Suggestions for interesting and unique fish for beginners.

[FireViper]

We started this hobby because my 12 year old daughter was intrigued by the colors and behavior of the fish and inverts in a tank at the local medical center.

Our 55 gallon tank is up and running and seems to be doing well--ie, we haven't killed anything yet. As mentioned before, we've with a 55 gallon tank with live sand, 20+ pounds of live rock (plus 30 pounds of diy rock that's nearly ready), a HOB skimmer, a HOB carbon filter, a powerhead, multiple small corals, four small clowns (I know, a risk) and a couple of gobies. The guy at the LFS suggested we are probably ready for some new fish, and he'll order anything we want.

There are several great threads here about good fish for beginners, especially Peter's thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2640713&goto=nextnewest

As behavior is of interest to us, what do you all recommend? Schooling and movement would be great. The relationship of a shrimp and goby would also be of interest (not sure if our little yellow/orange guys would develop that relationship; so far, they sit on the corals and hang on the corners of the tank). My daughter loved the sand sifting fish (goby?) that was in the tank at the medical center, though the guy at the LFS suggested our tank is too new for that type of specimen.

I'm thinking as possiblities
Yellow Watchman Goby and pistol shrimp
Diamond Watchmen Goby
Green Chromis
Pajama Cardinalfish
Anthias?

Of course color wouldn't hurt, either. Thinking:
Coral Beauty
Royal Gramma
Filefish
Tailspot Blenny.
Wrasses?
Mandarins?
My daughter wants a tang, but I think our tank is just too small.

Anything else that is really interesting and/or pretty? And the age old question, how much is too much.

Thanks!

 

[ScottF83]

I don't think you can beat a pair of clowns and, once the tank matures sufficiently, a nice anemone for them to pay within

The goby and shrimp is fascinating to watch

Firefish are easy if you have a lid for your tank tho they tend to disappear for some reason

Mandarins are tricky to feed as theyre default food is copepods which you won't necessarily have in a new tank

The others are okay but tend to move towards more established or experienced keepers, or grow a bit large for that tank

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

 

[mcgyvr]

Starry blenny... Best personality IMO.. It will play hide and go seek with you ,etc... Just a fun critter..
Besides that I'd simply suggest browsing live aquaria,etc... to look at all of the fish and find ones that YOU like and just check out their care requirements and go from there..
Its really to each his own.. Clowns are SO boring to me.. Everyone has a clown tank now..

 

[FireViper]

What are the tradeoffs with buying online? I've read a couple times to make sure the fish is eating before you buy. Tough to do online. However the selection and prices are so much better.

 

[ReefWreak]

My daughter loved the sand sifting fish (goby?) that was in the tank at the medical center, though the guy at the LFS suggested our tank is too new for that type of specimen.

Should be fine to get a sandsifting goby as they'll usually take prepared/frozen foods in addition to eating out of the sand.

I'm thinking as possiblities
Yellow Watchman Goby and pistol shrimp - Yes
Diamond Watchmen Goby - Yes
Green Chromis - Yes
Pajama Cardinalfish - Yes
Anthias? - NO

Of course color wouldn't hurt, either. Thinking:
Coral Beauty - Yes
Royal Gramma - Yes
Filefish - NO
Tailspot Blenny. - Yes
Wrasses? - Yes (get a small one, and keep the number of them small)
Mandarins? - NO

My daughter wants a tang, but I think our tank is just too small.

I would highly recommend going with an angel or two instead of a tang. Dwarf angels stay smallish, are generally quite hardy, and are active hunters/eaters all day long. The key is that they stay small-ish. If she REALLY wanted a tang, you could look into the bristle-tooth tangs, but they're not as colorful as the zebrasoma tangs, so she may not want them anyway.

I'd go with adding a colorful angel (flame or coral beauty, maybe a lemon-peel since she likes tangs [presumably yellow tang]) and a blenny. Blennies are known for having fun interesting personalities while generally being reef-safe.

 

[hkgar]

Wrasses! Pajamas are interesting but don't really move much. I like my Banggai Cardinalfish (2), but they don't move much either.

 

[Uncle99]

I like the choices

My experience with the sand sifters is that they don't last long in newer tanks.
There's just not enough food to process, something like the mandarin. Mandarins are the easiest fish to keep PROVIDED, you have the pods, and in a 55, no other Pod competitor, which would included most wrasse.

Bit of a trade off.

Both these are likley to suffer over the long term, but great in tanks that are mature at least one year or more.

Below pic is my mandarin, 27 months, eats pods only.

I've heard that they will accept other foods. Sand sifters (maybe) mandarin....not.....unless they are captive bred. But these are usually just to small.

 

[Cliving1]

My vote is for a pair of longnose hawks

 

[FireViper]

Love the looks of a longnose hawkfish, however, they appear to eat shrimp. So a hawkfish and a pistol goby pair might not work. . ..

 

[Cliving1]

You should be fine. The longnose hawks mouth, in my experience, does not allow it to eat very large items. Even some frozen can give them probably, like rods. Plus the shrimp will have the goby to look out for it