Stocking Suggestions and help (30 gallon)

[ArowanaLover1902]

I'm building a 30 gallon reef (I have to get it drilled next week as well as buy the filter and rock/live sand) and I'm pretty excited about getting to stock it in a couple months (I still need the lighting and heater, but I'll use some little cheap heater and light lighting to cycle until I can get the real stuff). I'm moving my current biocube 29 (actually around 23 gallons, with only about 20 being the actual tank) over to it so I am stocking it with the following:
- Yellow watchman
- Lawnmower blenny (I actually just bought him as a test blenny, I wanted to see if I could do it [I definitely can, he is too fat now and I don't even feed my tank, no clue what he is eating] so I'll probably return him and get a different blenny)
- clownfish
- royal gramma (my favorite fish I own, he has survived every one of my mistakes and is around 3-4 years old or something)
- emerald crab
- porcelain crab (I assume, I've never seen him but I never found a body either, I think he is just sneaky)
- a few hermits and snails
- tons of coral (too much for my current tank almost) and loads of pods (I assume, I never feed my tank and all my fish/coral are fat and happy)
- feather duster worm

I'd love to add:
- maybe a tang? (please don't yell at me tang police, I don't know much about tangs)
- maybe an angelfish (again, don't know a ton about these, I've only been able to get little fish for a long time)
- In short I'd love a showpiece fish that has a lot of personality and will always be swimming around where I can see him
- A new blenny (lawnmowers are super drab)
- A shrimp (no pistols or peppermints, I had a pistol and he was killed by a peppermint shrimp after a year of living with a goby, he was awesome but pretty destructive and was always kicking up sand)
- maybe a firefish (probably a purple one)
- I don't know, suggest whatever you think will work, I'm not saying all these fish, just two or three (I'm just throwing out suggestions)

My filtration will be really good so don't worry about that.

 

[Gunz767]

Remember to quarantine each new fish and add them over a period of time, not all at the same time. Also stay away from tangs with that size tank unless you buy a baby and upgrade in the future when he gets big/return to LFS. I'm sure someone will be along with better advice soon. Pics of tank?

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I would definitely stay away from tangs and most angelfish. You could keep a cherub angel, but they can nip at corals and can be a little aggressive.

I would suggest a bi-color or tailspot blenny if you rehome the lawnmower. Both of those have tons of personality and much better coloration. My next suggestion would be a tribal blenny, but they can be aggressive as well. My old one would attack anything that moved pretty much and also went carpet surfing (found him after it was too late after he squeezed through the gap made for my powerhead cable) but he had some amazing blue markings on his face and also liked to munch on algae.

Firefish are okay as long as there is a lid or hood on the tank completely covering it.

You wouldn't think of them initially as a showcase fish, but pearly or yellowheaded jawfish are amazing looking and once they get used to their owners have some of the most inquisitive and interesting personality quirks. Again, I would highly suggest getting a lid, but these fish are well worth it. Mine died after I did a tank move, so they don't do well with stress, but as long as that's not an issue they're pretty hardy and do well in sandy bottom aquariums. I've been trying to get another one for a while but I'm not sure about how it would get along with my goby-less pistol shrimp.

I would stick with 4-6 fish you really like in a tank this size.

As stated above, remember to QT as best you can as you get new fish.

 

[Annelise]

Sorry this is a year later, lol. But I'm setting up a 30g right now and have similar ideas for stock, I'd love to see your tank now or just your stock list!