Reef/invert-safe community fishes

Kizmar

Kizmar

#derpface
So I'm looking for suggestions on reef safe, invert safe community fish that won't get huge in my 120 gallon tank. 6" max size would be ideal... 7"-8" I would tolerate if the fish is cool. If there's a high chance that something might eat my Blood Shrimp or Hermit I'll likely not be interested.

I like colorful fish and want to have a variety of different shaped fish. For example; all the fish currently in my tank are long, slender shaped. I want a couple disk-shaped fish and some that are shaped more like a clown or damsel.

So here's what I have (to avoid fish fighting):
  • 2x Firefish
  • Blue Dot Jawfish
  • Court Jester/Rainford's Goby (Amblygobius rainfordi)

Here's what I'm looking at right now:
  • Leopard Wrasse (so far no red flags other then snails)
  • a pair of Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
  • maybe a Bristletooth Tomini Tang (Ctenochaetus tominiensis)
  • maybe a Golden Angelfish (Centropyge aurantia) - though the "reef safe" mark on this one is "with caution"
A side question to this: out of the wrasse family, which onces meet this safety criteria that you can house in the same tank and not have fighting?

Right now I'm in the "peaceful" phase of stocking fish. Once I get a couple more peaceful fish and give them time to establish a home, I do plan on adding a couple "semi-aggressive" fish (a Coral Beauty for example). I understand this is the way to introduce this mix to lower the chance of territory fighting and stress on the peaceful fish.

I don't plan on adding more then 3-4 more fish, depending on max size. I'm aware of the constraints I would have with my tank size and the rate at which they can be safely introduced.

Any other suggestion are very welcome and appreciated. :)
 
Last edited:
Other fish on my radar, but haven't researched much:
  • Dilectis Dottyback (Pseudochromis dilectus)
  • White Banded Possum Wrasse (Wetmorella albofasciata)
  • Blue Star Leopard Wrasse (Macropharyngodon bipartitus)
  • Linespot Flasher Wrasse (Paracheilinus lineopunctatus)
  • a butterfly fish?
 
The clowns and tang should be great, though that tang may get larger. Some species get 12-15", but Im not familiar with that one. As far as wrasses and angels, yes, i would add them last. And that dottyback will be a similar shape as what you have now.
 
Generally speaking, butterflies normally do not do well in our tanks long term. Also, if you're planning on keeping any kind of coral, you'll want to stay away from pretty much all of the butterfly's. Its a shame, because they are some incredible looking fish

The same applies to pretty much all angelfish as well. There are some that are less likely to bother corals, but its a 50/50 with most angels as well

In a 120, I would think that most of the Bristletooh tangs would be okay. Its too bad your tank isnt a little larger, cause one of these would be sweet
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+43+335&pcatid=335
 
Most angels tend to pick on select corals, though, dont they? So with research i believe you could find an angel that will leave the corals you want alone.

Or find someone with a fish that theyll part with who has been proven to ignore corals. ^^+1 its about 50/50 with most.

Hmmm..."Coral Beauty" seems like a bit of a misnomer, come to think of it...
 
I have read that about the dwarf angels. I had a pretty long conversation with an employee at my LFS about this specific subject.

This was his take on Dwarf Angels that are labeled as "reef safe: with caution" (readers digest version of the conversation):

Some might pick at corals, but won't damage them (just irritate at times), and some won't bother them at all. On rare occasions you'll get a fish that will do more then pick.

In addition, if the tank has large colonies of corals (not just frags) and you end up with a fish that picks at corals, it would be so minimal [comparatively] that you probably wouldn't even notice it. Most of the time they'll end up picking at the invasive-type corals anyway.

I don't know how true all this is, but it seemed logical at the time.
 
I had both a lemonpeel angel and a tomini tang. I loved both of them.
The lemonpeel ate my (one, tiny) SPS, but left everything else alone.
 
ErinCahir said:
I had both a lemonpeel angel and a tomini tang. I loved both of them.
The lemonpeel ate my (one, tiny) SPS, but left everything else alone.
Click to expand...

I loved mine to but I got rid of her cause she eventually started picking on certain corals mostly my duncans and frogspawn. She sure was pretty though


My favorite fish in my tank is my midas blenny with my second favorites being my pipefishes. I love my seahorses but they lack the personality that the blenny and pipefish have.
 
Picked up a small Tomini Tang and a small female colored Leopard Wrasse yesterday based on suggestions here.

The tang is a really neat fish. He ventures all over the tank, very shy but eating well.

The Leopard Wrasse ate some mysis shrimp within 3 minutes of being in the tank. She hid in the sand shorly after and has been hiding since.

@Northstar24 : The LFS had a REALLY cool looking Chevron Tang, which I've never seen before. Funny that one shows up there right after hearing about them here for the first time. Had it not been $200 I would have been tempted to get it... so cool.
 
I may have to take video in order to catch these guys. There are a lot of places to hide and weave around in my tank. ;)
 
Looks great. Seems like everyone is happy swimming around their new home. I like the firefish, they are so cool and innocent :)
 

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