Fish Advice, What Can I Get?

[windyridge]

I had one of a pair of clowns die a few wees ago and I'd like to get another as well as a bigger fish, 5 inches or so (bigger than the 4 inch Tomini tag to avoid problems). Is there anything I can safely get and will the clown get picked on by the tang. I have a 92 gallon mixed reef tank and only a few fish.

Cardinal, Tomini tang, 6 Line Wrasse, 7 chromis, clown (was the male).

 

[Foody]

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/livestockcaretopicsindex/ss/fishcompatibilitychart.htm

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

gee... some Bristletooth Tangs can be nasty but many can be passive. You have a bully? What happened to your male Clownfish?

Clowns are MUCH better in pairs and that's the first fish I'd look to replace.....

 

[windyridge]

He wasn't passive with the Foxface and wasted no time killing him despite being stung but the FF unfortunately chose the tang's den to hide in. The tang is fine with the other fish, the chromis being added after it but the others were there first. I have no idea what happened to the other clown but there were never any issues with them other then chasing chromis if they got too near their anemone. I do plan on replacing the clown for sure but I hardly have any fish, 92 gallons and plenty of filtration. It looks like Box Fish and Basselets might work but I worry the Box Fish might eat some corals? The LiveAquaria list says caution with invertebrates.

Foody, thanks for your link. Very helpful.

 

[blanden.adam]

box fish will eat worms and such, but typically leaves corals and stationary invertebrates alone. I'd be more concerned about their eventual size and their dislike for high flow. They are a ridiculously awesome fish though, I want one in the worst way.

 

[Jacwil]

Aren't box fish typically known as "time bombs?" I thought they had some toxicity stuff going on.

 

[DustyReefer]

Aren't box fish typically known as "time bombs?" I thought they had some toxicity stuff going on.

I believe you are correct sir. They release toxins when stressed(or dead) that can nuke your tank. So if you've got an aggressive tomini picking on him it will induce the release of these toxins. However the amount toxins released are relative to size. So a tiny box fish would only release a tiny amount of toxin that the carbon and skimmer would remove rather quickly. The potential nuking of tanks comes when they get quite large.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Aren't box fish typically known as "time bombs?" I thought they had some toxicity stuff going on.

toxicity and prone to be disease carriers... but nothing that can't be worked around.

I'd be more concerned about environment. Echoing what Adam already posted, in a typical high flow reef a Boxfish isn't a great choice. In a "slower" reef aquarium Boxy would do better.
Great choice for many FO's and FOWLR's. Boxfish has potential to harm anemone and anemonefish.

Cardinalfish are better in pairs (or groups depending on species).
Basslet idea is a good one IMO.

If your aquarium is covered many wrasses make a great choice.

 

[windyridge]

Ok sounds like basslets may be best for my conditions.

But don't they hide most of the time?

Can I get a pair?

My aquarium is covered but when we go away for the weekend in the summer we leave the flip open portion open for the automatic feeder. We could probably make some kind of mesh to cover the opening if we needed to.

 

[windyridge]

So ABC Reefs has some chalk basselets and he said I could get two. They might pair up or not but that was ok they wouldn't fight. But he also said the remaining clown may kill the new one unless the new one is smaller because the remaining clown is a male. If I get a smaller clown it should be ok and the current one will then change to female. I plan to put all three in quarantine first. Does this sound ok? I hope the basselets don't hide forever.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

sounds good :wave: