Fish for a 29g

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Iceburg98

New Member
Hello all,

I'm going to be setting up a 29g reef tank soon, and had a few questions about some of the fish i was considering.

I'm going to move the Green Coris Wrasse from my 6, so i know there won't be any problems there...

I was also thinking of adding a Red Sea Mimic Blenny, and either a Flame or Rusty Angel. I've heard that both of these fish may nip SPS and clams... How likely is this??? Has anyone had any experience with these fish in this situation?

One of the main reasons I wanted to upgrade to the 29g was so i could keep clams and SPS. If these fish are going to cause problems, i'm going to have a hard time deciding between them or the corals/clams :?
 
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mihkaail

New Member
Hi,

Great going with the coris wrasse, i like their energetic behaviour, just wondering, does yours bury itself in the sand etc at night? Would be SO cool to watch :smile:

I havent had a rusty angel before, but as to your flame angel idea, i think it should be okay, depending on the structure of the tank. If theres enough swimming space and a few arches (dwarf angels love that) it should be okay. Flames may be nippy about sps clams and tube worms. Actually, almost all dwarf angels may be.

In my old tank (6x2x2) i took the chance with a coral beauty first. She did peck at the tube worms but left them alone after a while. She was okay cos she didnt bother anything else. My bicolour, on the other hand, went after the very few SPS frags in the tank. He made sure they were all nibbled bare after a couple of weeks.

The next angels i got were surprisingly okay, only taking very occasional tasting nibbles out of gorgonian and similarly sized polyps; which is surprising for pomacanthus angels (a juvi emperor and a majestic). My flame, was okay too, doing no real substantial damage.

Might i make a suggestion? Try to find a golden angel (centropyge aurantius). It will eat any tube worms you have in your tank, and may go after SPS, but its looks are killer. They may cost a bit more too but they are SO worth it! Beware that theyll kill all your tubeworms, mine ate them one by one.

Hope this helps, and i hope you get the golden angel :smile:
 
blastprimo

blastprimo

New Member
If the main reason that you are upgrading is to get into SPS corals and clams I wouldn't want to risk the investment in corals on a fish or multiple fish that have the reputation for nipping at corals.

I have a nice chalk bass that I like. You can also look into the clowns or other basslets for some fish.

Also, you could check out some of these:

Midas blenny
yellow or blue assessor
some of the smaller dottyback's (check to see if they eat shrimps and crabs)

Just some ideas
 
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incysor

New Member
A 29g is too small for any angels. Period.

Rusty's are not kept as often as Flames, so there doesn't seem to be as much of an opinion on them. Flames are very iffy when it comes to SPS and Clams. Peoples experiences seem to vary from individual fish to fish. Some nip, some don't. Either way you shouldn't put an angel in that sized tank.

The mimic blenny is probably a good choice.
If you go with an assessor, or dottyback, or pseudochomis you'd want to put them in last, as they're gonna be agressive, and will likely pick on anything added to the tank after they are.

Clowns, gobies, hawks, maybe a school of 3 blue or green chomis. These would all be decent choices, and much bettter suited to a 29g.

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Iceburg98

New Member
Great going with the coris wrasse, i like their energetic behaviour, just wondering, does yours bury itself in the sand etc at night? Would be SO cool to watch
Click to expand...
Yeah, mine does bury itself in the sand just after lights out.. it's not much to look at though - he just darts behind a rock and all you see is a little puff of sand... He'll also do it if he gets scared enough (like the time i tried to catch him)

If the main reason that you are upgrading is to get into SPS corals and clams I wouldn't want to risk the investment in corals on a fish or multiple fish that have the reputation for nipping at corals.
Click to expand...
That's exactly why i'm asking this - I have heard that some blennies and angels will nip at the polyps/clams, but have never actually seen any do it or have known anyone where theirs did it. That's not to say that they never will, I was just curious if anyone's actually seen them do it, and how badly they damage the coral.

I've read differeing opinions on the size of tank for a flame angel ranging anywhere from 30g - 50g, so I know I would be pushing the smaller end of the range with them, which is why I was also considering the rusty - I've read 20g-30g is fine for them...

After a bit more research, if the angels are deffinately out of the question, i may just do a pair of clowns, or a few chromis - i'll have to check out those assessors too...
 
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incysor

New Member
For some reason assessors are kinda rare here. I've only seen them a few times in 3yrs. Neat looking fish, much like any other pseudochromis, but the color was bright and almost entirely yellow or blue.

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blastprimo

blastprimo

New Member
The thing I can tell you about the assessor is that they are slightly rare around here as well and according to Scott Michael (Marine Fishes Pocket Guide) it likes rock work with ledges and overhangs. The yellow one is a:
Assessor flavissimus
and the blue is
Assessor macneilli

It sounds like they are both quite peaceful and must be kept with other non aggressive fish. If you would want more then one, they should be added at the same time.
 
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mihkaail

New Member
Hi Iceburg,

What are the dimensions of your tank? What incysor days may or may not be true (a 35cm cube and a 60x27x27cm tank have the same volume, but keeping fish in the latter would be more feasible)

Another suggestion, hows about a shoal of 3 banggais? They look awesome and hand around together, maybe a little inactive for your tastes :smile:

Or you could go with a pair of firefish? Just a suggestion though
 
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Iceburg98

New Member
I haven't seen the assessors at all around here, but the owner of the LFS i usually go to can probably get me one if i wanted him to. I looked them up online, so at least i know what the look like.

I'm not a huge fan of cardinals - i don't really know why, but i just don't like the shapes they come in...

Incysor, I really like that anthias you posted a picture of in your other thread - that could be a possibility as weel, and i have seen those around here.

mihkaail - the tank i'm thinking of getting is 30x12x18in (sorry, i don't have my metric convertor with me :p )
 
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mihkaail

New Member
Hi Iceburg

Nice angel, havent seen one in either singapore or australia. Must be a hawaiian fish. The rusty angel c ferrungatus seems to show quite some natural variation within the species. The marine depot one shown seems darker and therefore less interesting because the pale lavender head region and the blue outlining of the saltwaterfish.com specimen cannot be seen. If i were you i wouldnt mail order this fish, just because you may not get the phenotype you want. (again unless you can get a WYSIWYG site). Sorry, no advice on whether it nips.
 
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Iceburg98

New Member
I've seen a few of them at the LFSs areound here, and for the most part they are the brighter rusty color with the nice bright blue around the fins - I can even ask the owner of one of the LFSs to get me a good one when he goes to the wholesalers (He goes once a week to LA to handpick everything as it comes in to the wholesalers - he'll try to do special requests within reason, so that's nice).
 
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