Aggression...

[gone fishin]

Thanks everyone. This thread has come at the right time. In my previous post I mentioned filling my 180 and now I have some great food for thought. My intention when I originally got the 180 was not for bigger fish. I had wanted to get a few smaller fish and try to watch them in a more natural environment as I could create lots of caves and hiding places. Also, the added room to roam about. Hopefully I could learn some of their traits or personalities if you will. Due to spousal reasons this will be my largest tank and like Jesse and Paul I want this tank to be around for a long time. Thanks again for all the great tips and the conversation.

 

[Sk8r]

I think you'll really enjoy that tank. I much prefer the kind of tank you want to pull up a chair and sit and watch. Once upon a time in California they had a swim-through reef, and I got my wetsuit and flippers and snorkel and started in. I don't know how many people passed me (you couldn't back up in this course) going like blazes, scaring all the fish, pointing out the big ones...I took over an hour getting to the end, mostly because I'd take a breath and go down and stay very still, waiting for the little guys to come out of their holes. I saw very neat little fishes that way. Lots and lots of little fishes, more than you'd ever expect lived there. The splashy people must've thought there were only three or four fish in all that huge winding course.

I'd say put some blennies and gobies into your plan, too, a royal gramma, a pair of mandarins and a scooter 'blenny'---the damsels won't bother them, and they're great little fish. They're not real fond of tangs and rabbits, and often will hide in their presence, especially in a smaller tank, but in that 180, they'd be in a real good situation.