Choices between one Maroon/yellow clown or 2 perc clowns?

[Scatcat]

I am in the process of cycling my tank.

I have a 26g Nano with the standard stuff.

It is just getting over the cycle. I have the brown algae I can't remember the name. I just added my cleanup crew and nothing else. I won't add anything for a while still. But I'm thinking about what I'm going to add. I know I will add coral but I'm still trying to think about what fish I want.

Should I go with one small maroon and yellow or two perc clowns?
I know the maroon will get to big for the tank and I'll eventually have to trade him in. He is so pretty. Will he be happy by himself? Or is it mean to keep just one fish?

I have one serpent star fish
1 strawberry crab
1 purple coral banded shrimp
1 sea urchin
1 sand sifting star
6 snails for now
oh and of course the typical 24 lbs of live rock and 25 lbs of live sand

I want some zoo's down the road and lots of coral haven't decided yet.

 

[Phyl]

My maroon is about 5" long right now. She's a great fish. I also have a perc that I don't have much of an affinity for (in spite of the rave reviews most people give about their personality).

Some things that they say about the maroons are that they are notoriously agressive/nasty fish (she's never shown signs of that) and they tend to dig up the sand bed when they mature (mine definitely does this, local reefer couldn't take it any more in his 30 and had to get rid of her so now I have her in a 120). She's actually bit me a couple of times. Not so much that it hurt or anything, more like hey get out of my space. Just enough to make me jump. I love her and wouldn't trade her for the world though. Tons of personality. The perc I could take or leave, FWIW though I think I'm in the minority there. He was the male in a mated pair and I lost the Fem early on. He just never got over it.

Good luck deciding!

 

[electrikat]

I have a maroon in with 2 pj cardinals. She never leaves her anemone long enough to be aggressive. She's beautiful. I also have a pair of percs in another tank and they are a blast. I die laughing everytime I see them playing. It's a toss-up.

 

[skipm]

The upside with going with the percs is that they won't outgrow the tank. Obviously the downside of the goldstriped maroon is that if you become as attatched as the two previous posters then it will be a heartbreaking experience to have to trade it in. I have a pair of baby percs in my nanocube right now and they are a blast to watch, they chase each other all over the place, the like to fight the current from the powerhead, they are just plain fun to watch.
You are the one that will have to make the final decision here. I currently have a pair of false perculas in my 92, a pair of sebaes in my 75, and the already mentions baby perculas. I like all of them and each one has their own little quirks that make them interesting fish. Good luck, Skip

 

[demodiki]

Those marrron/yellow percs are so much prettier than the other percs.