What small fish have the best personality?

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grimlock3000

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I am in the process of picking out two fish for my 15g tank. I am not going to buy the fish until the end of this month, and may likely have to order them through a LFS which is going to take some time anyway. By the time I get the fish, I will have an additional 10 pounds of LR in the tank (roughly 22 pounds total), along with a protein skimmer. This tank will be almost 4 months old when the fish go in. I will be getting a Cleaner Shrimp at the same time as the fish as well.

I am looking for colorful fish with personality. When people look in the tank, I want them to see something interesting, not necessarily something swimming around all the time.

Here are my considerations (pics from www.liveaquaria.com):

Ocellaris Clown:
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Firefish:
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Royal Gramma:
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Watchman Goby:
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Yellowhead Jawfish:
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Bicolor Blenny:
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Pick two of the above, or reccomend something totally different if you want :)
 
orchid dotty back and neon dotty back are also very cool fish. they poke in and out of rock and swim in the open water areas. also a bi color blenny is small and neat to watch

steve r
 
If I had my choice I would go with the clown and the gramma, or a pair of clowns. Not sure if the tank would be too small for the gramma though. Both choices would give you a lot of movement and personality.
 
Check out the neon blue goby also. Maybe a mated pair if you can. Hangs out perched on rocks. Very small with big color.

I'm also pretty partial to blenny personality personality!! Bicolor (perches on the rock), vampire, canary. The last 2 swim in the open & have a venomous bite, so don't handle them when netting. Otherwise they pose no danger to you - only other fish that may try to attack them.
 
a pair of Ocellarious clowns are great! Clowns really should be kept in pairs anyway. They are all waggily and cute, very alert! and ALWAYS hungry!
 
Get two of these!!!!!!!!

p_71432.jpg


For personality it doesn't get any better than a jawfish!!!!!
 
I have two jawfish, and they have great personalities. I can watch for hours as they work on their burrows.
 
I dont recommend a firefish or a yellow watcman. The yellow watchman stays under my live rock 98 percent of the time. A firefish doesn't really show that much personality either. I have both and i love the to death but I can't wait till i get a bigger tank so i can get a trigger, but since you want a small fish with personality i would recommend a goldfish...jk. It's up to you. I just chimed in with my two cents. oh yea i wouldn't recommend clowns for a 15 gallon tank though. i had clowns in a ten gallon and it's kinda not enough room for them.
 
I love the clowns personality! Mine acts like a puppy dog- he gets so excited when you feed him! He'll grab a piece of food and carry it around in his mouth until he spies a bigger piece and then he'll grab that piece! Its so funny!!
 
It depends. For great movement and color, go with the clown and royal gramma. Grammas have great personalities and strange swimming Quirks. Clowns just look plain funny when swim. However, If yu get a yello watchman goby, you can pair it with a pistol shrimp. This is a facsinating relationship to watch. They do spend more time under rocks and out of view then teh others however. (dare I say try all three??? :wink: )
 
Last night I went to a new LFS to pick up some new LR that I am currently curing. While there, they had all of the fish listed earlier except for the Bicolor Blenny :)(). The Jawfish they had was incredible to watch, it was going in and out of its hole constantly in response to things moving inside and outside of the tank. Once it swam around the tank, then went right back to the hole :) My wife really liked the Purple Firefish they had as well, though I told her it might be rather boring. Also, she likes the Clownfish, but is not sure if just one would work well.

Here are the current choices, though I am still looking for a Bicolor Blenny:

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OR

p_71432.jpg
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OR

p_71146.jpg
p_88039.jpg


OR

p_88039.jpg
p_88039.jpg
 
I love my Purple Firefish! very friendly and cute, although not as cute as the ocellarious clowns. Of the three pairings you have, I would probibly go with the jawfish and the clown. (although I would get the Clown and The Firefish if I had my way. which, in my case...I do! )Clowns should be kept in pairs, but if you have a tank that small, you can probibly do fine with one clown. Did you see my pic of my purple firefish?

5514purple_firefish.jpg


She is very interesting. She swims in the same general area all day just kinda picking at whatever floats by. she gets very excited at feeding time. when the lights go out she does this strange hopping move across the sand for about 5-10 minutes, just hopping along the sand. then she settles down in her little hole in the rock for the night. When lights come back on, Shes back out in the open!
 
A Purple Firefish and a Ocellaris may work too, I will add that to the list of options :) I might be a bit worried with the hole falling in on a Jawfish. Does that happen often?
 
mine lives in a natural hole in a piece of rock. It didn't dig it up itself.

One thing about the Jawfish I found in some research is that it is known to spend the majority of its time in its "house". So you may not see much of it. I would hate to have only two fish and one of them hides all of the time. :?
 
I would hate to have only two fish and one of them hides all of the time

I do not think I would have a problem with it hiding all the time, it just adds character ;) The Bristlenose Pleco I have is my favorite fish in the freshwater tank. It hides in a cave whenever the tank light or room lights are on. I have to go checkup on the fish at night with a flashlight to see how it is doing.

Only problem is when other people look at the tank. They would be like, "One fish? That is it?" Then I would have to explain that the Jawfish is just doing what comes naturally and hiding in a hole :)
 
Still working on the fish selection with my wife. I think she currently wants a Royal Gramma. We are likely going to end up with his and her fish, but they have to behave well together. I printed out a picture of each fish on cardstock, then cut them out into 2x2 squares for easy comparison and color coordinating. Tonight I am going to sit down with the wife and fish squares. I want to make the decision soon, so I can plan ahead and start getting the proper food and making the tank appropriate for the fish.
 
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