Stocking list-looking for a few dither fish

[Kahuna Tuna]

I am thinking of adding a few active shoaling/haremic fish to round out my livestock list. My tank is a 180 and will be SPS dominated. The tank is a Coral sea biotype so I am looking for fish that are found in this area. Here is my current livestock list;
Flagfin angel
Two spot bristletooth tang
Mimic tang
Doliatus rabbitfish
Pair of true percs
Pair of blue gudgeon gobys
Labouti wrasse

I am looking for an active group of fish to add more movement and color to the tank. Here are some that I am considering;

Apogon Leptacanthus, longspine cardinal fish. This was my first choice at one time but I may be thinking of more active and/or colorful fish but I like these a lot and think a small group would look great in this tank.

Pseudanthias squamipinnis, Lyretail anthias. These would be a lot more active than the cardinals but they get a lot bigger and are a lot more aggressive. They are also a lot more colorful and I am thinking a group of 7 or 8.

Paracheilinus carpenteri, Carpenter's flasher wrasse. I think a group of three females and a male would work well, but am concerned with the other fish picking on them.

Assessors, either a group of blues or yellows, probably three or four fish.

I have also thought about other fish like chromis and have kept blue green chromis but have always had the fish whittle themselves down to a pair, are all the chromis this way or do some species actually get along in larger groups?

Any other suggestions? Do I have too many fish already? I am totally open to suggestions at this point. TIA

 

[techigirl78]

I'm not sure I'd go with the assessors. You already have some pretty active fish and I think it may cause them to hide a lot.

If your up to feeding them, I'd probably go with the anthias (7/8 may be going a bit overboard). Otherwise, maybe the carpenter wrasses or get a few more labouti wrasses.

 

[Angel*Fish]

Apogon Leptacanthus, longspine cardinal fish. This was my first choice at one time but I may be thinking of more active and/or colorful fish but I like these a lot and think a small group would look great in this tank

I have 4 of these in my 100g - kinda boring - they have paired off -- 2 hang on one side of a rock and 2 hang on the other side - there's a connecting hole so they can still make some contact. I suppose more might may it more interesting with some fish to keep them together, if it would work
When they hung out in a group all together they were pretty cool
They do get along - not even a little bickering - might be more fun to watch htough if they'd bicker

Pseudanthias squamipinnis, Lyretail anthias. These would be a lot more active than the cardinals but they get a lot bigger and are a lot more aggressive. They are also a lot more colorful and I am thinking a group of 7 or 8.

I would vote with these, but if given another choice, I'd choose a different anthias - I have 6 anthias of mixed species and the bicolor picks on other fish in the tank.... and I'm not speaking of the other anthias, who he does also manage to keep in line -
You wouldn't want to have squami's and then decide you need a blue assessor later on - Also they might pick on your blue gudgeons? - Disclaimer : I have no personal squami experience, i am basing my post on the assumption that they'll behave similar to bicolors

HTH

I'd go with dispars - they are fairly aggreeable fish & in a large group should be fine with your other fish _ and they stay small
Or Bartlett's. Actually my new anthias favorite is Cooper's, but try and find 6-7 of them

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

I would go with the Anthias also. I would get a smaller group however...maybe 5

 

[Kahuna Tuna]

Thanks for the replies, I'm really leaning towards anthias at this point and I like the Bartlett's as well as the lyretails. I just love the color and movement they add to a tank. I just saw a great group of little squami's, all females, but am still considering other anthias species. Because this tank is going to be an SPS tank I will go with a lesser number of fish no matter what species I decide on.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

If you want good activity, I think the anthias are the only choice. I would guess the others would just park in a safe spot. I had a trio of bartletts that did great, colored up awesome eating cyclopeeze, and stayed in the open, despite the presence of a large emperor angel(a true bully).