Glad it's restored. This guide has helped many noobs get off to a good start stocking their tanks, including me back when I started.

Good to hear!

Like sections III and IV?

haha...did i never finish that? sheesh.

Hey lgreen. Any chance you can add something about which fish can be readily breed in captivity?

If you would like some info on breeding fish, visit MOFIB at marinebreeder.org.

I WOULD LIKE TO LODGE A COMPLAINT. I CAME HERE LOOKING FOR IDEAS ON A FISH FOR MY NANOWAVE 9, BUT IT IS NOT LISTED ANYWHERE. THIS SORT OF DISCRIMINATION SHOULD NOT BE TOLERATED.

I'M STARTING A LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN, WE WILL NOT BE IGNORED!!!

you can't keep fish in a microwave

Guess I should take out the tang, then?

I was thinking more along the lines of available from captive breeding. 1 less fishy from the ocean and all.

ORA has a lot of species listed:
http://www.orafarm.com/fish.html

edit: they don't sell directly. Check with your LFS or online.

Here's a list of what's been successfully bred at, I think, commercial levels.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AqSciSubWebIndex/orncultart.htm

I just ran across this...very nice work! I'm curious to know if there if anyone has tried to write a comprehansive guide such as this for corals in a Nano tank?

Yes! I would like to know that too!!!

here's a good link:
http://www.asira.org/caresheets

There aren't many differences between nanos and large tanks in keeping corals. In every tank you will have to consider water quality, lighting/food, and placement.

AcroporaLokani did a write up on corals that I thought was pretty good.

I have a curious question. Why would a Sixline Wrasse, full grown at about 3 inches, be considered OK (and I stress OK) for a 10G+ aquarium where lets say a Dot-N-Dash Flasher Wrasse (Paracheleilinus Lineopunctatus), full grown at about 2.5 inches, only be suitable for a 20G+. Interested in thoughts for this one.

Flasher wrasses are open water feeders (planktivores), while the sixline moves close and in between the rocks to find pods to eat.

I have one started...can't say when it will be done for sure though.

Thank you very much, well explained and apreciated greatly.

Has anybody already suggested the use of latin names?

I'm not speaking for lgreen, but given the nature of the guide as being a sticky in the Beginner Section, common names seem to be adequate to help beginner's find fish by what they will be commonly referred to as in the LFS.

Agreed. If you want the scientific name, type the common name in google and search for it.

If you absolutely can't find it, then pm me or post here.

Okay. I typed "green clown goby" into google, and got back Gobiodon histrio, G. atrangulatus, G. rivulatus...which species does it refer to?

"Gobiodon atrangulatus" courtesy of Liveaquaria.com

Gobiodon rivulatus:



Gobiodon histrio:



Gobiodon atrangulatus:



Notice the difference between the red patterning between G. histrio and G. atrangulatus.

The one you commonly see in fish stores is G. atrangulatus.

I guess I am not making my point clearly enough.

Novice fishkeeper walks into LFS and ask for a "purple dottyback"...will he be sold P. fridmani or P. porphyreus? I'm sure you and I know there are 2 similar looking species, and how to tell the difference, and what the common names are, but how does he? Should he trust the LFS to give him the correct info and name, or maybe just sell him whatever purple colored dotty they have in stock? There are many examples of similar looking fish with different personalities that this applies to.

How about a picture, or description, or latin name, or a link to Fishbase.org, etc. to eliminate any possible confusion?

Like this:
Orchid Dottyback, Pseudochromis fridmani
Purple/Magenta Dottyback, Pseudochromis porphyreus

So basically your argument is that it should be like yours on reefs.org?

Or like any scientific paper, www.liveaquaria.com, foreign websites, diving photography sites, etc etc etc.?

I agree with you, in an ideal situation. But then the guide would no longer be noob-friendly. We're pushing their intellectual capabilities as it is.

That's a good point. Too much information can be daunting.

Okay, I've said my piece, thanks for listening.

I think listing the genus/family name would be okay.

WOW, thank you for putting this together and posting it.

As a newcomer to reefs , I just wanted to say how brilliant this Ultimate Guide to Nano fish is (wish there would have been something like this for parenting!). It will help me think so much more clearly and responsibly from the very beginning and will hopefully prevent the later heartache of impulse buys gone bad.

Thank you, most kindly, for sharing your experience and thinking.

Lianne

ehhhhh

I have a 14g biocube and I am in the process of stocking it (running for three months). I currently have a diamond sleeper goby & a yellow clown goby (wanted to add the most peaceful fish first). I would like to get two more small fish with LOTS of personality and lots of color.

I'm new to reef keeping and would like some advice on fish that may be good. You can check out my tank blog if you want to see what else I have stocked in the tank...

Thanks!!!
L.

14g is too small for a diamond sleeper goby.

Well he is in there already, I bought it on the advice of my LFS, from reading these forums I now know they can't always be trusted... If he is not a good fish for this tank what do I do? I'm new to this whole reef aquarium thing, and so advice is helpful for me.

Thanks.
L.

stop posting in bold for one

Those get pretty big. Take him back to the store.

Wow... Thanks, that's a big help!

back to the store. These fish need huge tanks or very large sandbeds.

Okay, a number of people have said take him back... which is fine. But on lgreen's guide it says that an orange spotted goby can be kept in a 10g tank. I am pretty sure that orange spotted and diamond sleeper goby are the same thing (at least they have the same picture on a google search). So what's the deal? Thanks.

L.

No they are not, hes talking about the orange spotted shrimp goby, not diamond goby. two different fish all together.

Okay... Googled it again... looks the same as mine, but then again it's really late... Here is a picture of mine which one is it? Sorry still new(ish) to the whole reef thingy... I wish when they sold them they used their latin names, then at least I would know for sure which one I bought!

Exactly.

Diamond Goby (sand sifting goby):



Orange Spotted Goby (shrimp goby)





looks like a small diamond goby to me.

Thanks, I think you're right it's the diamond goby... crap, it's my favorite thing to watch in the tank, it has so much personality!

Really good guide. Should I only keep one fish in my 5.5 gallon tank? Currently none of the space is taken up so theres plenty of swimming space and I'm not going to go OTT with live rock because I have plenty of time to let it mature, there could be quite a bit of space left. Would it be pushing it to have a Yellowtail blue Damsel in with a Yellow Neon Goby perhaps? Or an Ocellaris Clownfish on its own?

I'm also not planning on having any Zoa's or mushrooms, which may or may not be a good idea. Does the amount of fauna decrease or increase the capacity of a tank or does it have no effect?