Unique fish on a budget

[Katrina71]

Engineer goby! $14! If your rock work is SUPER stable.
Bangaai cardinals...not super unique but pretty and cheap and captive bred!
PJ cardinals...same
Yellowhead Pike fish...if you have a small tank, very tiny, huge attitude

Agree on the Pike Blenny!

 

[lion king]

Redtail filefish, goes for about $25-30, you rarely see them and they are super cool and beautiful.

 

[joec]

Timor wrasse. Not very common, beautiful, active but not crazy active, peaceful, pretty good with inverts, not too big, great personalities

I paid $35 for mine

 

[joec]

Redtail filefish, goes for about $25-30, you rarely see them and they are super cool and beautiful.

I saw one at LFS a while back, very cool fish

 

[Mordie101]

Any pictures of the mentioned above fish? Personal pictures? I’m interested in this forum!

 

[TheBackAndForth]

Redtail filefish, goes for about $25-30, you rarely see them and they are super cool and beautiful.

So cool

 

[YellowFinsReef]

I got golden dominoes for $20 on LA. They're meanies, so they're in the sump.

***for some reason my picture couldn't load

 

[lion king]

Dwarf lionfish; a zebra for $20-30 which you don;t see often, or a fuzzy for $30-40. Just do your research on feeding challenges.

 

[TheBackAndForth]

I got golden dominoes for $20 on LA. They're meanies, so they're in the sump.

***for some reason my picture couldn't load

absolute terrors. petco carries rolland's in their "assorted damselfish" tanks often. They aren't much different than chromis and i always buy them when i see them

 

[welsher7]

What size tank?

Hamlets are cool, the indigo, butter, and blue.

 

[TheBackAndForth]

What size tank?

Hamlets are cool, the indigo, butter, and blue.

currently, Im running an 80 frag and nuvo 20 that both could use more stock!

 

[Peter Clark]

I had a Hawaiian Whitespotted Puffer (Canthigaster jactator) back in college and loved the little guy. Kept it with a snowflake moray and some triggers. At least back then it was rare for people to keep them. I had seen them in the wild so wanted one and tracked one down online. Looks like it is easier to find now. I'll admit I prefer the look of some of the other tobies (valentini and the blue spot both are stunning to me), but this one is unique.

 

[PhilT]

Dwarf lionfish; a zebra for $20-30 which you don;t see often, or a fuzzy for $30-40. Just do your research on feeding challenges.

My dwarf fuzzy just started wolfing down chunks of LRS after a month. Before I was feeding guppies and ghost shrimp. He’s in a tank with a filefish and little powder blue tang. Maybe seeing the tang eat frozen got him interested. Before he only grabbed a few mysis that got caught in the current so they looked alive.

 

[TheBackAndForth]

My dwarf fuzzy just started wolfing down chunks of LRS after a month. Before I was feeding guppies and ghost shrimp. He’s in a tank with a filefish and little powder blue tang. Maybe seeing the tang eat frozen got him interested. Before he only grabbed a few mysis that got caught in the current so they looked alive.

The fuzzy dwarf is super cool

 

[ConnieHamers]

Jawfish are adorable

 

[TheBackAndForth]

Do you guys know of any rarer medium to large angels that are affordable?

 

[Gareth elliott]

Do you guys know of any rarer medium to large angels that are affordable?

What do you consider affordable? Also what type of tank and its tankmates? Some are much more coral appropriate than others, and others can be down right nasty to some types of fish. Also their tank size requirements vary greatly. Dwarf angels other than the extraordinary are affordable.
Some like a lemon peel can be a bit aggressive and likely to nip corals. My coral beauty was around $50 i think, i honestly don’t remember the exact price, not uncommon but a very pretty fish that fingers crossed hasnt bothered my corals [emoji23]

Others would be lamarks angel or a black velvet angel. Lamarks would be the first choice between the two for temperament, coral behavior, size and number of keepers who successfully keep. But both are lower priced though.

My next build was going with a pair of multibar angels expecting to be about 2-300 just for them.

 

[lion king]

Do you guys know of any rarer medium to large angels that are affordable?

There are some dwarf angels that fit in your 80, but like all angels I would not consider any of them totally reef safe. One of the most popular, the coral beauty, you can get for around $40.

 

[TheBackAndForth]

There are some dwarf angels that fit in your 80, but like all angels I would not consider any of them totally reef safe. One of the most popular, the coral beauty, you can get for around $40.

I have a bicolor right now that’s about 4 years old now (at least prior to collection). He has survived two crashes and many moves. He’s only nippy to favia, which I keep in the 20 instead.

I ordered a grey Poma juvi on live aquaria with the other order, but he/she arrived nearly dead. I’m afraid to try another given how sensitive the fish was. I dislike taking fish out of the ocean that can’t don’t do well in captivity, and I wonder if that genus is just too stressed (interestly though, I have a Singapore that has been super hardy and easy to keep. LFS owner told me she had had him for 4 months and couldn’t sell him—and lowkey their saltwater fish section is awful, so I figured this was a special case)

If angels aren’t too picky and don’t bother stony corals, I don’t mind.

 

[TheBackAndForth]

What do you consider affordable? Also what type of tank and its tankmates? Some are much more coral appropriate than others, and others can be down right nasty to some types of fish. Also their tank size requirements vary greatly. Dwarf angels other than the extraordinary are affordable.
Some like a lemon peel can be a bit aggressive and likely to nip corals. My coral beauty was around $50 i think, i honestly don’t remember the exact price, not uncommon but a very pretty fish that fingers crossed hasnt bothered my corals [emoji23]

Others would be lamarks angel or a black velvet angel. Lamarks would be the first choice between the two for temperament, coral behavior, size and number of keepers who successfully keep. But both are lower priced though.

My next build was going with a pair of multibar angels expecting to be about 2-300 just for them.

I really like lamarcks.. maybe that is the way to go.

I love potters and regal’s... but obviously that just seems like an expensive and sad death in most cases

I have a bicolor that has been by my side through thick and thin. They are beautiful fish, and mine has been very hardy.