New fish

[jtumbleweed]

I recently upgraded to a 40 gallon breeder from my old 29 gallon reef tank, and I have room for one more amazing fish. I can't decide what to get, so I thought I would ask everyone. Right now I have 2 PJ cardinals, 1 percula clown, 1 six line wrasse, 1 hectors goby, and 1 yashia goby, and all of my fish are seriously tiny. The clown is the biggest at maybe 2 inches, but I think less. As you can see, almost all of these fish hide all the time. The cardinals hang out in the back of the tank, and are hard to see, the clown sits in the back corner wishing it had an anemone, but can't figure out that the hammer or frog spawn coral right next to it will host him, and the gobies mostly hunt in the rocks all day coming out every once in a while. The six line darts in and out of the rocks but never hangs out. I just want to get one nice looking fish that will hang out in the open so it looks like I have more than just coral in the tank.

Here is what I know so far: I do not want anything of the damsel, or psuedocrhomis family because of aggression, unless you think that something will get along with all of the other very peaceful fish. I don't think I can get any type of angel or pygmy angel because I have a clam, and other corals that I know they like to nip at like my hammer coral. Tank size also limits me from something like anything from the surgeonfish family, or anything that gets bigger than 4 inches or so. Also, my tank is fairly new, even though I used the same rock from my old tank, so I can't get any type of mandarin, or a fish that grazes on pods, because I don't have enough. So I'm kind of stuck. The only fish I was considering right now was a bartletts anthias because I know they hang out in the open, and even still I'm not very sold on it because I only have room for one, and I don't really want to feed more than once a day. I would also like something that was a bit exotic or unusual, I can order a lot of stuff from my LFS so it shouldn't be a problem. Thanks for looking.

 

[wrott]

3-4 chromis, some chalk bass, 2-3 anthias (sunbursts, ignitus, etc..)

 

[jtumbleweed]

you think i have room for three to four more fish in a 40 gallon tank with six fish in it already? Also, chromis=psuedochromis=aggression. Thanks for trying.

 

[kenwendyb]

Flame Hawk!!!!!!Such a personality!!!!!!

:rollface:

 

[jtumbleweed]

Yeah I was looking at one the other day. Assuming this is your fish, have to noticed it eating ornamental shrimps or snails/hermits? Some books/sites have noted this as a problem with this fish. Also, another reason why I decided against this fish the other day was the fact that it sits on the bottom, and might be a problem with my two gobies who are bottom dwellers/grazers. I am entertaining getting a dwarf angel, possibly a flame angel, but I am a little worried about it nipping my corals and clams. I keep getting different stories about its actual aggressiveness towards clam mantles and other corals.

 

[wrott]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11928546#post11928546 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jtumbleweed
you think i have room for three to four more fish in a 40 gallon tank with six fish in it already? Also, chromis=psuedochromis=aggression. Thanks for trying.

Why would you think psuedochromis would attack chromis?? You need to research fish selection.
edit: You may be an idiot, but supposedly you don't you have a
psuedochromis so why would you ask?

 

[schigara]

Tiny Gobies would be perfect. Hector's Goby, Rainford's Goby, Hi-Fin Goby. All these are very peaceful, small and the Hector and Rainford will stay in the open most of the time.

 

[JustinReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11934675#post11934675 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wrott
Why would you think psuedochromis would attack chromis?? You need to research fish selection.
edit: You may be an idiot, but supposedly you don't you have a
psuedochromis so why would you ask?

Wow! A little harsh there cowboy...

Well, Im not going to go as far as calling you an idiot but I also did not see Pseudochromis (Dottyback) on your list of fish you had. If you do have one, they are not aggressive, nor are Blue Chromis in my experience except towards each other if the tank is not big enough.

I would try a dwarf angel of some sort but like you said, you are taking a bit of a risk in doing so. What about a longnose hawk? Mine is always perched out in the open all day long. They do not swim around all that much though.

 

[jtumbleweed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11934675#post11934675 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wrott
Why would you think psuedochromis would attack chromis?? You need to research fish selection.
edit: You may be an idiot, but supposedly you don't you have a
psuedochromis so why would you ask?

i didnt say psuedochromis would attack chromis, i was just lumping damsels and dottybacks into the same category of fish i feel are aggressive in general, but besides that, i only have space enough for one fish, so i dont think taking one schooling fish and sticking it in my tank will do me any good. i also am not sure why i am an idiot, besides maybe the fact that you were confused about what i meant. i would like to say, however, that you win the extreme uncalled for aggression award, so congratulations, im sure your wife is psyched on getting knocked around when she burns the roast.

 

[jtumbleweed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11934703#post11934703 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by schigara
Tiny Gobies would be perfect. Hector's Goby, Rainford's Goby, Hi-Fin Goby. All these are very peaceful, small and the Hector and Rainford will stay in the open most of the time.

yeah, gobies are great, i do have a yashia and a hectors goby, and the hectors is out quite a bit, but it just dosent carry that appeal of a really nice looking colorful fish that is moving around a lot a bit higher up in the water column than gobies tend to like to be. thanks for not calling me an idiot though for asking for peoples advice.

 

[jtumbleweed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11934724#post11934724 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by justinpsmith
Wow! A little harsh there cowboy...

Well, Im not going to go as far as calling you an idiot but I also did not see Pseudochromis (Dottyback) on your list of fish you had. If you do have one, they are not aggressive, nor are Blue Chromis in my experience except towards each other if the tank is not big enough.

I would try a dwarf angel of some sort but like you said, you are taking a bit of a risk in doing so. What about a longnose hawk? Mine is always perched out in the open all day long. They do not swim around all that much though.

i am looking into dwarf angels more and more, talking with the owner of the shop i frequent, he seems to have great luck with all the dwarf angels he has kept. he is going to order a few into the shop for me to check out, a coral beauty, the brazilian type of the african species, i cant think of the name right now, the blue and yellow one, and there are some goldens there but i think they might be sold already. i really like the hawkfish, i am always really interested in them when they are at the shop, but for whatever reason they just dont do it for me.

EDIT: I WAS GOING TO JUST DELETE THIS POST BUT RC ISNT LETTING ME, SO LETS JUST SAY THIS. I AM PRETTY SURE I AM GOING WITH A DWARF ANGEL, THANKS FOR EVERYONES INPUT, BUT I THINK WE NEED TO JUST LET THIS ONE DIE. I AM ALSO NOT INTO BEING A BADASS VIA THE INTERNET, SO ANYMORE AGGRESSION WILL BE IGNORED, BUT WILL BE NOTED AS FUNNY AND USELESS. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAD RELATIVE IDEAS.

 

[Harlikwin2000]

I would go for something that will stay small, be less aggressive, and spend time in your water column. I think fairy or flasher wrasses would be a good choice, possibly a labrid such as the canary wrasse might be good so long as your sixline doesn't show aggressive behavior. Pseudochromis can be OK but I wouldn't try there are only about 2 species I think it is even fair to consider peaceful, but I have had some and they can be extremely vicious if they get the notion and I have seen their personality change for the worse over time in an aquarium. If you went with an anthias I would only have one, more than one would be too aggressive toward each other in such close quarters. Assessors if you can find them are small and very interesting fish to watch. A chalk basslet would be a good choice.
Flame hawks can be aggressive especially with other bottom dwellers and in smaller tanks. Flame angels have a bad reputation for sampling corals and can be aggressive towards tank mates, I've seen them chew on other fish and stress their tank mates to death. Well hope that helps!

 

[jtumbleweed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11938288#post11938288 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Harlikwin2000
I would go for something that will stay small, be less aggressive, and spend time in your water column. I think fairy or flasher wrasses would be a good choice, possibly a labrid such as the canary wrasse might be good so long as your sixline doesn't show aggressive behavior. Pseudochromis can be OK but I wouldn't try there are only about 2 species I think it is even fair to consider peaceful, but I have had some and they can be extremely vicious if they get the notion and I have seen their personality change for the worse over time in an aquarium. If you went with an anthias I would only have one, more than one would be too aggressive toward each other in such close quarters. Assessors if you can find them are small and very interesting fish to watch. A chalk basslet would be a good choice.
Flame hawks can be aggressive especially with other bottom dwellers and in smaller tanks. Flame angels have a bad reputation for sampling corals and can be aggressive towards tank mates, I've seen them chew on other fish and stress their tank mates to death. Well hope that helps!

very informative, i appreciate it. i agree with basically everything you said, especially about psuedochromis being aggressive, i thought that was common knowledge even to someone who is just starting... fairy wrasses are great, a friend of mine has a very nice and expensive one, and of course since it is so nice and expensive, it spends most of its time in the rocks hunting and not being seen... i would worry about having two wrasses in a tank this size until i upgrade, and i hope that doesnt happen soon, im still recovering from the bills of last time. anthias are looking less viable because of their feeding demands, i saw a basslet the other day in the shop, trying its best to hide under a .25 lb rock. didnt seem to outgoing, although of course captive life is never indicative of how these fish really live. i knew that i couldnt have a flame hawk since i researched them when i was first stocking my old tank, but i couldnt remember why it was until you reminded me about the other bottom dwellers. i only see my yashia once a week as it is, and i like to watch the hectors flutter around. i know now that flame angels have probably the worst reputation for nipping corals and clams, so i have consulted my lfs owner for the most behaved angel hes has had experience with. its looking like probably a small coral beauty. thanks for the well thought out input.

 

[RUGDOG]

coral beauties are great and I have had more than one but lately not with much success for some reason. I have a eibl (sp) in my larger tank that has been in there a while but i think they get a little too large. the winner for me so far is a little lemon peel we have in my sons 29. he has been in there for 3 months and doing well. He seems to stay out in the open and all. I made the flame hawk mistake in my large tank. He would not let my gobie come out from under the rocks and he was my favorite to watch and he kept my sand stirred