i need help picking out a new fish and coral for 29 gallon biocube !

hi i have a 29 gallon biocube with the lights moded to 144 watt pcs .i have 1 clownfish,1 watchmen goby and 1 sixline wrasse.corals i have pulsing xenia (alot of them they wont stop multiplying),blastos,star polyps,hammer coral ,candy cane coral,acon lord and ricordia mushroom.im looking at placeing a order on this site.i need 1 more fish for sure i only see my clownfish the other 2 hide alot .so something colorful and is in the open alot will be good .i saw on this site they had a dwarf angelfish for 9.99 or mandarin dragonet would that be a bad idea other suggestions,,?as far as coral goes i have a big rock thats empty it higher up in tank in high flow.so any suggestions for that would be great,i was thinking bout getting a amemone for the clownfish but i dont know what kind to get and if its a good or bad idea there no other corals around that area.i have a snails for algae in my tank but i thinking bout maybe getting a pincushion sea urchin does anyone any experience or thoughts on these.i saw they eat algae and i think they look cool.any suggestions for fish ,coral or invertabre that will help clean my tank and make it algae free would be appreciated.
 

angeli697

New Member
Here are some great anemones that go great with clown fish: Cryptodendrum adhaesivum, Entacmaea quadricolor, or a Heteractis magnifica. As for your other fish that you want, a mandarin dragonet would be a great addition to your tank. Maybe a few hermit crabs, or some kind of camel shrimp, or candy cane shrimp, good for scavengers/clean up crew.
 

meowzer

Moderator
IMO A mandarin would NOT be a great addition to a 29G...you will never be able to keep anought pods to feed it, unless you have a refugium....
 
The entacmaea quadricolor (AKA Bubble tip anemone) is probably the best choice of the 3 listed above....the magnifica would get too big, and the crytpo anemone (AKA Pizza anemone) usually only hosts a Clarki clown
 
I'd be careful of adding anything else.....the 6line might get a little aggressive in sucha small tank....you may be able to add a smal goby though
 
V

vinnyraptor

Guest
no dwarfs or mandarins IMO. your close to maxed out now. adding another fish now with a 6-line isn't a good idea unless it's a damsel. and damsels are evil. lol. i would have suggested a firefish, anthias, gramma, psuedochomis, cardinal, or basslet. but not with a 6-line already incharge.
 
diversity in inverts may be the way to go. a star, some crabs and snails, maybe a shrimp. but be careful my sixline ate my cleaner at molt in a 95 gallon.
 

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by angeli697 http:///forum/thread/379652/i-need-help-picking-out-a-new-fish-and-coral-for-29-gallon-biocube#post_3300516
Here are some great anemones that go great with clown fish: Cryptodendrum adhaesivum, Entacmaea quadricolor, or a Heteractis magnifica. As for your other fish that you want, a mandarin dragonet would be a great addition to your tank. Maybe a few hermit crabs, or some kind of camel shrimp, or candy cane shrimp, good for scavengers/clean up crew.
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
 
 
 
With the lighting and tank setup you have, I would only recommend a Bubble Tip anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor), if any. Does your clown host anything now? Remember, it's not a guarantee that your clown will take to the anemone at all. Then there is the other fear in a small tank: the anemone is not happy where you put it and it moves. IMO, a tank smaller than 55G, is really not suited for an anemone. What type of clownfish is it?
 
CAMEL shrimp are NOT reef safe, they eat coral. PEPPERMINT shrimp are the other option and they would be fine. They will sometimes eat aiptasia anemones, which is a plus, but it's never a guarantee.
 
Mandarins do not belong in that small of a tank and would be an extremely poor choice, especially since you made no mention of haging a refugium. Even a small mandarin could wipe out the copepod population in a 29G in less than 14 days.
 
Recommending BOTH a peppermint shrimp and a mandarin for such a small tank is also NOT a good idea. Peppermint shrimp are known to eat many copepods themselves, so there would be a constant demand on the popuplation of pods if both were added. A better option if you want a shrimp, is a pair of Skunk Cleaner shrimp, they're excellent scavengers and do better as pairs than singly.
 
As for the pincushion urchin:
I had one for a few weeks and HATED it. If your tank gets too clean, it will start to eat your coralline algae. If your rock work is not absolutely solid and steady, it will move it. They're also known as "decorator" urchins, which means they will pick up things, such as frags to help disguise themselves. I now have a Purple Urchin in my refugium and he does a good job. I don't know if an urchin is really the best option in a small tank. Do you have an algae problem that you're trying to address or just want to make sure that you never get one? Urchins require a lot of algae and I think that one "could" starve in a small tank.
 
As for a dwarf angel, it depends on what dwarf angel you're looking at. IMO, it would be pushing it, but is doable if you go with a small dwarf, and the only one I could see working would be the Coral Beauty or the African Flameback, any other is either going to nip at your corals or is too big.
 
Don't try another goby, my watchman has killed two other gobies on me already.
 
As Meowzer and Vinny Raptor already stated, putting any fish in a tank once a sixline is there can be tricky. How is your sixline towards the other fish in your tank? Have you added any fish since you added the sixline? IMO, a dwarf angel might be able to handle it's own. Other smaller fish to consider would be a dottyback/pseudochromi, both of which are probably better choices than a dwarf angel or a mandarin. Another option that would also help with algae would be a smaller blenny such as the bicolor or tail spot. Don't go with the bigger algae blennies such as a lawnmower blenny, your tank can not support one.
 
What do you have for a clean up crew? Just snails? What kind/how many?
 
 
 
THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALL THE HELPFUL POSTS!im def ruling out the urchin then i dont need a frag collector haha.i do have green algae not a ton but enough to where it annoys me .all i have for clean up crew it 1 or 2 turbo snails 1 narcisus snail (sp?)i know its not enough but i have had hermit crabs and to me there pointless they dont do enough..i dont know how im close to maxed out my clown is small the 6 line is tiny and the goby just stays on bottom .i didnt think adding anthor fish would affect my bioload to much.ive had tank since aug last year . had these same 3 fish since last year with no deaths ever since having tank.i like the coral beauty angelfish the lfs guy said it would nip at my corals tho thats why i didnt get one.i never knew sixline where aggresive !ive had mine 8 months its showed no signs of that.when feeding my clown is the most aggresive .i had the clown 1st then the 6 line then the goby.the sixline is the most peaceful one i have .he swims in the rockwork most of the time.i def need more inverts but i want ones that look cool have a personality and will clean well.the clownfish i have i dont remeber the name its the most common one percula (sp) its orange with white stripes
 

btldreef

Moderator
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by techshredder http:///forum/thread/379652/i-need-help-picking-out-a-new-fish-and-coral-for-29-gallon-biocube#post_3300817
THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALL THE HELPFUL POSTS!im def ruling out the urchin then i dont need a frag collector haha.i do have green algae not a ton but enough to where it annoys me .all i have for clean up crew it 1 or 2 turbo snails 1 narcisus snail (sp?)i know its not enough but i have had hermit crabs and to me there pointless they dont do enough..i dont know how im close to maxed out my clown is small the 6 line is tiny and the goby just stays on bottom .i didnt think adding anthor fish would affect my bioload to much.ive had tank since aug last year . had these same 3 fish since last year with no deaths ever since having tank.i like the coral beauty angelfish the lfs guy said it would nip at my corals tho thats why i didnt get one.i never knew sixline where aggresive !ive had mine 8 months its showed no signs of that.when feeding my clown is the most aggresive .i had the clown 1st then the 6 line then the goby.the sixline is the most peaceful one i have .he swims in the rockwork most of the time.i def need more inverts but i want ones that look cool have a personality and will clean well.the clownfish i have i dont remeber the name its the most common one percula (sp) its orange with white stripes
You definitely need more of a clean up crew.
The 29G isn't that big. IMO, you could get away with another one or two small fish if you stay on top of your water quality. I mentioned about the best options for fish based on what you want, but you could also look into smaller fish such as dottybacks/pseudochromis or a basslet.
 
As for your CUC, I'd add 5 more Nassarius snails. 5 Astrea snails, 5 Trochus Snails and 5 Cerith snails.
You might want to consider a small blenny such as the bicolor, although it's not a guarantee that they will eat hair algae. Even if it doesn't, blennies have great personalities and really can add a lot of life to the tank.
 
Honestly, don't even worry about whether or not the shrimp looks cool, because you won't see them that much, they tend to hide under the rocks during the day and come out only at night or during feedings.
Skunk cleaner shrimps are the best as far as keeping things clean. I would do either a pair of skunk cleaners or a Fire Shrimp, I think a Coral Banded might get bored and go after your fish in a nano tank.
 
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