Anampses Twistii

[rlpardue]

Hi all,
I have a Twist tamarin wrasse which I am debating adding to my DT. I bought the wrasse a year ago and he has spent his time in a 50g refugium with a sugar-fine DSB. He is now a rolly-polly cigar-shaped fish, and is quite a bit larger than when I bought him.

I am concerned that if I add him to my DT, he may cause trouble. I have a 150g SPS display with numerous (30+) tiny fish, including 20 or so green-banded gobies, a pair of yellow-stripe clingfish, a pair of blue stripe pipefish, a pair of Priolepsis gobies, several assessors, 6 personatus gobies, pygmy wrasse, and more. I also have a dozen or more decorative shrimps (peps, cleaners, fire). I don't keep clams or featherdusters, since I have a cherished CBB.

Do you think a 4" Twistii would cause trouble in my tank?

Link to video of wrasse enjoying NLS pellets:
https://goo.gl/photos/2YdgjhM2EtDuzNVz5

 

[o2manyfish]

My thoughts are you might have some issues with your fish population....

Speaking of which, how long have you had your clingfish and what do yours feed on. I have tried several times to keep them and never had any success beyond 3-4 weeks.

Dave B

 

[Genera]

If you consider your shrimp prized ornamental inhabitants, I wouldn't add him to the DT. Same goes if you had feather worms and tridacnid clams, which you don't because of your C. Rostratus (CBB). Your fish population does indeed seem high. I'd love to see pics of your tank though!

 

[evolved]

You would probably be just fine.

 

[rlpardue]

Heh, if somebody told me they had 40 fish in a 150, I would be very concerned too! I hope I can allay any fears by posting a video of the tank. My stocking is unusual I think. Honestly, it looks pretty open and empty compared to most reefs. I don't currently have any aggression issues at all, except that a McCosker's wrasse picks on the female Midas blenny

I grew tired of having high-bioload fish (wrasses, tangs, etc.) and gradually transitioned to very small fish. I feed less than I used to, even though my fish count tripled.

My total fish count:
7x Coryphopterus personatus (for one year)
2-4x Priolepsis hipoliti (for one year, very difficult to count)
2x Diademichthys lineatus (since February)
2x Doryrhamphus excisus (since March)
20x Tigrigobius multifasciatus (since March)
3x Synchiropus stellatus (SUPER fat, 1male, 2f, spawning together nightly)
4x dispar anthias (1.5 years)
1x ignitus anthias (1.5 years)
1x Chelmon rostratus (1.5 years)
1x Zebrasoma scopas (6 months)
1x Ctenochaetus binotatus (1.5 years)
1x foxface rabbitfish (bubble algae eater)
1x McCosker's wrasse (1 month)
1x pink-streak pygmy wrasse (2 years)
3x yellow assessors (3 years-2 months)
1x Macneilli assessor 2 years(he was spawning with a female for a year and a half until she died)
1x Ecsenius ops for 2 years (was spawning with a male until he jumped)
1x Hawaiian common cleaner wrasse (3 years with me)
2x Ecsenius midas (spawning pair! I love these)


Dave, the yellow-stripe clingfish are touchy, as you've found. I cannot say for sure why mine are doing well (they are growing quite fat), but I suspect it may have to do with the following:
1-they are social; I have 2 females and they are inseparable. I recommend keeping this fish in groups.
2-mine love eating blue-leg hermit crab eggs. All they do all day is go around biting hermits!
3-I feed lots of small foods, including lobster eggs from the Netherlands
4-they were eating cyclops in the LFS
5- They snatch eggs off the bellies of shrimps (peps, cleaners, etc.), so I bought a lot of shrimps

Keeping them in groups is probably the most important. Mine are like a pair of dogs, always interested in what the other is eating. One will try something, then the other will see and try it as well.

Hunter - thanks! Rolling the dice is always a little scary.

Video:
At the end, there is a segment of the clingfish:
https://goo.gl/photos/eaXFT2YaVNWj2Dx58

 

[Genera]

Whaat! It looks uncrowded! Where'd are all the Green-Banded Gobies, other fish go? Nice looking reef too. I see you have a few Priolepis Hipoliti (Rusty Goby), how do they behave in your tank, do you ever see them? They don't seem to be offered for sale very often, and they live in caves/crevices/holes, and seem to be fairly reclusive in nature. For some reason I remembered this unintentional pun. One day I was talking to a friend about putting a window into a saltwater pool/pond made from a metal frame intex pool, and he told me something about cutting it out and putting some sort of acrylic viewing panel in, and I said "I'll look into it" :rollface:

 

[rlpardue]

Heh, thanks. Lol, my best puns are unintentional too I think. (I'm not clever enough to use them well).

The green-banded gobies and rusty gobies are quite reclusive. After being in the tank for a year, I can usually see 1 or 2 rusty gobies at feeding time. If I look for them, I can usually spot about 3-4 green-banded gobies. A few live in my overflow box until I rescue them on a bi-monthly basis.

My goal was to reduce my bioload, make the tank appear un-crowded and open, and increase the "interesting factor" of my tank. So I removed big fish and replaced with lots of little ones.

The downside is that it can be aggravatingly expensive to do this: a small fish is still at least $20 most of the time. I did find a great deal on ebay for the green-banded gobies (like $3-5 a piece I believe). My fish wish list right now is for a half dozen barnacle blennies, more yellow-stripe clingfish (I'd like 2 more females and 1 male), and some Eviota/Trimma gobies if they ever become more affordable on a bulk basis.

With so many reclusive fish in there, it's always a surprise to see who is out and about. It's always changing depending on the time of day.

I just don't want the Twistii to eat all my fish up

 

[snorvich]

I love the concept of this tank!!! Great plan.

 

[rlpardue]

Thanks Steve! I've enjoyed many of your posts on RC. The one about "Stages of Marine Aquarist with parasites" is good. (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2467512) It vaguely reminds me of a leadership/personal development theory, but I can't recall the name.

I confess I am consciously incompetent - I fed well, don't QT, and I know there are better methods available which I'm not using. I think my tank has reached a point where having a disease outbreak would be very painful.