Not so Jumpy, good docile fish.. help me pick one

[xtlosx]

Hey all, I have a 36G reef tank, with 2 true percs currently that are nice and chilled out fish. I'm looking to finish off the fish family with something smaller than them, and something that is not aggressive...

The main requirement is, who is least likely to jump. My tank is an open top, and with LED moonlights on overnight, my fish have never had a desire to jump. Although when I was doing some tank work one night, I turned off my moonlights, and wouldn't you know, in that 3 minute span my one clown jumped. Luckily, I was there and put him back in. I have realized how important those night time lights really are to them

I have read that some goby's aren't so bad and have a smaller tendency to jump. I realize no fish is 100% jump proof, but want someone who has the least chance of jumping. Any advice, I appreciate!

 

[Pufferpunk]

Any fish can jump. Heck, I had a dwarf lion do it! Look into clown gobies, they're adorable.

 

[xtlosx]

No I realize that any fish will jump, I mentioned that above and I'm not looking for a silver bullet answer. There are certainly some fish that have a smaller risk of carpet surfing than others.. I have looked at the clown goby which is what my LFS suggested, just wanted to get the opinion of the board here and validate.

Trust but validate!

Any other ideas?

 

[Pufferpunk]

Well, in that tank, it's going to have to be small. The rounder the body, the better. I had a pair of firefish & one jumped the 1st night. I think longer bodies are better jumpers. If you're looking for something more exotic, try those fathead anthias. How about a flame hawk? Then you'd have 3 red fish though... Fish that scoot around on their fins are less likely to jump IMO, although I used to always find my FH in my overflow.

 

[xtlosx]

Yea, well the goby seems very neat and I would love to give him a shot. We have a nice orange perc, and a black\white perc. So there is certainly a color variance. Our black perc has a yellow mouth, and yellow fin tips, very cool looking guy.

The clown goby would fit in with his bright yellow-ness. The LFS actually has them on sale this month, hence my interest in the gobys.

I'm not looking to stock anymore than 3 fish in this tank, as I realize my size limitations.. I'm very conscious of the bio load and do NOT want to overload this tank. I just added 2 cleaner shrimp yesterday, and they are as happy as could be, bouncing around the tank on the first day. Think they've found their cleaning station, they're hanging out in the back behind my biggest piece of live rock.

 

[Pufferpunk]

There are many different color varients for the clown gobies. There is a bright yellow one, but also black, orange, green (has really nice markings) & a bunch more. Then there are the Larger, Citron clown gobies. Mine are a pair & spawn regularly. You're not keeping acros, are you?

 

[xtlosx]

No I am not.. I'm actually more of a LPS kinda guy. The tank is almost exclusively LPS.

Thanks for the great advice!

 

[Pufferpunk]

That's good, because they tend to irritate SPS. Mine lay their eggs under the plating monti shelf.

 

[xtlosx]

Any thoughts on an algae blenny?

 

[Smitty]

Those algae blenny's are kinda aggressive, but they do not jump...or else you could also add a small school(2-3) of chromis'.

 

[Lmecher]

Lawnmower blenny? I have never kept them. I have a mollymiller blenny that stays towards the bottom, they are rather plain looking though. My favorite is the yellow watchman goby. I kept mine in an uncovered tank for years, never had jumping issues. i just recently gave it away due to incompatibility, put an octopus in that tank. I think you may have issues with any fish you add if the clown are territorial. If they start chasing, any fish is prone to jumping. Do you have a cover on the tank.

 

[xtlosx]

I do not have a cover as I just got a new LED fixture, and for maximum light penetration. One of the ideas I have toyed with, is getting a glass panel cut to the dimensions of the tank, but I really do enjoy the open top and would prefer to keep it that way.

I haven't had any problems yet, besides the one time the lights went out and my clown went jumping... Lucky I was there

 

[SaylorsReef]

Any fish can jump.

Seahorses can't!

My captive bred ORA Mandarin jumped a few weeks ago...right to my hungry dog!

 

[scotty]

I vote the flame hawk, slowish movers, and personality galore

 

[Stonefish13]

Those algae blenny's are kinda aggressive, but they do not jump...or else you could also add a small school(2-3) of chromis'.

My starry blenny which is a variant of algae blennies disappeared three days ago and on a hunch I decided to check my overflow and sure enough the little guy had jumped into the overflow and it took me a half an hour to get him out so they may not be prone to jump out of the tank but they certainly are capable of jumping into an overflow lol.

 

[Stonefish13]

I do have three yellow watchman gobies and they built themselves a nice little cave underneath a big piece of live rock and they stay there guarding the entrance. They're a lot of fun to watch and also if any polyps or mushrooms ever break free from a rock I always know where to find them because those guys hoard them in their little cave.

 

[xtlosx]

hmm... so many ideas.....

 

[1boatnut]

My LMB was a little agressive.
How about Cardinals ?

 

[Pufferpunk]

Are seahorses a fish?

 

[fastrc]

Are seahorses a fish?

These fish form territories, with males staying in about 1 square metre (11 sq ft) of their habitat while females range about one hundred times that area. They bob around in sea grass meadows, mangrove stands, and coral reefs where they adopt murky brown and gray patterns to camouflage themselves among the sea grass. During social moments or in unusual surroundings, seahorses turn bright colors.