New to reefing, looking for inspiration

cartery · Jul 28, 2024

Hi! I'm brand new to reef/marine aquariums and I'm looking for some inspiration. I have a 28g low boy from zoomed that I'm planning to plumb to a standard 29g. The two things I find most appealing are oddball fish/inverts and the idea of a large, really healthy refugium. (My other tank is Mudskippers in a brackish mudflat with a tidal system, if that gives any sense of what I like.) I recently learned about the TRITON method and thought it sounded fun to attempt. I don't really know anything about coral, but I'm planning to learn. Any recommendations or thoughts would be really welcome!

alexysr · Jul 28, 2024

Love this! Welcome to the hobby !!! I have an oddball of a fish who I personally love, he has so much personality, and thinks hes like some kind of king and I swear he will never stop being curious. He is ALWAYS watching me, or my pc screens, and literally can not get enough. The citron goby! They are super peaceful fish, the only down side is that they eat a type of coral being acropora..... anyways, silliest fish ever, I definitely recommend him, been fish keeping for years and hes probably been my favorite fish. Ill add some photos and vids. Something similar to mudskippers would probably be watchman gobies or blennies (a lot of them look hilarious), also silly little guys. For coral I'd recommend starting with softies or easy to keep frags.

crazyfishmom · Jul 28, 2024

+1 to the citron goby… also to his cousin, the green clown goby.

cartery · Jul 29, 2024

Great, thank you! And thanks for the pics!

I'm definitely a big fan of gobies and blennies. I'll start looking into these guys.

I really like the idea of a frogfish, but after reading more about them, I'm not so sure.

ZzyzxRiver · Jul 29, 2024

I have a yellow watchman goby and a red scooter blenny, and they hang out together all the time—they practically cuddle. I recommend!

ZzyzxRiver · Jul 29, 2024

Solo McReefer · Jul 29, 2024

cartery said:
My other tank is Mudskippers in a brackish mudflat with a tidal system

You can add mud to your system. Miracle Mud

Mike Palletta swears by it(is he still alive?)

Gumbies R Us · Jul 29, 2024

I’ll vouch for watchman gobies as well. They are some fun fish to add to your tank!

cartery · Jul 29, 2024

Solo McReefer said:
You can add mud to your system. Miracle Mud

Mike Palletta swears by it(is he still alive?)

I'd hear a little about that. I'll dig into it and see what I learn. The Mudskippers' mud is a mix of clay from a ceramic shop, zilla jungle mix, and brackish water.

kevgib67 · Jul 29, 2024

My tailspot blenny is the smallest fish in my tank but has the biggest personality , love him.

ZzyzxRiver · Jul 29, 2024

Fantasy tank idea: lots of rock and nothing but blennies and gobies, a couple dozen sexy shrimp, and the weirdest looking CUC possible. Someone with an extra tank and time to spare, make it happen pleaseeee

cartery · Jul 29, 2024

ZzyzxRiver said:
Fantasy tank idea: lots of rock and nothing but blennies and gobies, a couple dozen sexy shrimp, and the weirdest looking CUC possible. Someone with an extra tank and time to spare, make it happen pleaseeee

This sounds awesome. I don't know about blennies, but I know gobies aren't very nice to each other. I guess that's where thoughtful rock work would come in! I was looking over some oddball inverts and some of those stars and clams/oysters look really interesting.

alexysr · Jul 29, 2024

cartery said:
but I know gobies aren't very nice to each other. I guess that's where thoughtful rock work would come in!

Rock play and a bunch of sand will def help with a few goby species!. I've only had one problem before with watchman gobies and it got fixed up after mixing up the rock scape for new territory. FME nothing has ever happened with having multiple different variants of clown gobies together. And from my boyfriends tank of just blennies and watchman, theres no reef beef... surprisingly. You could even buy a mated pair of gobies if you want to be safe, but it isnt that cheap (yet what is in this hobby LOL)... There are tons of different kind of gobies. Trying to ready a tank right now for a pair of panda gobies, cutesy little guys.