Fish List

[rlpardue]

Hi everyone,

I'm almost done with my 5x2x2 ~150 gallon build and it's time to do some thinking regarding the fish list. I want this tank to be as low in nutrients as possible to avoid using massive amounts of GFO or carbon-dosing. It will be SPS-dominant. This is an upgrade from my 75 gallon, so some fish will be coming along with the move (even though they're larger than I would prefer).

-1 Zebrasoma tang
-2 Halichoeres wrasses (either yellow or iridis) - primarily for pest control
-1 pink-striped pygmy wrasse
-2 Tiger Wardi gobies (mated pair, probably spawning in their cave)
-2 Banggai cardinals (breeding pair)
-1-4 Lubbocki wrasses (my male usually kills off the females, so he may be destined to go solo from now on)
-pair of pipefish (not yet acquired; waiting for a pair that eats Ova or Cyclopeeze)

I would really like to have a large number of nano-gobies in the tank. I think this would be a cool way of having a large number of interesting fish yet still keeping the bio-load down. I like keeping my fish in pairs or harems, as appropriate, since it's a little more interesting to watch and I think the fish are probably happier. So I would be acquiring bonded pairs of nano-gobies. Say, 3 pairs.

The main concern I have is whether the nano-gobies will hide all the time in the presence of my other fish. Has anyone tried putting a bunch of nano-gobies into a large aquarium with a couple of large fish?

 

[rlpardue]

Bump...help! Lol.

 

[rlpardue]

Anyone ever introduced some nano gobies (other than SPS-nipping coral gobies) to a big tank?

 

[iClown]

I think gobies would succ in a large aquarium. Why? Because they are small and love to hide.

 

[SushiGirl]

Sorry, not tried it yet. We'll be putting a bunch of small fish in our 140 if we ever get it set up, but it wouldn't be all nano gobies. I did have a pair of red-headed gobies in a 38 gallon tank for a few years, they were the smallest things in the tank & they were awesome. Always out & watching me whichever side of the tank I sat on & hung out with my diamond watchman in his burrow. Rest of the fish were 2 different kinds of cardinals, a chromis, and 3 flasher wrasses (all medium fish). Man that tank was overloaded LOL.

As for the Halichoeres, if you want to keep shrimp make sure you get the chrysus (solid yellow) because the leucoxanthus (white belly) will have an expensive shrimp dinner. Also, our chrysus we got for pest control only ate pyramid snails (why we bought him), not the flatworms that showed up later. We got a Melanurus that took care of the flatworms in short order but she seems pretty aggressive even though she's still small.

Our thoughts on our 140 are 3 PJ cardinals for sure (already have them) and several small cardinals like 5-lined or orange-lined. I would love to find some red-spots. Have to do more reading on the swimming gobies like the Rainford's to see if they school. Hector's is recommended singly. There's also the masked goby.

I would think pairs would probably be more shy and "schooling" fish would probably shoal more with larger fish in the tank, but I don't know for sure since I'm not into large fish & haven't kept this particular situation in a tank to observe the behaviors.

Hopefully someone who has done it will chime in so we'll both know!

 

[jschultzbass]

From what I read Pipe fish need a species only tank or a Seahorse tank.

 

[rssjsb]

From what I read Pipe fish need a species only tank or a Seahorse tank.

Not necessarily. It's doable as long as (1) you get a pipe that is easier to keep, like janns or bluestripes; (2) its tankmates are not aggressive; (3) there are not too many other fish competing for pods; (4) you've got enough rocks for them to hang out in.

I've got a Janns pipe in my 185 mixed reef tank. The problem with them is that they're a little cryptic. Same with bluestripes, which seem to dislike bright light. Mine would always come out and cruise around in the water column when the actinics were on in the morning and evening, but I never saw them when the regular lights were blasting.

 

[rlpardue]

iClown- Lol, hopefully they would eventually stop hiding. That's probably the main thing I'm concerned about - would they eventually grow secure enough to be relatively active?

SushiGirl- Thanks for the input on the red-headed gobies! They seem awesome, and it's good to hear that they were active in a smaller tank with the similar kinds of fish I will have in my 150. I do want to keep shrimp; I have a pair of Chrysus that began spawning (cool!) after the bigger one went terminal phase. If happen to land my dream job I may "upgrade" to Halichoeres Iridis (!awesome!). I like your idea of red-spot cardinals - those would be sweet. Just hope they'd be big enough not to fit in a Banggai's big mouth. I've never seen them in person. I will research the masked goby too.

Pairs or harems seem to generally live longer than my single fishes.

Mr. schultz, yes pipefish are pretty darn delicate. I am a patient man and will wait until I can find a pair of blue-lined or dragon-faced pipes that are already eating Ova or cyclops. The last one I had "disappeared" the same day I moved her tank She liked to hang out on my frag rack - which was sweet, because I watched her gobble up the evil red bugs on a staghorn I had!