Top three marine fishes

[Dave A]

Someone asked me what I thought were the top three aquarium marine fishes as far as being the most dramatic, beautiful, eye-catching, and just plain stunning to look at. So here are my top three head turners.

Of course there will be as many opinions on this as there are hairs on a dogs butt, but my choice for the top three most dramatic and prized marine aquarium fishes are, in order of preference;

1- Clown Trigger
2- Harlequin Tusk
3- Hippo Tang (Pacific Blue Tang)

My only rule I put on myself when deciding on which three to choose is they must be fish that are readily available and the average hobbyist must be able to keep them without being a chemist, biologist, or expert by means of a huge amount of years keeping marine fish.

Dave:D

[Zoom]

Originally posted by Dry Rot
Someone asked me what I thought were the top three aquarium marine fishes as far as being the most dramatic, beautiful, eye-catching, and just plain stunning to look at. So here are my top three head turners.

Of course there will be as many opinions on this as there are hairs on a dogs butt, but my choice for the top three most dramatic and prized marine aquarium fishes are, in order of preference;

1- Clown Trigger
2- Harlequin Tusk
3- Hippo Tang (Pacific Blue Tang)

My only rule I put on myself when deciding on which three to choose is they must be fish that are readily available and the average hobbyist must be able to keep them without being a chemist, biologist, or expert by means of a huge amount of years keeping marine fish.

Dave:D
I agreed for the first two but hippo tang :mad2:
I think one of the Large Angels most likely is my # three i vote for Blue face Angel.:D :D

[absolut]

why no hippo??

[Zoom]

Originally posted by absolut
why no hippo??
They have no personality.

[Dave A]

Originally posted by Zoom
They have no personality.

I'll agree with that statement but just. Not known for loads of personality but that stunning electric blue with the black and yellow along with the outstanding "swimming grace" gets me every time.

Also, I'm glad you agree with the Clown Trigger. What bizarre color patterns and body shape they have. Not to mention a truck load of personality and lots of energy all rolled up into a wolf in sheep's clothing..........wow! :D

The Tusk..............well what can be said that it's looks doesn't already say.

Dave

[Zoom]

I have a tusk fish in my reef,my is from Indian Ocean.
here is some pictures of my stunning looking fish.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=1005229

[Zoom]

ops

[Zoom]

Here is my 8 year old yelow and 5 year old PBT.

[Zoom]

And the tusk.

[Zoom]

Originally posted by Zoom
This my Juv Emperor in my 200G reef.

[Dave A]

Great looking fish Zoom. Your Tusk looks like it has a little more blue than mine, probably because I don't know where mine was collected, leading me to believe it was one of the less desirable locations. I think the Powder Blue Tang may be #4 on my list.

:)

Dave

[JazzMan]

Great Tusk!! Any problems with him?

[Zoom]

Originally posted by JazzMan
Great Tusk!! Any problems with him?
YES he don't let any one eat any food he is fast and always hungry.
as for pic on any thing only ate the cleaners shrimps but nothing else.

[Zoom]

DP

[Zoom]

Originally posted by Dry Rot
Great looking fish Zoom. Your Tusk looks like it has a little more blue than mine, probably because I don't know where mine was collected, leading me to believe it was one of the less desirable locations. I think the Powder Blue Tang may be #4 on my list.

:)

Dave
i think my is male they have more color.
The Australians are the best but $ 130 for one the wife will have a fit.:lol:
Here is my Hippo.

[Dave A]

Zoom..........I paid $110 for my Tusk:eek2: and my wife didn't seem to mind.........much. Love that Hippo.

Here is a picture of my adult Majestic Angel. Eats out of my hand and seems to know me when I walk in the room. Or at least his stomach know me:(

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid83/p56016ca2a65662c5724500bbb12d328a/fae23752.jpg


http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid83/pc5385e8ec5cf329f1ec40975ada61ffe/fae23750.jpg



Dave

[Cody M]

Awsome looking fish all!
Here are my top three:
1. Emperor angel
2. Clown trigger
3. Sohal tang

[Mastino Mike]

Zoom,
Your fish are simply beautiful.

[Zoom]

here is my Majestic i lost him to parasites it is a dark part of my fish keeping and still put a nut in my throat because i felled to save him here is his picture RIP.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=1386195

[Mastino Mike]

I would say
1. Powder Blue Tang
2. Emperor Angel
3. Clown Trigger

[glen talbott]

hey guys, my thoughts on fish......the tusk is a beautiful fish....but they will smoke inverts as fast as you add them to your tank....i think the dejarrni red sea sailfin tang is up there, hippos get sick to much, but a nice looking fish, the queen trigger is a good looking fish as well....the angel fish are some of the most beautiful fish in the world....the powder blue tang is also difficult to keep do to there diet for alge.....i think the key to keeping alot of these fish is a slow aqumation to your tank and matching salt levels from the shipping water and your tank water, water temp. is also a factor. top three queen trigger, red sea sailfin tang, and the tusk in no order....take care....interesting to read your toughts.....glen talbott

[dbulick]

1. Blue Line Trigger
2. Undulated Trigger
3. Queen Angel
I am quite baised to triggers I think they are the most interesting aquarium fish, and the queen angel looks amazing.

[jwm2k3]

#1 Aust. Harliquin Tusk (been my fave for 10+ years)
#2 Queen Trigger (it just commands my attention, but sadly needs to live alone)
#3 Miniatus Grouper (like an attack missile!)

I like sharks too.....but I was kept at 3 for this poll

[Triggeraddict]

1. Clown and Queen Triggers tie for first
2. Majestic Angels
3. Clown Tangs
4. Zebra Moray Eel
5. Achilles Tang

[dendronepthya]

This is tough. I'd have to go with:
1. Harlequin Tusk
2. Imperator Angel
3. Achilles Tang

Miniatus Grouper would be on the list if it wasn't so neurotic. They are a beautiful fish but won't come out from behind a rock if you are in the room.

Dragon Moray would also make my list if it didn't creep out the ladies.

[Dave A]

Zoom , nice Majestic and I know what you mean. The books say the Majestic Angel's are retiring in personality and shy. I find quite the opposite. Mine follows me like a puppy and eats from my hand. I'd be very sad if anything happened to him.

Trigger lovers................what about the Crosshatch Trigger. Not really considered widely available but very beautiful.

Are eels fish................well since this is a non scientific poll we'll let them in :p

I think the Tusk is winning so far:)

Dave

[danfishman]

Hey Zoom, I love all your fish. Would you mind giving me a fish list and tank specs.

Oh I all most forgot,
1 Blue Face Angel
2 Sohol Tang
3 Clown Trigger

[greenbean36191]

1. thornback cowfish
2. highfin banded goby
3. hippo tang

[Racenrich]

okay here are mine:
1)Clown trigger-awesome color and personality
2)Porcupine puffer-just plain kool
3)Twin spotted wrasse-swift and fun to watch.
Cheers.

[Zoom]

Originally posted by danfishman
Hey Zoom, I love all your fish. Would you mind giving me a fish list and tank specs.

Oh I all most forgot,
1 Blue Face Angel
2 Sohol Tang
3 Clown Trigger
a 200G oceanic RR mix reef .with a large sump
is been up for over 8 years 1/2 sand 350 lbs LR, Aquanatic 1/3 HP chiller, three 250W MH and two 96 W PC,Aerofoamer 830 Skimmer with a Iwaki 70RLT,twin large calcium reactors from myreef,one Iwaki 70RLT and 4 MJ 1200 for circulation.
Fish list.
one PBT 5 years old , a Yellow tang 8 years old,red sea naso 2 years old , emperor angel one years old ,new flame angel,2 years old fireball angel,maroon clown in a 20" Rose BTA 18 months old,yelow tail damsel 5 years old ,Fire hawkfish 2 years old,LM blenny 3 years old,Tusk fish three years old .
90g AGA RR with a large sump, a large Lifereef skimmer , a Aquanatic twin 30w UV , 125LB of LR ,and PC lights.
fish list.
one Clown trigger and two cleaners shrimps about three months old.
20H nano and quarantine tank
a new flame angel

[Uel]

My favs:

1. Flame Angel

2. Red Corris Wrasse

3. Regal Angel

[mhltcob]

1) Red sea regal angel
2) Black ribbon Eel
3) Achilles Tang

Why do all the cool fish have to be so hard to keep

[ATB USA]

your powderblue is awesome

[Sting]

In no particular order, and from no experience, just from what I've seen at the fish store:

Majestic Angel

Clown trigger

Hippo Tang

I definitely disagree with the Harlequin Tuskfish- to me they are so ugly, but that's just me. But honestly, I don't think it's fair to put all the little reef fish in the same category as the big ones, so here's my 3 top less than 6 inch reef safe fish:

Mandarin Dragonet- beautiful colors, methodically swims through the rocks, hunting for food, just beautiful!

Flame Hawkfish- So much personailty! The comical look they have on their faces make me crack up!

Potters Angel- Awesome color pattern- hard to keep though :(

So, what are your top 3 favorite smaller reef safe fish? I think the Flame Angel and Cinnamon Clown are close 4 and 5's on my list.

[Microcosmos]

For little guys I think

1) the Bangaii cardinal is nice to look at though it doesn't move around much,

2) the bi-color blenny is attractive and has a bit of personality to it, and

3) the six-line wrasse is colorful and active, and has neat-looking eyes

[dbulick]

The mandarin has got to be way up there.

[dbulick]

The mandarin has got to be way up there.

[paulustkchan]

I must agree the crown trigger is one of the most stuning fish one can have, it's hardy, it's colorful, nice composure, confident, and with so much character, but I have so many shrimps in my tank, I can't take the risk.

The tusk is just not my cup of tea, so ugly, so fat, so dorminating, it just create a much different environment for fish keeping.

To talk about the overall presentation including color, composure, style, character, style, I must admit there should be an angel, as they are just magnificant.

The bpt is awesome, but for me their sensitive skin is just too hard for to keep, so I will prefer a salfin tang from the Pacific, as a red sea version not easy to get.

Finally, a small fish I must say is a basslet, personally the swissguard bass is my favorite, for it is available, hardy and just a smart boom.

My list will settle to be

A Queen Angel
A Pacific Salfin Tang
& A Swissguard Basslet

[mhltcob]

for small fish mine would be white ray goby, followed by curious worm fish, then maybe sulawesi candy basslett

[Marcus K]

So many to choose from, I would have to have some in a tank to make better judgement on personality. The Yellow Tang got me in this hobby, I love the way Triggers swim and would like to hear the noises they make. I have dreams of a 200Gal tank with a Emperor Angel as the show piece. Would love to have a Japanees Pygmy Angel, must be up thier for most colourful with the price tag to go with it.

My pics to date are;
Emperor Angel
Niger Trigger
Yellow Tang

These fish I have been able to sit and enjoy in person.

Zoom, Very nice tank. I hope mine will look as nice.

Marcus

[Zoom]

Here is my#1

[Dave A]

One thing I think is really cool about the Clown Trigger is it's deep black eyes. Kinda looks like he's wearing those dark aviation goggles from the time of biplanes :D All he needs is a white scarf :cool:

Dave

[Zoom]

Originally posted by Dry Rot
One thing I think is really cool about the Clown Trigger is it's deep black eyes. Kinda looks like he's wearing those dark aviation goggles from the time of biplanes :D All he needs is a white scarf :cool:

Dave
Here one more with a friend :lol:

[Mastino Mike]

Zoom,
Im highly jealous of all of your fish. lol

[allenreef]

1. Red Sea Hippo
2. Tusk
3. scotts faily wrasse

[algaefree]

I don't know what my "top" three would be, but my picasso would definately be in there!

[dbulick]

Nice fish, I love mine, however I would not say that he is one of the 3 most striking fish. How old/big is yours?

[algaefree]

I truly wish I knew how old my trigger was. The entire reef belonged to a friend of mine a year ago, and he had him then. My initial guess would be 3 to 4 years old. He is currently 4" long and fat and happy.

[Mastino Mike]

I see alot of people have Tusks in their top three. I dont find them all that beautiful?

[Dave A]

Originally posted by algaefree
I don't know what my "top" three would be, but my picasso would definately be in there!

I would have to say that if nothing else the Picasso Trigger has to be the all time winner for the fish with the most suited name:D :D
If I wasn't a mature adult (my wife may disagree) I'd be inclined to think that Picasso had gotten his painting style after being attacked by this beautiful fish while trying to paint his naked girlfriend by the sea shore...............who knows :p

Dave

[Wolverine]

I think a healthy super-male crosshatch trigger is a fantastic looking fish. I also really like the clown triggers. It's hard to narrow down to just three (at least for me it is), so I'll throw out a couple I haven't seen mentioned.
A large black (and I mean jet black) volitans lion is fantastic looking, and is really an eye catcher.
I also like the radiata lions.
I've seen some amazing colorations on some frogfishes and scorpionfishes.

Dave

[Cody M]

We have a sweet 12" queen trigger in one of the dispalys at the shop and she is awsome but I would have to stick with my original list. Awsome fish everyone!

[ozadars]

If we are talking about common fish;
- marine betta
- french / grey / queen /anullaris angels
- powder blue, achilles, hippo or orange shoulder tang

Rare ones;
- pepermint hog / harlequin tusk
- gem tang
- crosshatch trigger

there are 100s of fish to add this list also

[Dave A]

Alot of great fish mentioned here. Many predictable picks and a few I never thought of. Some mentioned are not really readily available to the hobby in general and some are probably a little more fish than many could handle. The Tusk was mentioned more often than any other fish and I believe the Angels were favored as a group followed by the tangs. IMO if this thread went on and on Angel's would be the favorite species with the Clown Trigger being the king of the head turners.

Bottom line.................almost any fish will be #1 to someone somewhere, and although in the end a single fish may be voted as the all time most beautiful and dramatic head turner not many people would be inclined to keep that single fish alone. That's why although some do keep a single specimen alone in a tank for various reasons, we tend to keep a community of the few fish we really love, or multiple tanks or both :D

Dave

[maxpower2112]

My top 3 are:

1)Dragon Eel
2)Clown Tang
3)Regal Angelfish

What are your thoughts on these???

[dbulick]

The dragon eel is pretty sweet looking, for some reason it does not really look like a real animal to me, looks more mythical ya know?

[Jimmy719]

If you are talking about the blue or black eels with the yellow dorsal and anal fins (I've always heard them called ribbon eels) I'm with you all the way. They are totally up there on my list, along with flame angels and mandarins.

[maxpower2112]

ribbon eels are something else but i do know your talking about and agree...

[maxpower2112]

http://www.kasson.com/Misc/dragon_eel.htm

Here is a pic of a Dragon Eel

[Morpheus'Reef]

I must admit how surprised that no one has mentioned any of the Fairy Wrasses. The most striking fish I have ever seen in an LFS was the Laboutei Fairy Wrasse (check out the following link for a picture that just does not do it justice http://www.themarinecenter.com./wrasselaboutei.htm ) followed by the Hawaiian Flame Wrasse.

Having said that my top striking fish are as follows

1/ Laboutei Fairy Wrasse
2/ Blue Line Trigger
3/ Emperor Angel
4/ Mandarin
5/ Chevron Tang

Morph

[Dave A]

I agree the Chevron Tang is a great looking fish when young, but they tend to become quite drab when they mature. Too bad they're not one of those fish that get better with age. I also agree it's odd that not more of the wrasses were mentioned.

Dave

[danfishman]

i think one of the best looking fish is the Conspicillatus angel,
Chaetodontoplus conspicillatus although they are very expensive. My top three are
1) Large Angels, Blue Face and Majestic
2) Fairy Wrasse
3) Powder Blue Tang

[lilswanwillow]

heres mine:

easy to find:
flasher wrasses
PBT
flame angel

hard to find:
(sorry, this list is more than 3, but they're all tied here)
dragon eels
leaf fish
bellus angel
Colini Pygmy Angel
and

Seadragons
Phyllopteryx and Phycodurus

(which will never and should never be kept in aquariums, but still should be on a list of favorite fish..!!!!)

[dbulick]

Copperband Butterfly's are good looking fish, and Tassle filefish are alittle odd making them intersting
Adult Green Moray eels are possibly the most impressive looking due to their sheer size and power.

[greenbean36191]

I see alot of people have Tusks in their top three. I dont find them all that beautiful

I agree. Alot of people also love wrasses, and I don't find them attractive either.

[tyler]

10 days later....

1. porc puffer - simply the best. my tank is ready for one
2. valentini puffer - i'd never get one because they're notorious bastard fishes, but i still think they look amazing
3. dwarf fuzzy lions. i think they're beautiful fish

and of course, flame angel, emp angel, any other kind of puffer, most lion fish (or scorpion fish for htat matter), psychadelic mandarins, long nose butterflies, long nose hawks, any kind of horse...i like 'em all

[mufflerguy]

Zoom,
What do you have for corals & inverts in that tank with those triggers?
I have read that they cant be kept in a reef tank.
If I could the clown & picasso would be my first choices!
Thanks ,Matt

[Triggeraddict]

Over the past couple of weeks I have rethought my favs and they are:
Easy to keep (peaceful):
Curious Wormfish
Randall's Goby
Blue and Yellow Assessors

Belligerent Beauties:
1. Clown and Queen Triggers tie
2. Clown and Achilles Tangs tie
3. Imp and Navarchus Angels (not really belligerent but I couldn't put them anywhere else)

Notoriously Difficult Fish:
1. Ribbon Eel (any color morph)
2. Ghost Ribbon Eel and Zebra Moray
3. Seahorse
That is my new updated list with some catergories.
mufflerguy- Triggers are extremely unpredictable in nature and what may work one day will not work the next with them. They are not considered reef fish so why waste loosing a lot of money in corals with the addition of a trigg? My triggs will tear apart any kind of coral. Today they got spoiled and got a Clam from the grocery store and they had a lot of fun with that, let me tell ya.

[absolut]

Triggeraddict,

What's up
I see you are at CSU...my sister attends there, do you know the starting catcher for the CSU softball team??

Oh yeah,
1.Sailfin tang
2.Hippo tang
3.LM blenny

[albinooscar]

This has to be the # 1!!!!!!!!!


http://www.digitalpose.com/mbr/1/29402/p/591189_3108866723263443286_vl.jpg

What the H3LL is it?

Ron

[bigevill]

I love my fire fish.......

[Triggeraddict]

That is an Orange Spot Filefish (Oxymonacanthus longirostris). They do not do well in captivity due to the fact they feed primarily on Acropora polyps (expensive meal). Anyway, hope this helps.

[marrone]

My top Fish are:

1. Powder Blue Tang
2. Sailfin Tang
3. Louti Grouper
4. Blue Line Trigger
5. Passer Angel
6. Dusmmeri Tang
7. Dragon eel

Well that more than 3. :rollface:

Michael

[gig]

1) Emperor Angel (Adult)
2) Majestic Angel (Adult)
3) Powder Blue Tang
4) Adult Passer are really cool, but you can't find/buy them

http://www.masla.com/fish/images/1050.jpg

[Peter Schmiedel]

Gig,

currently I can buy at least 10 passer here :P

But I admitt it is the first time I see them. Price is about 150 $. Nice size good condition ... just a bit to far away from you ... but the store might export to the US?

[gig]

hey Peter,

That's interesting, from what I've read the "adult passers" (like the one in the picture), tend to go more open water areas once adult. Alot of them swim in protected fishing areas somewhere in the pacific, I just can't remember where I've read that. Thus you don't see many in the LFS (in the US).

I don't think I've ever seen on in a LFS, I've seen plenty of the juveniles, even had one, territorial little guys, but a very smart inquisitive fish.

[blface]

1. Bluespot Jawfish
2. Blueface Angel
3. Conspicultus Angel