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Which fish is the best choice?

natesreef

natesreef

I was lucky enough to win the $50 dollar gift certificate to ocean gallery and with this i want to get a new fish for my 25 gallon nano. I currently have a black ocellaris and a royal gramma. I want something colorful but i would prefer it has some benefit for the tank. It is not necessary, only preffered. What do you all suggest? I want a flame angel but im not gonna risk it picking at my corals.
 
NikkiT

NikkiT

With a 25g nano with two fish, you have a pretty good number of options. Like brandon said, you can pair your clown. You will want to look for a small juvenile fish if you take that route, as it is more than possible that your single clown is now a girl. Is your tank covered? If it is, an assessor basslet, a fire fish, or a pearly jawfish (if you have a deep sand bed) may be good options. There are also lots of small gobies that would do great in a 25g, yasha, Dracula, cleaner, watchman come to mind, but there are many more as well. A goby pistol combination could also be interesting if you don't have tons of coral on your sandbed and if your rock work is sturdy. Two spot blennies or barnacle blennies are interesting and would do fine in a 25g, as would some of the smaller cardinals. Live aquaria has a pretty good nano fish section, you might want to check that out for ideas. If you want an angel, you can consider the pygmy. It isn't as colorful as the flame is, but in my limited experience (others feel free to chime in here) it may be more likely to leave your corals alone.
 
howze01

howze01

NJRC Member
I've heard that the Pygmy Angels may be a bit more prone to coral nipping. No personal experience though, just what I've heard.

As much as I love my pistol/goby pair I would say be careful. I envy those people with mice, even, frag riddled sand beds... I think that the red ad white striped Pistols may stay smaller though so maybe that would work better.
 
natesreef

natesreef

im thinking about trying to add another clown to pair and maybe a catalina goby. should i go with another b & w or??
 
thirty5

thirty5

Up to you what type you want to get. Many people have 2 diff types. I want to get a snowflake and a platnium for my new tank.

Sent from my Piece of crap Sprint Epic
 
panmanmatt

panmanmatt

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Catalina gobies are a cool water fish and don't live long at reef temperatures. They needs to be kept in the 68F-74F temperature range.
 
C

curt

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
NJRC Member
I really like the Catalina goby. But if you do some research you'll find they won't last long in a reef tank. They need cooler water because of were there from. But like others said there are lots of fish to pick. I'd go with a clown.
 
NikkiT

NikkiT

I have had 2 Pygmy angels, both have behaved with sps and lps, although this is no guarantee that another would be as well behaved. As far as clowns go, I agree that you can mix ocellaris with true percula.
I suggest you buy a small juvinile fish to reduce the possibility of fighting.
I agree with Matt that a Catalina goby probably isn't a good idea unless your tank is cold year round. If your tank gets above 75 degrees, unfortunately the fish's metabolism will speed up to the point where it will starve to death even if you feed multiple times per day, which can be very tough to watch.
 
natesreef

natesreef

The flasher wrasse looks nice, from what ive read it says it is a jumper though. I didnt know that about the catalina goby so that definitely eliminates that.
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

If you want something useful, couple suggestions. Cleaner goby or two, will jump. Or a lawnmower/starry blenny for algae control. Both have very interesting personalities.
 
TanksNStuff

TanksNStuff

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
If your tank was really established (lots of pods) I'd suggest a mandarin. They do much better when there's lots of rockwork to hunt through though so maybe not.

Flasher wrasse is a pretty cool choice too, as well as pairing the clown (I'd say Picasso or snowflake personally.)
 
natesreef

natesreef

I like the idea of a mandarin but im not really sure if i have enough pods to handle one. im thinking of some combination of a flasher wrasse, another clown, and a lawnmower blenny. Can i add them all? what combination of them would be best?
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

I personally would suggest the clown and blenny only. My reasoning is two fold first that would give you 4 fish in a 25G tank so bioload wise your are going to be in a nice spot. Second the flasher wrasse will bit big for the tank with most suggesting a 50+G tank and they do better with multiple feedings per day, which in a nano tank makes it harder to keep stable. Just my opinion 5 fish wouldn't be the worst thing ever done in a nano but ............ may not be the best option.
 
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