Reef safe agressive or semi agressive fish. . . .

[fishy_chicky]

To live in a 125 gallon reef. . .

Tank Specs:
125 gallon tank with a 50 gallon refugium and a 20 gallon sump.

Tank houses a variety of LPS (candy canes, plate coral, acans, etc.), soft corals (zoos, palys, xenia, mushrooms), and SPS (montipora, turbinaria) corals, along with a Derasa clam.

Refugium houses 4 H. Erectus, several varieties of macro algae and a purple gorgonian.

Currently the tank contains a yellow tang (about 6 inches), a scooter blenny that accepts frozen foods, and a sand-sifting goby that also accepts frozen foods.

We (my mom and I) can't seem to agree on what kinds of fish to add next, so we decided to consult the people of reef central. Any opinions and advice are welcome.

[Indymann99]

Are you looking for a fish or invert?

Many reef safe fish to choose from. I would stay away from damsels.

Your Bioload is low so you could add a fish AND an invert such as a skunk cleaner shrimp, Mine cleans my YT, Hippo tang and bannerfish... very fun to watch the interaction.

http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn10/Indymann99/?action=view&current=cleaning.flv

[Sheol]

Try a Dottyback. Maybe a Yellow-tail damsel. Smaller Hawkfish, also..

Matthew

[Elysia]

A tank that size leaves you with a lot of options. My suggestions will be, at the most, semi-aggressive.

You could get a nice group of Chalk bass (Serranus tortugarum) -- they get to be around 3" and are colorful, and should be able to live in a group much better than, say, a group of chromis.

You could get a hamlet, which are hardy and attractive, although only one is recommended per tank. I like what I have read about the butter hamlet (Hypoplectrus unicolor, but it is yellow, and you have a yellow tang) and the blue hamlet (hypoplectrus gemma.) Each grow to 5."

Dottybacks were mentioned. Several species are now available captive-bred, and they are reported to be less aggressive than wild caught fish. The sunrise (Pseudochromis flavivertex; sky blue w/ yellow), orchid (P. fridmani; purple), Sankey's (P. sankeyi; black and white striped), and Springer's (P. springeri; black w/ blue) are all available as captive bred animals. They grow 2"-3."I have an ORA Springer's that is very entertaining and has caused no problems.

Somewhat similar to dottybacks are grammas, although in my experience they are scrappier. The royal gramma (Gramma loreto) is half purple, half yellow and grows to 3" while the blackcap gramma (G. melacara) grows to 4" and is all purple other than its black patch on the head. My grammas have all been terriorial and real chow hounds.

Hawkfish were mentioned. In my experience, the most mild-manner hawkfish include the 3" Falco's (Cirrhitichthys falco) and, depending on the invert species you plan to keep, the flame (Neocirrhites armatus, 3.5") and longnose (Oxycirrhites typus, 5")

You could also get one (possibly more, if the species permits it) of the larger cardinal fish species. Not all cardinal fish are diurnal, nor do all cardinal fish like to live in groups. It can take some research to find the species that would be appropriate for your tank situation, and then some searching to find that species available retail (especially identified correctly.)

An angelfish would be a bit of a risk in an aquarium like yours, with its corals, but you could try a Lamarck's angel (Genicanthus lamarck.) They can grow to 9" and I know there are some supporters here on RC who keep them.

As for damsels, you could keep something moderately aggressive like a captive-bred cinnamon clownfish (Amphiprion melanopus) and keep it singly to prevent aggression from defending a nest site.

The Cuban hogfish (Bodianus pulchellus) is a colorful wrasse that grows to about 6" and is generally robust.

I consider most blennies to be semi-aggressive (or at least, not passive like firefish, most gobies, fairy & flasher wrasses, asssesors, and seahorses & pipefish.) The midas blenny (Ecsenius midas) swims in the water column and eats zooplankton.

You really have quite a few options, as these are certainly only a few. Enjoy picking out the rest of your fish!