Community Fish for First Timer

[kimbaco6]

I am wondering if someone is willing to give me a list of 6 or 7 small community fish that would work well for a reef tank for a beginner with a 30 gallon tank.

I also am interested in knowing when and how to include them, because I hear that some fish will become territorial (such as clown fish) so it may be better to include them after certain other species of fish.

So far my thoughts are to have a pair of clown fish, a saddle valentini toby, maybe a damsel or two (yellowtail because less aggressive), and then a few shrimps, crabs, snails. I definitely need 2 or 3 more species to include here. Also, the toby might not work, any thoughts?

Thanks!
Kimberly

 

[TripleT]

Got a cover on the tank? If so...

Other bits of advice...

Take things slooooow.

If you think something can go wrong, it will.

Research QT tanks... and get one!

 

[TripleT]

Oh... and no damsels.

 

[TripleT]

Bicolor blenny, awesome personality. Loves microalgae, so don't overdo it on snails:

 

[NYreefNoob]

hmm alot of different and nice gobies and blennies, but have to watch which one's you would mix together.

 

[basiab]

Firefish as above, clown goby, neon goby, chalk bass and if you put him in last a Royal Gramma. The others can be put in in any order.

 

[kimbaco6]

Great that's awesome. Those are along the line of what I was thinking.
Definitely no damsels, I hear they can get feisty!

 

[cowfish]

I wouldn't put 6 fish in the 30.

 

[dubs]

a 6 line wrasse would work too if you get a good one sometimes when they grow they get aggressive I had mine for more than 2 years no issue

 

[Mattl22]

i just got a midas blenny and he is awsome he is very active changes color with his mood awsome fish will from wills waterworld has them for 40$

 

[kimbaco6]

I thought the conservative rule was one inch of fish per 5 gallons.
So I should be able to put in 5 or 6 small fish, correct?

 

[KathyC]

Ahhh, one of the great myths in fishkeeping. It does not take body mass into consideration. One inch of a firefish is far different than 1 inch of a trigger fish.
A 30 g tank should have no more than 4 small (under 4" ) fish that have a small body profile.

No, the puffer would not be good for your tank, it is only suitable for a fish only tank and it will eat all of your inverts.

How long has the tank cycled & what are your water parameters?

 

[SevTT]

Flasher wrasses are neat, and inoffensive. Ditto rainford's gobies. Yellow-tailed blue damsels are wonderfully colored (and they readily change color from a bright, metallic cyan to a deep, almost blue-black indigo, according to mood) and don't tend to be aggressive -- so long as you get the kind with only a yellow tail, not belly, and add them in odd groups of three or more, and don't let them settle in as the only fish in the tank for an extended period. They also stay small, smaller than female ocellaris clownfish.

I've heard that tank-raised bangaii cardinals also are good fish, but don't have any real experience with them.

I wouldn't recommend 6 fish in a 30 unless they're small (no flame angels) and several of them are of the same species, and of a type that schools together. The schooling cardinalfish are good for that. I had two mated clowns and a six-line in my 29, and I felt that I could add maybe one more small fish to the mix without it being overcrowded. You'd really have to pay attention to the max size of the fish.

 

[basiab]

Ditto rainford's gobies.
.

I really like the Rainforde but they usually will not eat anything other than what they find by sifting sand so they usualy starve in small tanks.