Top 10 Nano Reef FIsh
- Thread starter jay02483
- Start date
cherubfish pair
New member
It seems like there is little knowledge of dwarf angels and reef compatability. Everyone says take caution, potential nippers. There's got to be some body of evidence somewhere. The best I've heard is it varies between individuals instead of by species. There are no hard and fast rules for dwarf angels.
cherubfish pair
New member
What types of corals are safe from them?
In my opinion, the ultimate top ten nano tank fish would be ones that can live their lives out in a nano tank (and I am going to use a definition of less than or equal to 30 gallons to mean "nano," although I know that the definition itself is controversial), doesn't look out of place in that nano tank, is readily available, and is hardy (because, lets face it, nanos aren't always the easiest tanks to live in.) With that in mind, I selected the following fish:
> captive bred ocellaris clowns
> red firefish
> captive bred Red Sea native dottybacks
> green clown gobys
> yellow watchman gobys
> neon gobys
> redhead gobys
> yellow-tail blue damsels (or any of the smaller, less aggressive damsels)
> greenstriped gobys
> blue-stripe pipefish (a personal favorite I had to add)
It doesn't mean that there aren't other great fish for nanos, or that all these fish should be in the same nano, or that all of them would do well in an 8 gallon tank, but I think that these fish have proved to be hardy nano-tank dwellers over the years, even the blue-stripes if you manage to find healthy ones to start with.
> captive bred ocellaris clowns
> red firefish
> captive bred Red Sea native dottybacks
> green clown gobys
> yellow watchman gobys
> neon gobys
> redhead gobys
> yellow-tail blue damsels (or any of the smaller, less aggressive damsels)
> greenstriped gobys
> blue-stripe pipefish (a personal favorite I had to add)
It doesn't mean that there aren't other great fish for nanos, or that all these fish should be in the same nano, or that all of them would do well in an 8 gallon tank, but I think that these fish have proved to be hardy nano-tank dwellers over the years, even the blue-stripes if you manage to find healthy ones to start with.
cherubfish pair
New member
I have to ask about this fish. Can you give us some info? They look impossible to keep.
IMO, two things are essentially for bluestripes.
One, you have to find a healthy one to begin with, which usually means you get them the minute they come in the door of the LFS, or you wait a good month after they arrive -- pipefish and seahorses have really inefficient digestive systems, and they can starve in no time flat.
Then, you want to put them in a tank with a decent amount of live rock, probably a bit more than a lb per gallon -- I guess the key is that it has lots of holes and the like for pods and such. I've had no problem switching bluestripes over to frozen foods like cyclops, enriched brine, even mysis pieces, but they like to examine the rocks anyway.
They are awesome little fish. Just note that two males will not get along with one another. The males have small bumps on their snouts that can been seen with the naked eye if you look closely.
They will zoom about in a tank, but they don't require much room, as they can utilize all the area in a tank and can entertain themselves by staring into a crevice for minutes at a time. They don't need wide open spaces in which to swim. They also can deal with warmer temperatures better than most seahorses and pipefish can, which makes them a lot easier to house in a plug-n-play system.
They can be quite fast. They have also been observed acting as cleaners, although I don't know how frequently this is seen in an aquarium setting.
They are colorful, interesting fish, though, and completely peaceful (unless you try to house two males together.)
One, you have to find a healthy one to begin with, which usually means you get them the minute they come in the door of the LFS, or you wait a good month after they arrive -- pipefish and seahorses have really inefficient digestive systems, and they can starve in no time flat.
Then, you want to put them in a tank with a decent amount of live rock, probably a bit more than a lb per gallon -- I guess the key is that it has lots of holes and the like for pods and such. I've had no problem switching bluestripes over to frozen foods like cyclops, enriched brine, even mysis pieces, but they like to examine the rocks anyway.
They are awesome little fish. Just note that two males will not get along with one another. The males have small bumps on their snouts that can been seen with the naked eye if you look closely.
They will zoom about in a tank, but they don't require much room, as they can utilize all the area in a tank and can entertain themselves by staring into a crevice for minutes at a time. They don't need wide open spaces in which to swim. They also can deal with warmer temperatures better than most seahorses and pipefish can, which makes them a lot easier to house in a plug-n-play system.
They can be quite fast. They have also been observed acting as cleaners, although I don't know how frequently this is seen in an aquarium setting.
They are colorful, interesting fish, though, and completely peaceful (unless you try to house two males together.)
Gamepro_inc
New member
OK I'm setting up a 34 Solana reef soon, and here is my plan for fish
1 Ocelaris (no clue on spelling)
1 carpenters flasher wrasse*
1 cherub angel
1 royal gramma*
1 bangai cardinal*
1 mandrin
I would also like a tailspot blenny but I think that would be too much, I know the bangai is a larger fish but he doesn't move much and isn't very territorial and I love them. Let me know what you think. Also are Cherub angels reef safe? I am moving some from my current 90g (the ones with the *) and others I will have to purchase.
1 Ocelaris (no clue on spelling)
1 carpenters flasher wrasse*
1 cherub angel
1 royal gramma*
1 bangai cardinal*
1 mandrin
I would also like a tailspot blenny but I think that would be too much, I know the bangai is a larger fish but he doesn't move much and isn't very territorial and I love them. Let me know what you think. Also are Cherub angels reef safe? I am moving some from my current 90g (the ones with the *) and others I will have to purchase.
Tadashi
Premium Member
I think a 34-gal you will be hard pressed to keep the mandarin feed unless you can get it to eat prepared foods or you supplement pods regularly.
Agree with previous about the angel.
I may be on the conservative side, but that seems like a lot of fish for a 34-gal. Personally, I would add the 3 from your 90-gal and get one more (two if they stay small, 2-3").
Agree with previous about the angel.
I may be on the conservative side, but that seems like a lot of fish for a 34-gal. Personally, I would add the 3 from your 90-gal and get one more (two if they stay small, 2-3").
R_Hudson
Just having fun
someone did finally mention the flaming prawn goby...Im still dissapointed no one mentioned the panda goby although incredibly small it is one of my favorites and i dont know if anyone mentioned the yasha goby pair it up with a pistol shrimp. the heilfirichi firefish is up there on my list too. and on a personal note mandarins dont belong in anything less than a 75 gal tank, and even then it needs to be running for at least a year. they will completely obliverate a pod population and starve to death
iFisch
New member
From my experience browsing sites, the panda goby is sold out pretty quickly - probably meaning they get 10, 7 survive, and in 2 days, they're sold out.
There's a few members with the yash/pistol here - although I don't know if it has been mentioned.
IMO, the purple firefish is much more beautiful in person than the helifirichi. I don't know if it's the exclusiveness that brings this fish to people, but IMO, it's not worth it's price. I would consider the purple. The purple has about 3-4x as many colors.
