Fish for 10g nano reef?

[instantaquatics]

What would be the best fish for a 10 gallon standard nano reef? Reef as in it will have corals. 40% weekly water changes with a ton of algae scrubbing and siphoning.

My substrate is crushed coral live. I do have pods in the tank, but I don't think enough for a blenny or something that feeds off pods. When I did have a scooter blenny, it did like to burrow in my small sand at night, so crushed corals would do one no justice.

I will also be adding a peppermint shrimp.. I was thinking of a clown pair, but I already have one in my 29g FOWLR with a banggai.

Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[Lovemyreef2015]

Red Spotted Gobies are pretty, reef safe and stay small.

 

[PDR]

What would be the best fish for a 10 gallon standard nano reef? Reef as in it will have corals. 40% weekly water changes with a ton of algae scrubbing and siphoning.

My substrate is crushed coral live. I do have pods in the tank, but I don't think enough for a blenny or something that feeds off pods. When I did have a scooter blenny, it did like to burrow in my small sand at night, so crushed corals would do one no justice.

I will also be adding a peppermint shrimp.. I was thinking of a clown pair, but I already have one in my 29g FOWLR with a banggai.

Any ideas? Thanks!

As far as fish selection, imo a pair of clowns will eventually get too aggressive in that size tank. I would stick to 2-3 smaller peaceful fish. firefish and smaller gobies and blennies would be good choices.

Your nutrient export plan seems a little aggressive imo. If not done right, 40% weekly water changes can cause stability issues. If you keep a reasonable bioload, 10-15% weekly wc's would probably be the only maintenance you need to do unless you are planning on keeping an sps dominated system.

 

[Pbh-reef]

My suggestions would be

Barnacle blenny, tailspot blenny, other small combtooth blennies
Shrimp gobies, cleaner gobies and Eviota genus gobies
Firefish
Pink streaked wrasse, possum wrasse
Geometric Pygmy hawkfish

I would pick 2-4 fish. In my 10 gallon have a pictus blenny (who has nipped at a coral of mine but has seemed to stop), a Rainford goby (beautiful fish but shy), and a Pygmy hawkfish. The blenny and hawkfish are both great in terms of personality and color IMO.

 

[Pbh-reef]

Also most carnivorous fish will eat pods but the Dragonets and scooter blennies are different from true blennies- they need pods. The tailspot blenny and it’s relatives will eat pods but also take frozen and other prepared food from the water. They also pick at the algae growing on the rocks.

 

[mta_morrow]

In that tank, if it were me, I would go with a pair of hifin red banded gobies with a candy cane pistol shrimp, and 1 azure damsel.

That damsel is chill, colorful and always active and won’t bother the gobies.

Very low bioload with that trio as well

 

[PDR]

In that tank, if it were me, I would go with a pair of hifin red banded gobies with a candy cane pistol shrimp, and 1 azure damsel.

That damsel is chill, colorful and always active and won’t bother the gobies.

Very low bioload with that trio as well

+1 on the azure, I love mine and he is one of the most peaceful fish I own.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Maybe get a Coral Banded Shrimp instead— Cleaner Shrimp ‘dog-paddle’ around a nano and look annoying (my opinion); Coral Banded will take a nice King-of-the-Mountain pose on your rock work

 

[PDR]

Maybe get a Coral Banded Shrimp instead— Cleaner Shrimp ‘dog-paddle’ around a nano and look annoying (my opinion); Coral Banded will take a nice King-of-the-Mountain pose on your rock work

Huh, mine almost never do that. I have heard others having issues with coral banded shrimp hurting or killing smaller fish.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Very true! Caught red-handed chowing down on a small Talbot. Three (3) eaten as $7.00 snacks by 2 different Coral Banded Shrimp in a week’s time. Maybe they should be called Coral “Bandits!”? Of course, these were 7 and 10 gallon (tall and narrow) tanks— probably ambushed as the fish slept.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Any of your Trimma or Eviota gobies are fun. Masked, red stripe, etc. I also love a pair of neon gobies (must be paired or they will fight). They are always out and swimming around like crazy in my 6g and 20g. I like the idea of a goby shrimp pairing too. Love to watch them.

I would stick with a sexy shrimp instead of the others. The others are too big for a 10g eventually and are not as fun to watch. IMO Get like 5 in that tank.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Oh, I like azures too. Had one for years. Although, a ten is a bit small.

 

[408Dartfish]

In my 10g my favorite fish is the yellow clown goby he is a character

 

[Pbh-reef]

Might want to look at a Pederson’s cleaner shrimp I have heard they are smaller. The skunk cleaner that came with my 10 gallon adds color and movement to the tank and interacts with the fish to clean them but is also rather large, bothers the corals and annoys the fish. If I had had the choice I wouldn’t have gotten him

 

[Joshua2598]

Firefish I like the purples

 

[Jesterrace]

For me in a tank that size, my top picks would be:

Possum or Pink Streaked Wrasse
A small goby of some form
Tailspot Blenny (after algae starts growing)

Firefish IMHO are too prone to hiding for my tastes and are usually the number one target of more assertive fish. Goodness knows my poor Purple Firefish had a bullseye on it's back.

 

[Joshua2598]

For me in a tank that size, my top picks would be:

Possum or Pink Streaked Wrasse
A small goby of some form
Tailspot Blenny (after algae starts growing)

Firefish IMHO are too prone to hiding for my tastes and are usually the number one target of more assertive fish. Goodness knows my poor Purple Firefish had a bullseye on it's back.

My purple firefish is a 1 in a million and constantly attacks my clown and is the boss of my 10

 

[mta_morrow]

For me in a tank that size, my top picks would be:

Possum or Pink Streaked Wrasse
A small goby of some form
Tailspot Blenny (after algae starts growing)

Firefish IMHO are too prone to hiding for my tastes and are usually the number one target of more assertive fish. Goodness knows my poor Purple Firefish had a bullseye on it's back.

Every purple firefish I have owned has always been out and about.

My current one cruises my entire tank which is 108 gallons.

They just need good tankmates.

 

[mta_morrow]

For me in a tank that size, my top picks would be:

Possum or Pink Streaked Wrasse
A small goby of some form
Tailspot Blenny (after algae starts growing)

Firefish IMHO are too prone to hiding for my tastes and are usually the number one target of more assertive fish. Goodness knows my poor Purple Firefish had a bullseye on it's back.

Every purple firefish I have owned has always been out and about.

My current one cruises my entire tank which is 108 gallons.

They just need good tankmates.

 

[Pbh-reef]

Just want to plug the Pygmy geometric hawkfish because I have one and love her and don’t see her in many nano tanks or really tanks in general. She is a great presence in the aquarium and totally adorable as she perches and occasionally flutters around the tank. While I’ve seen people say these fish hide a lot to the
Point of disappearing in the tank, in my small tank she is almost always visible. (She hid a lot in week 1 but no longer). The one down side is she spends less time swimming than a damsel or wrasse and unlike some
Gobies and blennies doesn’t help with eating algae. But a great fish that I think is overlooked .