Fish for my nano

I have a 30g nano soon to be reef tank.
After letting my tank cycle for two months I finally added my first two fish. A pair of beautiful Ocellaris clownfish.
Now i'm trying to decide on other fish, I have a limited space so I need to carefully consider my steps.

I know for sure that I want a mandarin Goby down along the road, I have a refugium especially for him but I will wait a year until I get one.
So what else shall I get? I love the bicolor blenny, and the six-line wrasse. I also love the royal gramma and purple firefish.

What would you get if it was your tank? :thinking2

 

The six line will turn into a bully down the road. Id say go with the blenny and the firefish, I had a very similar stock in a 29 nano and they did great. I had a tailspot blenny in mine, and would get another. I would also go for a Pygmy wrasse as opposed to a six line. Hope this helps!

 

You'll definitely steer clear of the 6 line, I made that mistake more than once. In nanos they tend to become very aggressive and a nightmare to remove.

Royal Grammas and Fire fish are both fish that have done well for me in a nano.

Chalk Basslets another appropriate passive fish.

If you want to try a wrasse the White Banded Possum Wrasse seems to be highly recommended as peaceful fish and stays small.

 

Personally, I'd only add one more fish, but I've always been a fan of not over stocking tanks, especially small ones. Plus those clowns, if they ever become a mated pair, are going to become jerks. You'll want a fish that can hold its own against a big female clown lol

tank is too small for a mandarin goby IMO, avoid the six line as others have suggested. I have a royal gramma and love it.

Have you looked at hawkfish? the longnose hawk makes a good addition to a reef tank, though the larger ones, 4"+ typically, may go after shrimp if not well fed.

 

IMO don't get a possum or six line, they will out compete the mandy, I would get a firefish and a small cardinalfish.

 

With a heavy heart I decided to give up on the six-line wrasse. Can't get a possum because I don't want it to compete the mandarin (thanks 1.0reef!) I decided I'll go for sure with the bicolor blenny and of course my future mandarin, what probably leaves me with one small fish.
The cardinalfish kind of freaks me out, dunno why so I think i'm gonna go with the Royal Gramma unless you think I can have another small fish without stressing the others.
I have good filtration and of course I'll wait 3-4 weeks between my fish to stabilize the bacteria.


Va Reef - Mandarin is a must for me. I have a big refugium with plenty of LR, he'll be happy in my tank

 

IME your tank is too small to support a Mandy. If its a must get a larger aquarium.
I would add one more small fish and call it a day.

 

Although I agree about the above comments about the Mandy, I have seen them thrive in small tanks, mainly with a wife variety and large population of pods without any other fish that will put that population to zero. My Mandy was doing wonderful when I decided to transfer to a "peaceful wrasse" domaniated reef tank. That pod population went down drastically and I winded up loosing my Mandy (after having him for over a year) the purple firefish are beautiful and also make a good addition to the tank. I like the RGs but they too can become aggressive. HTH

 

So two clowns, a royal gramma, a bicolor blenny, and evenetually a mandarin...5 fish in a 30 gallon tank? Even assuming you stay 100% on top of water quality, don't you think that will be a little crowded?
FWIW I keep one fish in my 14 gallon.

As vinny said, if the mandarin is a MUST, get a bigger tank. If you really like the fish so much, you'll respect the fact that it needs a bigger tank, and it won't survive long term in your tank, let alone with 4 other fish in it.

My .02

Edit: I've yet to see a fish that can tell someone it's happy.

 

If you get one from ORA.

"All of ORA’s captive bred mandarins will accept a variety of prepared frozen and dry foods upon acclimation to their new tank. They may be offered Nutramar Ova, finely chopped Hikari Frozen Blood Worms, fish roe, frozen or live baby brine shrimp, frozen daphnia, and New Life SPECTRUM Small Fish Formula pellets. Some have also shown interest in Cyclopeeze."

Also I have had two that both were easy to train, eating mysis. But you should still have a decent amount of pods.