Mandarin Dragonet
Synchiropus splendidus
My original intent for the 90 gallon tank was to provide an environment capable of housing a mandarin dragon. Mandarin's are notoriously hard to keep, and generally require a large and sustainable source of live foods (they are difficult to adjust to prepared food). Their diet consists of amphipods and copepods.

After seeding the tank with a detrivore kit from Inland Aquatics I waited almost 9 months before introducing my mandarin. You can read more about my experiences in the Archives section.

Clownfish
Amphiprion Ocellaris
The first fish placed in the tank (after cycling) were a pair of false percs. These clownfish differ from true percs primarily in the number of dorsal spines. The Ocellaris also have a thinner black band then true percs. I picked out a smaller and then larger fish so that they would pair up and potentially mate. Their behaviour is interesting, and changes substantially over time, both in terms of territory and their interaction with each other. Recently they've exhibited signs of adopting my brown star polyps, as well as digging "trenches" in front of their cave.

Green Chromis
Chromis viridis
The chromis are kept in a school of 3 and provide quite a bit of movement in the tank. They are a member of the damsel family, but are mellow fish. Occasionally the clowns will have to chase them away from their corner, which causes them to school up tightly.