Livestock Options

[DarkReefer]

Hey guys,

I have a waterbox 70.2 and have just added in my first fish, a pair of clownfish.
Whilst they're still getting settled in their new home, I thought it'd be worth starting to consider what other tank mates would go well.

A couple of fish I love the look of and have considered (but have since had to reconsider due to a) tank size b) price c) availability) were the yellow tang & yellow boxfish.
From my understanding the tang needs much more space (and is now a crazy price and hard to come by due to the Hawaii thing) so I've kind of ruled that one off.
The boxfish seems to need a tank also larger than mine.

What other options are there for vibrant and or unique looking fish/creatures to add to my tank sometime in the future?

 

[Specific Ocean]

Depends on what you plan on doing with the tank. Do you plan on keeping corals?

 

[DarkReefer]

Depends on what you plan on doing with the tank. Do you plan on keeping corals?

Sorry should have mentioned that, yes will be keeping corals also

 

[Sam816]

Box fish can grow huge plus they can nuke the tank if stressed. You can try smaller puffer(valentini, Toby) instead.
If you are considering tangs then kole & tomini tangs don't grow more than 6inchs. Other tangs can grow over 8inch easy. If you can return/exchange fish (when too big for your tank) with your lfs then you go for any tang. Just keep in mind big fish in small space results in stress and fighting.

 

[Sam816]

Are you considering blennies, cardinals, firefish and/or hawkfish? They all do good in smaller tank. You can have 2-3 fish instead of one tang.

 

[DarkReefer]

Thanks Sam,

Yeah the Tang idea is pretty much a pipe dream until I get a bigger tank it seems.
The Boxfish will also be on the back burner for now as don't want to risk nuking the tank. Blenny could be a possibility. I like the sandsifting ones that eat it and spit out the sand out of their gills. Firefish also look interesting too.

The cardinals are interesting how they just seem to freeze in the water the way they do, not sure I'd want them in the tank though if I can put other fish that swim around a bit more and create more ambience.

 

[Sam816]

Thanks Sam,

Yeah the Tang idea is pretty much a pipe dream until I get a bigger tank it seems.
The Boxfish will also be on the back burner for now as don't want to risk nuking the tank. Blenny could be a possibility. I like the sandsifting ones that eat it and spit out the sand out of their gills. Firefish also look interesting too.

The cardinals are interesting how they just seem to freeze in the water the way they do, not sure I'd want them in the tank though if I can put other fish that swim around a bit more and create more ambience.

Sand sifting ones are gobies and they can grow upto 6 inch as well. There are smaller gobies as well might not soft sand though. Buy a conch for sand sifting & a Gobi to add color n character to the tank. U can also go for a hawkfish.
Check out yellow striped cardinals or red traffic light cardinals.
You should prefer fish that hover/stay in a small area. That way there won't be any fighting/bullying.

 

[Tamberav]

Wrasse and dwarf angels are packed with color and activity.

 

[DarkReefer]

Sand sifting ones are gobies and they can grow upto 6 inch as well. There are smaller gobies as well might not soft sand though. Buy a conch for sand sifting & a Gobi to add color n character to the tank. U can also go for a hawkfish.
Check out yellow striped cardinals or red traffic light cardinals.
You should prefer fish that hover/stay in a small area. That way there won't be any fighting/bullying.

Ah that's them, the gobies. Sorry still getting used to the names of everything.

Honestly I think I prefer the normal Cardinal's more. The red and yellow ones seem to have completely different shape to them unless google images showing me lies.

Wrasse look pretty interesting and colourful as are the dwarf angels so they could be potential options
Wish I could keep the 'cooler' looking fish though but seems most that I come across need the larger tank hahaha

 

[afishbestservedcold]

I like the peaceful fish because I keep a lot of inverts, they wont bother corals either. Even though you have a 70, its not THAT big and personally I like how the smaller fish make the tank look bigger overall, heres a short list along those lines:

rainfords and hectors gobys
the tamer basslets, candy cane, assessor, swiss guard, etc.
just got a talbots damsel and he is as peaceful as can be
tailspot blenny
helfrichi firefish
dragonets (dont get a mandarin its just a pain and even a 70 might not be enough pods)
jawfish
two spot goby
randalls goby (plus a randalls pistol shrimp of course)
green/black/yellow clown goby

On the more aggressive side
dottybacks
damselfish other than in Chrysiptera
dwarf angels
hawkfish
possum wrasse
pink streaked wrasse
all the wrasses.

 

[DarkReefer]

I like the peaceful fish because I keep a lot of inverts, they wont bother corals either. Even though you have a 70, its not THAT big and personally I like how the smaller fish make the tank look bigger overall, heres a short list along those lines:

rainfords and hectors gobys
the tamer basslets, candy cane, assessor, swiss guard, etc.
just got a talbots damsel and he is as peaceful as can be
tailspot blenny
helfrichi firefish
dragonets (dont get a mandarin its just a pain and even a 70 might not be enough pods)
jawfish
two spot goby
randalls goby (plus a randalls pistol shrimp of course)
green/black/yellow clown goby

On the more aggressive side
dottybacks
damselfish other than in Chrysiptera
dwarf angels
hawkfish
possum wrasse
pink streaked wrasse
all the wrasses.

That's quite a list!
Thank you for that, I'll have to look into each of those, but I appreciate you making some suggestions!