Fish additions for my reef

[gas4544]

About a month ago I was entertaining thoughts of adding a few fish to my 75 gallon reef. I instead bought a soft coral package from Tropicorium that is doing very well. Corals are great, but they don't do much; just sit there, wave in the current a little and grow. I currently have only one fish - a leftover yellow-tailed blue damsel. I am more than willing to give him away if/when he causes problems for any new additions to the tank. I am thinking of adding a couple of bangaii cardinals and/or royal grammas. So far my research indicates that they would be good additions to my tank. Sound good to you?

[Fishwife]

Banggai's are nice - pretty fish, easy maintenance, eat practically anything. I don't have any experience with Royal Grammas but they are pretty. If you have any algae on your glass or rock how about an Algae or Lawnmower Blenny. Really fun fish, lots of personality. Another nice reef fish is the Cherub Angel - pretty, doesn't pick at the corals and is always buzzing in an out of the rockwork. If you have any clams you might want to consider a 6-line Wrasse - again, pretty, interesting, and they kind of wiggle and squiggle around other fish - funny to watch.

You have plenty of room in a 75 if you keep your fish small and they do add lots of interest.

Good luck and let me know what you get. :)

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Fishwife

"By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea..."

[gas4544]

I just checked out the six-line wrasse. It's a nice lookin' fish, but I have a pretty healthy copepod population I'd like to maintain. I also keep my tank open on top during the day, and I've read some have a tendency to jump out. So, a lawnmower blenny will eat the algae right off my glass?

[reefgal]

Yes sireee, the lawnmower blenny will eat algae off the glass. However, what you end up with is an interesting pattern of blenny lipprints on your glass! I have a royal gramma, a pair of percula clowns, a hawkfish and the lawnmower blenny in my 90 gallon tank. They are all great! I did have a six-line wrasse, until yesterday. He mysteriously turned up dead, floating at the top of the tank when I got home from work last night. (I have a feeling he was the victim of a rock crab I've been trying to get rid of for weeks....) I had some banggai cardinals at one time...(pretty boring fish IMO), but they also went missing....(curse that darn rock crab!)

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Now, how do you pronounce (and/or spell) that again?

Reefgal in the desert

http://msnhomepages.talkcity.com/DeckDr/desertreefer/reefcover.html

[gas4544]

Thank you for the responses. Now I'm thinking about the following combinations:

1 lawnmower blenny and
2 royal grammas (gramma loreto) and
1 Bangaii cardinal (pteragon kauderni) and
1 coral beauty (centropyge bispinosus)

-or-

1 lawnmower blenny and
2 royal grammas (gramma loreto) and
2 Bangaii cardinals and
1 pygmy/cherub angel (centropyge argi)

This seems like it may be too many fish to add at once. When you are paying for shipping, its nice to reduce the shipping cost per fish. I could very easily live without the angels.

[badgers]

http://www.ffexpress.com/fish/dottybacks/strawberry.jpg
this Strawberry Gramma ,Pseudochromis porphyreus, can be a little mean but is IMO a cool fish. May eat your pods.
Images and scientific name stolen without knowledge from http://www.ffexpress.com/setfish.htm
thank you for your time and have a good day

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I'm so skeptical, I can hardly believe it!
The facts, although interesting, are irrelevant

[Zmann]

Badgers, your right about that I cant even put any small shrimp in my tank with my phseudochromis he eats them the minute they hit the water

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Our Little Ocean (http://www.fortunecity.com/boozers/bell/738)

[Fishwife]

Definitely go for the lawnmower blenny!!! They are so cool and the lip-prints on the glass are a hoot! They also do little dances in front of the glass and actually "look" at you. Probably my favorite fish. I had never seen mine eat anything but algae and I didn't think they would but Bennie has discovered he has a taste for bloodworms. When I feed them he hangs in the water and gobbles them with that great big hinged mouth. It's really funny! I only hope they don't do him any harm. I wasn't aware they could be omnivorous. Anyway, definitely get one.

If you're trying to decide between a Cherub and a Coral Beauty Angel I think the Cherub is typically more reef friendly. I could be wrong but I think Coral Beauties will nip corals sometimes. My Cherub never has and he is great fun in the tank. He's always dashing in and out of the rockwork and picking, picking, picking. His colors are beautiful, too - royal blue and bright yellow!

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Fishwife

"By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea..."

[gas4544]

Are bangaii cardinals better off in pairs or small groups (2 or 3 max for me) than they are alone? I also decided to go with only one royal gramma. Unless they are a mated pair, I'm asking for a fight.

[DJREEF]

I have 4 royal grammas in my system. They are the best behaved fish of the group. Steer clear of the larger Centropyge angels. I just had a Flame Clock $150 worth of tridacnids before I could figure out what was happening. The little dork was harrassing to the point that they couldn't open up all the way. Do yourself the favor & scratch this group from the list. You would not believe how difficult it is to catch those guys out of a large system.
I also have some firefish gobys which are really cool. Real placid.