What to get

[NanCrab]

My husband is anxious to add at least one for fish to the tank. We have the QT empty and ready for new inhabitants after a water change.
We can’t decide what to get. Definitely want a blonde naso tang at some point but have been advise me to add that last.

He loves the fire shrimp but not sure they are a good idea? What about a pistol shrimp/watchman goby pair? I want a lawnmower blenny, he wants something social that will swim around the tank. The chromis is a scared fish and hides if anyone approaches the tank and the clownfish just hang out in the upper back corner, he said he wants to see fish swimming around in there. We’ve looked at dottybacks. Seems like everything we like is not reef safe. I think we may have to resort to ordering fish online which I didn’t want to do. Who is the best company for online fish shopping?
We’re doing research on our own too but like to see what other people have and enjoy.

 

[Sbear123]

My husband is anxious to add at least one for fish to the tank. We have the QT empty and ready for new inhabitants after a water change.
We can’t decide what to get. Definitely want a blonde naso tang at some point but have been advise me to add that last.

He loves the fire shrimp but not sure they are a good idea? What about a pistol shrimp/watchman goby pair? I want a lawnmower blenny, he wants something social that will swim around the tank. The chromis is a scared fish and hides if anyone approaches the tank and the clownfish just hang out in the upper back corner, he said he wants to see fish swimming around in there. We’ve looked at dottybacks. Seems like everything we like is not reef safe. I think we may have to resort to ordering fish online which I didn’t want to do. Who is the best company for online fish shopping?
We’re doing research on our own too but like to see what other people have and enjoy.

My husband has a fire shrimp and he so cool.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[wake125122]

My husband is anxious to add at least one for fish to the tank. We have the QT empty and ready for new inhabitants after a water change.
We can’t decide what to get. Definitely want a blonde naso tang at some point but have been advise me to add that last.

He loves the fire shrimp but not sure they are a good idea? What about a pistol shrimp/watchman goby pair? I want a lawnmower blenny, he wants something social that will swim around the tank. The chromis is a scared fish and hides if anyone approaches the tank and the clownfish just hang out in the upper back corner, he said he wants to see fish swimming around in there. We’ve looked at dottybacks. Seems like everything we like is not reef safe. I think we may have to resort to ordering fish online which I didn’t want to do. Who is the best company for online fish shopping?
We’re doing research on our own too but like to see what other people have and enjoy.

Do you have any wrasses? They would server a dual purpose. They are constantly out and about and also help keep your tank clean of pests. 6 lines or melanurus wrasse are a great addition. I have a twin tail fairy wrasse and I love it. It is very peaceful and always out. If I ever move something in the tank she is always right there with me seeing what I am doing.

 

[silentdeath5]

With your tank size I don’t see anything wrong with a blonde Naso as long as you get one at a smaller size so your bio load doesn’t increase too fast. They are not very aggressive so you won’t have to worry about too much aggression when adding other tangs later on

 

[Shawn]

I would save the tang for the very last thing you get...You want to add the most aggressive last, from what I've learned.

 

[ZapataInc]

FYI the goby pistol pair doesnt really go around the tank. Stays put in their burrow.

 

[NanCrab]

Do you have any wrasses? They would server a dual purpose. They are constantly out and about and also help keep your tank clean of pests. 6 lines or melanurus wrasse are a great addition. I have a twin tail fairy wrasse and I love it. It is very peaceful and always out. If I ever move something in the tank she is always right there with me seeing what I am doing.

No we only have one very small blue chromis and 2 young clowns. Thanks I will look into those

 

[wake125122]

Mystery wrasses are also really cool and beneficial but a bit more pricey.

 

[Jeremey’s reef]

I am a huge fan of zebrasoma style tangs (I hope I spelled that right) but movement in the tank shouldn’t be limited to fish there are some awesome inverts that provide pop such as feather starfish (filter feeders), emerald crabs (etc). But back to the fish my personal favorite would be the purple tang, beautiful fish that can be found at any of the clubs local sponsors establishments regularly and for a fair price not to mention the discount for being a supporting member.

 

[Rainblood]

I have a fire & cleaner shrimp. The cleaner is much more active but the fire is so beautiful. Your tank is big enough to get multiple shrimp. Mine get along fine.
Yellow coris wrasse - takes a few days to get acclimated but very active and inquisitive.
I have a red and purple firefish and they are sometimes out but only usually during feeding.
My coral beauty is out all the time, but be careful, they are prone to ick.

I've thought about getting an orchid dotty back, but hear they hide a lot.
I've also thought about a tail spot blenny but honestly haven't run across any at the LFS.

 

[tbrennan]

Get a couple of tangs. Or a trigger of some sort. I love my tangs and triggers!

 

[NanCrab]

We want one or two tangs but I thought they had to be added last

 

[ActiveAngel]

We want one or two tangs but I thought they had to be added last

It’s not that they have to be added last, but it helps to minimize aggression, especially if adding multiple tangs.

Lots of good suggestions on here. My 2 cents on active and colorful fish are following, and will list considerations (as most have considerations to consider before buying).

Tangs - Bristletooth tangs like the Tomini, or Kole Tang are some of the smaller and more peaceful. Zebrasoma tangs (like the Yellow Tang) generally can get pretty aggressive, but are beautiful and iconic. Naso’s are a nice beautiful and large Tang. They get big, but are slow growers, so a small Naso is a good bet. Blue tangs get huge and are faster growers. And tangs like Clown Tangs are beautiful but will be a bastard of a fish, extreme aggression.

Dottyback - generally aggressive and semi-reclusive. The two potential exceptions to extreme aggression are captive-bred Orchid (Springeri) Dottybacks and Elegant Dottybacks. Still, they can be aggressive, but you have higher odds of them being chill with these two species.

Wrasses - Id recommend any fairy wrasse. They are all brightly colored, reef safe, active, and peaceful. Hundreds of species options. Coris wrasses are great options too. They have very small mouths and can be picky eaters. The most sought after, and pickiest eater of the Coris wrasses are Radiant Wrasses... be very cautious if you’re going for a Radiant. I’d also avoid 6 line wrasses, but many other people like them. Their problem is they are hit and miss with being overly aggressive. Mystery wrasses and possum wrasses are cool, but can be reclusive. I’d avoid Cleaner wrasses, for now.

Gobies - watchman gobies and shrimp are an excellent choice. Highly recommended. Large watchmen will swim around a bit. Tiny ones will be much more reclusive. Sleeper Gobies and sand-sifters are also great! I’d avoid Engineer gobies, they move too much sand for a reef tank.

Blennies - Great choice, but only get 1 per a tank, as they will be aggressive to other Blennies. My favorites are Starry Blennies and Midas Blennies.

Basslets -often overlooked, but generally good fish, semi-peaceful, colorful, easy to care for. Some species can pick on inverts. Royal Gramma (basslets) are generally a good bet though, and have awesome colors. Then you get to basslets like the Swissguard or amazingly-colored Candy Basslets. Despite that Candy’s are extremely $$$, they are all fairly reclusive.

Anthias - Another great, brightly colored, highly active, and peaceful fish. The downside is all that they need to eat a lot and often. I wouldn’t recommend them for beginners, but not a terrible choice if you do want one. There are a few solitary Anthias species too, like Borbon and Fathead / Sunburst Anthias... which may be an easier option.

There are sooo many fish families to review, but hopefully this helps to kickstart some ideas.

 

[NanCrab]

There are sooo many fish families to review, but hopefully this helps to kickstart some ideas.

Thank you so much for this very thorough explanation. It really can get confusing as you begging to read and research as there seems to be an upside and a downside to everything. Now, I wish I had gotten this yesterday as we already now have purchased 2 blennies! It is a larger tank
So hopefully since 2 different types they will peacefully coexist. The lawnmower is fairly active so
Far but the scooter literally hasn’t budged from where he landed after acclimation. I haven’t been upstairs today yet to look at them.
What I really really need is help with the damn algae. Went from unicycles to cycled and ugly phase super fast!!! Water parameters are staying
good though. A/N/N 0/0/5. Haven’t rechecked pho’s but will today. SG 1.025. According to Apex pH probe, which has been recalibrated and seems accurate with manual testing is still reading 7.7 but has been stable. I am going to cut and paste your reply into my sticky notes so I can refer back to it. Thank
You for taking the time and effort to explain everything. One last question, when we do get tangs should we get 2 at the same time so they can be added together? They would have to be in the smaller (40g) QT together.

 

[wake125122]

Thank you so much for this very thorough explanation. It really can get confusing as you begging to read and research as there seems to be an upside and a downside to everything. Now, I wish I had gotten this yesterday as we already now have purchased 2 blennies! It is a larger tank
So hopefully since 2 different types they will peacefully coexist. The lawnmower is fairly active so
Far but the scooter literally hasn’t budged from where he landed after acclimation. I haven’t been upstairs today yet to look at them.
What I really really need is help with the damn algae. Went from unicycles to cycled and ugly phase super fast!!! Water parameters are staying
good though. A/N/N 0/0/5. Haven’t rechecked pho’s but will today. SG 1.025. According to Apex pH probe, which has been recalibrated and seems accurate with manual testing is still reading 7.7 but has been stable. I am going to cut and paste your reply into my sticky notes so I can refer back to it. Thank
You for taking the time and effort to explain everything. One last question, when we do get tangs should we get 2 at the same time so they can be added together? They would have to be in the smaller (40g) QT together.

Yep add them together. Make sure to keep them well fed to reduce aggression. Also helps to offer nori on a regular basis. I add this in addition to food. That way they can pick at it as they want. If they start getting territorial add a second nori source. This has helped me succeed in the past at least.

 

[ActiveAngel]

I replied to the other post; you didn’t get two Blennies; you got 1 blenny and 1 dragonet that was misnamed as a blenny. You’re good.

As for tangs; adding them together is one trick that will help with aggression. Other tricks are to add the least aggressive and/or smaller one first. Or to place a few handheld mirrors around the tank for X amount of time; as they will be more inclined to attack the mirrors instead of each other, and over time they will establish their territories and you can slowly remove the mirrors.

If you don’t have an urchin yet; those guys are powerhouses and eat tons of algae. I don’t recommend long-spine urchins, but a nice tuxedo urchin is cheap, effective, and has a fun bit of personality. Just ensure your coral frags are secure on the rocks, because they can pick up little items like frags and wear them as a hat. 1 urchin is probably sufficient.

 

[NanCrab]

Just ensure your coral frags are secure on the rocks, because they can pick up little items like frags and wear them as a hat.

Not sure my frags are super secure yet but this last comment made me laugh! I will have to check into one of these

 

[ActiveAngel]

Yeah, google ‘tuxedo urchin hat’ and you’ll see what I mean. Note: not all these photos are tuxedo urchins, but you can still see the behavior

 

[Eric_n_Ga]

I can vouch for the tomini tangs , cute colorful and you can them pretty small ( 1.5") they are pretty peaceful little tank cleaners that never stop moving . I have a pistol shrimp/ goby combo and the shrimp is a pain in my rear end . He's a little bulldozer . The goby stays in the hole with the shrimp 24/7 , Court jester goby's are cool and pretty fish . Also peaceful and you can get aquacultured ones .

 

[NanCrab]

What is this nasty stuff on the surface of my sump water? The skimmer overflowed one day and I’ve seen it since. Don’t know how to get rid of it. Also, with skimmer in new tank...on 24/7 or should it be on a certain schedule?