Help with Tank Mate

[jerryatrick]

I am looking for suggestions on which fish to add next. I am looking for a fish that doesn't require a lot of hiding places as my Pgymy Angel has taken over my live rock caves. I only plan on adding 1 more fish after this next one. So there will be 3 fish total in the tank.
44 Gallon Hex (2 months running)
20 Pounds of LS
40 Pounds of LR
Pgymy Angel
2 Turbo Snails
10 Hermit Crabs
Purple Mushrooms
I plan on adding some types of corals once my SG is raised a little.

 

[debbie]

What about some green chromis, a school of them would be nice as they don't require hiding places. Cardinals are another too, any of your gobies or blennies like rocks so don't know if that would work. But you do have alot of live rock so maybe one of those would work too.
Wrasses are also very pretty, what about a couple of perc clowns.

 

[jerryatrick]

Thanks for the response. I was leaning towards a clown fish but I was worried that it might be to soon. I lost a couple of clowns a month ago. They were my first addition. I believe that they had "clownfish disease". I am worried that there still might be some lingering effects from the disease.
If I were to get another clown fish which would be my best bet? Do they all have the same hardiness level?

 

[debbie]

I am no clownfish expert. The percs are always nice as you can get two of them, quite entertaining. My favorite although the most aggressive the Maroon Clownfish, I love the goldstriped ones. I think you have to make sure that you get a true pair if you get two of these ones. The skunk clowns are quite pretty too. More pale in color that all the other clowns. Tomato clown is another one I quite like too. I don't care for the clarkii's, saddlebacks but that is just my opinion.
Which ones do you like best??

 

[jerryatrick]

I saw a full grown tomato clown today which I really liked. I know they are more aggressive than other clown fish though. Don't want to introduce a fish that will bully my pygmy angel because I really like him.
If I do a pair I will put them in a QT for 6 weeks. I would love a picasso clown but I don't want to spend the money if I am still questioning my tank.
Any more suggestions for small fish who don't need hiding places? Right now a pair of clown fish is my first choice.

 

[debbie]

Do you like chromis at all??
There are many kinds that you can keep like royal gramma very pretty fish, blennies, gobies etc but they require places to hide. If you don't want any fish like that then you have to look at upper swimming fish for the tank and that is why i suggested chromis, cardinals, not really sure about wrasses but there are some very pretty ones there you would have to research about them though.

 

[jerryatrick]

I think I will try a couple of Green Chromis. I guess you could say that I worry about damsels with there bad rep. But I like the color of them. Thanks Debbie!!!

 

[debbie]

I think chromis are quite pretty check on the forums though and see if 5 would be a good number to start with. Do some research first before you get them to make sure this is a good idea. I really like them but maybe some don't.

 

[jerryatrick]

I understand that these fish are better placed in groups. 3 might lead to one being picked on. 5 might be to many for my size tank. Maybe I will focus on adding corals and look into a fish that will do well by itself.
With little surface area I am limited in creating hiding spots. Good news is that I do have a 120 gallon tank in the future. I have a fresh water tank that has been up since 2001. The tank only has 1 fish in it and I refuse to trade the fish in and make it a saltwater tank.
I do like lawnmower blemmys but I don't want the angel to bully it.

 

[mr_x]

my algae blenny doesn't take crap from any fish. i bet he would be fine in your tank.

 

[jerryatrick]

I do have algae in my tank but it is still a fairly new tank (2 months). Is this a fish that I can add now or should I wait?

 

[debbie]

You should wait till you have algae for it to eat. I tried on once, after it cleaned up my whole tank there was nothing left for it to eat so I tried the algae sheets but it still would not eat them so i had to trade him in.
Another very bold fish that i have had 3 of is the bicolor blenny. They stand their ground too. I have a yellow watchman goby right now that is very bold and does not let any other fish near its rocks.
I have found that the few gobies and blennies that i have kept all of them seem to be quite bold unlike their writeups say. Just my experience with them though.
You could try a blenny or goby and see how that goes, the lawnmowers IMO really do much better if your tank has lots of natural algae for them to eat.

 

[jerryatrick]

I just got back from the LFS and the guy there talked me out of the lawnmower blenny because of how new my tank is. He suggested a goby and a tomato clown. I am going to wait 2 weeks though before I add anything.