collegeman February 6, 2011 Share February 6, 2011 (edited) What is a good fish for a 55 gallon reef? I want a fish that is colorful and spends time in the open water. I want something with the personality of a tang or angel and not of a cardinal or goby. I know dwarf angels are not reef but are their any that you would consider safe if feed enough. I have done my research just want to get the honest opinions of my local reefers. I had a foxface that i recently got rid of because of his size and he never touched any coral. +++ Thanks in advance. Edited February 7, 2011 by davelin315 WTB/Sale portion removed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad February 6, 2011 Share February 6, 2011 (edited) This is sort of a subjective question with many answers, there are pros and cons to everything. I like wrasses myself, I have a pair of female leopard wrasses that are awesome. There are a lot of small wrasses such as fairy wrasses that stay small and are generally very beautiful water column swimmers, most are jumpers and some require specialized food and substrates. Also take a look at mimic blennies as most are hardy and bold swimmers. A bunch of others may meet your requirements as well such as dottybacks, perhaps chromis or dottybacks. Dwarf angels will always be a gamble with fleshy corals and some can be quite aggressive little fish, to me it comes down to which do you like better? If you like the angels better, you could certainly keep more SPS if you have problems. However, if you like the corals / clams more the risk might not be worth it. Edited February 6, 2011 by Chad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collegeman February 7, 2011 Author Share February 7, 2011 thanks. I totally overlooked the dottybacks. They have some great looking fish. I knew that if i posted someone would mention a fish i overlooked. I have been in the hobby for a couple of years and never thought about a dottyback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad February 7, 2011 Share February 7, 2011 haha and I mentioned it twice I meant to say damsels at least one of those times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite February 7, 2011 Share February 7, 2011 Most dottybacks are highly aggressive - be careful about selecting one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanglandJoshua February 7, 2011 Share February 7, 2011 (edited) I have a Royal Gramma, its not very agressive. The only time I see it open its mouth is when my six line wrasse gets too close. The wrasse tried to attack the gramma and control the tank, wrasse lost a chunk of flesh...is very peaceful now. But the gramma only acts threatening when another fish tries to bug it, there has never been an issue with it and my baby clowns. Also the Royal Gramma looks much like a Dottyback, except it actually has a dot or false eye on its dorsal fin. Edited February 7, 2011 by LanglandJoshua Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 February 7, 2011 Share February 7, 2011 Removed the portion that belonged in the sales forum. I agree, dottybacks have the potential to be mean (I believe they are related to groupers). They are also known as pseudochromis. Just as a story to tell the terror of this fish, I had an Arabian Pseudochromis (Pseudochromis aldabraensis) that I added to a 125 gallon reef without knowing how bad they were. It went through every last one of my shrimp, snails, hermit crabs, and then killed off any fish that was remotely close in size to it. All told, it killed off at least 50-100 different animals in my tank and was impossible to remove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collegeman February 7, 2011 Author Share February 7, 2011 I did a little reading on them and read about many people having problems with them. I am trying to build some colorful fish around the 2 black clowns i got from Anthony/Fazio92. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaterDog February 7, 2011 Share February 7, 2011 It's already been said here, but I'm going to echo the sentiments about the wrasses. Some of them have the tendency to pick on smaller inverts, but the fairy and flasher wrasses are peaceful, active, and beautiful. But they do jump. The six line is also a nice fish, but can get aggressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwweber February 7, 2011 Share February 7, 2011 there are quite a few tangs that are very nice for a tank that size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collegeman February 7, 2011 Author Share February 7, 2011 (edited) i do not think a tang would be suitable. i have read tangs need at least 6 feet of swimming space. Edited February 7, 2011 by collegeman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite February 7, 2011 Share February 7, 2011 The dottyback that is not aggressive, is the orchid (or Fridmani) dottyback, but they still will defend their space and they do not do well with fish of similar shape (like other dottybacks, grammas, firefish, etc.). Cherub (or Pygmy) dwarf angels are "reef safe". They only get to a couple inches long, they are blue with yellow/orange face. They are pesky sometimes as they get comfortable with their surroundings, but as long as the other fish are not smaller than the angel, the angel is ok with a mixed bag of tank mates. I have one available if Gary doesn't take it . A full grown adult tang would not be good for a 55g tank. However, IMO, a juvenile that is relatively small would be ok if you just move it to a bigger tank when it grows, or switch the tang out for a smaller one every year or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwweber February 8, 2011 Share February 8, 2011 plus you get a lawnmower get a yellow eye tang. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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