A lively reef...

Halostemanic · Jul 12, 2017

Hi, first time posting

I have a reefer 250 and am struggling with my fish options. I have a well matured predominately LPS and zoa reef and have focused on the corals up to a few months ago. I have been adding some fish for the last six months and they are all fat and healthy. However I feel there is something missing. There is no action in the tank, when I walk up to it everyone scatters into the rocks. They all stay there until I move away from the tank. When I'm feeding I generally turn off one or two Wavemakers and they all come out after I dump in the food. But as soon as it's gone they retreat.
The tank is situated in our kitchen so it's in a fairly busy place in the house and I've three kids so there is a constant noise level!
The current stock is 2 Snowflake clowns, 2 Green Chromis, 2 Bangai Cardinals, a flame angel, a royal gramma, a purple file and a peacock wrasse.
The flame angel can be a bit of an jerk nipping his tankmates at times but this is nothing serious and never harmful to them. There is plenty of hiding places and a good amount of swimming areas too.
So, I'm looking for suggestions on fish that would liven up the tank and also if there is any trick I'm missing in getting the fish to be more active.
Thanks

aKlevans · Jul 12, 2017

You could get a midas blenny. They often swim in the water column.

Daniel@R2R · Jul 13, 2017

Have you considered maybe adding some flasher wrasses? Mine are out all the time.

Lowstorm · Jul 13, 2017

Anthias and a tang. I have known shy fish, and they were shy until I added an outgoing tang then a group of anthias. Now everyone's out cause anthias will retreat if something scary comes along and they very quickly learn to associate people with food.

Daniel@R2R · Jul 13, 2017

Lowstorm said:
Anthias and a tang. I have known shy fish, and they were shy until I added an outgoing tang then a group of anthias. Now everyone's out cause anthias will retreat if something scary comes along and they very quickly learn to associate people with food.

I'd steer clear of a tang in that sized tank though. A reefer 250 is only 54g.

Ashish Patel · Jul 13, 2017

Flame angels are great swimmers - for me its always been tangs and flame angels.. Yellow tangs don't grow that large compared to other tangs so if your gonna pick a tang 1 of these is fine aslong as its smaller and you plan on upgrading or trading it in.

Below picture is my first reef 10 years ago and my current tank..Same fish different tank.. I still have the older yellow tang and hippo..

Daniel@R2R · Jul 13, 2017

Maybe the #reefsquad can help with some other suggestions. As I said before, I'd steer clear of adding any tangs to that sized reef. For an active yellow fish, there are quite a few other options such as a midas blenny, yellow dottyback, or yellow candy hogfish to name a few...

Evan West · Jul 13, 2017

Starry Blennie, they have a lot of charecter

Sabellafella · Jul 13, 2017

Halostemanic said:
Hi, first time posting
I have a reefer 250 and am struggling with my fish options. I have a well matured predominately LPS and zoa reef and have focused on the corals up to a few months ago. I have been adding some fish for the last six months and they are all fat and healthy. However I feel there is something missing. There is no action in the tank, when I walk up to it everyone scatters into the rocks. They all stay there until I move away from the tank. When I'm feeding I generally turn off one or two Wavemakers and they all come out after I dump in the food. But as soon as it's gone they retreat.
The tank is situated in our kitchen so it's in a fairly busy place in the house and I've three kids so there is a constant noise level!
The current stock is 2 Snowflake clowns, 2 Green Chromis, 2 Bangai Cardinals, a flame angel, a royal gramma, a purple file and a peacock wrasse.
The flame angel can be a bit of an jerk nipping his tankmates at times but this is nothing serious and never harmful to them. There is plenty of hiding places and a good amount of swimming areas too.
So, I'm looking for suggestions on fish that would liven up the tank and also if there is any trick I'm missing in getting the fish to be more active.
Thanks

It happens bud. Try to train them to come out when they see you. Example, if i walk close to the side of my tank that i feed from. They all come out to say hi =)

leahfiish · Jul 13, 2017

+1 on wrasses. Flashers, fairies, or a yellow coris

Ashish Patel · Jul 13, 2017

mdbannister said:
Maybe the #reefsquad can help with some other suggestions. As I said before, I'd steer clear of adding any tangs to that sized reef. For an active yellow fish, there are quite a few other options such as a midas blenny, yellow dottyback, or yellow candy hogfish to name a few...

LOL - your right I am giving the wrong advice here, save the tangs for a larger tank you'll just stress them out!

Maritimer · Jul 13, 2017

If you decide to look at anthias, look carefully ... mine are Bartlett's, and they're kind of jerks. (If I even still have two ... )

Flasher wrasses are a delight in a tank your size, and will provide a dash of near continuous movement in a red-orange spectrum.

aKlevans suggested a midas blenny ... listen to that one, 'cause they're real charmers. They swim high in the water column, 'cause they're pretending to be anthias. (They, along with the flasher wrasses, jump - make sure you've got a cover!)

I've also got a trio of azure damselfish in my 65 gallon tank, and a pair of Talbot's damsels in QT - between them, they've got yellow, rose/purple and electric blue covered, and a darting, active way.

Hiding when you come close is natural - you're a big, scary potential predator, and sometimes you have a net. Feeding and habituation should help them overcome that reticence.

~Bruce

Lowstorm · Jul 14, 2017

Sorry, didn't realize it's only 54 gallons! No tang! Bad Lowstorm. Get a cool frogfish Lol. Kidding. Too small for anthias too. Firefish and other dartfish may work as dither fishes to draw out the others.

ThunderGoose · Jul 14, 2017

+1 on frequent feeding. Get some pellets or flakes and when you walk up to the tank drop a few in (without turning off your pumps). Consider this "snaking" for the tank, not the "real meal." I feed my tank small snacks several times a day and one pump off real meal in the evening.

Donovan Joannes · Jul 14, 2017

Schooling fish is good for lively reef effects. I like chromis more than anthias, they get used to new environment much faster and less aggressive.

Bdog4u2 · Jul 14, 2017

If me or my kids are at the aquarium the fish are right there they swarm in the hope for food. I just added a blueface angelfish from dd and he hides and is skittish but I'm sure that will change

Halostemanic · Jul 14, 2017

Thanks all,

Some great ideas there, I am guilty of turning off all the pumps for feeding so throwing on some food as we pass the tank is a good idea without pumps off!
I had ruled out Anthias and Tangs due to the space but I must admit I am tempted to add a juvenile tank and move him on when they get bigger.
Midas Blenny, Flasher wrasse and canary wrasse are all now on my hit list.

Halostemanic · Aug 21, 2017

Update: I've added a flasher wrasse & a Midas blenny. Great characters and they definitely encourage the others out. Took the advice to feed every time I approached the tank. Fed a small bit of mysis from a dropper for about two weeks and definetly helped entice them out. I also put on a feeding tray under an autofeeder and a few weeks of feeding twice a day from it have them all huddled around it at different times of the day.
Cheers for the advice guys.