fish for a tall tank
 

ive got a 30 gal hexagonal tank that im going to start cycling in about a week or two. I know i won't be able to keep any large fish, but does anyone have any thoughts on species that won;t mind the short swim lengths?

jawfish would be good. so would some species of gobies.

percula clownfish...

Yup, I had jawfish, clowns, little clown gobies & seahorses in my hex tank last time.

Painted Firefish
http://snaz.com/marine/grumps1.jpg

I would like to keep fish that have been bred, not harvested... is it possible to get any of these fish raised in captivity other than the clown?

Orchid Dottybacks (Pseudochromis fridmani) can be captive bred. Nice fish that will hang out low in the rocks. See the purple fish in my signature.

Impressive for a newbie.
Call Ocean Aquatics and J&L. They will provide you with a list of captive bred and than they will order it in for you if they do not have it in stock.

An Orchid Dotty, or if you want something more unique an Assessor. Any of the Cardinals would be happy in there. Clownfish would also be a good choice...any of the smaller ones (True Percs, False Percs, Skunks, Sebaes. All of the previous mentioned fish will do a good job of swimming all over the place. Jawfish would be a good choice, but stick to their burrow. Gobies would also do well, but most stick close to the sand. I would hesitate on adding any of the Firefish as they seem to enjoy a good length of tank to dart across (they are "dartfish" after all).

EDIT: Most Clowns and many Cardinals can be found captive bred. The Orchid Dotty you could find captive bred as well (although you may have to search for quite a while). The Jawfish and Firefish will be wild caught. Assessors have been raised in captivity, but I have never a CB for sale.

banggai cardinals would be awsome!

I agree Cardinals would go great. Jawfish are cool fish, although you only get to see their heads popping out of the sand hole they created. A good thing to note with Jawfish, if you dont already know...is you should put a cover over your tank top, eggcrate. They are jumpers. :shocked:

the funny thing about jawfish, is even though they do tend to spend alot of time in their burrows, they will usually have as much personality as a blenny once they are comfortable in your tank

I agree with what has been said previously about the firefish, mine spends more time swimming in the open near the bottom in my 10 gallon and darting into his rubble pile. I don't think he would be a good choice. I do have a Hector's Goby that would be a good choice, if your tank can provide enough algae for them... he swims everywhere, picks at all rocks, and sifts sand. Really personable, non-aggressive.

now that you guys can see my tank, any ideas for corals? inverts? already got a green striped mushroom on the left hand side about halfway up the wall. I don't have immense lighting, so anything that needs that is out. thoughts on a brain coral? or a fan? pros/cons?