Fish that "ARE" Reef Safe

[Reefscape]

Use this thread to post / list fish which are concidered reef safe.

 

[Kdcarey]

Cardinalfish
Firefish
Most gobies
Clownfish
hawkfish
Foxface
Tangs

 

[cjack]

wow, awsome idea but i think this needs to be refined a little bit, because there are fish that are "reef safe" but will eat inverts.

 

[cjack]

first: fish that are "reef safe" and invert safe

Clowns
damsels
chromis
cardinals
firefish
tangs (get big and can knock over corals/rocks)
some wrasse (fairy, flashers, other small wrasse)
anthias
mandarins
gobys (carefull with any diggers cuse they can smother any corals on the bottom of the tank)
hawk fish
some angels (small angels: coral beuties are great, other dwarfs)
basslets
foxface and rabbits (some get big and can knock over corals/rocks)
jawfish
seahorses and pipefish (no stinging corals allowed)
filefish


im pretty sure im forgetting some but this is a good basic list of families

 

[cjack]

fish that are "reef safe" but not invert safe:

lions (eat shrimp and crabs)
groupers (same as lions)
big angels (eat shrimp, crabs, snails, and some pick at polyps so ask your lfs)
puffers (eat shrimp and crabs)
leaf fish/rhinopias species (eat shrimp)
lookdowns (get big and eat inverts)
triggers (if its mouth curves up it is likely to be decently behaved, will eat any inverts, get large!! be carefull)
sharks and rays (eat inverts)


again, im probobly missing some families, sorry

 

[Mimic]

you forgot that some fish may be reef safe but are also messy polluters of you water which will destroy your water quality. for example a stingray, reef safe? it will eat shrimp and other inverts, will knock over corals, needs lots of space, will destroy your water quality since stingrays do need to get fed more than once a day and not to mention that if you have anemones and your ray decides to brush up against one, it will leave a nasty mark on the underbelly and can cause a lesion which could result in death. Most people that have reef tanks just simply dont have the room for corals and sharks and rays. most corals are not combatible with these species and because they require large feedings , like groupers will just flat out destroy water quality. most triggers are not reef safe. only Crosshatch and blue throat and similiar family memebers are reef safe. clown triggers and almost any other trigger will eventually eat or just rearrange your reef tank in no time, not to mention they love to eat. However reconsider this.. Even if u decide a crosshatch trigger is what u want ..well they are highly exspensive ( 1000$ and up ) and when they are collected they dont pick up small specimens, when collected they are at least 8-12 inches. so it really needs to be more specific which is hard on a forum cause every reef tank is different and really you could write a book on each fish and each scenario.

 

[myfishhadbabies]

Want to make a few corrections, tangs, angels and rabbitfish/foxfaces are not 100% reef safe, they may or may not nip at your corals, depends on the fish. Also file fish are not reefsafe at all, they will eat a variety of polyps and large cardinals and hawkfish are known to eat crustaceans. Also clownfish can stress out corals that it host in, for example flowerpots and elegance corals.

 

[BIGgourami]

also things like hawkfish and clown gobies, fish that will wallow in corals, stressing and potentially killing them...

 

[epot]

can you guys post pictures of fish that are reef safe

 

[sweeTang21]

www.liveaquaria.com will have the pics of reefsafe and pred fish.