Fish Only: What is the best non-reef safe fish?

[Khalilkaram]

porcupine puffer by far my favorite non reef safe fish one day I will have a tank spicialy for this babe

 

[Devaji]

well I guess I am no longer a reefer any more. setting up two new tanks
RS 300Xl for seahorses softies and gors does that count as be a reefer?

the 2nd is a IM 200 peninsula for FOWLR
my top no ref safe fish are emp. angel and porcupine puffer along with butterflies.

 

[Willhersh34]

The jewel of my FOWLR is a Niger Trigger. Once I get past the waste he lays to the CUC he's a beautiful fish with a ton of personality.

Love the Engineer Goby. I have a couple right now, one in a FOWLR and one in a mixed reef. They are just cool looking fish.

My Niger. Pic is a little blurry but gives you an idea. I was trying to get his red teeth. They come in handy for him when he decides I’ve been doing too much maintenance and I need to get my hands out of the tank. Yes, by that I mean when he bites me. That’s usually like once a month or so. You can also see the remnants of a red algae bloom which has since been eradicated. Such is the life of a saltwater tank owner……….

 

[JC1977]

Large Marine Angels. All of 'em.

I have a French, Queen, Maculosus, Asfur, Majestic, Annularis and Emperor in my FOWLR, and they're all fantastic. Clarion would get my #1 vote, but they're $5,500+.

I gotta know how big is the system you’re keeping all those angels in? Lol

 

[HB AL]

I voted other
I only consider a fish not reef safe if it's gonna eat the corals, thus I have triggers, a Japanese Dragon Eel among other inhabitants.

 

[Flame2hawk]

Harley & Conscip

 

[Reefvision]

I voted other
I only consider a fish not reef safe if it's gonna eat the corals, thus I have triggers, a Japanese Dragon Eel among other inhabitants.

That tank is in need of a bigger tank lol-very cool!

 

[Dave-T]

Take your pick, except they're all in my reef.

How do you manage that? Don’t they eat your corals?

 

[lion king]

Just to let you know, lionfish and moray eels are reef safe. These fish will not bother your corals, in the case of the moray eels, some placement of corals may need to be considered. The misconception about them being not reef safe, is that they may eat smaller fish and some inverts, as long as appropriate tank mates are included, they make fine additions to a reef. The increase in bioload is highly exaggerated and lps actually benefit, and is really comes down to filtration and maintenance, and include a refugium.

 

[Premium]

Fish Only: What is the best non-reef safe fish?

So you’re thinking about starting a fish-only tank and you want to try a non-reef safe fish? Which one is at the top of your list? Is there a fish that you have always wanted, but have avoided it because it wasn’t reef safe? Maybe it's because the fish isn't safe to your reef or your reef isn't safe for the fish. Is there a fish that you would develop your fish stocking list around if you were to have a fish-only tank? With so much attention on corals in the saltwater hobby, let take a minute to discuss non-reef safe fish.

This is a royalty-free image from Pixabay

Did you know that Reef2Reef has a section on the forum completely focused on fish-only tanks? If you have a fish-only tank or are thinking about starting one, please take a look at the fish-only area. Oh, and fish-only tanks don’t have to only be for non-reef safe fish!

How do you find a picture of the coolest non reef safe fish then not make it an option in the poll? Picasso Trigger for me all day long

 

[Falreef]

Blue spot pufferfish, Picasso trigger fish, dwarf golden moray, dwarf lionfish

 

[SCReef'n]

How do you manage that? Don’t they eat your corals?

Honestly there are corals I can’t have like hammers and frogspawn or zoas. But I liked my fish more than those so they got traded in for more sps. The worst offender is a multibar angel that I can’t get good pictures of. He nips at a lot of stuff but not to the point where they don’t grow and look great. The filefish don’t hurt anything they just keep polyp extension at a minimum. I think the tanks looks decent in spite of it all.

I’ve

 

[RaisingKane]

I LOVE my Picasso Trigger (Humu Humu) but he throws sand all over the place. It my favorite non- reef safe fish is the Klein butterfly. Eats ALL those nasty aiptasia....but then eats your corals when those are gone.

 

[Gtinnel]

Since when we’re engineer gobies not reef safe? They can potentially bury your corals but does that make them not reef safe because they can and will move sand?

 

[LAReefer4Life]

Large Marine Angels. All of 'em.

I have a French, Queen, Maculosus, Asfur, Majestic, Annularis and Emperor in my FOWLR, and they're all fantastic. Clarion would get my #1 vote, but they're $5,500+.

+111

 

[LPS Bum]

I gotta know how big is the system you’re keeping all those angels in? Lol

Standard 240. Big, but not that big.

I’ve found the trick is lots of rock, lots of caves, and lots of food. They’ll chase each other from time to time, but aggression hasn’t been a problem. Most of these Angels have been with me for at least 5 years. I’ve had a few for 10 years.

 

[KrisReef]

Ahi.

 

[scardall]

He is only a threat to shrimp,crabs and to a point snails. My 1+" mex. turbos do ok for the most part. All corals are safe.

 

[scardall]

This clown trigger has an interesting personality. Warning--- NEVER feed live food, as he will became real mean. Fed mine chunks of shrimp and 3mm pelets.

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

Valentine Puffer