Advice please: fish selection!
 

We are finally at the point in our journey where we can begin to add some fish! :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

We have a 90g tank in which we intend to have a mixed reef. Our desire is a nonagressive tank.

What are the prevailing thoughts on the number of fish that can eventually be housed in a 90g tank?

Any suggestions on what fish would be ideal for this type of tank?

Thanks!

depends what kind of fish you want and the size. why don't you give us an expamle of what fish you're thinking of!

And there is the chicken or the egg question - at this point we do not know enough to know what type of fish we are looking at. We have done a bit of research and are going to several LFS to ask for advice and to look at some fish, but at this point we are at the point of "help please!" :biggrin:

Browse through some online sites that are selling fish and looking at the pictures and descriptions. Find what you like that are suitable to your tank (minimum tank size and aggressiveness etc) and come back here and ask specific questions.
One web site I like is live aquria. I have used them for years and always find new info that I didn't notice before.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/a...plies.cfm?c=15

I can't say how many fish you can have, believe its based on size of fish once adults. I like swimming fish - the cardinals and royal grammas tend to stay in one place in the tank (mine do anyway)... I love wrasses, very colorful and always hunting. I had a solar wrasse, still have a radiant wrasse. Dwarf angels are nice too, only one per tank.

I like clowns, cardinals, wrasses, royal grammas and hogfish. check liveaquaria.com, they break the fish types down and provide capatibility charts so you know what works well together. It also provides minimum tank size, reef safe or not and foods. I don't know if tangs are an option for your tank, but its a good place to get an idea.

Once you take a look, make a list and post.

oops, George must have been typing at the same time....same info...lol

I am not a huge fish fan preferring coral with small bioload. Wrasses are def my favorite though. But like said above. Do the research make a list and we can all tell which fish are compatable and which would not suit a 90 in long run

if you are looking for gentle fish but with personality id go for strawberry wrasse and dragon goby (its a barred goby with emerald eyes when bothered by another fish) really cool but its a sand sifter those are two to google
barb
:flypig:

depends on how much color you want. For a lot of color and not much money, I would suggest these.
1. yellow tang ( get a smaller one 2-3 ")
2. flame angel
3. pair of percs
4. maybe a couple of fiji blue damsels for color.

stay away from the hippo ( blue tangs) too easy to get ich.

My stock list for my mixed reef (90 gallon)
One spot foxface(algae control)
Purple tang(algae control)
2-3 wrasse (pest control)
2 clowns

I might add a fish or two more.
Peaceful citizens.

I would have one "showcase" fish and a bunch of smaller fish.

I love wrasses (leopards, flashers, & fairy wrasses) but prefer a covered tank since these can be jumpers.

Leopard wrasses are also harder to keep so probably go with flasher & fairy wrasses.

Also found Yellow/Canary wrasses to be bright, active and peaceful.

I also like Bangaii cardinals although these are not as active as wrasses.

I love Cherub angels (completely reef-safe in my experience but with great personalities and bright royal blue with yellow face).

For damsels, I like yellow-tail blue damsels and Fusilier damsels.

For clownfish (type of damsel), the most commonly kept are Ocellaris and True Percula - i.e. the ones that look like Nemo. Now they have blacks and other fancier varieties. Do a search and find out what kind you like if you plan to have clowns. Cinnamon, Tomato & Maroons are bigger and more aggressive species.

Like the others mentioned, I'd start looking at live aquaria. They've got tons of info and compatibility. I like the clowns, love my flame angel. Yellow eye Kole tang will fit in that size of tank and I have one in mine, he's got tons of personality and only has personality issues with my starry blennny - not sure why.
I also like the look of lemon peel angels but they may not get along with the flame angel. I also like long nose butterfly fish but make sure they're eating at the LFS and there are some coral cautions there you need to be aware of.
I feel no tank is complete without a couple shrimp - skunk cleaners, peppermint, sexy to name a few. I love mine.

That should give you a good list to start checking anyway...

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I will be checking our liveaquari.com in a few minutes. We will then post some of our thoughts later tonight / tomorrow morning for more input - thanks!

After a day of visiting LFS, reading, checking out websites, here are my first thoughts - I'd love advice / input on this

Pair of True Percula
Pajama Cardinalfish
Banggai Cardinalfish
Royal Gramma Basslet
one Kale Yellow Eye
one Yellow Longnose Butterflyfish
several - not sure what species - gobies
several - not sure what species - wrasses

Thanks for your thoughts

I'd be wary of a butterfly in a reef.

The rest is all good. Sand sifting gobies can make a mess and you'll have cloudy water. IMO

As for wrasses I love em. Though you'll need a covered tank

Yes, the butterflyfish is also not as hardy and is risky for newbie.

Pajama cardinals are also very boring - stay still in one place IME. Otherwise like your list.

Yee-haw to the yellow eyed kole tang and wrasses.

I love my yellow eyed kole tang, we had a hair algae breakout in our tank and he made quick work of it. I am also a FREAK about wrasses, I love them. Go nuts.

Heres some tips on what NOT to get: Damsels. Damsels. DAMSELS!!!!

That is all.

Actually, while I agree that most damsels turn into little terrors, my experience has been that yellow-tail blues and fusilier damsels are among the best of the bunch. Fusilier damsels also school all the time, which is nice to see in a tank.

Yo, I just bought 3 Fiji blues to put into my reef. A lot of people forget that damsels are the true reef fish. Nothing light the sight of a bunch of damsels around a reef head , each protecting their own 12" of real estate. Lol

SO, how agressive have your yellowtail blues been?

If you want schooling fish with no worries of it terrorizing anyone or anything in your tank I would go with some Anthias. They school and I have a bunch who are beautiful, peaceful and amazing to watch. They really add that orange pink and purple "pop" to the tank!

I've had the yellowtail blue damsels and they drove one of my blue chromis' to death, nasty little buggers. I traded them back to the LFS immediately, they were the most aggressive fish I've had. Them and the Clarkii clowns I had.... they killed off all of my shrimp and a blue chromis aswell :( :( :(

I learned the hard way with butterfly fish. Unless you are going to be around to feed twice a day, I would steer away. I fed a good portion of food once a day, every day and my copperband still did not make it. :sad:

Very peaceful. Maybe chase one another once in a while, but not the other fish.

Nothing is more peaceful than a pair of dragonets. They are never aggressive and none of my other fish, even the fiesty ones, give them a second look. Plus they look great to boot. Its a win, win!

I also think a wrasse tank would be nice as well but the nicer ones come at a cost.

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This has been a great help! Thank you everyone for your thoughts and ideas to this point - we really appreciate it. :biggrin: