Need help!

[mersam935]

Hey everyone,
I have a 29g biocube and have had it for about 2 years so its very established. Ive had many fish but over time many have not worked out or died. I currently now have 2 clownfish and have had them from the beginning, snails and hermit crabs as well as many Asterinea Starfish that I might need to get a larger starfish to eat them. My live rock is also covered with purple coraline algae so corals are definitely ready to add! I was wondering what you all recommend for any new fish additions and corals. I really would like to have my tank very colorful and busy but not crowded. So please leave your tips below, Thanks!

 

[snakeblitz33]

Mersam,...

So, you just want livestock recommendations?

Possum wrasse
flasher wrasse
any type of fairy wrasse
pajama cardinal(s)
flame hawk (no shrimp)

Also, getting a starfish to eat startfish won't work - and if it's a carnivorous starfish you won't want to keep it with corals.

As for corals - stick to the easy stuff for a biocube. Mushrooms, xenia, zoanthids, protopalythoa, xenia, nepthia, kenya tree, ... mainly stick to soft corals and you won't go wrong.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mersam935 http:///t/396540/need-help#post_3533335
Hey everyone,
I have a 29g biocube and have had it for about 2 years so its very established. Ive had many fish but over time many have not worked out or died. I currently now have 2 clownfish and have had them from the beginning, snails and hermit crabs as well as many Asterinea Starfish that I might need to get a larger starfish to eat them. My live rock is also covered with purple coraline algae so corals are definitely ready to add! I was wondering what you all recommend for any new fish additions and corals. I really would like to have my tank very colorful and busy but not crowded. So please leave your tips below, Thanks!

A dwarf angelfish...they add eye popping color and are very active swimmers. They like to go in and out of the rock work nipping algae and sea bugs off as they go. The only drawback is that you can have only one. They may nip at LPS corals (some will and some won't, it's a crap shoot) but the soft corals such as Xenia, colt or mushrooms they generally leave alone.

 

[mersam935]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/396540/need-help#post_3533355

A dwarf angelfish...they add eye popping color and are very active swimmers. They like to go in and out of the rock work nipping algae and sea bugs off as they go. The only drawback is that you can have only one. They may nip at LPS corals (some will and some won't, it's a crap shoot) but the soft corals such as Xenia, colt or mushrooms they generally leave alone.
But are you sure I should add a dwarf angelfish as the third fish? Ive heard they can become very territorial and aggressive and should be the LAST fish added to your tank. And if not which dwarf angel would you reccomend?

 

[mersam935]

I'm thinking on getting a royal gramma and then to top it off a dwarf angelfish? maybe a flame angel? thoughts?

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mersam935 http:///t/396540/need-help#post_3533373
I'm thinking on getting a royal gramma and then to top it off a dwarf angelfish? maybe a flame angel? thoughts?

Okay, maybe it's just me, but 3 nice fish in a 29g is plenty. I only had 6 fish in my 90g.

Only you can decide on what kind of fish to stock your tank with....If it were me (and you are not me), I would select the following....

• Royal Gramma
• Lemonpeel dwarf angelfish. I love the bright orange juice yellow color and the brilliant electric blue around the gills, eyes and fins are breathtaking...There is a color dwarf angelfish for whatever your fav color is...IMO they are all the same, just a different color. Mine wasn't territorial at all, as long as there were no other same color of fish, or one with the same body type.
  Gotta have a Redspotted, Redlip, or bicolor Blenny, or maybe some type of goby.

Then there are the inverts, I wouldn't have hermits, but lots of different snails, (nassarius, cerith, nerite and trochus) each doing their own job. A peppermint shrimp or two, and maybe a cleaner shrimp. A serpent or brittle (not green) star

Fish will be happier and less aggressive if you don't crowd them. With a good CUC of snails, serpent/brittle stars and shrimp you won't have to starve your fish and only feed them once every other day. I fed my critters once a day (fighting for food is another trigger for aggression). I also would have some decorative macroalgae in there to keep the water pristine.

It's always smart to make sure the fish selected can live out it's life in the right size tank.

 

[mersam935]

with the two clownfish flower?

 

[bang guy]

If it were me I would keep the Clownfish as the centerpiece.

A couple Neon Gobies and/or Clown Gobies, or a Barnacle Blenny. I believe in not crowding fish and I thin any of the Dwarf Angelfish will interfere with the territory your Clownfish have set up and cause stress.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mersam935 http:///t/396540/need-help#post_3533552
with the two clownfish flower?

No, listen to Bang Guy...I was just telling you how I personally would stock the tank....my list of possible stock had no clown fish. I thought I made it very clear it was just my idea of a good list, and that it wasn't a suggestion for you to follow.

My whole point was to not over crowd the tank, and to make sure you stock fish that can live their entire lives out in the tank, and not need to be re-homed after it grows to an adult.

 

[mersam935]

Ok so WITH the two clownfish do you recommend I get a royal gramma and then maybe one other smaller fish?

 

[mersam935]

Im also thinking maybe I want a Midas blenny with a mandarin dragonet?

 

[seafishlover]

Be careful withthe manadrin dragonet... They are picky eaters ....you will need to stock your tank with amphipods and copepods that's what they eat. If you do that you will need to have chaeto in your tank as that is where this little guys will live and reproduce. Firefish and ocellaris clowns are beautiful fish and will school together. They would make a nice addition to your reef. Yellow polyps are pretty and easy to keep. Green chromis are another colorful fish that need to be in groups.

Good luck

 

[geridoc]

I think the mandarin is a bad idea. They consume copepods, lots of copepods. So many that it typically takes a very mature 55 or 100 gallon tank to produce enough pods. Otherwise, even if you have chaeto for them, you are into providing store-bought copepods, which sell around here for $25/bottle. If you get lucky you might get one from ORA that consumes frozen food, but it still isn't easy. I have had a mandy in my 40 gallon system for over a year, but I did get her to take frozen prawn eggs, which is a very messy business, so I do lots of water changes and use skimming and an algae scrubber and still occasionally see hair algae growing in the tank.