Help picking a "Show" fish for my Reef tank

[Red_Ant]

My tank is a 36x36x24 cube that will eventually be a LPS dominated tank. I am putting together the rest of my fish stocking list and looking for 1 or 2 larger show fish for my tank to make the wife happy. Help!!

Current stock:
Royal Gramma
2 Firefish
3 PJ Cardinals

Planned future additions:
Midas Blenny
Yellow Goby and shrimp pair
Green Mandarin
2 Snowflake Clowns
2 Fairy wrasses to be determined

So I need help picking out 1 or 2 more fish that will be my larger "show" fish. The fish I have now all look tiny in my tank even though they are almost full size. I was thinking maybe a flame angel and kole tang? Looking for something that looks nice and swims in the water column. Open to replacing the 2 fairy wrasses if needed if my stocking is too high.

Ideas?

[Sleepingtiger]

maybe a purple tang or moorish idol.

[Red_Ant]

Both look great, though it looks like the moorish idol would eat my coral. But, the purple tang is now one of the options.

Anyone else?

[SDguy]

Some of the fairy wrasses get large and are very showy... easily becoming a "show" piece in a 3' cube.

[Cdelgado58]

Midas Blenny is a great pick. I have one and i love watching it swim around the tank.

[drukkosz]

3-5 Bartlett's Anthias :)

Kole tang is shy and will hide most of the time, at least my did. your tank is only 3' long so tang wont be happy there.

[MrTuskfish]

Both look great, though it looks like the moorish idol would eat my coral. But, the purple tang is now one of the options.

Anyone else?

I think a 36" tank is WAY too small for tangs or an idol. Idols are extremely difficult fish (usually labeled "expert only") & need lots of room. Larger, active swimmers like tangs , really need a longer tank. the tank length is more important than volume. Cube tanks can be tough to stock for this reason. A trio of anthias, suggested above is a good idea.

[alton]

Create a Pair of Flame Angels?

[Bernie21]

How many gallons is your cube? I saw the dimensions, but dont know how much water volume that is. Idols are very finicky. I have one but I have several sponges in there that it spends all day picking on & feed heavy so it doesnt go near my corals. I say a higher end dwarf angel, a Flasher wrasse or a school of anthias. I love all three!

[Red_Ant]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Tank is 135 gallons and you are right it is definitely hard to stock because of the cube shape. But, you have to keep in mind that on the diagonal it is 50" long so just over 4ft. But, I hear you and since the Kole is shy, it is out.

A school of anthias doesn't sound too bad, but don't you have to feed them like 3-4 times a day? What are some good choices?

I also like the idea of a Pair of Flame Angels. What are some other higher end dward angels that are reef safe?

[DustyReefer]

dwarf angels arent entirely reef safe, they may nip at some things. Two best options are flame and coral beauty being the safest two options. I'm not sure how difficult it is to pair up flames as well. Might want to make sure they're paired prior to putting them in your tank.

[nanoreefer1000]

Lemonpeel angels if you want a bigger fish flame, CB, cherub, flameback, potters, etc etc are all good choices.
And yes they probably will pick/nip at corals but if you feed them a good diet AND throughout the day nipping is less common and less destructive to corals :)

[doublejhunter]

Leopard wrasse.

[Bernie21]

You probably wont ever find a paired set of Angels, get them small and add them at the same time, I know they're hermaphroditic so the dominant one might change gender.
As stated above, non are reef safe when you buy them, they just are or theyre not. Feeding often helps. Also having natural foods as nori, seaweed or sponges helps keep them of corals.
Lastly as far as the anthias are concerned, I have an automatic feeder that feeds small amounts of pellets 2x a day, so they always have food in addition to when I feed the whole tank. Good luck.

[grcforce327]

...

[sreefs]

A pair of Rhomboids or Lineatus fairy wrasses.

[Red_Ant]

Could I do 3 anthias, 1 flame angel and just one fairy wrasse with the other fish I want? Or would that be over stocking?

[cmabrey75]

How about a Magnificent Foxface and a flame angel

[Curious George]

Chevron Tang or Copper Banded Butterfly

[Red_Ant]

Copper banded butterfly looks good, but aren't they hard to feed and shy?

[alton]

Matt Pederson has a couple articles out on pairing angelfish. I started with a large male and introduced a small juvenile which I am one of many who believe juvies are females. It took several months for the male to accept the female. It would chase it, but not a "I am going to kill you if I catch you" chase, plus I have quite a bit of birdsnest that the female would use for the get away. After a while it became a game for the female, she would wait till I fed then dart out grab some food right from the males mouth and haul buns back to the birdsnest. Matt uses a something to seperate the two in the same tank until they get use to each other.

[JohnniG]

Achilles Tang

[Holsteiner]

Achilles Tang

I would have to disagree with the Achilles...I have mine in a 6 foot tank and I still feel it's not enough room for him to swim. We're doing an upgrade to a 10 footer over the summer when we move mostly to accomodate the Achilles. They require "a lot" of swimming room and 36" won't suffice.

[drukkosz]

Achilles Tang

I hope thats a joke

[Red_Ant]

What other higher end dwarf angels are out there? BTW, thanks everyone for all your help!

[Bernie21]

Could I do 3 anthias, 1 flame angel and just one fairy wrasse with the other fish I want? Or would that be over stocking?

It might be too much... Maybe remove some of the more common fish you have for the higher end ones you want or remove 1 of the 2 firefish & 2 of the 3 cardinals, so that you still have them, but have more room to add all of the above.

What other higher end dwarf angels are out there? BTW, thanks everyone for all your help!

Centropyge: Interruptus, multibarred, multicolor, joculator, venustus
Then there are the Genicanthus Angels.

[geaux xman]

LA had a male pictilis this morning. Gone now..

http://www.liveaquaria.com/images/categories/product/p-78324-pictilis-anthias.jpg

[Reef264]

The Kole will be shy for a few months, but after that time passes, it will be out and about.Mine eats from my fingers, I've only had mine for 6 months.Copperbands are a bit finicky, yes, but once acclimated to the environment, they do quite well under the right care.I wouldn't do a Moorish Idol, they require a lot of care, and luck to keep them healthy.Purple Tang would be a nice addition.Achilles Tang, I mean, just no...

-Ray

[nanoreefer1000]

IMO not enough horizontal swimming room for tangs/foxfaces/large angelfish and all the more reef safe BF fish should be treated like the tangs (I can't remember if this is correct though...) Maybe a Halichoeres wrasse would be good.

[Red_Ant]

Thanks everyone for the further help. Geeting closer now. Just did some more research. I like the copperband now. I'm thinking 1 copperband, 1 fairy wrasse and 1 flame angel. I want to do 2 Anthias last if possible, but then I will need to figure out which fish on my future list not to get.

I would get rid of one firefish, but they are best buddies. I'm not too gungho about the PJs, so I could take 2 of the 3 back. And just as background the tank is 135gal (36x36 but 50" diagonal) and the sump is a 100 gallon rubbermaid sump (about 75 gallons of water). About 250/300 lbs of live rock.

Now I need help on my final list. :) Thoughs on how to make them fit? Or which fish in my list may not be interesting?

[megadeth72]

I have a Centropyge potteri that's been behaving ok, he did eat a couple aiptasia I've been meaning to kill

[Arkayology]

Chevron tang would do ok in a 36x36 imo.

[nanoreefer1000]

No, they wont they can get big...