Fish Selection (Red Sea Reefer Nano)

[Ebslinger]

Hey all, I wanted to get everyone's ideas concerning a fish for my Red Sea Reefer Nano.

I currently have an Emerald Crab and a Blood Shrimp, but would like to add a fish to the tank... I am sure this has been asked a thousand times, but what do you think?

Ideal fish would be non-aggressive, reef safe, small, highly colorful, good in a young tank (age: 3 - 6 months), able to be fed via auto feeder.

Any Ideas?

In an ideal world, I would have a Tang, Dragonet, and a Dottyback, but the tank just ins't big enough.

 

[reeflover]

Personally, I love clown fish. I like their color and love their personalities. Purple fire fish are cool to look at and pretty colorful, but don’t really do much. Royal grammas are also colorful but again, they don’t really do much and can sometimes be territorial in my experience.

Other great options could include yellow clown gobies, a yasha shrimp goby pair, or if your sand bed is deep enough maybe a Jawfish of some sort?

 

[hotashes]

Hi, I do really like my Pink-Streaked Wrasse. Community, interactive fish. Also good at picking at the rocks too

Also I’ve got blue striped pipefish, that’s an unusual fish in a nano. Good to watch

A.

 

[Coralreefer1]

Clown Gobies, Royal Gramma, Clownfish, Pygmy Angel just to name a few!

 

[Ebslinger]

I was thinking clown fish, but worry since I wont have an Anemone... could that be an issue long term?

 

[reeflover]

I was thinking clown fish, but worry since I wont have an Anemone... could that be an issue long term?

I wouldn’t worry about it. Clown fish don’t need anemones to survive and often will end up hosting other corals (I.e. duncan, frogspawn, torch, hammers).

 

[Coralreefer1]

I was thinking clown fish, but worry since I wont have an Anemone... could that be an issue long term?

Anemones are not necessary when housing Clownfish. Often times, they won’t even hits an Anemone or only certain ones. Moreover, Clowns will host Clams, other corals, especially Xenia and Star Polyps and Anthelia.

 

[Ebslinger]

@ Coralreefer1 Royal Gramma? Is that the same as a Basset?

 

[Ebslinger]

I have liked clownfish for a long time... that might be fun. I am still concerned because the tank will be primarily mushroom and zoanthid based.

 

[theKoolAidMan]

I also have a Red Sea Reefer Nano that I'm stocking. Here are some ideas below:

"Chill" Fish (they don't do much, but sort of hang out in the water column and look pretty)
-Bangaii/Kaudern's Cardinal
-Firefish (regular, purple, or helfrichi)
-Royal Gramma (the most active on this "chill" list)

Active Fish (they will swim around a lot)
-Percula or Ocellaris Clownfish
-Skunk Clownfish
-Spotted Mandarin (this is a very hardy fish that will basically be like a humminbird going around the tank looking for pods to eat. If you chose this fish, make sure it is eating frozen food when you buy it from the shop. If it is not eating frozen food it WILL die in your tank because you won't have a big enough regenerating pod population for it to feast on.)

Perching Fish (mostly hang out on the rocks)
-Clown Goby (any color)
-Bicolor Blenny (will also eat algae)

Gobies
-Pretty much any shrimp gobie that doesn't get bigger than 2 inches. Yellow watchman, yasha, etc. Even better with a pistol shrimp to live with

 

[Ebslinger]

@theKoolAidMan Great list, thank you. You are the second person to mention the Royal Gramma, I am assuming that is Gramma loreto. Is there a reason you would choose that over Gramma melacara? I like the look of the Black Cap Basslet a little more.

 

[theKoolAidMan]

@theKoolAidMan Great list, thank you. You are the second person to mention the Royal Gramma, I am assuming that is Gramma loreto. Is there a reason you would choose that over Gramma melacara? I like the look of the Black Cap Basslet a little more.

Not really other than the black cap basslet is quite a bit more expensive and has a reputation of being a bit more aggressive. I didn't mention it because you said you wanted non-aggressive fish. No reason you can't get one, but I would add it to the tank last and keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't bully anyone. Most people have no problems but you will run into them being really SOBs more often than the royal gramma.

 

[Ebslinger]

@theKoolAidMan ahh, thank you for the info and reply!

 

[Ebslinger]

As of right now, clown and basslets are winning...

I don't think there is room for both however.

Plan 1) a Black Cap Basslet

Plan 2) a Pair of clowns (likely Percula or Ocellaris)

Ideas?

 

[mta_morrow]

1 azure damsel
1 purple firefish or flametail blenny
1 wheelers goby w a candy cane pistol shrimp

This will give you color and activity at the top, middle , and bottom of your tank.

All 3 will get along just fine

 

[Ebslinger]

@mta_morrow Wow... that is awesome. All that in a Nano?

 

[mta_morrow]

@mta_morrow Wow... that is awesome. All that in a Nano?

How many gallons is it?

 

[mta_morrow]

@mta_morrow Wow... that is awesome. All that in a Nano?

I’m sorry, I was just helping with a Red Sea max. How many gallons your nano?

 

[theKoolAidMan]

I’m sorry, I was just helping with a Red Sea max. How many gallons your nano?

The Red Sea Reefer Nano is a 21 gallon display with 7 gallon sump. 28 Gallon total system volume.

 

[theKoolAidMan]

@mta_morrow Wow... that is awesome. All that in a Nano?

Stocking levels shouldn't been looked at through the lens of "how many fish" because each species has different behaviors and bioloads. You have a 21 gallon tank with a 7 gallon sump. If you're running a skimmer and keeping up on water changes, you can handle a decent bioload.

His stocking list works well because each of those 3 fish have different behaviors and live in 3 different areas of the tank. The damsel will swim all over the mid and top of the tank. The firefish will mostly hover near the bottom to mid level. The goby will exclusively live in a burrow in the sand and under a rock. None of thos fish compete for the same space so you can absolutely have all of them.

One of the guys at my LFS who is a fantastic fishkeeper has a 28 cube with like 6 fish in it. It works because he has a great skimmer with a religious water change regimin. He also keeps fish that won't "get in each other's way" which keeps stress levels down. I am NOT suggesting you throw 6 fish in, just that stocking levels depend on a lot more than "inches of" or number of fish.

The stocking I'm leaning towards on mine is:
Bangaii Cardinal (already in tank)
Bicolor Blenny (already in tank)
Azure Damsel
Spotted Mandarin

The Bangaii is a "chill" fish that basically hovers in one spot most of the time. The Damsel will swim all over. The blenny hides on the rocks, and the mandarin swims mostly on the bottom and on the rocks looking for pods. None of the fish compete for a natural food source except the cardinal and the damsel, and their behaviors are different enough that it shouldn't cause a problem. I also do weekly 5 gallon (so about 20%) water changes and have a skimmer, so bioload won't be much of an issue.