New addition suggestions?

Hello,

I have been at this for about 3 months now and am running a 29 gal bio cube with 3 fish (a coral beauty (est. 2.5 inch), and two clowns) a cleaner shrimp, and a sea urchin, i also have live rock with a cleaning crew and assorted small corals. I am looking for a new addition to the tank and would like some input based on the current set up. See pics below for 'available' space. Clearly i am still very new to this hobby and hardier the better but most of all i want the group to get along. I purchased the black clown about a month ago and since day one the orange clown has not left the black guy alone while the lights are on, in the dark they 'hover' together and appear quite peaceful, strange to me. Anyways enough said any input is much appreciated. Price range $ 40 - 50?

I was looking at:
a Pakistani Butterflyfish (probably too big though?)
a Lyretail Anthias

Cheers,

 

Well.....you are pretty much there in terms of fish. The general rule of thumb is one inch of fish per three gallons of water. So you have a max of about 10 inches of fish assuming you have nothing else in your ecosystem using O2.

Also, you have two different species of clownfish. Really, only one clown per tank is recommended for the reasons that you have stated. They fight. And unless they have any possibility of becoming a mated pair, they will continue to fight. So, with this situation at hand, I would choose the larger of the two clowns and return it to the LFS. So that being done, you have room to expand your population a bit.

Now you may be thinking.....I don't have ten inches of fish!!!!! Not even close!!! You're right....for now....but those fish will grow to full size eventually. The saying that fish grow to the size of the tank is a myth. Big time. They may grow slower.....because we as aquarists do not feed our fish much to keep waste down, but they will eventually get there.

Now the fish you want. Unfortuately, both are unsuitable. Tank size is the reason. The Anthias need a tank that is about 125g (something they can swim, swim, swim in). Smaller fish they are.....but they need room. I wouldn't even get one for my 90g, and it is 48" long. The butterflyfish, they say, is good at 55g. I wouldn't put one in anything less than 75g. It needs room to swim and a 75 (and 90g) have the same length----48".

So what to get.......

Well, you can look at the damsels out there. If you find one you like, go for it. Or do the mated pair of damsels. The only thing I would worry about here is they might gang up on the clown and kill it. A possibility. Another thing you could consider would be a six-line wrasse. A very nice fish that will take care of flatworms and bristleworms if you have any in your tank. They look nice and serve a purpose. I mean to get one for my tank one of these days.

So that's my story and I am sticking to it!!!!!

Peace.......John.

 

with that group I would suggest something that stays relatively small. You could get a bi-color blenny or similar or a 6 line like John suggested. Both very cool fish with lots of personality.

 

One problem you may run into is that you already have a coral beauty. They should be the last fish added because they are known to pick on new additions. They are a little more aggressive then other fish, they are fine if added to a tank, but once you put a new fish in there you may experience some problems.

I also fully agree with PharmRjohn, anthias need room to swim and they also need to be fed more than other fish. Usually at least twice a day, small meals. They are very active and thus need a bigger tank to swim in. If not given enough room they will become stressed/depressed and will be much more suceptible to diseases and such.

If you really wanted to add another fish, I would suggest a sixline wrasse or yellow tailed damsel, or even some sort of goby, again though, you may have problems with the angel. Good luck!

 

Hi, Brian, all the posts so far are well intended and there are valid points in them. I for one have had a total of 3 Coral Beauties (2 over the past years and one currently) and never saw them go after any other tank mate. I always regarded them as "minding their own business". If one of my other fish died and I replaced it there was never a problem, so that is my experience with Coral Beauties. Now what has to be carefully considered and thought through is the Clowns constantly quarreling. This can add stress to the tank and introducing a new fish to that environment may not be advisable. If you can trade one in just keep the one you like. Once that issue is taken care of take a look at the Royal Gramma. I like mine, they are characters and give the tank good color and are peaceful yet hearty.

 

I wouldnt' choose to go with a Pakistani Butterfly or Anthias as they are on the delicate side and require eating specialized habits!
Flasher or Fairy Wrasses make ideal candidates!