Centerpiece fish for 75 gallon tank
 

So as the name of the thread says, I have a 75 gallon tank, and I’m looking for a fish to put in it. Yes, A fish. One single fish. The tank is about 2 years old now, and current livestock is:

1 chocolate chip starfish
1 spider decorator crab
1 arrow crab
1 emerald crab
1 electric blue hermit crab
8 dwarf blue leg hermit crabs
4 peppermint shrimp
4 ghost shrimp

I’m wondering if there’s one fish (or group of 1 species of fish) that would be okay in that tank? Preferably fish that don’t spend all their time hiding and are actually fairly active. I don’t want anything too big because no matter how inactive a fish is I feel too guilty to put anything bigger than 6” in a tank as small as 75 gallons.

None of the crabs are aggressive towards fish, they were all previously in a 40 gallon tank with fish but were moved when I decided to make the 40 a reef tank. The arrow crab will occasionally make a half-hearted attempt to snag a fish that gets too close to him, but I spot feed him every other day so he’s never really hungry.

Why just one fish? IMHO, regardless of what fish you choose, it will still end up looking pretty empty.

A flame angel would be an eye catching centerpiece, but should be added last. So would a fireball or flameback pygmy angel, but it should also be added last.

A group of lyretail anthias would give you color and they are pretty much out all the time, but will require frequent feedings, especially until they settle in.

Many of the wrasses would be nice, but you might end up with fewer shrimp than you currently have. Perhaps a Leopard wrasse. Mine eat only pods and other tiny things. They are out from the time the lights come on until lights out, hunting in and around the rocks.

Valentini puffer, flame hawk, or 3x leopard wrasse. Or 3x dwarf angel.

I’m thinking one fish (or group of 1 species) because personally I love the aesthetic of fish in an “oversized” tank because it’s a great alternative to a fish or a bunch of fish in a tank that’s too small.

I honestly don’t give a single heck about any of the shrimp, they’re all jerks who were banished from the reef tank because they kept picking at the corals and the feather duster, even when they were spot fed every other day.

Would the wrasse(s) mess with my arrow crab? Because I’m mostly just concerned about him looking too shrimp-like.

Be cautious of the arrow crab...I had one once and until it started spearing fish..

I spot feed my boy every other day and he’ll make half hearted attempts to grab a fish if it gets really close to him, but I think he’s so well fed and so used to food literally being handed to him on a stick that he doesn’t really care that much about trying to catch anything. Although he does sometimes come try to eat my hand when I’m letting the shrimp crawl on it, he’s like a big aquatic daddy long leg lol

The flame hawk and the wrasse(s) will take out the shrimp.

And I'm curious, are you really recommending 3 pygmy angels in a 75 gallon tank? The aggression could be disastrous.

Kevin

Do you think that a group of zebra dartfish would be okay in this tank? And nd if so would they be okay with a wrasse?

Get a flasher wrasse, would be a really cool center piece fish, active and I've only had only had one, but he was good with shrimp.

What kind of flasher wrasse

I have a yellow fin, but I think the carpenters flashers are more attractive looking. You could get a female or a make of another specie to make them flash. I just have one, and he sometimes flashes my clown or when I feed the tank.

I think the dartfish would be fine, but I haven't kept the two types together. I'm sure someone else can comment on that pairing.

Kevin

Solid advice
After banning crabs completely, mysterious overnight disappearances ceased.........hum?

Can't answer about the compatibility of the crab and various fish, as I've never put an arrow crab in a fish tank - the one I had that came in on some live rock some 20 years ago was put into a separate tank just for it (it was too cool to smash into fish food).

I'm with you on "little fish in a big tank" - schools of fish are really cool, whether salt or fresh.

So here's a few ideas:

1) Group of 10 blue-eyed cardinals. Not the flashiest of saltwater fish, but constant mid-water swimmers, and the eyes are really catchy in a tank lit by bluish LEDs

2) Any of the dwarf angels; I'm partial to eiblis, but there are lots of other choices. If (and only if!) you've a 20 gallon already set up and ready to go in case you need to make a fast save, you may be able to get a pair of a few of the smaller/less aggressive dwarf angels if you can get them when they're juveniles. Lots of personality to these fish, and they're always swimming around the rocks looking for a meal.

3) Deepwater basslets. This would be an expensive choice if you went with candy basslets, but they are absolutely stunning fish, and with the size of your tank, several of them will likely be OK (they will set up separate territories). However, same thing applies as #2 - always have a backup tank up and running in case the one gets picked on. I really, really like black-cap basslets, and they're be a lot easier to swallow cost-wise. I'm sure you already know about other basslets like the royal gramma. It may be common, but it's a stunning fish.

4) Assessors - several different types, a bit different behavior than the basslets in #3.

5) Peppermint hogfish (Bodianus sepiacaudus) or the yellow candy hogfish (Bodianus bimaculatus). Most hogfish get too large for a medium sized tank, but these remain fairly small and are slow growers.

6) Ornate Leopard and/or choat's leopard wrasse. Your shrimp will probably be history, and you absolutely must have a sandbed of around 2"-3" for these fish, but if purchased as juvenile females, they're pretty easy to establish as a pair.

Any of 2 - 6 could be kept with a school of the blue-eyed cardinals, as the blue-eyes are schooling fish that occupy the mid-water, while the others will be spending most of their time hunting around the rocks.

So I got a trio of the zebra dartfish;they’re currently in quarantine. I kinda like the idea of maybe a couple mollies, since I’m going to be getting quite a few from a friend and I’ve already converted mollies and guppies to saltwater successfully before. In terms of mollies i think i would do only males or only females just so I don’t have a huge population boom.

My question is would the dartfish be chill with mollies? They’re in quarantine with a yellow prawn goby atm and seem to be getting along just fine