Nano fish keepers? NC24&BC29

[reefsmoker]

Any great suggestions out there? I personally own a BC29, just doing research, and hording all advise given...
Maybe some of the grand daddy reefers would enlighten us noobs. hehe

[mps9506]

Gobies, blennies, and damsels are my usual recommendations. My brain is a bit tired right now, can't think of many other appropriate marine fish types.

[reefsmoker]

maybe this little guy Google Image Result for http://www.tropicalfishforum.net/photopost/data/584/SixLine.JPG ? maybe if i added him last, the more i read on him, cute little guy though!

[mps9506]

They are an ideal size, but can grow up to be little terrors. You are right on about adding them last.

[Royalscott]

In my sons 29 BC, we have a clown, red fire fish, 6 line wrasse and a spotted mandarin. We added the 6 line wrasse last, but on the same day as the mandarin. At the LFS, they were always together and Scott didnt want to separate them.

Later, we added an Emerald crab and the 6 line kept going after him, but now they are fine together.

The 6 line is a very cool fish with lots of personality, just make sure its the last fish you add.

[reefsmoker]

royalscott Thanks for that feedback, sounds like scott could tell those two were pals, heh Thats Great, only thing is ...adding them last. ahh the waiting game

[mps9506]

I do have to say those mandarin gobies are one fish I really don't recommend for a small tank. Not saying it can't be done, but generally a large tank is needed to support their grazing style of eating where they are constantly hunting small copepods around the tank. Occasionally you will get one that will take to prepared foods, but even then I would only recommend them in larger aquariums.

[Royalscott]

Originally Posted by mps9506

I do have to say those mandarin gobies are one fish I really don't recommend for a small tank. Not saying it can't be done, but generally a large tank is needed to support their grazing style of eating where they are constantly hunting small copepods around the tank. Occasionally you will get one that will take to prepared foods, but even then I would only recommend them in larger aquariums.

Our does not eat frozen and with the 6 line wrasse also munching on the pods, I add a bag of Reef Pods every 2 weeks. $30 a month was starting to add up so I added some pod filled chaeto from reefcleaners.org and am hoping that will keep the mandarin satisfied. If not, its back to $30 a month to feed him.

[reefsmoker]

mps for the impute man! How about this little devil Pixy Hawkfish (Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus)
Although idk if they are captive breed or even available, i don't wanna buy wild anyhting...
Lol pixy vs. six-line CAGE MATCH!!

[Royalscott]

If you plan on corals, the Pixy Hawkfish sounds very iffy with them and any other fish you may have or want to have in the future.

My bet is they are wild caught.

[Illuminati]

This is a post I made on another forum, applies here:

I'll offer some more fish choices:

Clowns (Stick with the Percula species, others can be large and aggressive)
Bassletts - This includes Blue Assesors, Yellow Assesors, Blackcap Bassletts, Royal Gramma's. Only get one from this group as more than one won't get along together.
Blennys - BiColor
Cardinals - Bangaii or Pajama. If you get Bangaii make sure to get Tank Bred one's. Wild caught Bangaii's are on a list to get onto an endangered species list and have poor odds of survival in captivity where the Tank Bred one's are great.
Dottyback/Pseudochromis - Semi-Aggressive and shrimp killers. I had a Blue line Pseudochromis, awesome fish that got along with other tank mates but killed 7 shrimp, best to avoid.
Dartfish - Colorful but usually very skittish. Should only be kept in a peaceful tank with other calm tankmates.
Damsels = Devils (Usually)
Gobies - Lot's of good choices here. Yellow Watchman Goby is a cool fish.
Hogfish - The Yellow Candy hogfish is nice and would work.
A smaller Flasher Wrasse like a McKosker Flasher Wrasse would work.

[mps9506]

Originally Posted by reefsmoker

mps for the impute man! How about this little devil Pixy Hawkfish (Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus)
Although idk if they are captive breed or even available, i don't wanna buy wild anyhting...
Lol pixy vs. six-line CAGE MATCH!!

Pixy hawks are beautiful little critters. I love em, don't keep them with anything that would fit in their mouth however. So it would exclude neon gobies or smaller trimma gobies etc. Also smaller shrimp (probably 1/2"-1") would be at risk.
And no, unfortunately they are not available captive bred. If you want to do captive bred only, you are pretty much limited to clowns, gobies, and dottybacks.

[reefsmoker]

Thx Mike! Great fish suggestions, Any comments on pro-nano corals,inverts vs. Non-nano far too agressive corals,inverts?
Any tank pics anyone has of their Bc29 or NC24, plz post them and talk about them, what,why,how etc..
Thanks everyone!

[Emg]

If you want to keep any inverts, I'd ditch the idea of a sixline. Mine ate all 3 of my peppermint shrimp....so I sold him and bought a dwarf angel instead. I've got a 50gallon.

For small tanks I always recommend a pistol shrimp/goby pair. Lots of choices for smaller shrimp gobies, my personal favorite is the High Fin Redbanded goby.

I always hear folks suggesting yellow watchmen for nano tanks. They're a great fish, I really enjoy mine..... but man.....they can get large ! I saw two monster yellow watchmen in a 125 tank. One of the beasts was 6 inches long and the other was 7 ! My little watchman has grown to a fat 3.5 inches so far.....and still going !

Redhead gobies are a great little fish. Skittish, but in a funny sort of way. They're quick to hide, but just can't resist peeking right back out at you and then coming out to see if you've got anything for them. I loved the one that I had !

Lots of choices out there for smaller tanks, just be careful not to get carried away and start tossing in more than you should....that is SOOO easy to do !


As far as coral for nanos.... Mushrooms are always a good choice.......zoanthids, xenia, leathers.......frogspawn and hammers can be aggressive, but they're such a nice coral that I'd chance them in a 29. Put them up top of a rock somewhere and give them a little room and they should be fine.

Inverts.......peppermint shrimp(NOT camel shrimp), porcelein crabs (filter feeders), fire shrimp, cleaner shrimp......

Have fun setting this up Smoker !

[Illuminati]

Originally Posted by reefsmoker

Thx Mike! Great fish suggestions, Any comments on pro-nano corals,inverts vs. Non-nano far too agressive corals,inverts?
Any tank pics anyone has of their Bc29 or NC24, plz post them and talk about them, what,why,how etc..
Thanks everyone!

My NC 24 with stock lighting