suggest some fish

[jacksonpt]

I've got a 44g pent with a bubble tip anemone, maroon clown, mandarin goby, coral catfish, and a mandarin goby. My 8 month old daughter loves to sit and look at the fish, but the clown is the only fish that is at all active.
Suggest some fish that will bring some color and life to the tank... something that my daughter can watch swim around.
I need fish that are bright and colorful, peaceful (reef), active swimmers (not just sitting in the rock pile), hardy, and that won't compete with my mandarin for pods.

 

[robchuck]

I would ditch the coral catfish (those things get HUGE), and go with a dwarf angel. They come in all sorts of colors, but if you want to go full blown reef down the road, I would look at other possibilities. HTH.

 

[saltyrich]

Yes, loose the coral cat. You will get alot of motion from a dwarf angel. You may also get a fish that will pick on any potential corals you may get. I had a dwarf angel that killed a bubble tip by turning sideways like a board and would approach the anemone from underneath his tentacles and pick at his side until he opened it up completely. Dwarf angels as a general rule are NOT reef safe. Some do well in reefs for long periods of time and then just decide to begin picking at everything. Some never pick on anything. To me it is not worth the risk. There are other fish to go with. Don't get a sixline wrasse. They are awesome but eat pods. For a nice yellow color try a canary blenny or a yellow psuedochromis. They won't bother the mandarin. The yellow psuedos can be semi-aggressive to other fish in their space, but it won't amount ot anything enless another psuedo is in the tank. Besides, the maroon is aggressive. Nothing will really be more aggressive than him. So it's all down hill from there.

 

[jonthefb]

i would suggest a royal gramma, and maybe a bicolor blenny. the bicolro, although an algae eater, has a great personality. i love these guys! maybe a flame hawk????
good luck
jon

 

[saltyrich]

Jon's right. My royal gramma is great. Some grammas can be a little shy. Mine however is not. That is the only reason I didn't mention the gramma.

 

[blennybabe]

It seems to me that just about every fish I have has a lot of character. All of them swim freely and in the open. Heres what I have that might make a good choice for you:
Royal Gramma
redfin fairy wrasse
redlip blenny
green chromis
neon goby
I have other fish but these are the ones I would suggest. HTH.