Suggestions for reef safe, non-agressive fish not prone to jumping?
 

Hey everyone, I'd love some suggestions for new fish that are reef and invert safe, non-agressive, and not overly prone to jumping... I know, easy right?! :lol:

I've got a 70gal DT (30x24x24) with an open top that is intended to be first and foremost a mixed reef tank. Tank has a sugar sand bed that's up to 3" deep in places.

Current fish include:
- Canary Wrasse
- Azure Demoiselle
- Clown Goby
- Black False Perc. Clown

Usual inverts including snails, a small star, urchins, cleaner shrimp, hermits...

Had:
- Royal Gramma for over a year, went carpet surfing one day out of the blue
- Neon goby that died recently due to an unknown illness (all other fish appear healthy).

Current prospects:
- Orchid Dottyback
- Bicolor Chromis
- Blackbar Chromis
- Oblique-lined dottyback (McCulloch's dottyback)
- Jawfish (either Yellowhead or Bluespot)
- Yellowstripe cardinal
- King Demoiselle (Pink Demoiselle)
- Possibly a group of Glass cardinals (Apegon Lepcanthus)
- Also considering a dragonet. System is 1-1/2 years old, and has a fuge in the sump to help with pod population.

Any comments on my current prospects would be appreciated as well. I'm in the vancouver area so I'm dealing with J&L and Ocean Aquatics as sources, so preferrable candidates would be something they would carry or bring in.

Thanks in advance!

Ever consider making a top out of clear 1/4" plastic mesh? That would open up some really nice wrasse options for you.

I have an 8 fish school of threadfin cardinals and have loved them. I've had them for about a month now. They eat Like pigs and they all keep very close together at all times.

I've considered it for sure (the mesh top), but I have yet to find a nice clean looking example that will work on a rimless tank. I'd love to be able to do a firefish, but don't want to risk a jumpy fish like that.

All those fish are jumpers - some of them pretty good too! I've never heard of a fish that hasn't jumped (including frogfish). Also, by covering up, you won't need to limit your choices to unlikely jumpers, and then you'll be able to get a fish you really like :)

Dottybacks and chromis can become jerks with time. Jawfish are excellent carpet surfers. Mandarin would probably be a good choice.

Fish that deeper water have less of a tendency to jump. Leopard wrasses will dive for the sand before jumping but they are challenging to keep. Dwarf angels would be good but their reef safe-ness can be questionable.

I have a rimless as well, so I share your pain. I'd like to keep the rimless look, so I'm limited in my selection or run with the risk of jumping fish.

I would have to disagree with the mandarin suggestion......70g is too small IMO....especially when you factor in that he has a canary wrasse (pod eating machine).......Ive never been a subscriber to the idea that "I have a fuge in my sump so I have lots of pods in my display" theory.....the chances that pods are gonna A) find the return pump and B) survive the trip through the blender are very small.....you may get lucky and find one that is eating a frozen food but then you have to factor in the more aggressive eaters....

I really like Assessors as they stay small and are pretty. But not to good with Gobies of the same shape.

70g is definately big enough for a Mandarin.. I do agree though that fact other pod dependent fish it would be tougher.

I have a mandarin in a 20... Doing exceptionally well. Hob fuge does not have return pumps but pipe drain at the end. She is eating all the time.

Chromis and dottys.. Aggressive. Damsels.. Aggressive. Your azure damsel will most likely give any new additions the gears. Mine was such a biotch it even beat other damsels up.

Clowns. Small tang. Dwarf angels. Smaller wrasse as well.

I believe any fish could jump if frightened or chased.

I would not close the top but perhaps build a canopy with higher sides and open top.

I built my top about 200mm tall all sides. Hides my lights as well as keeps jumpers in.

Blennies are super cool too. I have a tailspot and he is awesome.

I'd agree to stay away from the mandarin. I got a pair from a fellow canreefer that was eating flake and frozen food, but after I got my candy hogfish, they both ended up starving to death. While they will eat some flake and frozen food, they were still constantly looking for pods and the hogfish were much quicker and better at eating the pods. And yes, I do have a refugium full of pods.

Until a jawfish establishes their "hole", they are known as huge jumpers.

The only dottyback I would consider in a peaceful environment would be an orchid. All the rest can get very aggressive.

id have to agree with doug, i dont think a whole lot of pods make it to the display at least none that are considered big enough for food, now if you had a couple hob fuges like pat the chances would be better as it spills its water into the display not pumps. ive made my fuge viewable and pleasing to the eye and even though the tank has been running for years for someone else and the fuge is overran with life ill wait untill next year or more and ill add a mandarin directly to my fuge and he will be the only fish there:):) (i have a large fuge about 30g)

one of the cleanest tops i seen was when someone had built there tank they had little glass shelves installed around the top of their tank and an eggcrate sheet just rested on it and was flush with the top of tthe tank, when looking at the tank you couldnt tell it was there.:):)

I love the glass cardinals as well. My school of seven stay close together and are always in the open helping other shier fish to come out. I was skeptical of them at first because there is not a lot of color but the blue streaks show up amazingly under the right lights.

Thanks for all the great feedback! Since my original post i've been having my concerns about food supply for the mandarin considering the existing canary wrasse. And sadly i am also beginning to feel that other than acting as biological filtration an in-sump fuge isn't good for much.

I agree that any fish can be a jumper if it is spooked. Of course i want to avoid the ones that are the most prone to jumping though.

As for the Azure Damsel, it did have a spat with the royal gramma when the damsel was added to the tank, and then a little standing off with the canary wrasse but the only one who was actually injured from all of it was the azure damsel at the hands of the gramma! So on relative agrresiveness i'm not super worried about the damsel if it's gettin it's a$$ handed to it by a gramma :wink: Once settled in though everybody plays nicely asside from the occasional reminder who's home is who's.

Egg crate works but it blocks a lot of light. Believe it or not. I used to do that.


This pic is my canopy that I built. Closed all sides open top. Hides lights perfectly and stops light spilling into the room.

Better than full top as allows gases to escape and does not trap heat. If you go this route you could stop worrying about jumpers. I have not lost a jumper in Probably 4 years since building tops like this.

http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/6f717f8a.jpg