Help Me Decide on a New Fish or Inverts

[Rcpilot]

Some of you probably know I'm getting rid of my 6-line wrasse:
https://www.livingreefs.com/damn-6-line-t19355.html

I'm keeping my mis-barred ocellaris clown (Nemo). He's cool and the kids love him. He's the only fish in my 30g tank after the wrasse is gone. I'm not sure what to do.

A few thoughts crossed my mind:

1 - shrimp and inverts. I don't have any shrimp or star fish. I'd like a coral banded shrimp and maybe a sexy shrimp. There's a couple reef safe star fish that I also like.

The problem is I still have 4 or 5 hermits in the tank. A couple red legs and a couple blue leg w/yellow tips. Will the hermits eat the shrimp? The star fish? :shock:

2 - Another ocellaris clown to play with Nemo. Keep in mind, I do not have an anenome and will NOT get one -- EVER. I don't have enough light and I'm not willing to take the risk of it taking a walk and killing the rest of my reef.

Obviously, no tangs or other large fish. And any fish I add need to be 100% reef safe. I'm not willing to risk any of my corals as a lunchtime snack for a dwarf angel or anything else that could even POSSIBLY eat the corals. Any fish I add need to be small and STAY small. I DO NOT like the idea of overstocking my tank - even though I'm confident my filtration would handle it. It's just bad form to have 15" of fish in a 30g tank.

Any ideas? What would you do?

 

[daugherty]

Some of you probably know I'm getting rid of my 6-line wrasse:
https://www.livingreefs.com/damn-6-line-t19355.html

I'm keeping my mis-barred ocellaris clown (Nemo). He's cool and the kids love him. He's the only fish in my 30g tank after the wrasse is gone. I'm not sure what to do.

A few thoughts crossed my mind:

1 - shrimp and inverts. I don't have any shrimp or star fish. I'd like a coral banded shrimp and maybe a sexy shrimp. There's a couple reef safe star fish that I also like.

The problem is I still have 4 or 5 hermits in the tank. A couple red legs and a couple blue leg w/yellow tips. Will the hermits eat the shrimp? The star fish? :shock:

2 - Another ocellaris clown to play with Nemo. Keep in mind, I do not have an anenome and will NOT get one -- EVER. I don't have enough light and I'm not willing to take the risk of it taking a walk and killing the rest of my reef.

Obviously, no tangs or other large fish. And any fish I add need to be 100% reef safe. I'm not willing to risk any of my corals as a lunchtime snack for a dwarf angel or anything else that could even POSSIBLY eat the corals. Any fish I add need to be small and STAY small. I DO NOT like the idea of overstocking my tank - even though I'm confident my filtration would handle it. It's just bad form to have 15" of fish in a 30g tank.

Any ideas? What would you do?

look at a flimanted flasher wrasse. ( i had one until it jumped and was a very peacefull fish)
stay away from clown gobys
as for your hermits they will leave shrimp alone i like the sexy shrimp and the fire shrimp

 

[Rcpilot]

I like these:
Red Stripe goby
Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Red Striped Goby

Neon goby:
Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Neon Goby

Yellow clown goby:
Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Clown Goby, Yellow

Sea horses:
Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Great Seahorse - Tank-Bred

Royal Gramma:
Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Reef Aquariums: Royal Gramma Basslet

Gold Assessor Basslet:
Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Gold Assessor Basslet

Long spine cardinalfish:
Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Longspine Cardinalfish

Red Scooter blenny:
Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Scooter Red Blenny

I can get these pipefish locally:
Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Reef Aquariums: Dragonface Pipefish

Coral banded shrimp:
Saltwater Aquarium Shrimp for Marine Reef Aquariums: Banded Coral Shrimp

Shexy shrimp:
Saltwater Invertebrates for Marine Reef Aquariums: Sexy Anemone Shrimp

Bumblebee shrimp:
Saltwater Aquarium Invertebrates for Marine Aquariums: Bumble Bee Shrimp

Dusters:
Fan Worms: Feather Duster Worms and other Fan Worm Species

Clams, but I might be short on light and I don't have a spot to put one of these up higher in the tank. My tank is packed with rock and corals already, so no space on a high ledge to put one. If I get one, it's going to have to sit on the sand. My tank is 24" deep with about 5" of sand. So about 18" of water. I am using 144w of HO T5 lights. It's pretty bright and a few LFS have told me I can keep anything I want with these lights. I am unsure. Most of the clams I see are under MUCH brighter lights than I have.
Sea Clams: Tridacna Clam Species for Marine Aquarium Tanks

Thats about all I can see that would go well in my tank.

 

[Rcpilot]

look at a flimanted flasher wrasse. ( i had one until it jumped and was a very peacefull fish)
stay away from clown gobys
as for your hermits they will leave shrimp alone i like the sexy shrimp and the fire shrimp

Why not a clown goby?
Are they mean?
Jumpers?
Too big for my tank?

 

[daugherty]

clown gobys --if you have any sps they can and will kill them.(mine killed two they nip the polyps.)
i think that you would be fine having a clam in your tank prob up higher in the rock work.
i have a crocea in my 75 under t5 ho's and it does great any were in the tank. feather dusters are just filter feeders nothing special about them and they can help make a tank look great.

here is a pic of my wrasse that i had before it jumped

 

[tankedchemist]

I really dig my yellow watchman goby/pistol shrimp combo. The kid loves watching these two together. Also, my hermits don't go anywhere near either my pistol shrimp or my fire shrimp. I really like the fire-- he eats right from my hand, and we've only had him a couple weeks. just my :twocents:

 

[daugherty]

the red scooter blennys are a dragonet just like a manderen they usually only eat pods.

 

[Rcpilot]

I got plenty of pods. You should see them all. My refugium has always been LOADED with them and my tank has so many that if you just sit and stare the rocks look alive -- movement of pods crawling all over. I've identified 2 or 3 different types of pods. Copepods, amphipods etc... Some are 1/2" long or more and look like tiny lobsters without the claws.

I have no SPS and don't intend to have any.

 

[Rcpilot]

Daugherty thats a beautiful wrasse. Or WAS a beautiful wrasse...... sucks that it decided to go carpet surfing.

 

[daugherty]

i am wanting to get another one very friendly but i think my clown had something to do with its jumping

 

[yote]

Everything thats been mentioned so far would work good Rc.EXCEPT the Coral Banded Shrimp.Their known predators of both fish and corals.

 

[Rcpilot]

Cool Yote. did not know that about the CBS. Thats why this site is so great. If you read anything from Foster Smith it says the CBS is totally reef safe.

Takes REAL reefers to provide the good advice. :Cheers:

 

[yote]

Cool Yote. did not know that about the CBS. Thats why this site is so great. If you read anything from Foster Smith it says the CBS is totally reef safe.

Takes REAL reefers to provide the good advice. :Cheers:

I learned that lesson the hard way.When I first started adding corals,I got to noticing that would just dissappear.Then one night I caught my CBS red clawed actually feeding on LIVE coral polyps.The final draw came when it caught a chromis I had.

 

[Rcpilot]

I learned that lesson the hard way.When I first started adding corals,I got to noticing that would just dissappear.Then one night I caught my CBS red clawed actually feeding on LIVE coral polyps.The final draw came when it caught a chromis I had.

So, how did he taste? :lol:

 

[Bifferwine]

Yeah coral banded shrimp can be pretty aggressive towards other animals. I've always been really surprised that they always seem to be sold as "reef safe" and "friendly". It's pretty well known that they are fish killers.

Have you thought about scissortail dartfish? They are pretty badass.

 

[Rcpilot]

Yeah coral banded shrimp can be pretty aggressive towards other animals. I've always been really surprised that they always seem to be sold as "reef safe" and "friendly". It's pretty well known that they are fish killers.

Have you thought about scissortail dartfish? They are pretty badass.

I feel a little silly 'cause I had no idea the CBS was a killer.

Scissortail dartfish? :shock:

Rcpilot<<< runs off to investigate ......................

Edit:
No can do. Requires a tight fitting lid because they like to go carpet surfing.

 

[mng777777]

I would avoid the second clown it is likely to fight with nemo. I also suggest avoiding the CBS. I may be out of line here for saying it, but maybe you should wait till you decide if you are moving out of state or not. Anything you add now is just one more thing you have to catch and transport if/when you make the move.

 

[Rcpilot]

I would avoid the second clown it is likely to fight with nemo. I also suggest avoiding the CBS. I may be out of line here for saying it, but maybe you should wait till you decide if you are moving out of state or not. Anything you add now is just one more thing you have to catch and transport if/when you make the move.

You got a point.

 

[mng777777]

any news on that yet?

 

[yote]

So, how did he taste? :lol:

Crunchy:^: