Reef Fish

astiesi

astiesi

Member
I am currently looking for another fish to add to my 65g mixed reef and was really shocked by how little I knew about any types other than the most common fish (clowns, yellow tangs, most gobies, etc). It seems we are always suggesting fish for the common forum newbie and there is rarely any discussion on some of the non-beginner types of fish.

I thought it would be an interesting idea to create a thread where members could post pictures and information on the reef fish in their tank. What I am really looking for here is information/pictures/experiences with the more "cannot be found at every LFS on any given day" fish. Personally, I have been researching the multitude of reef safe wrasses which are not a 6-line (such as fairly and flasher wrasses) as well as dwarf angels (beyond the flame and coral beauty).

So, who wants to start?
 
jonathan10

jonathan10

Member
CHERUB ANGEL.jpg

I had one of these little guys in my old 20 Gallon Long Mixed Reef tank, and it was one of my favorite fish! It had so much personality and never bothered any of my corals (I had a mixture of LPS, SPS, and softies). Really fun to watch graze on the live rock and just a really pretty!
 
Robzilla

Robzilla

Active Member
Wrasses are great fish that provide a lot of color and movement in a tank! I have kept reef safe and non reef safe wrasses. I'm in the process of building a fairy wrasse only ecosystem. Here is something I posted on another thread:



How many and what kind of fish are in your tank? Fairy wrasses are very shy if there are a lot of tank mates in too small of an area. If any are aggressive, the wrasse will most likely stay hidden under your rocks (they are very good at hiding), jump ship (make sure you have a tight fitting lid with no openings), or just expire from stress. Flashers are not always going to flash and it is most often used as a defensive warning for other fish to back off. These are great fish though and have a very light bio load!

You say no orange fish. Do you have a specific color in mind? Most of these fish will have at least some orange in their color pattern. Keeping color and tank size into consideration, take a look at some if these:

http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1378+318&pcatid=318 <-This one will be ok as long as you don't have too much rock so it can swim freely. It will need some caves to hide in to feel safe.
http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1378+1153&pcatid=1153 <-Many color variations and more likely to flash the top fin than most flashers.
http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1378+1398&pcatid=1398 <-One of my favorites. Not too much orange and a very active and curious fish. Stays small!
http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1378+2648&pcatid=2648 <-Very colorful but extremely shy. Needs plenty of places to hide if there are a lot of tank mates. Stays small!
 
astiesi

astiesi

Member
jonathan10 said:
View attachment 20099

I had one of these little guys in my old 20 Gallon Long Mixed Reef tank, and it was one of my favorite fish! It had so much personality and never bothered any of my corals (I had a mixture of LPS, SPS, and softies). Really fun to watch graze on the live rock and just a really pretty!
Click to expand...

Jonathan, funny you should post that, this is exactly the fish I am looking to add next, as soon as I can find a healthy one locally.
 
astiesi

astiesi

Member
Robzilla said:
Wrasses are great fish that provide a lot of color and movement in a tank! I have kept reef safe and non reef safe wrasses. I'm in the process of building a fairy wrasse only ecosystem. Here is something I posted on another thread:



How many and what kind of fish are in your tank? Fairy wrasses are very shy if there are a lot of tank mates in too small of an area. If any are aggressive, the wrasse will most likely stay hidden under your rocks (they are very good at hiding), jump ship (make sure you have a tight fitting lid with no openings), or just expire from stress. Flashers are not always going to flash and it is most often used as a defensive warning for other fish to back off. These are great fish though and have a very light bio load!

You say no orange fish. Do you have a specific color in mind? Most of these fish will have at least some orange in their color pattern. Keeping color and tank size into consideration, take a look at some if these:

Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Exquisite Fairy Wrasse - Reef Safe <-This one will be ok as long as you don't have too much rock so it can swim freely. It will need some caves to hide in to feel safe.
Bluehead Fairy Wrasse <-Many color variations and more likely to flash the top fin than most flashers.
Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Orange-Back Fairy Wrasse <-One of my favorites. Not too much orange and a very active and curious fish. Stays small!
Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Reef Aquariums: McCosker's Flasher Wrasse <-Very colorful but extremely shy. Needs plenty of places to hide if there are a lot of tank mates. Stays small!
Click to expand...

Rob, exactly why I posted this thread. I was looking through LA the other day and was shocked at how colorful these wrasses are and that I rarely see pictures of them or hear about them in forums around here. I resorted to the "other forum" to get information on them. I must say I was very impressed by the McCosker's when I saw it. The idea of a Wrasse only tank is awesome, will have to check out your thread when I have a few minutes.

Do you have luck finding these guys locally or do you do a lot of shopping Live Aquaria?
 
astiesi

astiesi

Member
Funlad3 said:
The only fish that survived my strange epidemic was incedentally a fairy wrasse! I can never get a good picture, but it's a Cirrhilabrus solorensis. Great fish that's very active, doesn't hide much, and is impossible to catch.

Cirrhilabrus solorensis - Google Search
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Beautiful fish, obviously pretty hardy as well. Wonder why I haven't seen more of these around in people's tanks? Do you have to do anything special to keep him happy (special diet, lower temperature, etc) other than a stable and mature tank?
 
Robzilla

Robzilla

Active Member
I have a LFS by me that gets amazing fish, in fact my most recent posts are of me complaining that I don't have the proper setup yet to buy them (I have a few things I need to fix before I add another fish). If I were to buy online, LA would be my go-to site. Also, I think the best part about fairy wrasses is that they leave the smallest bio load and you can really cut back on your feeding.
 
astiesi

astiesi

Member
I'm going to try to keep this thread going.

Here is a picture of my Midas Blenny. While somewhat available in the trade, I personally only see them locally available 1 in every 10 trips to the LFS, and even then only find one or two available. As far as my research I do not believe these have ever been successfully bred in captivity.

My experience has been very positive. Entirely reef safe with no interest in inverts. Spends its nights sleeping in a hole in the rock with its head sticking out, spends much of the day swimming around the tank. It eats whatever I feed the tank ... Rogger's Reef food, frozen mysis, flakes, and pellets ... and has done so since day 1. I've read that they are jumpers however my tank is well covered so I have never seen it. All in all, one of my favorite fish currently in my mixed reef tank.

Reef_022.jpg
 
astiesi

astiesi

Member
radicalxraiin said:
Where do you go for your fish/supplies. I live close to you and was wondering what store you prefer.
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For fish alone, believe it or not, I've been happy so far with All Fish Emporium, formerly Big Al's. They tend to have a very large selection. For corals/fish the two places I visit are Coral Reef Farm, which is off Stirling Rd. and 95 in Hollywood, and Barrier Reef, which is in the area of 95 and Glades Rd in Boca.
 
michael_cb_125

michael_cb_125

Well-Known Member
I'll Play.

These little guys are my Bandit Angels (Apolemichthys arcuatus). Found only in Hawaii and typically at greater depths than traditional scuba collection allows. This is by far my favorite species and and I consider myself very fortunate to have a juvenile pair.

SANY0666.jpg


SANY0689.jpg


IMG_1019.jpg


IMG_1028.jpg




I have kept these guys in with several types of LPS and Soft corals with great success.

I have other reef fish that are considered not common if anyone is interested in seeing them.....

~Michael
 
astiesi

astiesi

Member
Michael, really beautiful fish! I have never seen pictures of these before, how big do they get?

And thanks for sharing!
 
michael_cb_125

michael_cb_125

Well-Known Member
Thanks Anthony!

These angelfish typically max out at about 9" in the wild, I expect these guys to hit about 6" or 7".

~Michael
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
Well HELLO Michael! Good to see you posting. How did I guess you'd have some "interest" in this particular thread? This is right up your alley bud!!

:)
 
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