Nano fish and inverts for 150g

[bluerun]

Getting ready to set up my first saltwater aquarium. It’s a 150g but I truly love having smaller fish as I feel it gives the whole tank a better sense scale. My 60g freshwater currently houses fish that will never get over 1” long and I absolutely love it!

What fish would you suggest that beginner friendly and reef safe? They don’t need to be schooling/shoaling.
I do see a lot gobies that are pretty small but I would like something to swim in all parts of the water column.

bonus points for any inverts that fit the bill as well!

EXTRA bonus points for photos from your tanks!!

 

[i cant think]

Getting ready to set up my first saltwater aquarium. It’s a 150g but I truly love having smaller fish as I feel it gives the whole tank a better sense scale. My 60g freshwater currently houses fish that will never get over 1” long and I absolutely love it!

What fish would you suggest that beginner friendly and reef safe? They don’t need to be schooling/shoaling.
I do see a lot gobies that are pretty small but I would like something to swim in all parts of the water column.

bonus points for any inverts that fit the bill as well!

EXTRA bonus points for photos from your tanks!!

I wouldn’t restrict yourself to only small fish.
In this hobby, small fish aren’t really eyecatchy, I have a nano tank with 7 fish in it… The only thing bringing eyes to the tank currently is one fish and the corals/clams.

You’ll want maybe 2-3 ‘large’ fish just to bring people’s eyes to the tank and then they can spot the secrets in the tank with the nano fish/inverts.
None of my 4’ tanks fish are truly small but they definitely have a range of sizes and the large fish bring peoples eyes in to spot all the other inverts and smaller species in the rocks.

In terms of fish you could have in a 150, you’re not restricted at all and there’s many out there. Blennies, Gobies, Damsels (Chrysiptera species only), and so on…

I’d personally have to have a school of maybe 6-7 Chrysiptera springeri as they’ll just dive throughout the rocks and eventually when you get them the corals.

I’d maybe also mix in 2-3 Chrysiptera starcki as their deep purple bodies with yellow fins would contrast well with the Springeri and again they’ll do a similar thing (Both species will help with pests too).

Outside of damsels I’d maybe go for a couple Gobiodon okinawae (again a nice group of 5-6) their bright yellow bodies are stunning ontop of coral. And they’ll perch all over the rocks just watching what happens.

Then for the lower water column I’d grab a Firefish or maybe two to pair up (If you want a group you’ll have to go with Nemateleotris magnifica as these are the only communal species). These guys will hover over the sand when settled in and be on the watch. Some specimens have a neon yellow dorsal spike whilst others have more of a white one.

Then for a larger fish to draw the eyes in I’d go for something unusual. Personally in my own reef I have a foxface for that reason (I also love them). The only downside is they are venomous but they aren’t going to outright harm you. The only way you could get stung is if you corner them or put your hand on the spines. Reality is with any rabbitfish they’ll just hide away from you. Here’s my Siganus magnificus

This is just what I’d do if I was aiming to have mainly small fish
And the photos of the fish were all off a quick search except the foxface

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

small fish like goby are prey fish in the reef. They are usually shy, skittish, and rarely move far from their homes.

Its not the same as keeping small freshwater fish. Reef fishes are territorial compared to freshwater fishes, each goby needs his own little space apart from the others. Usually can only keep one kind of each goby.

Masked goby is the only schooling goby I know, they are pretty cool actually, but they are so tiny, and will be hard to see in a 150 gallon.

I agree with I cantthink above, would suggest to research and reconsider your stock list.

 

[JoshL]

I have a much smaller tank, but its pretty heavily stocked with small, peaceful fish. In my experience if many smaller fish dont feel threatened by something aggressive or much larger, they will spend time in the water column once they acclimate to your tank.

Off the top of my head I would do a group of assessor basslets, they come in different colors, can be found captive bred, have interesting swimming behavior, and aren't aggressive or threatening towards anything, including each other. Very easy fish that eat readily, aren't particularly prone to disease and ship well.

 

[i cant think]

small fish like goby are prey fish in the reef. They are usually shy, skittish, and rarely move far from their homes.

Its not the same as keeping small freshwater fish. Reef fishes are territorial compared to freshwater fishes, each goby needs his own little space apart from the others. Usually can only keep one kind of each goby.

Masked goby is the only schooling goby I know, they are pretty cool actually, but they are so tiny, and will be hard to see in a 150 gallon.

I agree with I cantthink above, would suggest to research and reconsider your stock list.

Other schooling gobies are Trimma and Eviota species. These guys are small but you could have a group of maybe 10-15 with 2-3 groups of different species and they’d likely stand out nicely as another secret in the rocks.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Personally, I love the concept that you're looking at doing. Unfortunately, while there are a number of small inverts in the hobby, truly tiny fish (1" or less) that aren't gobies are actually pretty hard to come by in the hobby. So, personally, I'd look at fish that are 3" to 4" or less.

With that in mind, here are some fish suggestions that are 3" or less that aren't gobies (the common, tiny fish in the hobby are pretty much all gobies, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding a bunch of them):

-Barnacle Blennies
-Geometric Pygmy Hawkfish
-Pygmy Possum Wrasse
-Yellow Banded Possum Wrasse
-Six Line Wrasse
-Cardinalfishes
-Assessors
-Yellowtail Damselfish
-Dottybacks (these are known to be aggressive)
-Ocellaris Clownfish
-Whitespotted Pygmy Filefish
-Two Spot Bimaculatus Blenny
-Tail Spot Blenny
-Chinstrap Jawfish
-Coral Crouchers/Croucher Gobies (these are actually tiny scorpionfish, not gobies)
-Black and White Chromis
-Agile Chromis
-Black Bar Chromis
-Vanderbilt Chromis


Some basslets (typically the expensive, deep-water ones) would work, and Brotulids like the Dusky Brotulid (Diancistrus fuscus) could be fun too, but they're hard to come by (and I've heard they're extremely shy during the day, really only coming out at night). Depending on what else you put in your tank, you might be able to put some dwarf seahorses or similar in your tank too, but probably not.

For some inverts suggestions (all but one of these should be 1" or less max):

-Dwarf Hermit Crabs (Dwarf Red Tips, Dwarf Blue Legs, Dwarf Yellow Tips, Hidden Hermits, Dwarf Zebras, etc.)
-Acropora Crabs (Trapezia spp.)
-Porcelain Crabs (typically Petrolisthes or Neopetrolisthes spp.)
-Pom Pom Crabs
-Micro Brittle Starfish
-Aquilonastra Starfish (these are known in the hobby as Asterina Starfish, and often considered pests because they reproduce so readily and frequently in our tanks).
-Rusalty's (Aquaculture Nursery Farm's) Green Lantern Shrimp
-Bumblebee Shrimp (as a note for these guys, from all verifiable accounts, while they do inspect starfish and seem to feed off of something on the starfish, they don't seem to actually do any damage to the starfish, and they don't seem to actually eat them at all)
-Sexy Shrimp (these guys technically get up to 1 1/2")
-Chitons
-Shellback Crabs (Hypoconcha spp.)
-Skeleton Shrimp (Caprella spp.)

All kinds of "pods" (Copepods, Amphipods, Isopods, etc.) would work. Plenty of snails would work, as would some limpets if you can find them. If you're willing to feed phytoplankton regularly, then you could keep some bivalves (clams, oysters, scallops, etc.), barnacles, and or feather duster worms too, several of which would be small enough to meet the criteria.

I'm sure I've missed some suggestions, but this should be a decent start for you at least.

 

[Flatearth]

I have a 270 with some smaller fish, but no nano fish. I am more using the strategy mentioned above with a pair of blue throat triggers, tangs, and then mostly smaller fish.

This means I can't really have true nano fish since even a tang could eat an inch long fish after all. The nano species I am hurting for the most are:

Sexy shrimp- They are fascinating in my opinion, I enjoy watching them on rockflower anemones at the LFS I think they look great together!

Squat lobster: Probably wouldn't see them much especially in a big tank, but these guys are so cute in my opinion!

Yasha gobies- Very fun to watch, and the flagfin on the male is very showy for such a small fish. A must get in my opinion!

Barnacle blenny- Amusing and different.


For something open water I would go with a small wrasse, although I think most are more like 2 or 3 inches instead of 1 inch.


And if you really want to get deep in it:

Seahorse- A few small species available, and unlike anything else in the hobby. However they do have very specific care requirements and need the tank devoted to them.