Choosing a final fish

[Nick_Northern]

I'm coming to the end of stocking my 90g and trying to decide on a final fish, trouble is I have 2 criteria which I am finding fairly limiting so am hoping for some insight & opinions from my fellow forum members.

1 - Must be captive bred
2 - Must be compatible with my mandarin

Tank is 90g with chaeto sump and around 100lb live rock, various softies and urchin/slug/conch/peppermint clean-up crew. I have a fortnightly pod subscription and have also just setup a tigropius & brine shrimp culture (can't get Tisbe in the UK unfortunately!)

Fish are 2 x clowns / 1 x banggai cardinal / 1 x coral beauty / 1 x green mandarin

Captive bred options as of right now in the UK are - various fang blennies / various gobies (linki/rainfords/watchmen) / Dottybacks / aip eating filefish / plus the species I currently have listed above

I was going to go for a fang blenny, or add 2 more juv angels for a harem but seems both would outcompete the mandarin

At the moment I am leaning towards getting an orchid dottyback but am open to suggestions!

Thanks

Nick

 

[Silly clownfish]

My orchid dottyback and mandarin are not in the same tank, but not because I think they are incompatible. I think they would be fine together. My mandarin completely ingnores my other fish and vice versa. My dottyback is in a tank with just a valentini puffer and they barely acknowledge each other. The dottyback hides at any sudden movemeent putside of the tank (ex. Me). She hangs out in the rocks, but doesn't pick at them.

I like the unique color. I have seen some people post here about captive raised orchids not having good coloration, but mine is stunning - a very deep vibrant purply-pinkish color.

 

[jimmy n]

Blenny or goby for sure. Dottybacks are all eventual *******s.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

First of all, props to you for insisting on captive bred species! More of us should follow your example.

Really the only non-compatible fish would be the ones that eat similarly, like the rainsford's goby. You really only want one (your mandarin) fish that eats like that, so there's no competition and plenty of food - even with fortnightly additions.

The orchid dottyback is the only non-aggressive dottyback, and gorgeous to boot. It's more of a pelagic planktivore than benthic, like the mandarin, so that would be my choice as well.

I'd also recommend another bangai cardinal or two, so you can watch their spawning behavior. They will produce viable offspring with no help from you! This will allow you to 'give back' to the hobby with your own captive bred fish.

 

[ZachsZoo]

A shrimp/Goby pair would be a great option

 

[ctroms]

I also like to support the aquaculture industry. Personally I feel they offer a better product, they always cost more but it is worth it every time to me. Less disease, less stress, already converted to frozen foods/flakes/pellets, more uniform product (size/age/sex), just general better fish health and suited to aquarium life.

I own both of these fish and feel like I should respond. They are tank bred and come from ORA. Both ate frozen mysis and flake upon arrival and no "QT" directly to DT.

O. Dottyback- Very good looking fish, personality is lacking. If you get a young fish they are shy & hide, but as they get older they can be very bothersome to other fish. Mine harassed a Purple Firefish to death and had to be moved to another tank. My fish is 5 years old.

Matted/ Ap. Eating Filefish- Not bright colors, but cool pattern that changes with mood, lighting, and background. Personality is awesome greets you at the tank, just very slowly cruises and picks off rock. These fish will not bother any fish and are very peaceful. I have a pair and at first they didn't get much interest from people but they will grow on you.

My vote is hands down Matted Filefish. Go for a pair! Hope this helps.

 

[Nick_Northern]

Thanks for all the responses. Thats a couple of votes and a couple of warnings for the dottyback! Good to know it wouldn't directly compete with the mandarin, I might try a juv and keep an eye out for any signs of aggression as it grows.

First of all, props to you for insisting on captive bred species! More of us should follow your example.

Thanks, I'm not dead against wild caught by any means when its done responsibly but its so difficult to know where the fish come from, how they were caught etc for the most part, I also like to support places willing to breed them, some of the aren't cheap (the coral beauty springs to mind!) but hopefully the prices will drop over time as more people go for captive bred stock.

A shrimp/Goby pair would be a great option

I do think the interaction between them would be really cool, problem is I'm not sure all of my rocks are on the bottom glass and it would be just my luck at the moment that the they would excavate under one of these!

I also like to support the aquaculture industry. Personally I feel they offer a better product, they always cost more but it is worth it every time to me. Less disease, less stress, already converted to frozen foods/flakes/pellets, more uniform product (size/age/sex), just general better fish health and suited to aquarium life.

Agreed, I also like the fact they are so small when they go to market, my coral beauty and mandarin were both just over an inch when I got them and banggais probably even smaller and part of the enjoyment for me is watching them grow.

My vote is hands down Matted Filefish. Go for a pair! Hope this helps.

I actually really like the filefish and my wife is quite taken with them too, do you keep yours with any soft corals, zoa's etc?

 

[Nick_Northern]

I'd also recommend another bangai cardinal or two, so you can watch their spawning behavior. They will produce viable offspring with no help from you! This will allow you to 'give back' to the hobby with your own captive bred fish.

I was actually being optimistic when I said I only had one haha. I in fact have 2 but they turned out to both be males, they were tiny when I first got them and was tricky to tell, I'm trying to catch one of them to take back to the LFS, no damage as yet thankfully they just keep to opposite ends of the tank with the occasional bit of chasing, I may well look at replacing one of them with an actual female

 

[d-man]

Go for a personatus angel

 

[ThRoewer]

I would go with a pair or group of Orchid Dottybacks (Pseudochromis fridmani).
They usually don't bother mandarins or other fish.
The biggest risk with them are turned off pumps because those idiots like to explore their inside and then get shredded when the pumps come back on. Pumps turned on and off on a timer will sooner or later get them all - I lost 4 that way.

 

[Nick_Northern]

Do you find they get territorial at all, when spawning for example? I should be okay re powerheads, i have 2xgyre 250 as my only powerheads and they would have to be very small to fit between the grill

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[ThRoewer]

The ones I had only bickered a little bit among themselves, but paid little attention to other fish. In the wild they are found in groups.

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[ctroms]

My Filefish is kept with Kenya tree, Disc. mushrooms, and zoa's. Don't notice any nipping at corals. Fish in my tanks are very well fed with a varied diet, so that may influence their behaviour. I have noticed them eating copepod's. Hope the Filefish is still a choice.