Reef Safe Fish

nest9 · Apr 24, 2012

What other fish would be compatible with a reef setup and the following fish:

Clown (2)
Blue Tang (2)
Engineer Goby (1)
Sand sifting goby (1)

Couple of medium sized shrimp and couple small crabs.

Also, for a 175G tank, what would be a safe number of fish for the tank without crowding it too much?

Thanks.

revhtree · Apr 24, 2012

What are the dimensions of the tank? You have a ton of option!

H@rry · Apr 24, 2012

Pajama cardinal, Royal Gramma, Chromis, Foxface, Psuedochromis, to name a few. Also, some wrasses but be careful of which ones with the shrimp.

Tomoko Schum · Apr 24, 2012

You got some good recommendation so far. Any of them recommended above is great.

I would stay away from an engineer goby since they can dig huge holes to the base of your tank until your rocks tumble. They look neat but not the most suitable fish for your reef aquarium.

Sand sifters can change the appearance of your sand bed a lot and also irriate some corals on the sand bed. I have a high-fin goby and a very pretty red and while alphius pistol shrimp pair who constantly relandscape my sand bed. I am fond of them, but they can be a nuisance, too.

There are many great reef fish. I recommend either borrowing or investing into a reef aquarium fish by Scott Michaels. (Amazon.com: A PocketExpert Guide to Reef Aquarium Fishes: 500+ Essential-to-Know Species (Microcosm/T.F.H. Professional) (9781890087890): Scott W. Michael: Books).

nest9 · Apr 24, 2012

Thanks to everyone for the information. I will have to get the dimensions of the set up. I purchased but can not move it until Saturday. I love the way some Angefish and seahorses look but I have read that the seahorse might now fair so well. From what I can tell there are about 3 bigger rocks in the tank and they all weigh from 20-30 lbs a piece. I am very new to the hobby. I realize there is a lot of information out there and the more you educate yourself the better off your aquarium will be.

H@rry · Apr 24, 2012

If they weight 20 - 30 lbs apiece that is some big rock!

Sea Horses are pretty timid and are usually kept by themselves. I think they also like cooler temps than we normally run our reefs. Some of the dwarf angels are good reef citizens although they are hit or miss. We have a couple now that we have had for several years and are model citizens. We have also had some that nipped at coral and had to be removed.

You are doing the right thing by asking here before you get something that you don't need or that will cause trouble down the road. Feel free to ask when in doubt. There are many people here who are more than willing to answer your questions.

Good Luck.