Best Fish for a Nano

[thlosey]

Hi,

I just want to see what you all would recommend for fish in my 10 gal nano. It has been set up for a month and a half and the only critters in it are a couple snails and a hermit crab (blue legged). I want the tank to be mostly corals and I don't want to get a fish that will eat too much of the 'pods and sand critters. The tank is completely open on the top, so I don't want to get anything that will jump out and turn into a potato chip behind the tank. Some of the fish I have considered are a flame hawk, percula clown, yellow-headed jawfish, firefish, royal gramma, or pseudochromis. Any suggestions? I will probably have only 2-3 fish, since I want to have as many inverts as possible. Will the hawk eat peppermint shrimp?

Ted

[Raszagil]

Hi! Here's the line up and my comments on each (I would suggest only two fish max...that's what I did with my ten gallon reef, it worked out very well):

flame hawk: I'd avoid this one. He can sometimes eat ornimental shrimp, and likes to "perch" on corals...in such a small tank he could cause some real problems by irritating corals and not allowing them to open up and feed.

percula clown: Great idea. I had a pair in the ten gallon, worked out just fine. One alone would be cool too, then you coould get another fish to go with it.

yellow-headed jawfish: Could work, but they like to dig around...in a small tank like a ten gallon it could get irritating. An idea.

firefish: Nadda. Cool fish, prefect for a smaller tank, but it likes to jump.

royal gramma: Excellent fish.

pseudochromis: Don't these need to be in schools? Not sure. Jury's out on this one.

My suggestions: one royal gramma and one percula clown.

HTH,

Raszagil

[emoR ekaJ]

althogh jawfish are cool(my favorite fish) they are real jumpers. pedocromis are extreamly aggressive. it would have to be the only fish.

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Another thing about jawfish in small tanks is their incessant digging may disturb the sand bed and mess up denitrification leading to higher nitrate levels
I vote for a pair o clowns(small) or a clown/gramma

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I thought I was me, but we were wrong
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[Alice]

Psuedochromis can be onery little buggers but mostly with conspecifics: fish of the same body type and similar coloring. A 10 gallon doesn't offer much room to run, though.

If you are really serious into the corals in a 10 gallon, you may not want a pair of clowns either. They can wreak havoc preparing a nesting site. If you do get a clown, stay with a Percula, Ocellarius or maybe a pink skunk clown..they stay smaller.

Another good candidate for a small tank is either a Citron Goby or a Yellow Clown Goby. I had a little clown goby in a small tank and I just loved him. Pretty hardy little guys once they get established, they love small meaty foods but mine ate flakes and pellets too.

Bi-color Blennies are one of my all-time favorite fish; very amusing and peaceful and they will eat algae from the rocks and the glass.

HTH,

~Alice

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Reefkeeping is my life; I can't afford a hobby too!