Fishy Selection/I'm Confused...

[cbianco]

Calling all MAASTards...

I need your help! :lol

I now have about a year of salt water experience under my belt. My first tank was a disaster and eventually cracked, leaked and left me wondering if this hobby is for me. My JBJ Nano Cube has been a totally different experience and is the reason I love this hobby. I now have a nice selection of frags (but could use more, of course!) and I am ready to take another step further into this hobby. I want to get a fish for the tank!

You are probably saying, "All this comotion over the purchase of a fish."

Let me tell you, I have looked and looked, researched and researched and I don't know what type of fish to get. This is why I need your help. Practical experience is always the best IMO. Let me get to the point...

I have the 24 gallon NC and I want to put a couple of fish in with my mini-reef. I am familiar with the different types of reef-compatible fish but I would like to here your experiences (RE: a small tank and what ever fish you have).

Commence the opinions! :)

Christopher

[::pete::]

Christina :innocent

[cbianco]

Are you making fun of me or is it an inside joke? :) I wanna be on the inside! :(

That's it... impeach the pres :lol

[::pete::]

Christina is good with selection ... now you are on the inside!! ;)

[cbianco]

Cool! :)

You can remain in office! :lol

Alright Christina, where are you?

[C.Mydas]

LOL...

Im here...geesh. :lol

Well it all depends. A few things to consider. Im taking it (according to your avatar) this is your only tank so you dont want to get anything that will outgrow it b/c you dont have a larger tank and b/c in the process of getting a fish out the disruption it would cause to your nano could be really probematic.

Here are some options:
The small gobies with a matching pistol shrimp. Very fun to watch. (Not the clown gobies..they have a high mortality rate and can kill SPS when they lay their eggs on them) Ive only had experience with the high-finned goby but both of the ones I have had (Ive still got one) have tons of personality. They will defend their home like clown fish except they are only about 1 1/2 in long...lol If you get the pistol shrimp you will see it constantly cleaning up the burrow..really cute to watch.

The twin-spot gobies are awesome too. Your pod population has to be pretty healthy though, they are considered to eat like mandarins do. But with effort will switch to prepared foods. We had a pair and they were awesome!

You could go with clowns, small ones. Im not a big fan of shoving clowns in nanos though. A 24g is big enough however, to support a pair.

Depending on money, I personally would go with at least one if not a couple of helfrichi's firefish. We had one and he was always out and about. The pics you will find on-line do this species NO justice..it is literally one of the most spectacular fish I have ever seen. If you do decide to go this way on-line vendors will try to get about $200/fish..which is ridiculous. Contact a LFS...we got ours for $99.

Also consider where the fish spend most of their time. If you were to get a goby, it would rarely (except when you feed) leave the bottom 3-4inches of the tank. A firefish is going to hover near the middle or top and clowns are all over the place. So you could mix and match them accordingly without over crowding them.

My current nano (JBJ 6g) has a high finned goby in it. He hardly ever leaves the left side of the tank. I personally like crustaceans. So if your trying to add diversity and movement dont overlook them too. My6 gallon sports 2 pom pom (boxer) crabs, 5 sexy shrimp, pair of harlequin shrimp, 2 bumblebee shrimp, 1 bad acro crab (I rescued from the toilet..lol), and soon 2 porcelain crabs, 1 anemone crab, 1 green hawaiian saron shrimp. The sexy shrimp are always out, but the more the better with those guys. Thats how you will see them interacting.

Depending on your flow and corals you could add seahorses (tank raised of course). They shouldn't go in with any LPS, however. But thet are supposedly a ton of work so be prepared if you go this route.

OK Ill stop for now. Hope that helps. Ill think about it a little more and see what I come up with.

[MikeP]

A few ideas


- Pair of Orchid Dottybacks

- 6 Line wrasse (wouldn't mix much else with one of these)

- Watchman gobies / shrimp gobies (they will kick some sand around)

- Pair of Bangaii cardinals

- Pygmy hawkfish

- 3 chalk basses

- Swissguard basslet (beautiful but shy - I've had one for over a year and have seen him 4 times)

- a few Blue or yellow asessors

- 2 pearly jawfish (again they need substrate and will make a mess of sandbed)

- One of the more docile damsels of the genus Chrysiptera like a Starckii

- Atlantic pygmy angel , C.argii

- Bicolor blenny

- Midas blenny

- dwarf Frogfish

[cpreefguy]

Sohal Tang or similar

[Ram_Puppy]

funny cpreef... tang police! :)

dwarf frog fish would be awesome, and I agree, helfrichi's are spectacular.

[prof]

I always liked the pygmy angel. They have always been very active.
http://www.themarinecenter.com/angelargi.htm