Suggestions?

[obarrera]

I am looking for a colorful fish that is swimming most of the time(unlike clowns lol)and that is reef safe.I want to be able to keep shrimps so I don't want a wrasse or anything like that.
The tank is a 40 gallon regular.
20 gallon sump/refugium.
about 80lbs of live rock(maybe a little more).
ASM G1 skimmer.
Any suggestions?

 

[jacknjill]

firefish? would say tang, but its a 40 gallon. hmm, royal gramma,damsel (but they can get mean) goby (but doesnt really swim)

 

[obarrera]

From the ones that you mentioned,the only one that intrest me is the fire fish(but I don't know if they swim alot).I already have a royal gramma in my 10g and it doesn't really swim,it just swims at one place.=/
And I don't want damsels BTW!

lol

 

[obarrera]

I was checking out the anthias and I found the Queen tiger anthias,it says it's one of the easiest anthias to keep and if it's the only anthias it would do good in a 25g,so a 40g would be good.What do you all think?
Here's some pics
http://a1272.g.akamai.net/7/1272/1121/20040415210335/www.***********.com/images/products/large/p_70002.jpg
Or how about the dipar anthias?

 

[iwantacans]

anthias do not do well when kept singly..... they are a community fish that swims in groups... if you truely want anthias get a 75 gal plus size and get a few...

 

[obarrera]

thanks.

 

[iwantacans]

i know... i know....
so seriously a active fish for a 40 gal that is colorful.... these are hit and miss but what about a flame angel or a coral beauty

 

[obarrera]

Originally posted by iwantacans
i know... i know....
so seriously a active fish for a 40 gal that is colorful.... these are hit and miss but what about a flame angel or a coral beauty
I thought about that.but no.
It's going to be hard to take an angel out if he starts nipping my corals.

 

[blazehok68]

what about a coral beauty?? i have one in my 55 and he never stops moving and has good color and he never harms any of my corals as long as i keep some seaweed in there.

 

[obarrera]

Originally posted by BLAZEHOK68
what about a coral beauty?? i have one in my 55 and he never stops moving and has good color and he never harms any of my corals as long as i keep some seaweed in there.
No I don't want to try any angels.:happyfish

 

[obarrera]

So there is no "cool" fish that would do well in my tank.=/

 

[shoreliner11]

I have a couple suggestions for you
1. Sixline wrasse-reef safe and is always darting back and forth through the rockwork
2. Filamented flasher wrasse- beautiful fish- is also out quite a bit
3. Flame Hawkfish- the fish is very active. Not always swimming high in the water column but a very fun fish to watch. Also is a very inquisitive fish who always likes to see whats going on outside the tank.

 

[obarrera]

Originally posted by Shoreliner11
I have a couple suggestions for you
1. Sixline wrasse-reef safe and is always darting back and forth through the rockwork
2. Filamented flasher wrasse- beautiful fish- is also out quite a bit
3. Flame Hawkfish- the fish is very active. Not always swimming high in the water column but a very fun fish to watch. Also is a very inquisitive fish who always likes to see whats going on outside the tank.
I don't want to try any kind of wrasse.
I had a sixline wrasse and it killed my 3 shrimps(2 cleaners and 1 fire shrimp).
And doesn't the Flame hawk eat shrimps too?
I have seen them in the displays at the LFS and they are awsome,but I wanna be able to keep shrimps.

 

[shoreliner11]

Well regarding the flame hawk...yes and no on eating shrimp. If well fed and the shrimp are large enough, you will probably be ok. And regarding wrasses, is it just because the sixline ate your shrimp or is it b/c you don't like the particular family of fish? I understand the problem with the sixline but there are exceptions to the behavior of any fish. I kept a sixline in my tank for six months with no problems before he decided to see what things were like outside the tank.

My point is if you had a clown who went after a shrimp does that mean all clownfish are bad? IME clownfish are always out swimming about and very interested in me when I'm around the tank. Another fish would be a fridmani pseudochromis. Very pretty, usually out but can become aggressive.

 

[obarrera]

Originally posted by Shoreliner11
Well regarding the flame hawk...yes and no on eating shrimp. If well fed and the shrimp are large enough, you will probably be ok. And regarding wrasses, is it just because the sixline ate your shrimp or is it b/c you don't like the particular family of fish? I understand the problem with the sixline but there are exceptions to the behavior of any fish. I kept a sixline in my tank for six months with no problems before he decided to see what things were like outside the tank.

My point is if you had a clown who went after a shrimp does that mean all clownfish are bad? IME clownfish are always out swimming about and very interested in me when I'm around the tank. Another fish would be a fridmani pseudochromis. Very pretty, usually out but can become aggressive.
No if one clown went after a shrimp that would be diffrent.The reason why I think like this is becuase in the family of clowns non of them eat shrimps.But wrasses are diffrent since alot of kind of wrasses eat shrimp,sixlines are suppose to be one of the few ones that don't but with my experience they do.
And it's not only my sixline wrasse that killed my shrimps,I have heard other people's sixline wrasse kill their shrimps.

 

[vibe]

ok well, this is a slightly agressive fish, but why not a neon dotty back? oooo how about a bangii cardinal? they are awsome, nonagressive, and are always out! that is my #1 suggestion, Bangii Cardinal, maybe even a small school... if not, you might wnat to think about a school of blue fin chomis. chomis are like damsels except they dont get agressive (usually) and they are more colorful.
#1 suggestion- Bangii Cardinal (one or a school)
#2 suggestion- neon dotty back
#3 suggestion- blue fin chomis (school, one just doesnt do enough, they look much better in schools)

 

[obarrera]

Originally posted by vibe
ok well, this is a slightly agressive fish, but why not a neon dotty back? oooo how about a bangii cardinal? they are awsome, nonagressive, and are always out! that is my #1 suggestion, Bangii Cardinal, maybe even a small school... if not, you might wnat to think about a school of blue fin chomis. chomis are like damsels except they dont get agressive (usually) and they are more colorful.
#1 suggestion- Bangii Cardinal (one or a school)
#2 suggestion- neon dotty back
#3 suggestion- blue fin chomis (school, one just doesnt do enough, they look much better in schools)
#1 This fish looks like a freshwater fish,it's ugly.
#2 I don't want fish that are too aggresive.
#3 I don't like this fish cause IMO it also looks like a freshwater fish.lol
Im just going to buy the pruple firefish and see if it swims alot or not.=/

 

[clarkiiboi]

This may be too late, but I have heard that firefish do better in pairs. I had 2 (not purple) and they mostly hovered in their limited area. If you want a fish that swims alot, these aren't them IMO.

 

[obarrera]

Originally posted by ClarkiiBoi
This may be too late, but I have heard that firefish do better in pairs. I had 2 (not purple) and they mostly hovered in their limited area. If you want a fish that swims alot, these aren't them IMO.
Yeah so looks like there's no fish that I really like.
It sucks that some very nice fish are not reef safe,and the nice fish that are reef safe are very hard to keep.

 

[vibe]

either that or you just gotta take a chance.... to me it seems like you dont want to risk getting something that MIGHT be agressive. also you opinion on fish is slightly different then ours. i think the bangii cardinal is a beautiful fish. actually, you know what go and check out the yellow striped cardinal fish. that think is cool. you could also try pygmy angels, they are cute lil swimmers. i know a lot og guys down here who keep them in reef tanks and have never had a problem. check it out. maybe try looking into a sleeper head goby, or how about saddle back clowns? i have a small school of them in my 120 and they are cool. always out swimming and to greet guests that come to the house. hope this helps in you search.