Small "pretty" fish

Gdbyrd

Gdbyrd

life's a beach
My first additions to my tank were a pair of saddle brown clownfish. I love them...but my wife HATES them, lol. She doesn't really, but she was disappointed that they aren't more brightly colored.

My 7 year anniversary is coming up in about a week..and it ties in perfect for 3.5 weeks since I've had my fish. So my wife really wanted to get me a new fish for my aquarium. I can pick it out. But I'd really like to get something very colorful with personality so she'll leave me alone, hehe.

So what do you guys recommend?

Looking through liveaquaria..she really likes blue tangs, any of the butterflies, and a lot of the dwarf angels. The tangs would only work while they were small..not sure on the care of butterflies. The problem with a lot of the fish she likes is that they are not reef safe, or they get too big..Or they really need to be added last so they won't be territorial.
 
stay away from tangs and butterflies your tank is to small even for small tangs they need a lot of room to swim. look at a filimented flasher wrasse, yellow hogfish, firefish, or other dart fish,
 
hmm wish i could help you out here. I had a coral beauty for a while was a cool fish but it died of ick. Then i had to do the whole leave tank fallow thing. after getting chromis back in decided to make it into a reef so havent bought any new fish. Tangs and butterflies get to big for our tank size. Look into wrasse those can be very colorful and dont get to big. Just have to watch aggression. Lots of people say the sixline gets real mean so be careful with that one. Your wife sounds like mine she wants me to get a big colorful fish. I informed her then i needed a tank twice the size. Good luck and let me know what you go with I am always looking also.
 
butterflies almost always die in a couple months or less they are very hard to get to feed and to get them the right food that they need.
 
Butterflies have very specific feeding requirements, and usually don't live long in our tanks. Both tangs and butterflies would need a much larger tank than yours. A coral beauty or flame angel would work well. A pair of firefish would also be good, they come in red or purple.

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/marine/angels/images/CoralBeauty(Dusky)AngelfishWMA_C1608.jpg (coral beauty)

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/marine/angels/images/FlameAngelWMA_Ap8SA.jpg (flame angel)

http://zckimg.com/squidoo/nano-fish/firefish.jpg (red firefish)

http://aquadaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/purple-firefish.png (purple firefish)
 
Dwarf Angels are nice but sometimes they will peck some at your corals. To bad there aren't any Dwarf Tangs! Wouldn't that be cool.
 
dcantucson said:
Dwarf Angels are nice but sometimes they will peck some at your corals. To bad there aren't any Dwarf Tangs! Wouldn't that be cool.
Click to expand...

That would be awesome! I have a strong feeling she is going to like the angel..just because it's so bright. Personally, I'd go for a purple firefish. I just know some people have said that they can be very shy when solo in a tank.

I kinda like the scissortail darfish, but if I went that route I don't think I'd be able to get a watchman goby..and I really want that to be the last fish I add to my tank.
 
+1 decan i also agree with you I have a coral beauty and it doesnt touch my coral, but it is a 50/50 shot with angels.But I would chance it again and again to have a coral beauty:bowdown:
 
I had my coral beauty and another dwarf angel were model citizens for 4 yrs and then all of a sudden they started munching on my corals. They almost wrecked my reef. I had to tear my reef apart to get them out and find new homes for them. If this is going to be a reef tank then I would think long and hard. Are you willing to tear the tank apart if they do start munching to get rid of them.
 
Your saddlebacks might be a bit aggressive towards any new fish that you put in your tank, so when you add the new kid turn off your lights to help them adjust better.

royal gramma is a great brightly colored fish. any of the darts are jumpers and a bit shy even if they are put in in pairs or trio's. Coral Beauty's are usually the one dwarf angel that does the best in reef tanks 99% of the time :) Flasher wrasses would do okay in there, jumpers and are also schooling fish.

Canary blennies have great personalities. Chalk basslets are neat to.

As everyone says NO tangs or butterflys, you already need a bigger tank LOL..
 
Gdbyrd said:
Personally, I'd go for a purple firefish. I just know some people have said that they can be very shy when solo in a tank.
Click to expand...

Very true. I ordered 2 firefish and 1 of them DOA. The remaining one always hide in some tiny crack in the rocks. Once I got a new replacement, both of them always come out. Happily ever after.

Even right now, if you look at my webcam, they are both hanging out at the lower left hand side hovering. :)
 
Agreed with Winyfrog on the Royal Gramma...Very bright and awesome to look at. I'd also recommend the Flame Angel. It's a hit or miss on the coral munching but I had no problems with mine.
 
I had a coral beauty for a bit and they are wonderful fish :) full of color and very active! go for one of those! teehee

or... even go for a mandrin ;) they are all the colors of a rainbow!
 
I would love a mandarin. But my tank is too new, probably too small to ever own one.

Would I need to worry about aggression issues with the coral beauty or flame angel? Had always heard to add that towards the end.

Winy, are saddle browns notorious for being more aggressive than normal clowns?

I just wish she would let me get a new skimmer or some lights or something I really need. Ah well.
 
your tank isn't too small for a mandrin, heck I read an article online of a guy keeping them in a 5g tank!! mine is in a 20 right now and hes a whopping 1inch big right now lol.. cute lil guy (we call him scooter). How long has your tank been setup? as long as you have a really good population of copepods (or are able to buy and breed your own like I do) he'll be fit as a fiddle in your tank :)
 

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