Stocking Recommendation

dmatt56

Hello everyone,

I'm feeling the itch to add a new fish to my aquarium. I have a 54 Gal corner tank with fish, inverts, and soft corals. The fish I currently have are as follows:

2 clowns
3 chromis
1 bangaii cardinal
1 green mandarin
1 flame angel

What would be a good new addition? I'm thinking a yellow assessor or a couple gobies (watchman or clown, or firefish).

Any suggestions would be appreciated!!

Matt

Pasfur

Matt, I have an almost identical system. A 54 reef, soft coral tank, with 1 Ocellaris Clown, 1 Six Line Wrasse, and a Coral Beauty Angel. I am afraid that your Flame Angel will be extremely territorial towards any of the additions you named above, given that the Flame is already established.

I think the Watchman Goby is your best chance, because it is less likely to jump out of the tank if it is chased, and will probably just find a place to settle down and call home. The other open water fish are a just a target in waiting for the Flame.

dmatt56

What if I added a semi-aggressive fish like a royal gramma, bicolor angel, pygmy angel, or 6 line wrasse? The flame is actually somewhat docile. The bagaii and ocellaris clowns all three maintain their ground with him. I need another good open water fish.

Thanks,

Matt

Pasfur

I understand your line of thinking Matt, but I honestly can't support you on this one. I don't think you have the space. I think there is a very high chance that adding one more open water fish is going to cause aggressive behavior from the existing fish, be it the Flame or Clown.

These things are always just a best guess. You never know for certain, so you may try it. Just realize the risks. I will tell you that you will have better success adding a more docile species that is not perceived as a threat, as opposed to adding a species that shows its flare. The BiColor Angel and Six Line Wrasse are very high risk options.

I will tell you another possibility. You may be able to add another Flame Angel, if you buy one that is smaller in size than your existing fish. Centropyge angelfish do wonderful in pairs, and some authors even suggest that they should never be kept individually. On the flip side, keeping different species of Centropyge together in your size tank would likely not work.

Of the fish you name, the Royal Gramma is best, but they really aren't open water. They tend to find a place to call home and stick their heads out to feed.

Another risk is the further damage to the copepods population that supports your Mandarin. Most small fish will graze all day, including your Clown and Flame. One more fish is just one more predator thinning the microfauna life.

If it were my tank, I wouldn't add any more fish. But if you do, I wish you the best of luck!

dmatt56

Thanks once again for the feedback! My sump refugium is crawling with pods. Is there a good way to transfer them from the sump to display tank? I'm extremely lucky my mandarin eats mysis, cyclops, and sinking pellets.

With the 3 chromis hiding most days, it seems like I only have 5 fish in the tank. I was hoping to add one more, but maybe that's not a good idea.

Matt

wake49

The Copepods will make their way to the display without any assistance from you whatsoever. They get caught up in the current and follow the pump. If you want to speed up the proccess, take a rock from your fuge and switch it with a rock from your display. Do this every couple of weeks and you should be fine.

I have a Mandarin in my 150 gallon reef and all he eats is pods. No frozen, no pellets, nothing but pods. I have a nice population, as I let my glass get a little green from time to time. The pods have a tendency to feed on phytoplankton, and they are most dense in the areas that aren't clean.

dmatt56

Thanks for all the replies! I went for a pair of purple firefish. I am a big fan and no one seems to bother them. I also got a tiny hi-fin goby, and luckily it found a cave in the front of my tank!

Matt