Recommendations for my next fish?

[Vicarious Cynic]

Just looking for ideas for my next fish - just ideas to spark my interest, research, curiosity.

I have a three month old tank. 40 gallon long - started with 55 lbs live rock. Two fish - a royal gramma and a purple firefish. Both healthy, acclimated, active. Six little corals - two zoas, a torch a 5 head candy cane (one head is splitting for six!) a finger leather (Kenya tree?) and a green star polyp.

Two powerheads - one on each side, both about 1/3 low pointing up to roil the surface, and a Fluval 305 canister filter. Also have a remora pro skimmer that moves some water.

Currently have 2 2' t5's, both with 2 bulbs. Wife just gave me free rein to buy a new light (happy bday). Looking at a 4' long 4 bulb T5.

Eventually want to add an anemone, a clam and some clowns.

What would be a good fish to add now?

[Sk8r]

The gobies and blennies would be good fishes, maybe a royal gramma. They stay small, fit to scale of your tank, don't fuss too much. If you have a 20g fuge, you could manage a dragonet. I'd skip the clowns in a 40: too little room. They're rowdy, aggressive, and bitey with other fishes. Ultimately you may find the Fluval can't keep up and you need to attach a sump/fuge with a 100 gallon skimmer (capacity, not size). You'll be ok for a while. But if you see a chance to pick up a clean used sump or downflow box, you might consider it for the long term. OTOH, we ran a very successful tank on a Penguin filter with neither sump nor skimmer back in the 80's, so I don't say can't-be-done. Just be sure to keep up your water changes (10% a week), watch your parameters (see my sig), and quarantine everything but mandys! These guys come in stressed and will have been exposed to parasites---much, much easier to treat what they bring in a qt tank, without letting some bug from the South Seas loose in your precious tank.

[Mavrk]

The gobies and blennies would be good fishes, maybe a royal gramma. They stay small, fit to scale of your tank, don't fuss too much. If you have a 20g fuge, you could manage a dragonet. I'd skip the clowns in a 40: too little room. They're rowdy, aggressive, and bitey with other fishes. Ultimately you may find the Fluval can't keep up and you need to attach a sump/fuge with a 100 gallon skimmer (capacity, not size). You'll be ok for a while. But if you see a chance to pick up a clean used sump or downflow box, you might consider it for the long term. OTOH, we ran a very successful tank on a Penguin filter with neither sump nor skimmer back in the 80's, so I don't say can't-be-done. Just be sure to keep up your water changes (10% a week), watch your parameters (see my sig), and quarantine everything but mandys! These guys come in stressed and will have been exposed to parasites---much, much easier to treat what they bring in a qt tank, without letting some bug from the South Seas loose in your precious tank.

Good advice. But you already have a royal gramma, and I think it might be too early for a dragonet. I would recommend a firefish, but you have that too.

Other than the blenny and goby mentioned above, you could get some cardinals to shoal around together.

Look up nano fish, and see what you like.

[phiber_optikx]

Wrasses are among my favorite group.

[papa_dog]

get a tang.

Hopefully this was a joke - any Tang (even a Bristletooth) would outgrow that small of a tank in a very short time (possibly even at purchase).

I have a Bicolor Blenny and I also really like the Midas Blennys. Blennys are animated fish that are lots of fun to watch. Only issue is that with a smaller tank, you should likely try to find a smaller one so that it doesn't pick on the firefish.

I also like the gobie suggestion. I personally like the shrimp gobies better than the sand sifters (my coral and rocks stay cleaner). Also, if you have any interest in a Pistol Shrimp, a paired Gobie and Pistol Shrimp is really neat to watch in a tank - you need a bit of sand for them to tunnel in though (maybe 2' or 3").

Cheers,
K

[mak3mydae]

Dwarf angels are cool. Maybe a flame or lemonpeel?

[Vicarious Cynic]

Good suggestions. I was thinking panther grouper and a Lionfish to go with a school of tangs! JKJK! Shrimp goby and pistol shrimp are an the list. Coral beauty - maybe - wondering about the reef safe. Question about clowns - would one or two work in a 40 gallon?

[Sk8r]

No angel is blanket-statement reef-safe. I've not observed them to eat mushrooms or buttons. SOmeone else may chime in to say differently. A single chromis is beneficial: his silliness can reassure the shyer fish that it's safe to come out. If you're careful about what you get, your littlest fishes will be out and about all the time: if they duck for cover, they didn't like the new moray eel...also joking. A good blenny combo is the tailspot and the starry: I know by experience they get along, and they're funnier'n spit.
Expect your tank to go through some growing pains, algae blooms, etc, and go slowly with fish additions at first: each fish is an adjustment.

[Vicarious Cynic]

Nobody likes the clowns. Can I keep a clown (or two) in a 40?

[niftyjosh]

Dusky or Yellow Head Jawfish