Aggressive tank questions

[rayn]

Thinking of a aggressive tank and wondering about a few things. This would be a 55 with a sea goblin for start. These are sand dwellers from my research so far.
Now my question, can there be anemones in the same tank? Hosting or non hosting anemones, either way.

 

[ashtree68]

From what I've read, non-photosynthetic tube anemones have a high tendency to eat tank mates. I've never owned one for this reason but have always wanted to get one.

 

[rayn]

That what i've read, but then I read that is overstated too. I have about 1 1/2 to 2 inches of sand and could add more for any sand dweller, definate if a tube anemone went in. Looked at the goblin again last night, it is a walking popeye sea goblin. Looks different then the one on live aquaria. They are currently feeding it ghost shrimp so it is on live food, and they say it hasn't tried to hurry itself yet.

What are potential tank mates? Currently there are one skunk clown, yellowtail blenny, and a kole tang in there. I believe I need to pull the clown and blenny out. Would a dwarf lion work in there wit the tang and goblin?

 

[ashtree68]

There several different species of sea goblin. Do you know the scientific name of the one you're looking at? Where do you see it listed I've been looking for one for a bit now.

I've read anything that isn't small enough to fit into its mouth or grazing feeders who will mistake it for a rock are good mates.

 

[jarrod13]

Tangs are not good tankmates for any scorpion, they just look too much like a delicious rocks. Same for any other grazing fish, angels, rabbitfish, puffers, ect.

 

[rayn]

Don't know the scientific name, but the lfs that has it calls it ' walking popeye sea goblin '. It doesn't look like live aquaria. I got pics and can post them tonight. Sorry other post meant to say it hasn't tried to bury itself yet. The other thing I noticed, it has claws to climb around with, and what I would call fins are striped yellow and black on the inside.

 

[rayn]

Found the name. Inimicus Didactylus.

 

[namxas]

IME, don't worry about a Cerianthus "nem" (they aren't true nems). We have one that is a good 10 years old, and it has been in many tanx, including a full-blown reef that had several "meal size" fish in it. It currentl;y resides in our P. volitans setup.

As for the Inimicus, as mentioned there are several species that have subtle morphological differences, altho I. didactylus is the most commonly available. We currently keep I. didactylus and I. japonicus. They're great fish, and fairly easily weaned IME. FWIW, it will indeed remain buried much of the time with only its snout, eyes, and the first couple of dorsal rays exposed:

I. japonicus chillin'

The markings on the axialary side of the pectorals is a good key to ID for Inimicus sp.. This is I. didactylus (note the white crescent):

 

[rayn]

The one I am looking at did not have the white cresent. Black along the body, black and yellow stripes, theblack on the outer part. I'll get pics up shortly.

 

[Sao870]

hmm welll ill leave this to the pros

but my 2 cents :i believe it should be just fine but you will never really know until you try

 

[rayn]

Here it is.

the fin

 

[seahorsedreams]

They seem to be popular this month. That's a C. multibarbus.

They don't bury themselves like the Inimicus and their mouths isn't as big.

Here's ours as buried as he likes to go.

 

[rayn]

These guys are just freakin cool looking. I'm going to try and get it today if it is still there. Thanks for the info everyone.
Side question, did the one in my pics look okay? Wondering about color as it seems different then all the pics so far.

 

[srieger]

Their colors will change once in your tank and they settle in. They become camouflage to their surroundings. Yours will color up once stable in its new environment.

 

[rayn]

That makes sense. In the lfs pics there isn't much in the tank but fake plants.

I have it on hold and will pic it up this afternoon. Going into qt first. As much as I don't want I think I need to put sand in, maybe a piece of LR. I can pull the sand out later.

 

[namxas]

The common names for this fish are "bearded ghoul" and "orange-banded stingfish". "pop-eyed sea goblin" is the common name for Inimicus sp..

Your fish will indeed be more comfy with some substrate in the bottom of its QT.

One thing of note: these little fish pack a much more potent sting than lions or scorps (not deadly, but more painful).

 

[rayn]

Here are some crappy cloudy pics in QT. I added sand at about inch to two inches on 2/3 of the tank and placed it in. Almost immediatly started to bury a little. Then after about a hour of really cloudy tank I realized my HOB filter had quit, so I had to clean it and get it working again. I'll try better pics tomorrow.

Thanks for the warning on the sting, I knew to be carefull but if they are that bad I will definately watch out.

 

[namxas]

I was just giving you a heads-up. You'd have to put your hand right on the fish to get stung, as they pretty much just hunker down and make like a rock.

 

[rayn]

I've noticed that. It just sits there pretty much. I leave come back and he moved, but mainly sits. He is burying almost to the head too.
As he is in QT and there is sand in there, how do I tell if any parasites show up? Ich looks like sand and he is almost always covered in sand, which makes it hard to tell.

 

[rayn]

Here is a new pic of the ghoul.

Slight coloring on the top fin and tail.

Question on feeding. How often should I feed and how do I feed? I dropped in one ghost shrimp the second day, but it died and sucked into the HOB. Third day I dropped two. One died, and the other disapeared thinking it got ate. Is there a better way to make sure he eats? I also tried a couple pieces of mysis and that did nothing, which I expected though as it is too early.