Clown Fish (Percula/Ocellaris)
These fish are super hardy and great for a variety of tanks. They used to be in the damsel family so they can generally hold their own around semi-aggressive fish like triggers, and other damsels. They are mild tempered and do well in community tanks with gobies, blennies, and other peaceful fish. Perculas are one of the smaller clowns staying under 3 inches. I always cycle my community tanks with clowns.
Starry Blenny (Salarias ramosus)
I like the starry blenny because he is an algae eater and looks cool. They will change color at night and when their mood changes. They are a community fish that get to be a maximum size of 4 inches. They will keep hair algae "mowed" down short, but they can't eliminate it the way an emerald crab, or bristle tooth tang can. Their peaceful nature makes up for not being able to eliminate hair algae completely. Like most other blennies (and The Highlander) there can only be one in a tank. Blennies are very territorial to other blennies and they will fight to the death. Because I have always only kept one I have never seen this territorial behavior.
Flame Angel (Centropyge loricula)
I prefer dwarf angels because I keep a 65 gallon tank; which is too small for other angels. They are the biggest fish in my tank at 4 inches and I enjoy them because of the color they add to the tank. They can be territorial so I always add them last. Angels have a specialized diet that needs to be supplemented with seaweed. I would either get the frozen spirulina brine or dried seaweed sheets to feed mine. They have been reported to nip at LPS and clam mantles, I don't keep clams and my hammer corals and brains never showed signs of nipping. Angels are another one of those fish that can go in a community but will usually fight with other angels, so only one to a tank. If you have 100 gallons or more and you added them all at once you could try your luck with a school but I never had a big enough tank.
Royal Gramma (Gramma loreto)
I really enjoy salt water aquariums because of the diversity of color, and the royal gramma being half yellow and half purple really stands out. They're one of my favorites because they stay under 2 1/2 inches and can go in a community tank. They too can only be one to a tank (beginning to see a pattern here). That extends to the entire gramma and dottyback family. I always recommend looking at pics of all of them and choosing, since you can only have one. Sometimes I get the orchid but they are pricier and a little meaner overall. Grammas tend to hide out in the rocks but will swim about if there are dither fish in the tank.
Red Head Goby (Elacatinus puncticulatus)
I really enjoy a busy tank, and the way I accomplish that is by keeping a lot of nano fish. The red headed goby stays under 1 1/2 inches. Like all gobies they are less of a swimmer and more of a sitter. They like to perch on rocks or walls and watch what's going on around them, I find this behavoir very cute. They can be kept in groups, but I did notice a little infighting among mine. Otherwise they are completely docile and make great community tank members. They do need small foods since they stay so little. I fed mine brine shrimp and they ate the cyclopeez I put in for the corals too.
Sharknose Goby (Elacatinus evelynae)
The sharknose is another nano goby that stays under 1 1/2 inches. Looks similar to cleaner gobies with a blue body that has black stripes from nose to tail, the only difference is the nose is pointed (like a shark) and has some yellow. They also like to perch on rocks and watch their surroundings. They always did great in my community tanks and never bothered any other fish. Occasionally they would chase each other around, but never did any damage.
Green Chromis Damsel (Chromis viridis)
The green chromis is the only damsel I like because they are docile enough to keep in a community tank. They are also a gorgeous sight to watch schooling in a tank. I Always kept at least 6 in my tanks. Another reason they are one of my favorites is because I like to have blue in my tank and they are a beautiful shade of pastel blue. They also make a good dither fish because they are always out and about letting the more shy fish know it's safe to come out. They are very hardy and accepted all the foods I put in my tank, even trying to eat the microscopic coral foods I added.
Mandarin Goby (Synchiropus splendidus)
I recommend these fish with caution. I really like them because they are so unique and colorful. They are great in a community tank because they don't bother any other fish. Because of their unique diet needs I have never tried to keep more than one, but I have had others tell me they fight among themselves. The downside is they will not eat processed or frozen foods. They only eat live copepods that live in the rocks. You will not be able to keep one alive in a tank with less than 50 lbs of live rock, best kept in 55 gallons or larger. Without an ample food source they will starve and die within a year.
Tribal Blenny (Ecsenius namiyei)
The only reason these are my second favorite algae eater is because they are more expensive than the starry blenny. Otherwise they are very similar being a great algae cleaner with a sleek look. The tribal blenny is solid black with blue "tribal" markings on their face. They look hypnotic swimming around the tank searching for algae. Like the starry blenny the tribal blenny too will fight with other blennies (so only one to tank) but they make a good addition to community tanks because they won't bother other fish. They also really like to hide in a hole or the rocks as shown in the photo I found By prilfish from Vienna, Austria (Smooth-fin Blenny - Ecsenius frontalis) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Bangai Cardinal (Pterapogon kauderni)
This is one of my favorite fish because they are so exotic looking. They get a little bigger than some of my other favorites getting around 3 inches in diameter including fins. They need a meaty diet which in my tank included frozen brine and mysis shrimp. Mine usually accepted pellets as adults but it usually takes a couple months of watching other fish eat them to get them interested. The only downside is they may eat ornamental shrimp, like sexy shrimp for example.
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