A Few Fish Questions????

[HOBrien]

First this if for stocking in a 200gallon system.

1. Out of these Chromis/Damsels would be my best bet as in a school or shoal of 5 or 6 specimen: B/G Chromis, Yellowtail(parasema) Damsel, Lemon Damsel, Blackbar Chromis, Yellowbelly(auriventris) Damsel, Talbots, Alleni Damsel, BiColor Chromis, Sunshine Chromis, Starks Damsel?

2. Along with a school of the above which of the following Anthias would be best for the same size of group: Bartletts, Lyretail, Dispar?

3. As far as Butterflyfish which would be best as a pair or treo do deal with a Large Angel? Barberfish, Singular Bannerfish, Pyramid BF, Speckled BF, Spotfin BF, Teardrop BF, Reef BF, Latticed BF, Yellow Teardrop BF, Lemon BF and the Horned Heniochus?

This tank will eventually become a reef after the last fish is added.

Thanks for all the help and any comments, suggestions, and opinions are welcome with no hard feelings.

 

[tcmfish]

IMO the pyramid butterfly would be your best bet out of your butterflyfish list.

 

[HOBrien]

IMO the pyramid butterfly would be your best bet out of your butterflyfish list.

Would 2 or 3 be better?

 

[Kahuna Tuna]

I love the Talbots damsel and think you might actually be able to keep a small shoal of 5-6 fish. I keep a pair of parasema now that spawn regularly and I started out with 5 but they killed each other off until the pair remained. Everytime I have tried to keep chromis and especially damsels I eventually end up with a mated and spawning pair.

The Pyramid BF should be good. I see you like Heni's, the schooling bannerfish is one of the most reef safe of the genus and they generally work well in groups.

 

[tcmfish]

Either or with the pyramids, that is why I like them, not all the butterflyfish are that peaceful and this has definitely been noted with the semilarvatus butterflyfish. The bigger the group the cooler the effect.

Heniochus would also be a good choice, but make sure you get Heniochus diphreutes[i/]. They will be the most reef safe of the genus.

I would stay away from a group of damsels and either add more butterflyfish or anthias. I would probably add one starkii damsel and thats it.

For the anthias bartletts and lyretail will be the two easiest to find and keep. I would probably pick the bartletts, but the lyretail males have cool spots on their pectoral fins that go unnoticed in a picture.

 

[HOBrien]

Thank you both so far for your input.

Kahuna: I like only certain Heni's as with the B/W Heniochus I think that their long finage would become a problem with the angel and tangs......

TCMfish: So if I went without the damsels all together would you add more pyramids or do a pair of a different BF from my list? Would all the Pyramids need to be added together or are they fine adding them individually?

 

[4wheelvfr]

1. I would do a trio of blackbar chromis and a trio of Talbot's damsels. You aren't likely to see your chromis truely exhibit shoaling behavior and these guys are cool and mellow.

2. I would do the Lyretails, but that's just because I like 'em.

3. The Pyramid butterfly or barberfish are what I would go with here.

 

[HOBrien]

1. I would do a trio of blackbar chromis and a trio of Talbot's damsels. You aren't likely to see your chromis truely exhibit shoaling behavior and these guys are cool and mellow.

2. I would do the Lyretails, but that's just because I like 'em.

3. The Pyramid butterfly or barberfish are what I would go with here.

Thank you for the input

 

[Kahuna Tuna]

I totally missed the mention of a large angel the first time I read your post. What species are you thinking of? Some large angels really dont like butterflys at all, I've seen plenty of these cases so you have to be careful.

I love the Bartlett's anthias and whould have a shoal of them if they weren't so expensive. I like the lyretails as well, they are much cheaper but do get much bigger and more aggressive than the bart's.

 

[HOBrien]

I totally missed the mention of a large angel the first time I read your post. What species are you thinking of? Some large angels really dont like butterflys at all, I've seen plenty of these cases so you have to be careful.

I love the Bartlett's anthias and whould have a shoal of them if they weren't so expensive. I like the lyretails as well, they are much cheaper but do get much bigger and more aggressive than the bart's.

The Large Angel(s) I am thinking of are the Cortez, Koran, and Blue.

how big have the Lyretails youve seen get? What about the Dispar Anthias.

 

[Kahuna Tuna]

The lyretails get 4-5 inches on average, one of the bigger anthias species. Dispars are more in the size range of barts, 3-4 inches and not as hardy as either the bearts or lyretails. Dispars are somewhere in the middle as far as price goes. All of the angels you mentioned are pretty rough and tumble species, I would probably go with the lyretails. I really like the koran, especially the full adult form, a very underrated angel.

 

[HOBrien]

The lyretails get 4-5 inches on average, one of the bigger anthias species. Dispars are more in the size range of barts, 3-4 inches and not as hardy as either the bearts or lyretails. Dispars are somewhere in the middle as far as price goes. All of the angels you mentioned are pretty rough and tumble species, I would probably go with the lyretails. I really like the koran, especially the full adult form, a very underrated angel.

So Lyretail anthias it is. I am going to try to keep the Koran and Cortez Angels.

 

[hybridazn]

Arent koran angels known to pick at most corals?

 

[HOBrien]

Arent koran angels known to pick at most corals?

Yes but it is 50/50 with this angel from a statistical standpoint. I wont be adding any coral till after all fish are in a settled in and eating prepaired foods like champs. I have a bunch of different thoughts on the feeding I will do when the time comes.