Clam safe inhabitants for Fluval 32gal

[Feeshrfriendsnotfood]

So I just bought my Fluval marine 32 gallon so it’s not cycled yet and I’m looking for some ideas. Ideally I’d like fish with a cooler color pallet (purples blues and greens) and I want a derasa clam as a centerpiece of my mixed reef. Anyone know of anything really cool that fit these criteria? I’m definitely leaning towards a fairy wrasse and a purple firefish but that seems a little under stocked

 

[blaxsun]

Mandarin dragonet (special feeding requirements with these), sapphire damselfish, midas blenny (if you can luck out with the right blue variant), coral beauty dwarf angel (may or may not be safe with the clam).

 

[OldRed1]

Seems disingenuous to suggest a Mandarin to someone with such a new tank.

OP, there are certain fire fish that have very beautiful purple highlights, such as the Helfrichi, Exquisite, and Purple varieties. These gobies will have much less restrictive diets, too.

The Royal Gramma has a very unique yellow and purple color combination as well. This fish seems to get good reviews from most reefers on R2R, as opposed to the Purple Orchid Dottyback, which can get nippy with its tank mates.

 

[blaxsun]

Seems disingenuous to suggest a Mandarin to someone with such a new tank.

I listed a handful of fish that met the tank size and color parameters he indicated - making a brief note of anything to pay attention to. Obviously OP will want to do his own fish research for compatibility, temperament, etc. in addition to sifting through other suggestions.

With respect to the gramma/dottyback comparison, this really depends on the fish and can vary greatly. Royal grammas also tend to spend most of the time in rocks and caves.

 

[OldRed1]

I listed a handful of fish that met the tank size and color parameters he indicated - making a brief note of anything to pay attention to. Obviously OP will want to do his own fish research for compatibility, temperament, etc. in addition to sifting through other suggestions.

With respect to the gramma/dottyback comparison, this really depends on the fish and can vary greatly. Royal grammas also tend to spend most of the time in rocks and caves.

I overreacted and apologize for that. There were at least two posts on here yesterday of new reefers with malnourished Mandarins, and the thought of another fish going hungry prompted me to reply.

 

[blaxsun]

I overreacted and apologize for that. There were at least two posts on here yesterday of new reefers with malnourished Mandarins, and the thought of another fish going hungry prompted me to reply.

No worries at all.

They're an absolutely gorgeous fish - although the aforementioned feeding requirements can pose a challenge on smaller tanks without enough rock work to sustain a large copepod population.

Captive bred mandarins offer the best chance of adopting frozen food (although this is not always the case), so growing your own pods or continually replenishing the copepod population should be factored in.

They're not an aggressive fish and will get along with pretty much everything due to their mucous/slime coating (which other reef inhabitants will find repellant).

I've had fairly good success with getting wild-caught mandarins to adopt frozen food, and I have a small blue-green male right now that always makes an appearance when it's feeding time (otherwise he's off on the prowl in the rock work).