best first fish?

[lynxie]

90 gal tank (+30-ish sump) is just over a month old. i've had snails (2 nassarius, 3 turban, 3 mexican), dwarf hermits (about a doz), some mushrooms and some zoas in there for about 2+ weeks now, and last weekend added a peppermint shrimp and some macroalgae. (and some tube worms, pods, bristleworms and other hitchikers). i know there's been 1 death (a turban turbo), but he was acting odd from the moment i brought him home, so i think he was sick when i got him. it's possible that i've lost a few hermits since they're so small that i can't find them all at the same time for a head-count, but i haven't seen extra empty shells or any bodies, so i don't think i've lost any of them. got a lot of brown algae still, but my cuc are doing a good job of getting it under controll, and i'm starting to see some green and some coralline pop up where the brown has been cleared by cuc.

i'm trying hard to be patient, and add slowly, but my tank's like an addiction... i want more life in my tank, lol.
i'm thinking it's time to add vertebrates.... LFS suggested my first fish should prob be a clown or a couple of cromis, as he said both are relatively inexpensive and fairly hardy, and not likely to cause territory issues when i add other fish/inverts down the road.
agree? disagree?

did some testing today (sorry, it's mostly metric since my tests are in metric):
t 25.5
refract 1.027 (i bit high, but i'll top up sump with r/o later today and that should help)
pH 8.1-8.3 (colour looked between the 2, so i assume it's 8.2, lol)
NH3/4 .1mg/L,
NO2 =0
NO3 = <5mg/L
Ca 440mg/L
phosphate 0-.25mg/L
iron 0
kh carbonate hardness 150mg/L


my tank will mostly be inverts, but do want some fish. hubby and i eventually want 1-2 clowns, a coral beauty, a mandarin, a tang (not sure what spp yet)... we also like chromis, gobis, blennies, scarlet hawkfish, cardinals, royal gramma (or false gramma), firefish....

how many of the above could we put together peaceably and stably in a mixed reef tank? are any of the above unsuitable? which do you suggest we start with, and do you think we should jump in now, or wait a while longer before tanking the plunge to vertebrates?

[Loverotties]

I agree with the LFS and surprise they told you either reg clown or cromis!both in the damsel family.

[lynxie]

ty went to lfs to check out their clowns and cromis to see which grabbed us, and they were out of chromis but had TONS of clowns (asst sizes, colouring, spp, tank-raised vs wild caught), so our descision between the 2 was made for us. we ended up getting a little 1.5" tank-raised ocellaris (i prefer things tank-bred/propagated vs harvested from the wild where possible, knew ocellaris were fairly easy spp to keep, and the little guy was just so dang cute and cheap that we couldn't say no, lol) - good lord that thing is active! he's swimming all over the tank - no fear, no stress, and as much energy as the energizer bunny!

[ericgreg]

If you are thinking of having another clown, I would do it now so they can grow up together. Clowns can/will be aggressive to a new tank-mate.

[Dragonist]

I recommend a clown also. Very Hardy fish. I also like jawfish, but they also do not like anything near thier burrow.

[bluelobstor]

i would go with a engineer goby. they are extremely hardy and are great community fish can be kept in groups they will move the sand around alot keeping it stirred and best of all they look like an eel when they get bigger. juveniles look different than adults

[depitch]

Lawnmower or Starry Blennies, good tank mates and algae eaters.

[schmnr]

If you want two clowns, its normally best to add them at the same time.

[Blownsvt]

i started my tank with a pair of clowns. I would reccomend it to anyone. they are a pretty fish that most people plan to keep in their tank long term, plus they are hardy.

[cutietwo]

would love to see a pic of the cute little guy. If you can get the clown another clown they love the company They'll follow eachother around and everything!