# Choosing the right fish for a reef



## SEAWEED54 (Mar 8, 2012)

I'm not planing on adding any fish to my tank for at-least 6 to 8 months , after my tank is finished cycling aprox 3/4 more weeks
, I plan on adding in the CUC consists of 15 red leg and 15 blue leg hermit crabs 10 turbo snails they will be added in small intervals not to overload the cycle , I also want to establish my reef with lots of coral , anemones and plant life before I introduce fish (I am still researching on what corals are best to start with) will add the tougher ones later on 

OK now for the fish 
From my research I found these to be reef safe and also get along with one another ,


1 Royal Gramma Basslet
2 Bangaii cardinal
1 Magenta Pseudochromis
2 Clown fish 
2 Pajama Cardinal
1 Orange Back Basslet 
1 Blue Hippo Tang as the center piece 

all the fish average between 2 to 3 inch except for the tang 6 to 8 inch max

Do you think this is too over crowded for a 37 gal bow front 40 pounds of assorted live rock the rest of my tank stats are below in my signature 


just want to do this right the first time 
I am putting together a plan / blueprint so everything goes as smooth as it can with no issues also to help me put a budget aside for this beautiful aqua-scape :-D and adventure , 

Thanks for all your help and input , any and all info that will help this go smooth please pass it along 
if you see any snags with my plans please let me know so I can correct them before I get to that stage .
rather fix blue print of any bugs now since its easier to fix on paper than it would be after its done.
Thanks again 
John


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## SEAWEED54 (Mar 8, 2012)

after a little thinking I'm starting to rule out the tang just a little to big , still have plenty of time to decide what needs to go and what stays , this is the most fun all the decisions


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## SEAWEED54 (Mar 8, 2012)

rock put in over a week ago
then more rock I added today ready for the cycle to take off


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Everything on that list os a go with one exception, the Hippo Tang should not be placed in there.


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## Logansbloodyclaw (Mar 30, 2012)

Reefing Madness said:


> Everything on that list os a go with one exception, the Hippo Tang should not be placed in there.


 
that a fact that tank will be way to samll for a regal/hippo tank


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## JimBinSC (Jun 11, 2011)

When I had a saltwater setup I had hermit crabs and turbo snails together and the hermit crabs would take any opportunity to catch a snail on the bottom and eat it.


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## SEAWEED54 (Mar 8, 2012)

so far haven't had issues with hermits attacking snails just themselves ,
find crab legs everyday ,(to bad they weren't the kind to eat)the scarlet's are mean little buggers even rip out the plant life I added and rip it to shreds, about to pull hermits out and trade in for more snails ,


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## Stingray81 (Jun 21, 2011)

Ok everything sounds good but the hippo tang... I'm not completely ruling it out because seeing that it will be the only really " big fish" I thing it might work for a little while but I would recommend getting him when the tank is well established and all of your water perimeters are suck where you want them you will have to get rid of him sooner than later and remember the stress that the fish will have if there's not enough swimming room I would take some of the rock out just to give him some more room.also I would take him out or upgrade when he gets to be no more than 5"
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Tazman (Jan 15, 2012)

Do not purchase a fish on the pretense of "I will take him back when he outgrows the tank" or "I'll be upgrading soon or later" Simply doesnt work like that.

If you have the money to upgrade, go for a big tank straight away. The tang as mentioned by the very experienced Reefing Madness is a NO for your tank. He knows what he is talking about when it comes to Tangs (check his 240g Tang tank out). It will simply outgrow the tank and is NOT suitable in anyway at all for it.


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## Reefing Madness (Jun 26, 2011)

Tazman said:


> Do not purchase a fish on the pretense of "I will take him back when he outgrows the tank" or "I'll be upgrading soon or later" Simply doesnt work like that.
> 
> If you have the money to upgrade, go for a big tank straight away. The tang as mentioned is a NO for your tank. It will simply outgrow the tank and is NOT suitable in anyway at all for it.


 +1^^


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

the tang is obvious, however i dont know how i feel about a royal gramma, psuedocromis and basslet all together in a 37 gallon tank. these fish all have a similiar semi-aggressive territorial attitude and enjoy the comfort of caves, overhangs and rock work.


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## ZTK412 (Jun 17, 2012)

The hippo/Blue tang can grow very large and would require an extremely large tank. All else is good and for the "center piece" a dwarf angel would fit that tank perfectly.


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## Fishguy2727 (Dec 22, 2011)

Definitely no tang, way too big. I would say a 4' tank is bare minimum for a tang, but our service guys have definitely noticed that there tends to be a lot less HLLE when tangs are well fed in 6' tanks.

I wouldn't do any pseudochromis. 

No turbo snails, they will knock over your corals. 

I would avoid hermits, at least for the most part. You may not see it happen, but they are more than happen to get new homes whether there is currently a snail in it or not. 

I would rely more on smaller snails. Definitely get some large nassarius to keep the sand clean. Margaritas, astrea, etc. are good too. 

I wouldn't wait that long to add fish, no reason to. Fish are a natural part of the reef system. Their waste is food for many corals. 

I wouldn't do an anemone. They are very sensitive. They also move around and can sting and kill any coral. Stick with corals, many LPS are very similar to anemones, even hosted by clowns.


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