Which fish to choose

[MikeP]

Getting ready to add more fish(not right away but sometime soon). My 30 gallon tank is still fairly new but I want to start research now into what fish to get. I have 2 faulse percula clowns and 1 blue damsel (I know it was a bit early, I shouldn't have listened to the guy who sells fish for a living). All three are doing well and I'm keeping a close eye on water quality. Anyway, you know what fish I have and size the tank is. I would like recommendations on what other fish I could get and what I should get for a clean up crew (I have seen banded corel shrimp and they look cool! are they good for clean up?)

Thanks for any info.

[Kabong]

Coral banded shrimp are basically a scavenger / hunter they will get any leftover food and will try to eat live stuff if hungry enough,
So its good to keep him fed.

As for clean up crew I prefer the start smaller and add if needed method.
Go for some variety in it. Astra's, ceriths, and a turbo for algae.
Some Nassarius snails to keep the sand bed clean.
As for hermit's I personally like them,
But others cant stand them. The scarlets seem to be the best behaved.

depending on your skimmer and how dedicated you are to your water changes
You could probably go with either a couple more small fish. Or one larger one.
Going off full grown size Your clowns will grow about 4" for the female and 3" to 3 1/2" for the male.

[TheReefGeek]

If you want other ornamental shrimp, the CBS is not a good choice, because it might kill them, so you are better to go with cleaner shrimp, peppermints, etc. But the CBS is great on its own, I love mine, and I do keep it with other shrimp, i'm lucky.

Look at clown gobies, lawnmower blennies, firefish, dart gobies, etc. to name a few. Pretty much small tanks are limited to the various clownfish, gobies, and blennies for the most part, and they are all nice and friendly towards each other.

[Moogled]

Hi Mike, welcome to the world of reefkeeping. I'm a beginner as well, but I recommend that you make a list of fish that you want to keep and then slowly work out the compability/size issues.

Off the top of my head, a 6-line Wrasse seems to be a very popular choice as well as the cheap and colorful Royal Gramma. Another choice would the uber-cool Banggai Cardinals but they should be added to a mature system.

As for a clean-up crew, TheReefGeek pretty much nailed it all. Hermit crabs are complete 'holes because they often knock liverock around. I would say go for some snails and a couple of Skunk Cleaner Shrimp. CBS are kind of like crayfish: you'd like to put them in with other stuff, but there's always the chance that it will kill some livestock.

By all means, I'm no expert at reefing, but I only pass on what I've garnered through conversation with some very knowledgeable people in the hobby. Hope this helps. :D

[MikeP]

Thanks for the help, this is where I'm at so far. My tank is cycled and I already have 2 false percula clowns, 1 blue damsel, and a banded shrimp. I think I have room for 2 more small fish. I was thinking a royal gramma and a yellow goby? I saw another fish that looked just like a royal gramma but was all purple I would maybe pick him over the gramma but can't find any info if I don't know what he is, any ideas? I would also like to find info on a red fish, does anyone have any ideas for that? As moogled mentioned a 6 line wrassle looks pretty nice but I'm leaning away from banggai (they do look cool but since my space is limited I want to stick with colorful fish) I would also like to look into getting a star fish the LFS has some fairly inexpensive ones, I also don't want to over stock. In the end I want 5 fish (the 2 clowns and damsel) and either a purple one and a goby or a gramma and a red one or wrassle, I have the banded shrimp and almost forgot to mention my turbo snail. So maybe a star fish too? Like I said I don't want to over stock.

Thanks for any help/fish info.

[krisalexander]

Hey,
The purple fish ur talking about is the purple Pseudochromis, i do like it as well, i have a 33 G i would say get the purple or the royal grama...and a six line wrasse or four line..
not to confuse things but have u looked at a firefish?
here is a link to the info on the purple Pseudochromis...http://www.marinecenter.com/fish/pseudochromisdottybacks/strawberrypurplepseudochromis/
the colour in the pic on this website looks a little off..do a search under google for the purple pseudochromis and u will get all the info u need...shoot some pics out..would love to see to the tank..


kris

[Chaloupa]

Hey Mike-are ya thinkin of the strawberry Pseudochromis? Its Royal Gramma..."like" Its name; Pseudochromis porphyreus or Strawberry Pseudochromis
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c212/Chaloupa/p29182b.jpg

[Kabong]

There's also the Black Cap Basslet (Gramma melcara)
http://www.marinecenter.com/media/photos/23301676FDCD4FF0A8E5119B10357FBAN.jpg

IMO I'd stay away from fire fish. With your current fish and the others your looking at.
You've got mostly aggresive fish. Fire fish are pretty timid and probably wouldnt do well.

[Ruth]

Pseudochromis (dottybacks) can be, inch for inch, the most aggressive little SOB's out there. I have a royal dottyback that is a very colourful fish but man is it aggressive. It figured out how to chase small gobies into my large carpet anemone and it cost me about 4 gobies before I caught it - twice as I thought the first time was a fluke.
Your tank is only 30 gallons and if it were me I would be tempted to avoid them. The strawberry is supposed to be a little less aggressive but on the whole they are mean.

[MikeP]

There's also the Black Cap Basslet (Gramma melcara)
http://www.marinecenter.com/media/photos/23301676FDCD4FF0A8E5119B10357FBAN.jpg

IMO I'd stay away from fire fish. With your current fish and the others your looking at.
You've got mostly aggresive fish. Fire fish are pretty timid and probably wouldnt do well.

Thats interesting I thought I had a pretty calm tank going I had heard you can have some damsels that get aggresive but the info I found on the net about damsels and clowns all said peaceful or community. So anyway I think I will go with a pseudochromis (thanks to those that helped with the ID) and a yellow goby. Hopefully I can find them at a LFS (I'm in Calgary) sometime soon. Does anyone have thoughts on starfish? I have seen some for around 10 bucks but can't remember what they were called. Do they need special care? Do I have enough room?

Thanks

[Kabong]

Clowns are very closely related to damsel's. Of the clowns the percs are one of the most docile though. However the aggressiveness of both clown's and damsels doesn't usually show up until they reach sexual maturity.
A pseudochromis is a good choice IMO he shouldn't have a problem holding his own. The clown goby's adept at using the terrain to his advantage, so is a fairly safe choice as well.

As for starfish the only kind that will do well in a tank your size are the brittle or serpent species, The other kinda need far more grazing space to survive for any amount of time.

[krisalexander]

IMO I love having a starfish..go for one like a Blue Linckia, or the red version both very nice or like kabong said the brittle star but the blue and red provide some unique colours...

[TheReefGeek]

As mentioned, dottybacks and damsels can be very aggresive fish, I wouldn't put them into a small tank.