Need opinions

[Trx237]

I changed my freshwater tank to saltwater like a year ago . It's a 30 gallon half moon tank and it has no sump. I have an aquaclear hob 50&70 running in it along with an eshoops hob skimmer. I had a lot of difficulty keeping fish alone and I've finally been at a stable point with a tomato clown and a six line wrasse. I had added royal dotty back and a banggai cardinal a month back. The dotty back harassed everyone but then committed suicide and then the tomato clown ended up harassing the cardinal to the point of death. So It's just been the two of them and a cleaner shrimp and some snails and I have been wondering if I should try to do reef or if I should try to continue with just fish. I thought maybe if I added more rocks the tomato clown would be less aggressive but I'm open to any ideas or suggestions.

 

[Bpb]

That's a pretty small tank for fish with such big personalities. The royal gramma is a basslet not a dottyback, But can be equally as feisty. I'd wager you are at capacity on fish. You've got some aggressive fish in that clown and the sixline wrasse. I'll be shocked if they'd allow anything else in. A damsel might be your only option. If you want to make it a reef you should be prepared for more stringent water quality control, improved lighting, and improved flow. It'll be an investment.


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[Trx237]

That's a pretty small tank for fish with such big personalities. The royal gramma is a basslet not a dottyback, But can be equally as feisty. I'd wager you are at capacity on fish. You've got some aggressive fish in that clown and the sixline wrasse. I'll be shocked if they'd allow anything else in. A damsel might be your only option. If you want to make it a reef you should be prepared for more stringent water quality control, improved lighting, and improved flow. It'll be an investment.


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I had thought at the time that I was adding a royal gramma which is peaceful but it was a royal dottyback which looks really the same but was extremely territorial. He bullied the clown fish and wrasse especially. Then it jumped out of the tank for some reason and it's only been just the clown & wrasse for a month now. The lfs told me that the tank can support 5-7 fish because of the amount of filtration on the tank and since saltwater fish are small and take a long time to outgrow the tank

 

[Easy E]

If the LFS wanted you to buy more fish, they shouldn't have sold you a clown and a six-line. The royal dottyback is one of the most aggressive fish you can get. You're actually lucky to be rid of it. Maybe the LFS will take those 2 you still have back, so you can start over with some small peaceful fish. If they do, don't ever trust them again. Telling you that saltwater fish are small and take a long time to outgrow the tank is terrible advice. Here's a place where you can get some ideas for suitable fish, but please don't put any of these in the same tank with the clown and,the wrasse. https://m.liveaquaria.com/category/2124/nano-fish?c=15+2124&s=ts&start=1&page_num=2&count=24

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[Bpb]

Stocking levels are more likely to be decided by temperament and territory, not filtration. You shouldn't take advice from someone selling something. It won't be genuine


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[Trx237]

Ok so what would be the ideal amount of fish to keep in your opinions

 

[Uncle99]

The problem will always be the tomato in a 30g.
If it was the only fish or in a pair, the 30g would still be a minimum size.
Many fish jump to get away as they are being chased.

make sure we have Rock structure, your right, no hiding safety now, change this.
Sure, I would move this tank towards reef, but make sure you have correct lighting and your water is always RODI and your parameters match NSW at all times.

IMO
Pair of Ocellaris Clowns (in 6-9 months, a BTA, provided tank is stable)
Royal Gramma
Red or Purple Fire fish
Yellow watchman goby, or Diamond back goby.

I use a general rule on peaceful fish of 1 over ten gallons, no tangs, so everything stays peaceful, no jumpers in 5 years and I have no top.....

Good luck, with some time, you could make this tank quite stunning!

 

[Uncle99]

Ok so what would be the ideal amount of fish to keep in your opinions

Keep in mind that it's not just the ratio of fish to water!

It's type, habits, natural enemies, natural friends.

Example, you could have 3-4 fish but not 1 tang..

I have a 70g, and I love tangs, but it will not work, or will not work long term

 

[Trx237]

The tomato clown has been with me for a long time and I got it a long time ago without knowing that it is one of the most aggressive clowns there are. I would also have to get rid of the wrasse as well? In terms of moving toward reef I don't know what lights or power head would be required since the tank is such a weird shape.

Honestly it's so weird I think I may have seen my clown nip at the cleaner shrimp but it's been acting weird but now it's dead. I tested my water nitrates are somewhere btn 20-40ppm but I am due for a water change, ammonia 0 nitrite 0 ph 8.2.
I have been using distilled water while my lfs RODI system has been broken for the week, would it be possible this could have killed him. I think it may have been the clown since my water is pretty good and both the fish are fine.

 

[teddscau]

Honestly, I'd rehome the fish and get seahorses. Well, after doing a TON of research on ponies. Seahorses are quite difficult to keep, although this is due to the fact that they need to be trained to eat frozen foods, then be trained to eat said frozen food at a trough. They need a very gentle current, hitching stations (seagrass, for example), nice clean water, etc.

Wait, I love the seahorse idea. Legit, do your research, and you could end up having an amazing little seahorse tank.

 

[Trx237]

I think seahorses would be a cool thing to do in the future but I think it would be beneficial for me to get more marine experience first

 

[Easy E]

Wise move to pass on the seahorses. They are definitely not for beginners. They require a specialized diet and tank conditions. Plus, they would also not allow you to have a variety of fish.

Shrimp are not tolerant of high nitrates, so that is most likely why it died. If the clown was going to kill it, that probably would have happened shortly after you added it to the tank.

The wrasse would probably be more tolerant of other tankmates than the clown. Some people describe them as terrors, but I haven't had that experience. That said, it would still be risky to add shy fish or picky eaters. But keeping just the wrasse would definitely give you more options than having both.

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[Trx237]

I don't know how aggressive the wrasse is toward other fish but I would like to keep it since I think it is one of the more colorful and interesting fish relative to tank size.

I think if I Get more rocks change the scape and add him in with new mates that should ease his initial aggression towards them, but in the end if it does get too aggressive then I would remove it.
In terms of other fish, what are my options ? firefish blennies maybe a clownfish eventually since I think the anemone hosting thing would be really cool & also the goby shrimp pair . Any recommendations I want the tank to be lively and bright if possible

 

[TheFishGuy31]

Many gobies are fairly small and peaceful. I really liked the character my Lawnmower blend brought to my tank.

Firefish are another good option. Maybe peppermint shrimp.


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[Easy E]

I don't know how aggressive the wrasse is toward other fish but I would like to keep it since I think it is one of the more colorful and interesting fish relative to tank size.

I think if I Get more rocks change the scape and add him in with new mates that should ease his initial aggression towards them, but in the end if it does get too aggressive then I would remove it.
In terms of other fish, what are my options ? firefish blennies maybe a clownfish eventually since I think the anemone hosting thing would be really cool & also the goby shrimp pair . Any recommendations I want the tank to be lively and bright if possible

Changing the aquascape and adding more rock is an excellent idea. You can order dry rock online pretty cheap. With the weird shape of your tank, it would be best if you could pile the rock up as high as possible to give the fish plenty of hiding places. You should definitely do that just before you add new fish. It will confuse the 6-line and cause it to re-acclimate, which will tone down its aggression, at least temporarily. In effect, it would be like adding the fish at the same time, which greatly increases the odds that they will peacefully establish their own territories.

A firefish or a goby may be too peaceful to co-exist with a 6-line. A shrimp/goby pair is expensive and hard-to-find. If you add the goby and the shrimp separately there is no guarantee that they will pair up. A captive-bred Ocellaris or Percula Clown would be fine, they don't get as big or aggressive as the Tomato. However, most anemones are difficult to keep unless you know what you're doing and most clownfish will only pair with a certain type of anemone.

Since the 6-line wrasse is semi-aggressive, you want to add other fish that are also semi-aggressive. This greatly increases the odds of compatibility. There are plenty of colorful, active, semi-aggressive fish that would do fine in your current tank, IF you add a lot more rock. Most of them are in the Blenny, Damsel, Dottyback, or Hawkfish families. I put together a list below that I would choose from if I was you. You could probably add 4 from this list to your tank, in addition to the wrasse, just don't add 2 from the same family. I have put an asterisk next to the ones that are usually captive-bred. These are highly prefferrable to the wild-caught species. Note that most of the captive-bred blennies have fangs and are slightly venomous. They normally won't bite other fish unless they are in danger of being eaten, but they might bite you if you stick your hand in the tank and startle them. You won't die, but it would be similar to a bee sting.

Link's Goby
Chalk Bass
Lantern Bass
Midas Blenny
Horseface Blenny
Canary Blenny*
Forktail Blenny*
Harptail Blenny*
Striped Blenny*
Blackline Blenny*
Smith's Blenny*
Bundoon Blenny*
Percula Clownfish*
Ocellaris Clownfish*
Azure Damsel*
Yellowtail Damsel
Orchid Dottyback*
Indigo Dottyback*
Sunrise Dottyback*
Neon Dottyback*
Striped Dottyback*
Springeri Dottyback*
Elongate Dottybck*
Splendid Dottyback*
Falco Hawkfish
Longnose Hawkfish
Flame Hawkfish

 

[Trx237]

I thought that wrasse & dottyback , hawkfish& Blenny were no good together since they are too similar to each other

 

[Uncle99]

Hawk fish will take out shrimp
Dottyback, has attitude, you already have a big atitude fish.

Whenever you have a big attitude fish, it becomes more challenging to find mates...

 

[Trx237]

Would I have more options if I got rid of them both

 

[Bpb]

Your options would be wide open if you started over. But you still are going to need to focus on territory, temperament, AND filtration when Deciding. And in the future add the smallest and most docile fish first. And the most aggressive nippy ones dead last.


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[Trx237]

I know I have to rescape the tank but if I leave the tank empty for a week will it un cycle bc no added waste? I definitely want a clown or two , but after that I don't really know since it's usually just what ends up in lfs and I don't want to be waiting for months waiting for more fish but is ordering online even legitimate