Good LARGE Showpiece Fish?

[BobJones02]

I might be picking up a new 300 gallon tank before new years(super excited). It would be 8 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 2.5 feet tall. Any suggestions on a large reef safe fish for centerpiece? Probably won't be getting it for another year or so until the tank is established and all, but I just like thinking. Was thinking a regal angel or achilles tang, or maybe both?

[Danny_15]

A whale would look nice.

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[luckyk0505]

Both

[BobJones02]

Is there anything bigger that's as or more colorful?

[Cliving1]

A lot of choices. Angels, tangs, butterflies. Any coral?

[BobJones02]

definitely coral. thinking lots of euphyllia and softies

[Dmorty217]

Vlamingi or Unicorn tang

[ali1]

Orange shoulder is a classic

[ca1ore]

Emperor angel

[Dmorty217]

Emperor angel

+1 they can be grunty A-holes though

[slief]

Vlamingi or Unicorn tang

+1 for the Vlamingi and Unicorns. Those are my biggest fish (8-9”) and I have always found them to be very peaceful and very social when it comes to people compared to other tangs. I’ve got a number of different tangs and those two are always out and about and follow you around the tank like a puppy.

My Pyramid Buttterfly is a model citizen too and never bothers the corals. I’ve always loved and wanted a Regal Angel but have always been concerned since I have a fair amount of LPS. They are beautiful though and I know others who have them in their reefs without issues.

[nereefpat]

Regal tang
Blonde Naso tang
Watanabe angel
Bellus angel
Heniochus butterfly
Crosshatch trigger

[saf1]

I've always been partial to Naso Tangs if I was to buy based on that single, large, fish. Interesting facial colors and streamers. I would love to have one but believe my 240 is not wide enough. It will have depth and height (both 30") but not width being capped at 54". Other than that I've got nothing!

[josephxsxn]

Sohal Tang or perhaps a Naso tang.

[Bono]

+2 on Vlamingi Tang. Very social, will eat out of your hand and never stops swimming. My kids love to see how fast they grow. A 2 inch fish will double in a few months.

[locito277]

Emperor Angel and the tangs mentioned are all awesome. I have a Naso, Vlaminck and Unicorn. Peaceful but Naso is boss although Vlamingi is biggest. Sohal is beautiful but aggressive from all I’ve read. Large Goldflake pair would be amazing. Mine are small as my larger pair was lost during Irma :-(


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[wrott]

A large French Angel wound be nice.
https://www.kpaquatics.com/product/french-angelfish/

[64Ivy]

Be careful with the Sohal Tang though. First of all, a three hundred gallon eight foot tank might be a bit tight for a full grown Sohal. Second, beautiful, no doubt but they can become SUPREME ***holes and go a long way in destroying everything else you've acquired. Probably better to leave them to monster home, public aquaria, or simply alone.

[Vinny Kreyling]

I like the Asfur Angel.

[WLachnit]

I have a male blonde Naso as one of my showpiece fish. Same size tank as yours.


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[crawlerman]

All personal choice, but my favorite reef safe fish is male blonde Naso.

[ali1]

All personal choice, but my favorite reef safe fish is male blonde Naso.



Ditto. Got a 10” blonde naso

[lapin]

People like those Naso's. Very pretty fish.

[saf1]

Just wondering, how do the Atlantic Blue tang fare? Some of the images I've seen they look to have some striking colour. Not sure how common they are but then again Yellow tangs seem to be more common.

[jda]

Watanabei Angelfish pair. Along with a crosshatch trigger, these get the most comments by people who visit my house. Potters wrasse and adult Chocolate Tang get the next most, but they are not big enough to be "showcase" and can just be part of the background.

Atlantic Blue will lose some color as they grow, but they can be quite impressive.

[ruiny]

Quoyi parrotfish.

[barrysalt]

So far, no mention of Queen Angels. Docile, large, very striking. Blue Hippo Tangs are always eye-catching, grow nicely. Stay away from Sohals, they are very aggressive! Sail-fin Tangs also fit your criteria. I have all these in a very large tank, no problems.

[scooter31707]

Achilles Tang or a Blueface Angel.

[HBtank]

Always considered a large angelfish (numerous ones I like) as the premiere showpiece fish; second being a tang like an Achilles.

[marinelife]

Why not a pair of fish as your showpiece?

[slay]

Semilarvatus butterfly is a gorgeous centerpiece fish for a reef and it does well with conspecifics - a pair or trio would just be stunning. I've seen them imported (Red Sea specimens) in the 7-8" range, they don't get much bigger than that but they are almost as tall as they are long - effectively the are like gorgeous yellow lunch plates swimming around.

Naso vlamingis are nice, but they get can *big* big. I saw a N. vlamingi come in to the store from a customers tank where I used to work at a long, long time ago that was estimated at 16" not including streamers. Naso elegans & lituratus may be somewhat smaller, but they are still significantly huge fish to the point where I'm kinda on the fence about keeping them permanently in even an 8' tank after seeing how they swim in much bigger tanks. That might sound hypocritical coming from someone with a pair of benthic sharks that measure around 24" each in an 8' tank (a 450 8x4x2) but there's just such a marked difference in activity level.