 neon Dotty back - 1 year
1 Royal Gramma - 1 year
1 6 line wrasse - 6 months, smallest of all the fish

Lost in the tank over the years:
2 Heniochus - 1st due to ich, 2nd returned for picking at corals
1 Carpenter wrasse - 3 years in tank b4 disappeared, was tank PITA
1 mandarin - Just could not keep enough copopods
1 Scotter Blenny - 6 months and just died. Guessing starved or rock cavein

Other notes
- Looking for reef and tank mate friendly
- Looking for a colorful, pretty fish
- Tank has had 1 bad, a couple minor ich outbreaks
- My LFS will quarantine for me.
- We feed twice a day with various frozen shrimp and the occasional seaweed. Do not want to change this routine.
- Do not want to overstock tank
- Tank recently had a salinity spike that burned out alot of corals so kind of starting fresh with corals.
- Not too afraid of Jumpers as tanker is fully enclosed but does have a low roof.

Would love some input. Many thanks.

 

[HumbleFish]

Assuming your tank still has ich, I would focus on fish with a thick slime coat for protection: Wrasses, gobies, blennies, hawkfish, a large angelfish.

 

[sde1500]

Maybe a gift card? First rule I made with my tank was telling my wife "no surprise life for the tank". Or, maybe take her shopping together to get one. As for species, personally I'd get a harem of one of the Genicanthus angels.

 

[MondoBongo]

i would never buy a live animal as a gift for someone. never a good idea unless you're 100% what they want.

also a bad idea if you're having ich outbreaks. get your disease/QT situation under control before adding more fish.

 

[RioReefr]

I really like the Flame Hawkfish -- colorful, mellow, loves frozen shrimp, great tank-mate.

I would say this *was* my favorite fish until he jumped out.

If you do go this route, make sure he has an elevated place to perch all by himself. Mine made his home in between rock and large Devil's Leather coral. I would say mine spent 90% in that area about 3/4 high in the tank and liked to look down on everything. He'd go down to SB occasionally and then immediately swim back. I miss that fish -- he was cool. He was quickest getting to the frozen shrimp. I swear he could *smell* it coming before it even hit the tank-water.