Newbie Here - Fish List - Opinions Please

[Atticus22]

Hi guys :) Think this is my first post on the forum, been browsing for what feels like ages!

I was just wondering if you would be able to give me some opinions/feedback/experiences regarding the following prospective list of fish/inverts which I plan to keep in my 5(l)x2(d)x1.5(h) Berlin system reef tank. I Intend to keep mostly Fish and Inverts and possibly a few of the easier corals further down the line, and so I am not sure which are reef safe/compatible:


FISH:

Ocellaris/Percula Clownfish x2
Midas Blenny
Firefish
Goby (w/pistol shrimp)
Royal Gramma
Yellowhead Jawfish
Pseudochromis Fridmani (Orchid Dottyback)
Yellowtail Damsel
Mystery Wrasse (Is this reef safe?) If not, is a Chequerboard wrasse?
Regal Tang
Yellow Tang
One of the following - Powder Blue/Naso/Sailfin/Purple/spotted cheek/clown tang? (which would you recommend?)

What Butterflyfish could I have in this system that you would recommend? Are they reef safe? I have seen many pictures of them in reef tanks so I am confused.
Could I have any of Auriga/Racoon/Long Nosed/Copperband?




INVERTS:

I have not decided which out of the following crabs, as I am not sure whether they would be dangerous to my other livestock...

Porcelain Anemone Crab?
Hairy Red Legged Crab?
pom pom crab?
mithrax crab?

Blue Legged Hermit Crab

Turbo Snails

Starfish x1

Clam x2

Cleaner Shrimp x2
Blood Red Fire Shrimp x3
Banded Coral Shrimp x1

Pistol Shrimp x1 (paired with Goby)

Black Spiny Urchin



Please could you give me some feedback on what your opinions are on this list, feel free to tell me if you dont think I should go for a particular fish/invert for whatever reason :) It just seems that you read so much conflicting information on what can live with what, I have read countless times that "X" should never be housed with "Y", on liveaquaria etc, and then 5 minutes later will see a photo of someone elses tank with them both happily swimming along together, lol.

Thanks very much.

Chris

[Blindmelonbob]

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

[msn711]

You've done some good research. Most people will tell you to avoid damsels like the plague. They are extremely territorial and agressive, and generally try to take over the whole tank.

The mystery wrasse is reef safe. I'm not familiar with the checkerboard wrasse.

Tangs need a lot of swimming space and they can be difficult to mix in all but the largest of tanks. I would recommend that you settle on one, maybe two if you're the adventurous type. Pick ones from different genuses if you go with two.

I'm not familiar with the butteryfly fish, so I can't help you there. Live aquaria will tell you whether or not they're reef safe. And sometimes, you can find useful information on wetwebmedia.com.

As far as I know, all of your inverts are fine. But be careful mixing the coral banded shrimp with the other shrimp. I've never been able to do it (the CBS always kills the other shrimp), but I've read accounts of it being done in larger tanks. So it might work for you.

[Bmgrocks]

Try not to mix ur dottyback species, ur gramma and pseudochromis, may or may not go at it, the checkerboard wrasse, or x mas wrasse, is reef safe, and is a great alternative if ur not trying to spend 150+ on that mystery wrasse\

all your crabs sound good, though im not too familiar with that red hairy crab that ur talking about.

look into ur butterfly's some are some arn't reef safe, check out the reef fish forum

most starfish don't do well in captivity, so if your thinking about red formia or linka, i would advise you to stay away, you could go for brittle stars.

[Scuba_Steve]

Ok here are your limiting factors.

First tangs.
No more than 2, probably alot better off with just one. It should be the last fish you add. The yellow, sailfin, purple, and regals are alot easier to handle than the others, which have bad ick and aggression problems.

I dont know much about wrasses

Butterflies are generally not reef safe, some have success, but it is more on the rare side. Its hit or miss, with alot of misses vs hits.

Damsels turn into little terrors. I would avoid them.

Only get one type of clowns. Get 2 small ones, or a large and small one. That way you will have a better chance at a mated pair. I would say go with 2 smalls. (btw technically clowns are damsels, just poor enough swimmers that most fish dont get harrassed much)

Firefish like to jump, just beware of that.

Crabs are opportunistic feeders. Many will go after a fish, and sometimes corals. All hermits will go after snails. I know the hairy reds arnt reef safe. Most hairy crabs arnt. The others are very iffy. Personally, I like crabs, but would only get an emerald crab or 2, never had a problem with one of them. For hermits, blues are tiney, but very aggressive. Scarlet reds are the least aggressive, especially towards snails.

Stars will eat your microfauna out of your sand bed, and often die of starvation after quite some time. You have a pretty large tank, so you would probably be fine, but you will definately notice far less bug life, which I think is very interesting. Far more than a star is, which normally hide under a rock all day.

You will need more than just turbo snails. Get some cerith, nassarius, astrea, trochues, and maybe a conch or 2. Not, you need sand for many of these.

Some shrimp will fight, I dont know which ones.

Urchins eat coraline, and are bulldozers to your rockwork and corals. Just be forewarned.

Lastly, clams require very high amounts of light. You will need metal halides or HO t5 to keep them

Hope all this helps and doesnt limit you too much. I know it sucks not being able to get everything you wanted.

[arts007]

These guys Pseudochromis Fridmani (Orchid Dottyback) can become very territorial even to much larger fish than themselves. I had one in my 4' tank and he kept all of the other fish on the other side of the tank. And would more than likely fight with the royal gramma. I had to remove him. Like said the damsel can be just as bad.

Butterfly fish for the most part are not reef safe, the one that you may have luck with is the copperband but they are known to be finicky eaters and could possibly starve.

The banded coral shrimp has to possibility of going after some of the other shrimp and eating them, not a guaranty but possible

[Dano999]

The Pyramid Butterfly is safer than the Copperband but are considered difficult to care for. Butterfly fish are always a risk with reefs.

[BCreefmaker]

if you want the coral banded shrimp get the blue legged variety. you would be best off getting a mated pair, they stay much smaller and less aggressive then the traditional CBS. 6 shrimp (pair of each would be best) should be fine in a tank that size if you get blue legged CBS.