ReefBay data · Most popular saltwater fish
What are the most popular saltwater fish in reef tanks?
Updated November 2, 2026 · Sample: 6,072 tanks · Recomputed weekly
This ranking counts live tanks in the ReefBay app that list each species, not sales or search volume. A species counts once per tank.
Key findings
The most popular saltwater fish in reef tanks is the Ocellaris Clownfish, kept in 57.4% of the 6,072 ReefBay tanks that list fish. The Royal Gramma (15.5%) and the Yellow Watchman Goby (13.2%) come next.
The median reef tank in ReefBay keeps 3 different fish (mean 4.3), about 4 individuals in total.
In nano tanks (30 gallons or less) the top saltwater fish is the Ocellaris Clownfish (57.1% of nano tanks). In tanks of more than 100 gallons the top saltwater fish is the Ocellaris Clownfish (51.6% of large tanks).
Top 3 fish
The 30 most popular fish in reef tanks
Percent of the 6,072 saltwater tanks that list fish and keep this species. Click a name for its care page.
- Ocellaris Clownfish 57.4% (3,483)
- Royal Gramma 15.5% (943)
- Yellow Watchman Goby 13.2% (800)
- Banggai Cardinal 12.4% (751)
- Blue Hippo Tang 11% (668)
- Green Chromis 10.2% (621)
- Six Line Wrasse 10% (607)
- Firefish Goby 9.1% (551)
- Foxface Rabbitfish 8.7% (526)
- Lawnmower Blenny 7.4% (449)
- Blue Mandarin Dragonet 6.3% (382)
- Coral Beauty Angelfish 6.1% (370)
- Pajama Cardinal 5.9% (356)
- Purple Firefish 5.8% (350)
- Yellow Tang 5.7% (344)
- Tomini Tang 5.6% (342)
- Purple Tang 5.5% (331)
- Diamond Goby 5.4% (328)
- Sailfin Tang 5.3% (320)
- Blue Damselfish 4.6% (280)
- Scopas Tang 4.4% (266)
- Midas Blenny 4.3% (263)
- Lyretail Anthias 3.8% (232)
- Flame Hawkfish 3.7% (222)
- Flame Angelfish 3.5% (215)
- Blue Green Chromis 3.5% (213)
- Tailspot Blenny 3.5% (212)
- Melanurus Wrasse 3.4% (208)
- Yellow Coris Wrasse 3.4% (208)
- Bicolor Blenny 3.4% (207)
Top 10 in nano tanks (30 gallons or less)
2,331 tanks
- 1 Ocellaris Clownfish 57.1%
- 2 Yellow Watchman Goby 13%
- 3 Royal Gramma 10.2%
- 4 Banggai Cardinal 7.5%
- 5 Six Line Wrasse 6.3%
- 6 Firefish Goby 6.3%
- 7 Tailspot Blenny 4.3%
- 8 Purple Firefish 4.1%
- 9 Lawnmower Blenny 3.5%
- 10 Green Chromis 3.4%
Top 10 in large tanks (more than 100 gallons)
894 tanks
- 1 Ocellaris Clownfish 51.6%
- 2 Blue Hippo Tang 30.4%
- 3 Foxface Rabbitfish 26.5%
- 4 Green Chromis 20.9%
- 5 Yellow Tang 20.1%
- 6 Purple Tang 19.6%
- 7 Sailfin Tang 17.6%
- 8 Royal Gramma 17%
- 9 Six Line Wrasse 16.6%
- 10 Banggai Cardinal 16.4%
Full ranking
| # | Species | Tanks | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ocellaris Clownfish | 3,483 | 57.4% |
| 2 | Royal Gramma | 943 | 15.5% |
| 3 | Yellow Watchman Goby | 800 | 13.2% |
| 4 | Banggai Cardinal | 751 | 12.4% |
| 5 | Blue Hippo Tang | 668 | 11% |
| 6 | Green Chromis | 621 | 10.2% |
| 7 | Six Line Wrasse | 607 | 10% |
| 8 | Firefish Goby | 551 | 9.1% |
| 9 | Foxface Rabbitfish | 526 | 8.7% |
| 10 | Lawnmower Blenny | 449 | 7.4% |
| 11 | Blue Mandarin Dragonet | 382 | 6.3% |
| 12 | Coral Beauty Angelfish | 370 | 6.1% |
| 13 | Pajama Cardinal | 356 | 5.9% |
| 14 | Purple Firefish | 350 | 5.8% |
| 15 | Yellow Tang | 344 | 5.7% |
| 16 | Tomini Tang | 342 | 5.6% |
| 17 | Purple Tang | 331 | 5.5% |
| 18 | Diamond Goby | 328 | 5.4% |
| 19 | Sailfin Tang | 320 | 5.3% |
| 20 | Blue Damselfish | 280 | 4.6% |
| 21 | Scopas Tang | 266 | 4.4% |
| 22 | Midas Blenny | 263 | 4.3% |
| 23 | Lyretail Anthias | 232 | 3.8% |
| 24 | Flame Hawkfish | 222 | 3.7% |
| 25 | Flame Angelfish | 215 | 3.5% |
| 26 | Blue Green Chromis | 213 | 3.5% |
| 27 | Tailspot Blenny | 212 | 3.5% |
| 28 | Melanurus Wrasse | 208 | 3.4% |
| 29 | Yellow Coris Wrasse | 208 | 3.4% |
| 30 | Bicolor Blenny | 207 | 3.4% |
Method
- Source: tank profiles and logs created by ReefBay app users. ReefBay is a reef aquarium app for iOS and Android.
- Excluded: deleted tanks, deleted accounts, ReefBay staff and test accounts.
- Counted: saltwater tanks that list at least one species of this kind. A species counts once per tank, whatever the quantity.
- Only library species count. Custom entries typed by users are excluded.
- Nano = 30 gallons or less. Large = more than 100 gallons.
Cite this page
You may reuse these numbers and charts with a link to this page (CC BY 4.0). Suggested citation:
ReefBay. "What are the most popular saltwater fish in reef tanks?" November 2026. https://reefbay.com/stats/popular-fish
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