What fish do you recommend?

[fernandokng]

Hi gang - Need your recommendation on some reef safe fish for my 58 gallon, preferrably schooling fish. I'm also looking for something not too overly aggressive or difficult to maintain.

The first thing to come to mind is a school of chromis, but opinions have been mixed in regards to them? (Fighting, aggressive, etc.). If I do go with Chromis, how many should I get? 3, 5?

My livestock is:

Firefish
Sleeper Goby
Sabae Clown
Blue tang (yes, I know)

If not Chromis, what else do you recommend?

Thanks

 

[D1J8Z]

I have 4 green chromis that school


Get a wrasse

 

[Wes]

i have a 65g (same footpring just taller) and i don't think you will see much schooling behavior in a tank this small.

A harem of fairy wrasses would be cool (1 Male, 2 females). Sometimes it's a bit difficult to find a harem for sale but you see them sometimes.

 

[NYreefNoob]

< agreed on the wrasse's, and really fish wont school unless they have the room to do so

 

[D1J8Z]

yea I guess I should have stated that my tank is a 180

 

[fernandokng]

Interesting stuff. Thanks.

Does it matter that I don't have many hiding spaces in my tank (I wanted to have more flow going through the crevices so it didn't settle) - Does that entice the fish to school, since there is a more open "threat"?

 

[DCG1286]

Green Chromis...I love them...just purchased 6 of them for my 45G yesterday...Be careful where you buy them...alot of them come down with some sort of mysterious disease that causes lesions all over there bodies, and looks like they are attacking each other...I bought mine at House of Fins in Greenwich, CT...i mean they were $10 a piece, unlike Petco ($3.99?), but they are extremely healthy fish, and worth the extra bucks.

-DCG

 

[h20 freak]

There are mixed results with chromis schooling. Some say a threat from an aggressive fish helps them not kill each other, some say high flow, some say you need ALOT in a big tank.I just don't bother in my small tank, the capacity is low enough as it is, I don't need a school of active fish.


edit: another suggested strategy is have clear dominance, meaning you have chromis with big difference in sizes. Same applies for other pairing or schooling fish. This works(supposedly) because a fish is less likely to challenge the dominance of another fish that way bigger then it.My take on it is"But then what keeps the biggest one from deciding it just wants to be alone and pulverizing the little guys?"

 

[fernandokng]

That's a very good observation. Perhaps the smaller ones will gang up together so that it won't be bullied like by the big one.

I guess fish are never predictable.

I checked out the pics of the fairy wrasses online, but they are expensive... ~30 per fish.

Any other fish suggestions?

 

[h20 freak]

I guess fish are never predictable.

Its good that you learned that early, get used to it.:tongue1:

Alot of fish school naturally, tangs and firefish included. Its just that in our small systems it can be a problem. Wrasses and chromis are the best bet for smaller systems. You said no to wrasses. You can try chromis, 5 should be a good number.But keep in mind you are adding 5 active fish to an already loaded system(that tang must be killing you). I would suggest this. Get rid of the tang and the clown.Replace them with a big maroon/pair of maroons, those guys are aggressive enough to scare the chromis but shouldn't be bad enough to kill them But like you said

fish are never predictable.

Then add the chromis, small so the clowns intimidate them. Cinnamon and tomato clowns can be used to, as long as there big and in their cranky years.Also try the flow thing, the clear dominance thing would be tough because you are trying to get small ones that are easily intimidated.


Good luck.

 

[meschaefer]

Threadfin Cardinal

 

[fernandokng]

This one?

http://www.marinecenter.com/fish/cardinalfish/glasscardinalquantity6/

 

[h20 freak]

Woah, ya thats your best bet. I never knew they where like that:duh:

 

[DCG1286]

This one?

http://www.marinecenter.com/fish/cardinalfish/glasscardinalquantity6/

Ohh, those are very nice! Get a nice school of those! Would look gorgeous in your tank i am sure!

-DCG

 

[fernandokng]

I've actually never seen them in person at any LFS - I would love to check them out in person first, before buying :-0

 

[DCG1286]

http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?c=2733+3&ddid=44820

There you go...if you don't mind ordering them...4 of them

-DCG

 

[meschaefer]

I've actually never seen them in person at any LFS - I would love to check them out in person first, before buying :-0

I have never seen them either. ORA breeds them. Any place that has ORA should be able to order them.
For what it is worthseeing afish on an lfs is meaningless. They are stressed, have drab colors and don't exhibet natural behaviors.

 

[al0ha]

pseudochromis?

 

[fernandokng]

Wes, there are any species of fairy wrasses, unfortunately all costing a significant penny.

Which species were you referring to?

i have a 65g (same footpring just taller) and i don't think you will see much schooling behavior in a tank this small.

A harem of fairy wrasses would be cool (1 Male, 2 females). Sometimes it's a bit difficult to find a harem for sale but you see them sometimes.

 

[h20 freak]

there are any species of fairy wrasses, unfortunately all costing a significant penny.

oh ya, it was 140 for the two I have and the scott's was half off putting it at 100 after shipping, never paying that much for a fish again...he is nice though