Top 5 fish for Open Top Tanks

[Matthews13]

Hello All,
I woke up to discover that one of my coolest looking fish, a Coral Beauty, had managed to take advantage of a mistake I made last night by not putting the lid back down on my 60 gallon cube. I woke up to him on the floor. Hence the reason for this post.

What would you recommend as the top 5 fish, as a collaborative, that I can have in my open top tank that wont end up with the same fate. I have a peaceful tank and they should get along with each other. I do have a yellow tang in there and she runs the roost, but calmed down in about a week once I introduced the Coral Beauty. I also have a Purple Backed Dottyback in there only because I cant catch him to get rid of him. The prettier the fish, the better. It is a FOWLR tank.

Thanks in advance,
Matthews13

 

[saltyphish]

Unfortunately, I have read many posts of fish jumping out that I would never have thought would do it. There is always that abnormal fish in the group that throws us all off. I don't think there is ever a guarantee.

 

[kschweer]

Unfortunately, I have read many posts of fish jumping out that I would never have thought would do it. There is always that abnormal fish in the group that throws us all off. I don't think there is ever a guarantee.

+1. Just about any fish can be a jumper, some are just more likely to jump like wrasses or blennies. Any reason you don't want to keep a cover on the tank?

 

[eatbreakfast]

Any fish can jump. In fact I would think a coral beauty would be pretty unlikely to jump. If other fish are behaving aggressively jumping is more likely to occur. A yellow tang and the dottyback can both be on the aggressive side, particularly in a 60g.

 

[Bad Company]

My jawfish cleared 12" on it's way to the carpet... luckily I was there and returned him to the tank... he was excited about eating. The lid quickly went back on.

 

[Matthews13]

+1. Just about any fish can be a jumper, some are just more likely to jump like wrasses or blennies. Any reason you don't want to keep a cover on the tank?

The tank didn't come with a lid. Its one of the Red Sea Reefer tanks. Working on figuring out ways to keep them in there.

 

[kschweer]

If I'm not mistaken those are rimless right? If so take a look through my build thread, I made one for my 57 rimless. Let me see if I can link you over to it.

 

[Matthews13]

The tank didn't come with a lid. Its one of the Red Sea Reefer tanks. Working on figuring out ways to keep them in there.

And that tank he jumped out of had a lid, i just forgot to put it down after feeding. I normally do. I am just trying to do some research for my open top tank.

 

[kschweer]

Built a screen top in hopes of adding a couple wrasses in the near future. Thinking of a pair of flame wrasses but still not positive. Any other suggestions?

Held in place with acrylic strips

Pretty happy with how it turned out

Not sure why the pictures aren't showing but it's post 117 on this page.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/kschweer-57-rimless-build.132739/page-6

 

[kschweer]

Here's a little more detailed description to go with the pictures

Thank you very much! As far as the screen top went I got the aluminum screen frame, the corners for the frame and the rubber strip that holds the screen in the frame from the Home Depot. The mesh itself if the 1/4" clear mesh from BRS. If I were to do it again (which I may) I would use 4 smaller acrylic "tabs" closer to the corners instead of the 2 in the center I used. Reason being it would be more stable with the 4. Other than that small issue I'm happy with it. You really have to look to see the tabs which is good because that was one of my biggest concerns. Depending on your setup you may need to leave a small amount of space in the back between the screen frame and the glass to run cords for powerheads.