Fish for 30 gallon??

[revoohc]

Hey everyone,

What fish can be kept in a 30 gallon aquarium? I would really like to keep the main species to be one that can have multiple specimens in the tank (and the possiblity of successful breeding would be nice). Also tank bred/raised would be prefered

.

Are there any fish that meet this criteria?

Thanks,

revoohc

 

[tomocean]

You could go for some clowns, gobies (esp. neon), dottybacks. All of these guys can be purchased captive bred and may even spawn in your tank if they have the right conditions.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

Ocellaris or Percula Clown pair
Two or three Royal Grammas (Make sure you add one large one and one or two small ones)
Fire Goby pair
Yellow tail damsel pair (Last to add. They are not aggressive at all)
I would avoid dottybacks because they can be very aggressive
All recommendations are according to personal experiences. All except the Fire Goby have been successfully bred in captivity.

 

[nick danger]

Royal gramma!

I have a 29g with a gramma going on his third year in my humble home.

Grammas are completely harmless towards corals and usually get along fine with fish that dont look just like them (like dottybacks). Mine gets along fine with a six line wrasse, and a friend has one with a percula and cardinal, and they all get along fine as well.

Some you get now are tank raised (I think). They are inexpensive, tough as nails, colorful, active, and in many respects the perfect small reef fish.

Only ONE per tank, though. If you get more than one you will eventually wind up with just one.

 

[nick danger]

Oops, now I see you want a breeder. Well, strike the gramma from the list! Unless its not the main fish, that is!

 

[reefworm]

29 gal. w/royal gramma, coral beauty and ocillaris. All doing fine. Coral beauty is a coral threat, however.

 

[nick danger]

Youre right, Minh. I dont know this from personal experience anyway as I only have one, and have read they will breed in captivity which assumes there is necessarily more than one in a tank.

However Bob Fenner, a fairly reputable source, says you need a tank 4 to 6 feet long to have two, which aint the 30g we are talking about in this thread.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by nick danger:
<STRONG>....However Bob Fenner, a fairly reputable source, says you need a tank 4 to 6 feet long to have two, which aint the 30g we are talking about in this thread.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

All my tank were at least 4 feet long. I know of a friend in Seattle have breeding trio in a 29 g high. Originally, I saw his three Royal Grammas and wanted to keep Royal Gramma since then.

 

[nick danger]

Minh, is there a trick to sexing an individual, or do you need to see group behaviour?

 

[naesco]

I would recommend a flasher wrasse.

Under no circumstances consider tangs, angels,scooters, mandarin or cleaner wrasse.
Your tank is much too small for tangs.
Angels are a high risk to nip at corals
Scooters and cleaner wrasse die. Mandarin are for aged expert tanks. Do not let the beauty of these fish make you make a mistake or let the LFS talk you into them.
It is nice to see your interest is in captive bred fish anyway.

Good Luck

 

[Minh Nguyen]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by nick danger:
<STRONG>Royal gramma!
.....
Only ONE per tank, though. If you get more than one you will eventually wind up with just one.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Nick, this is not true IME and the experience of many other reefers. I have three in in 100 g tank before. They are perfect reef fish. They breed all the time. You really need to try add one or two more small Royal Gramma into your tank. They will form a breeding unit. You will have problem with Royal Grammas fight if you add two males into your tank. I believe, but never read anywhere, that Royal Gramma change sex. The largest of the group will change sex and become male. When there are two male to the tank, they may fight until the death of one. I never experience this since I only keep three or four to a tank and always obtaint them with one large and the rest small. I kept Royal Gramma eversicne I keep reef tank, always in group, and never have mortality of Royal Gramma due to agression.

 

[skylsdale]

Hey Minh: do you like to quote everything?

 

[vpham97]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote

Hey Minh: do you like to quote everything?

I like to, it makes it easier to follow the thread.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by skylsdale:
<STRONG>Hey Minh: do you like to quote everything?</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't quote everything. I only quote selected part of the posted that I address. I take the time to deleted the rest.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by nick danger:
<STRONG>Minh, is there a trick to sexing an individual, or do you need to see group behaviour?</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The biggest one in my group of Royal Gramma is always the male. There are no visible differences other than the male is the largest one. The rest are females. I believe that they have biology similar to wrasse. The terminal phase of the development is male. I always either start with juveniles or added juvenile into a group. If you add one or two small Royal Gramma, you should be OK.
The male is the dominant one of the group. The eggs are always in the cave that is the sleeping quarter of the male. The females each have a sleeping place near by. My tank is 8 feet long but the Grammas rarely seen outside of the left two feet of the tank. They always out actively swimming around their caves instead of hiding. In the wild, Royal Gramma live in harem group with one male and multiple females.

 

[White-Queen]

I am new to this BB and new to the hobby but this thread is the perfect one for me.

I recently aquired an established 29 gal. by trade w/someone. Came with a tang (went to the LFS...too big for the tank IMO, coral banded shrimp, green brittle (will probably trade later) and various critters. 2 large chunks of LR, etc.

So I'm interested in everyone's opinion.

What about a Bangaii cardinal, percula pair and 3 royal gramma? Could be just 1 if that's too many. Opinions?

 

[naesco]

Welcome White-Queen.
I can tell already that you are going to be a very sucessful reefer.
Enjoy the hobby.

 

[rlp1]

In my 30 I have a pair of tank-raised neon gobies, 2 clown gobies (not a pair), 2 tank-raised gold-line gobies (not a pair), a pair of threadfin gobies. The clown gobies stay on top of the reef, the neon gobies stay midways up, the gold-line stay separated at either end of the bottom and the threadfins stay in the middle of the bottom. These are all great fish. When picking fish, pick ones that like to stay at different levels in the water colume so they are not so much in each other's face.

Oh, & definitely avoid basslets if you are going to try to keep any of these small gobies.

[ July 26, 2001: Message edited by: rlp ]

 

[jethro]

I would start off with a Naso Tang, a Kole Tang and possibly a Lion Fish. No more than three of each.

 

[Reef Man]

I have a 30 gallon cube and I have a royal gramma, a yellow tailed damsel, a Tomato clown and a lawnlonner blenny.

It looks like a ring side !!!!!