help please with selection of fish for new 33g reef tank

[Ziggy23]

Hi all

I have just setup a 33 gallon tank and was wondering if it would be big enough for either a copperband butterflyfish or a yellow tang. It has prizm deluxe skimmer, couple of powerheads, internal filter with seachem media and foam for larger waste plus 15 kilos of cured premium fiji live rock. would a yellow tang work with a mandarin and perhaps a pair of clown? I am getting conflicting advice from various sources.

thanks

[TheReefer12]

I have a 30 gal and decided not to go with a yellow tang. If you decide to go with one of those fish, you will be limited to what else you could put in the tank. They grow to be a pretty decent size. If you go with smaller fish, you will be able to put a little more in the tank and have more fish to look at.

Brian

[tims]

Welcome to TRT...

I would not put a yellow in at all, the fish may be small when you get it but they need a good amount of room. also your mandarin will need a good pod population in the tank first! i am thinking the copperband would be a bit too bit also for that size tank... i would stay with clowns and a goby and blenny(LMB)

[FishDaddy]

Hi, Ziggy, welcome to The Reef Tank!

I would definitely recommend against the Tang or Copperband in such a small tank. They need lots of swimming room. Mandarins require a steady source of live food such as found in established reef systems with lots of live rock or substrate. They usually starve in new systems.

Your best bet of the ones you mention is a pair of Ocellaris or Percula Clowns. If you get two juveniles, the dominant one will develop as a female. These are hardy fish and a delightful addition to any aquarium.

Since your tank is new, I would wait at least 6 weeks before introducing any fish. This lets the system stabilize and it's much easier to deal with the expected series of algae blooms that new systems go through. This also gives you plenty of time to research and plan out your tank's occupants.

I would recommend getting a copy of Scott Michael's Marine Fishes Pocket Guide. This book gives you good info on care and feeding requirements of 500 fish found in the aquarium trade.

Good luck with your new aquarium!

Dick

[Melissa]

Ziggy,
Welcome to the group! I am struggling with whether I should get a tang or not in my tank as well. It is a 90 gallon. There are so many tangs that outgrow their tanks. Plus, like others have mentioned, it makes the number of fish you can have very limited. If I were you, I would probably pick some fish that stay smaller. How about a fairy wrasse? There are some that max out at 4" and they are very pretty. Some stay even smaller. From what I've read on these, I have gathered the some info. This is not from experience, so anyone out there, please correct me if I'm wrong: Wrasses will compete with mandarins for food, though, as they both prey on pods and your tank is probably not large enough to support the pod population to feed both a wrasse and a mandarin. Wrasses will eat prepared foods more readily than mandarins but that doesn't deter them from eating pods as well.

Anthias are also very pretty and some species are very hardy. You could get a nice lyretail anthia.

Melissa

[goodfortune]

For a 33g I would suggest some of the Basslets like the Royal Gramma, or the Blackcap Basslet. Pygmy angels would also make a good choice; the Flame Angel is one of my favorite reef fishes . Basslets and Pygmy angels are extremely colorful, reef-safe (except that some pygmy angels are known to nip at fleshy corals and clam mantles), and don't grow very large.

HTH,
Michael

[Phishnoob]

We had these in our 29g but it got a little crowded so moved up to a 55g. If they can all get along in that tiny space then they should be fine.

Pair of tank raised Osc. clowns
Yellow Watchman Goby
Cardinal
Royal Gramma

Since we went to the 55g we added a lawnmower blenny.

All of these fish seem happy and are good eaters.