Colorfull Fish Suggestions?

[dismayed]

So I have a tank that consists of various ivertibrates (shrimp, crabs, etc.), coral, and a few fish.

I have a large tomato clown, a yellow tang, and a purple pseudochromis.

Here's my question: it seems that every time I hit the LFS, the fish that are the most colorful and like to be out in the open 'cruising' are invariably too aggressive, not reef safe, or venomous. The fish that are laid-back and would do great in a tank such as mine always seem so bland.

I was just wondering if anyone had suggestions on types of fish that are friendly but eye-catching that I might look for?

Thanks!

[TROYREEFER]

Depending on the tank size. I would look into angle fish or butterflies they are very colorful. Some wrasses are also. good luck

[psilentchild]

I mysel like the scott's fairy for colorfull ree safe fish

[ltindle]

I agree I am also looking for colorful fish, seems like the angels are for the most part not reef safe

[Juruense]

You already have colorful ones!

[Crustman]

A six-lined wrasse is colorful and reef safe.

[FranktheTankTx]

Agreed - but you do have 3 rather colorful fish there. You also have 3 fairly aggressive/territorial fish as well. Good luck adding more fish to those 3.

[dismayed]

Yes but I want more colorful fish! :-)

The problem with angels is that most are not reef safe. I have not had much luck with dwarf/pygmy angels either... it seems like flame angels and the like never do that well in captivity from what I can tell.

What about a mandarin fish, anyone have any experience with them?

And this is a 90 gallon we are talking about.

[Mike31154]

I was about to suggest a Mandarin Dragonet. I have one in my 75 gal. Feeding can be an issue but mine is finding sufficient food to be fat & happy. Your 90 should be fine provided the pod population is in good shape. None of my other fish bother him, they try sometimes but with his defensive coating to repel them, there's not much they can do.

His tank mates are a Yellow Tang, pair of Maroon Clownfish, Singapore Angelfish, Lawnmower Blenny and even a Blue Devil Damselfish. The Dragonet was added after the Clownfish and Damselfish, but before the Blenny, Tang and Angel. Again no issues with harassment to speak of and he's doing just fine.

BTW, I also have a few corals mostly softies but also a hammer and so far the Singapore Angelfish has not nipped at any of them so I can consider him pretty much reef safe to date. I had considered trading him in for a Flame Angel to get a little more red into the mix, but he's kind of grown on me now and since he's leaving the coral alone, why chance introducing an unkown.

[goldenfamaliy]

I have a flame that I had to move from my 75 to a nano because of coral picking, and he has done great!! Good appitite and it love xenia!!!!!

[dismayed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13909310#post13909310 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mike31154
I was about to suggest a Mandarin Dragonet. I have one in my 75 gal. Feeding can be an issue but mine is finding sufficient food to be fat & happy. Your 90 should be fine provided the pod population is in good shape. None of my other fish bother him, they try sometimes but with his defensive coating to repel them, there's not much they can do.

His tank mates are a Yellow Tang, pair of Maroon Clownfish, Singapore Angelfish, Lawnmower Blenny and even a Blue Devil Damselfish. The Dragonet was added after the Clownfish and Damselfish, but before the Blenny, Tang and Angel. Again no issues with harassment to speak of and he's doing just fine.

BTW, I also have a few corals mostly softies but also a hammer and so far the Singapore Angelfish has not nipped at any of them so I can consider him pretty much reef safe to date. I had considered trading him in for a Flame Angel to get a little more red into the mix, but he's kind of grown on me now and since he's leaving the coral alone, why chance introducing an unkown.

Wow, a Blue Devil. That is working out okay for you? I find those guys beautiful... there's one setting at my LFS now but I have heard horror stories about their aggressiveness. How big is your Devil compared to everyone else in the tank?

I've actually thought about taking my coral out and putting it in another tank, and just doing a FOWLR. I would absolutely love then be able to add angels to my tank.

My lights are so bright that I have had a lot of really colorful coralline build up on the rocks. It's actually fairly nice looking without anything even setting on them. Maybe I'll do that.

[ltindle]

Can you have more than one angel in a tank? (may be a stupid question but I have always heard only one)

[dismayed]

I am not an expert, but my LFS owner has said that you can do one angel and one dwarf angel together, just not any more.

[Mike31154]

Yep, most folks cringe when they hear Blue Devil Damsel but this guy and one Maroon Clownfish were the first inhabitants of my tank. They were both juveniles less than 2 inches I reckon. Since they were both new introductions and had plenty of room in the 75 there was little to no agression and they got along. Believe me, since then there have been times I would have loved to harpoon that BD, but he's such a striking blue color that I'm really glad he's still in there.

After the Maroon & Devil I added a Copperband Butterfly (too bad he starved, my newb mistake) and the Mandarin Dragonet. Damsel did not harass either one of those additions. At some point I gave the Maroon a BTA to host in and added the second clownfish a few months later. That was harrowing since the poor new clown had to deal with both a p'd off resident Maroon and the Blue Devil. To his credit, the little guy made it through the ordeal and I now have a mated pair of Maroons. The new clown lost more than a few shreds of fin to the Blue Devil but never appeared to be in actual mortal danger. It was tough to watch though and for a while I thought I'd made another grave error.

Then came the Lawnmower Blenny who was a good sized specimen. He and the Blue Devil got into it a few times and to my surprise, the Blenny held his own and actually came out on top. The BD never bothered him after that. The Blenny story is not all roses though since he ended up getting too close to a powerhead one day and met his demise. Purchased a second LM Blenny and he ended up carpet surfing. Don't recall any battles between him and the damsel. LM Blenny #3, (I wasn't giving up just yet) was a tiny juvenile and like the second clown, did well to survive long enough to grow sufficiently for his well being. The Damsel chased him relentlessly and he stayed near the top of the tank for a long time until he was big enough to venture lower. Anyhow, he's still with me and has also finally asserted his superiority over the damsel. Took a long time but he no longer takes any cr**p from Blue Devil.

The Damsel hasn't grown that fast compared to some of the other fish. The first Maroon has almost tripled since it is now the dominant female. So I guess bottom line is, I enjoy having my Blue Devil Damsel for the striking blue color and maybe patience has paid off for me in that I didn't toss him when he was harassing some of the other critters. He's still feisty, but really no danger to any other fish in the tank at this point. The Yellow Tang, Singapore Angel and Blue Devil are certainly front and center more so than many of the other guys. The Mandarin Dragonet just cruises leisurely all day and the Clowns hang out near their BTA. Lawnmower scoots around and does his thing, not colorful but lots of character.

[Mike31154]

Forgot to add that I also introduced three Blue/Green Chromis for some shoaling action about a year ago. The damsel would give chase from time to time, but the chromis had safety in numbers. Unfortunately, one by one the Chromis all expired one way or another. They stopped shoaling, the smallest started getting picked on and the rest is history.

[JStorey]

I would suggest lyretail anthias or any of the fairy or flasher wrasses.

[fender4string]

Check out the reef safe wrasses. My favorites are McCosker's Flasher Wrasse and the Solon Fairy Wrasse.

That's going strictly by looks-I've never owned either.

McCosker's
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1378+2648&pcatid=2648

Solon
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1378+369&pcatid=369

There're also videos of the fish. BONUS! lol

[dismayed]

I never seem to see stuff like this locally. Maybe I will give Live Aquaria a try.

[fender4string]

Live Aquaria is where I do all my "pre-research." I.e. I look for cool looking fish and ask questions about them later :). They seem to be a well reputed business-a lot of people on here have ordered through them and seem very happy. Wish I could speak from personal experience though-still a newbie :)

[texhorns98]

I wonder if that McCosker's always looks like that, or if it's fins are extended for some reason. One thing I've learned about these sites is they MUST do some Photoshop, or use special cameras. Check out the videos of the fish (if they offer one) and they are never as brightly colored as you see in some of the pictures.

[JStorey]

I've bought from LA several times, mostly from the diver den and the fish have always exeeded my expectations plus they stand behind them with a 14 day guarantee. I have the following wrasses in my 300 gallon, solon fairy, filmented flasher, melanarus, blue sided fairy, lubbocks, mystery and an exquisite and would recommend any of them. All have great color and are very active.

[will16]

Big fan of fairy wrasses. The hawaiian flame (my avatar) is my current fav.

[nikon187]

Flame, Lineatus, Rhomboid, Scotts Fairy wrasses are my top choices. Scotts can be quite mean though. Any of the flasher wrasses are great as well

[fantasyint]

One fish I love and pretty cheap is a coral beauty angel. I put one in my tank 7 days after I set it up and it did very good so it must be a hardy one

[fender4string]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13910150#post13910150 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by texhorns98
I wonder if that McCosker's always looks like that, or if it's fins are extended for some reason. One thing I've learned about these sites is they MUST do some Photoshop, or use special cameras. Check out the videos of the fish (if they offer one) and they are never as brightly colored as you see in some of the pictures.

Pretty sure the fin doesn't always look like that. It's probably more of a threat or maybe a mating pose. They seem to always show the pictures of fish with the fins up as it's more aesthetic (supposedly).

[ltindle]

The mcCosckers and long fin are quite beautiful

[dismayed]

I thought you all might be interested to know that I bought a Tazmanian Blue Devil Damsel today. Blue on top, yellow on bottom.

I noticed my LFS had several very pretty wrasses in today. I'm going to wait a few weeks and see how the damsel does and then the next fish I buy may well be a wrasse.

I almost bought a very pretty bright yellow dwarf angel (instead of the damsel) but I am just a little squeamish with them. I have just not had much luck with many angels outside of coral beauty's in the past.

Thanks everyone for your help!