Reef safe fish that swim around??

[babyduke]

Dottybacks are pretty mean. Firefish burrow under a rock and are sometime not seen for weeks. Royal gramma only swims around during feeding. I always find dwarf angels like bicolor or coral beauty to be pleasant to watch as they freely swim around like happy go lucky ways.

You want swimmers so I would stay away from any perching fish.

 

[Clownfish Chris]

55g is too small for any tang including Bristletooths. I went down that path. Just not enough room.

All red firefish I've ever had just either hide until time to eat or sit in the corner. However, some other darts can be active like zebras.
My clown just chills under the overflow all day.

I suggest a school of smaller anthias like threadfins. Just know you will have to make sure they eat dry and set up an auto feeder. I use the Eheim. It's cheap and effective.

I have a single lyretail male in my 55g and he is very active. But he's too big and I may try to gift him to someone with a larger tank.

Yah, I am holding a sailfin that was in a 75 with several other fish. There were problems with nutrients and aggression. Once the fish was removed, all the smaller fish were much happier. Once the tang has a new home im sure he will be much better off as well.

I like Dottybacks, Anthias, and Basslets like were mentioned above. Dartfish are pretty cool too! I feel you should always have a screen or canopy. I learned that lesson the hard way.

 

[Bent]

Yah, I am holding a sailfin that was in a 75 with several other fish. There were problems with nutrients and aggression. Once the fish was removed, all the smaller fish were much happier. Once the tang has a new home im sure he will be much better off as well.

I like Dottybacks, Anthias, and Basslets like were mentioned above. Dartfish are pretty cool too! I feel you should always have a screen or canopy. I learned that lesson the hard way.

Yeah those yellow basslets are cool!

 

[atraperegrinus]

my chalk basslet is all over the tank all the time, between him and my orchid dottyback it keeps my tank pretty lively.

 

[CStrickland]

My chalk bass is my fav swimmer. He was my first fish and tolerated a lot of dumb mistakes like untreated tap water, temp swings, salinity fails etc.

My melanurus has been very hardy too, and def adds color and movement, but idk, I think he is going to be happier when I upgrade. A 55 is supposed to be enough but he just goes back and forth all day. It looks boring. Wrasses don't need pods like some fish, they just eat them if they are around.

My firefish are chill, they don't hide. They don't swim around much either, they sort of hover in the flow from a powerhead and glide across the tank once in a while. Really pretty fish though. Even the really cheap ones are awesome looking in person.

blue-green chromis were cool while they lasted, but they didn't last.

Note that when you say reef-safe it means that they won't eat coral, but you might want to consider your CUC as well. My melanurus assassinated all my snails, one day he flipped a switch and started eating them. I'm down to a conch, urchins and chitons plus an algae blenny. I got lucky in that he timed it for after my uglies had passed, I needed the snails more in the first couple months to eat my diff algae blooms so its nbd now.

 

[jrr98002]

+1 on a few of the things said above: angels risky for reef tank, get a top of some kind, my wrasses are colorful and fun and swim everywhere, dartfish too (both of these are notorious jumpers moreso than others so do so after the 'get a top' suggestion), my Banggai cardinals tend to just hover but are still neat, blennies also tend to be good (my Midas was a blast until he passed)

 

[linelife1474]

Wow so much to look at and so many decisions.. another ? Guys my clown don't like food I am giving them

 

[reefbroao]

just get frozen mysis

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I highly recommend NLS (New Life Spectrum) pellets. If your clowns are small get the .5 mm as the 1 mm might be too large for them. I also agree with the frozen mysis and there are prepared frozen mixes LRS is one of the best known ones and they are a very good mix of frozen seafood. My clowns won't eat flake food but gobble up the NLS pellets. My Hector's goby will only eat the NLS pellets and doesn't touch any of the frozen that I feed my tank.

 

[callsign4223]

You might check out the Lemon Chromis on live aquaria. I just picked up a few as an alternative because they were out of blue/green chromis on black friday when I made my purchase. I have had blue/green before and I can say I really like the look and activity of these Lemons better. I am only hoping that they don't pull the usual chromis trick and start killing each other. I got 3 for a 110 gallon 48lx30hx18d and that seems like about the right density.

The yellow coloration on them is VERY faint under my lighting, but that doesn't bother me.