Unique Stocking For 10 or 20 Long

[Clownfish2004]

Hello!

I’ve been out of reef keeping for awhile, but wanting to get back into it with either a 10 gallon or 20 gallon long. Not going to be super complicated but really interested in keeping some more unique fish. Haven’t decided what size tank yet, the main deciding factor is really just what I can keep, and open to any suggestions.

[KevMax]

I think a lovely fish for a smaller aquarium is the Geometric Pygmy Hawkfish.

[mcarroll]

7 hours ago, Clownfish2004 said:

Hello!

I’ve been out of reef keeping for awhile, but wanting to get back into it with either a 10 gallon or 20 gallon long. Not going to be super complicated but really interested in keeping some more unique fish. Haven’t decided what size tank yet, the main deciding factor is really just what I can keep, and open to any suggestions.

All fish are pretty unique by definition....do you have any examples of fish that stand out in this way to you?  🙂 

[Clownfish2004]

16 hours ago, mcarroll said:

All fish are pretty unique by definition....do you have any examples of fish that stand out in this way to you?  🙂 

That’s a good point! Some things that have stood out to me so far would be pygmy whitespot filefish, mini dart gobies, elongate dottybacks, red spot cardinal fish, brahms nano goby, cosmic nano goby. Basically things you don’t find in a whole lot of aquariums, have interesting colors, or unique behaviors.

[mitten_reef]

a mini reef lobster - they're super cool

[mcarroll]

6 hours ago, Clownfish2004 said:

pygmy whitespot filefish, mini dart gobies, elongate dottybacks, red spot cardinal fish, brahms nano goby, cosmic nano goby.

Curious:  Where are you "shopping" for fish ideas?

 

Some of those options have pretty specific requirements and aren't THAT well suited to shipping OR aquarium life compared to more conventional options.  They also aren't sold very often....maybe for good reason in some cases....for example, I read that dart gobies have been offlimits before....might still be.

 

IMO spend more time at your LFS's and just patiently scout the livestock they bring in.....make requests through them if you have something you've researched thoroughly that they don't usually order.

 

BTW, if you like the red spot cardinal, you might consider just doing a freshwater tank – there are tons of nice freshwater schooling fish (that actually school!) that look similar to the Red Spot, and a few that are almost dead-on copies.  Scissor-tail Raspboras and Red-eye Tetras just to name two "common" ones....there are many more potentials.

[Staticmoves]

Court jester goby.