Beginner fish suggestions

[Reef.Blue]

Hey guys! Im new to the hobby and have purchased a 40 breeder. I currently have 2 clownfish in a 10g quarantine tank until I set up my 40 breeder. I was wondering what beginner fish would be good for me considering I'm new to the hobby and my tank size. Thanks!

 

[Andreas' Reef]

royal gramma
firefish
goby + pistol pair
lawnmower blenny
tailspot blenny
flame angel
chalk bass
hawkfish (sometimes aggresive)
banggai cardinalfish
midas blenny

 

[Grumblez]

Hey guys! Im new to the hobby and have purchased a 40 breeder. I currently have 2 clownfish in a 10g quarantine tank until I set up my 40 breeder. I was wondering what beginner fish would be good for me considering I'm new to the hobby and my tank size. Thanks!

Hello I can say I would recommend avoiding Bangaii Cardinals lol. They are always on the beginner list but they are almost all picky eaters and Ive lost more of them than all other fish combined

I would look at 1 or 2 Biota Court Jester gobies they will help with algae control
You can also look into a lawnmower bleny


Orchid Dottybacks are very pretty
Coral Beauty Angelfish - will help with algae and makes a good "trophy" fish for a 40 breeder.

Any of the small gobies are fun to watch

 

[Andreas' Reef]

Hello I can say I would recommend avoiding Bangaii Cardinals lol. They are always on the beginner list but they are almost all picky eaters and Ive lost more of them than all other fish combined

I would look at 1 or 2 Biota Court Jester gobies they will help with algae control
You can also look into a lawnmower bleny


Orchid Dottybacks are very pretty
Coral Beauty Angelfish - will help with algae and makes a good "trophy" fish for a 40 breeder.

Any of the small gobies are fun to watch

coral beauties need a bigger tank no?

 

[Grumblez]

coral beauties need a bigger tank no?

Depends on who you ask lol but probably okay in my opinion. I would just get a really small or ideally captive bred one and add it last to avoid aggression.

 

[Andreas' Reef]

Depends on who you ask lol but probably okay in my opinion. I would just get a really small or ideally captive bred one and add it last to avoid aggression.

captive bred ones are pretty hard to come by. But it is sustainable. I just wonder how they figure out how to breed these fish!

 

[Grumblez]

captive bred ones are pretty hard to come by. But it is sustainable. I just wonder how they figure out how to breed these fish!

I think it was actually Kathy Leahy a hobbyist who first succesfully captive bred them followed shortly by Biota and I believe now a few other companies.

 

[elchopo]

royal gramma
firefish
goby + pistol pair
lawnmower blenny
tailspot blenny
flame angel
chalk bass
hawkfish (sometimes aggresive)
banggai cardinalfish
midas blenny

Are longnose hawkfish aggressive? As a beginner I was thinking about one of them for my 75 gallon. but if they are aggressive I may not.

 

[Andreas' Reef]

Are longnose hawkfish aggressive? As a beginner I was thinking about one of them for my 75 gallon. but if they are aggressive I may not.

They'll be fine in a 75 but are a bit more territorial in small tanks.

 

[Tonycass12]

Starting to ask the right questions here! I would recommend a flame hawk

Hey guys! Im new to the hobby and have purchased a 40 breeder. I currently have 2 clownfish in a 10g quarantine tank until I set up my 40 breeder. I was wondering what beginner fish would be good for me considering I'm new to the hobby and my tank size. Thanks!

 

[Reef.Blue]

royal gramma
firefish
goby + pistol pair
lawnmower blenny
tailspot blenny
flame angel
chalk bass
hawkfish (sometimes aggresive)
banggai cardinalfish
midas blenny

Thank you!

 

[Reef.Blue]

Hello I can say I would recommend avoiding Bangaii Cardinals lol. They are always on the beginner list but they are almost all picky eaters and Ive lost more of them than all other fish combined

I would look at 1 or 2 Biota Court Jester gobies they will help with algae control
You can also look into a lawnmower bleny


Orchid Dottybacks are very pretty
Coral Beauty Angelfish - will help with algae and makes a good "trophy" fish for a 40 breeder.

Any of the small gobies are fun to watch

Thank you!

 

[Reef.Blue]

coral beauties need a bigger tank no?

I would be keeping it in my tank for about 2 years, then upgrading to a 75.

 

[Reef.Blue]

coral beauties need a bigger tank no?

I would be keeping it in my tank for about 2 years, then upgrading to a 75.

 

[Reef.Blue]

Starting to ask the right questions here! I would recommend a flame hawk

Thank you!

 

[muzikalmatt]

Hello I can say I would recommend avoiding Bangaii Cardinals lol. They are always on the beginner list but they are almost all picky eaters and Ive lost more of them than all other fish combined

I would look at 1 or 2 Biota Court Jester gobies they will help with algae control
You can also look into a lawnmower bleny


Orchid Dottybacks are very pretty
Coral Beauty Angelfish - will help with algae and makes a good "trophy" fish for a 40 breeder.

Any of the small gobies are fun to watch

Man, it's funny you mention the cardinal fish being finicky eaters! I'm just now finding that out myself. I just added one to my second tank and can only get him to eat frozen food and ROE. Luckily he's eating those like a champ, but I could see where new reefers who only use pellets or flakes might get into trouble. I'm still going to try and wean him onto prepared foods if I can, but I at least know he'll eat frozen/ROE if I can't get him to make the transition.

 

[EricR]

I like my bicolor blenny in my 40 breeder -- cheap, colorful, hardy, great personality, and best buds with my clown (...although I only have a single clown, not a pair like you have)

 

[davidcalgary29]

Orchid Dottybacks are very pretty
Coral Beauty Angelfish - will help with algae and makes a good "trophy" fish for a 40 breeder.

A pair of captive-bred orchid dottybacks generally make excellent additions, as they are stunning fish. It's worth repeating, though, that many people here hate them and consider them to be aggressive and obnoxious. I've never seen that with any of mine, but lone anecdotes have to be balanced against wide-spread reports of bad behaviour. I still think that this aggression is probably more common in solitary fridmani placed in tanks with few or no places to hide.

Coral beauties should be okay in a 40g tank, but only if you have lots of live rock. They are, like all dwarf angels, grazers, and need to pick at live rock all day.

Striped (fang) blennies are heavily underrated. They're great fish, being both personable and hardy.

 

[Reef.Blue]

I like my bicolor blenny in my 40 breeder -- cheap, colorful, hardy, great personality, and best buds with my clown (...although I only have a single clown, not a pair like you have)

I was looking into getting one of those, but my local fish store does not have any or planning to have any in stock. So then I looked at other fish stores, but none had them. I was looking for one online on sites like liveaquaria etc, but a $30 fish turns out to about $80 because of the shipping.

 

[Reef.Blue]

A pair of captive-bred orchid dottybacks generally make excellent additions, as they are stunning fish. It's worth repeating, though, that many people here hate them and consider them to be aggressive and obnoxious. I've never seen that with any of mine, but lone anecdotes have to be balanced against wide-spread reports of bad behaviour. I still think that this aggression is probably more common in solitary fridmani placed in tanks with few or no places to hide.

Coral beauties should be okay in a 40g tank, but only if you have lots of live rock. They are, like all dwarf angels, grazers, and need to pick at live rock all day.

Striped (fang) blennies are heavily underrated. They're great fish, being both personable and hardy.

Can I still have a coral beauty if I don't have live rock?