fish selection advice please

L

ladyfsu

Active member
I have a 55-g...about 60 lbs of live rock. The tank has some xenia/anthelia/yellow polyps/shrooms. I want to buy some fish. I made a mistake with my lemonpeel angel and read it was reef safe and the thing is a coral PIG!!! So, I'm going to tell you what I have, and then tell you the fish I'm looking at. If you have other suggestions as well, that'd be great. I want to stay under $40-ish for a fish, and I don't want a tang (had several ICH issues with them...they are banned from our house).

OK current livestock:

4" fat lemonpeel angel
maroon clownfish
firefish
2" 6-line wrasse
1 coral banded shrimp
1 peppermint shrimp
1 giant purple/green tube anemone
giant giant sally lightfoot crab
big ruby mithrax
blue-legged hermits and snails



FISH I'm interested in (not all, just need your opinions...and YES I'm planning on having more fish than our recommened tankly limit:p ).

Lyretail or Dispar anthias
Blackcap basslet
Royal Gramma
Bi-Color Blenny
Scooter Blenny
Fridmani
Purple pseudochromis
Clown goby (not sure which)
Golden Headed Sleeper Goby
Mandarin


I will probably get 3 fish...none are very big except the anthias sorta. I'm looking for behavior (the 4 I have are out swimming alot, but don't have any of those "cute" habits like haanging out on rocks or burrowing...I like those). I also want various colors.

OK let me know what your experiences are. I don't want to screw up again. Thanks.

Laine
 
Well as far as selection everyone is different but - I like anthias, clown goby or any goby as far as that goes and of course Mandarins which is #2 on my list. That said whatever you purchase be sure you add them according to Temperament. Clown gobies are very peaceful, so if you were to get them - first and so on and so forth. The mandarins can be hard to feed and I know they are so cute, but most die because of feeding problems. So, just make sure if you do purchase them that they will eat what you are willing to feed (dry, frozen or live, etc). I hope this gives you some ideas and helps a little. I fret over each and every fish I purchase I know this will be their last home. Thank you Laine for taking the time to ask questions before you have purchased :D :fish1:.
 
You can have *either* a mandarin or a scooter, unless BOTH eat prepared food. Either will eat pods til they run out THEN take prepared, if they eat prepared. If they don't, they'll both eat pods til they run out and the mandy will starve first, then the scooter. I have a 2" mandy in a 52g and have spent 300.00 on pod supplementation for her when we had a down period.

Anthias fare best in a 6' tank: they use a horrific lot of running room and are chancy eaters. Try the Sunset Anthias, much more amenable to small ledge-lurking.

If you're not truly set on a bicolor blenny, I'd recommend the tailspot, as more easy going.

Grammas can be iffy in disposition: be VERY sure no one sells you the gramma lookalike, which is a bicolor dottyback, as I recall, and meaner than a junkyard dog: way to tell the difference: scattered color line in the real gramma, more definite color line in the lookalike.
 
woww thnx both of you! Yes the whole thing worries me. I have lots right now...but....

The disbar anthias I had was great in my tank but I'm the reason it died :( so which aanthias is easiest?


...and Im not set on anything. Just happy fish that won't die or eat any more corals...peace love and happiness within my tank!!!
 
The disbar is not as aggressive as the Lyretails just to let you know. I can't wait for you to start getting them - make sure you post some pics for us.
 
I wouldn't put a mandarin or scooter in with a 6-line wrasse. Even if the wrasse doesn't try to kill the mandarin, it cannot be hoped that there will be enough for the mandarin to eat after the wrasse has eaten all the pods.

Are golden head sleeper gobies sand sifters? If so, they'll also compete for pods.

Clown gobies are cool, don't be tempted to get two unless you know they are an established pair (or can pair them yourself using a separate tank)

Blackcap basslet/Royal Gramma - both great fish. I have a pair of blackcaps in my tank & I love them (same pairing advice as above).

The bicolor blenny, fridmani, both of the grammas & to some degree the firefish & the 6-line are all going to compete for hidey holes. Thus you have to be careful about combining them. I like the suggestion about opting for a less aggressive blenny. Then either a gramma or the fridmani. I'd specifically avoid combining a royal gramma and bicolor blenny.

The fridmani could possibly compete with a mandarin (though not an option as long as you have the 6-line)

Purple pseudochromis? I thought this this was Pseudochromis fridmani - if its one of the other dottybacks, it's a bulldog as Sk8r said...


HTH :D
 
You won't like this but there's "risk" in almost every fish you have on your list. If I remember correctly 6 line wrasses r pod eaters , so u should probably stay away from mandarins and other pod eaters.There probably won't be enough food to go round. Black caps and all psuedochromis can be a little aggresive and might bully your firefish. I've never had good luck with anthias and they usually need to be kept in groups of 3 or more. Royal Grammas are nice and cheap but sometimes they tend to hang out in the rocks. If you have a sand bottom one of the sand sifting gobies would be a good choice. If you like fish with personality you might consider a hawkfish. I love my flamehawk.
 
my 6 line occassionally is a pod picker and same as the lemonpeel.

OK to be safe I'm going to NOT get the mandarin though they're so cute like puppies.

I'm thinking so far:

fridmani or blackcap
anthias
blenny (maybe the tailspot one)
sleeper goby

...I don't mind if my fish hide in the rockwork. Nothing I have right now does at all except bedtime.

...and hawkfish...I love them and how the ones I have had in the past sit on the edge of a rock looking down like, well...a hawk (lightbulb just went off :O ). They have just been major bullies!!!
 
...lol for the most part, there seems to be a risk in every fish.

...so...what are the top 10 "riskless" fish for a reef tank that are pretty and not very big?
 
Hawkfish like shrimp (for dinner)
Dispars are sensitive as anthias go - You might look into Bartlett's as they ar also somewhat small. Lyretails get way too big for your tank. I assume tat you know that anthias need to be fed a minimum of twice a day... I agree with Sk8r - they need a longer tank. Look into Bartlett's... I'd get a m/f pair if I had to have some
 
LOL - well I have a very peaceful tank or should I say tanks - here we go: - I have the following and never a fight:

McCosker Flasher Wrasse
Randall's Goby
Tiger pistol shrimp
Yellow Watchman Goby
Purple Firefish
(2) Yellow Wrasse
½ Black Mimic Tang

Other tank:

(2) Black ocellaris Clownfish
(2) Green Clown gobies
 
That's for sure, my tang was the last to be placed in my 75G. Everyone has plenty of places to hide and swim including the tang. I made sure to make some larger holes for the tang to swim through - and he loves it! The gobies are only out at night hunting - I might catch them once in a while but not often during the day. Everyone else out swimming and ALWAYS waiting to be feed.
 
well see I always hear things about the 6-line and firefish...but they both always swim all the time...don't pick on others (when I had more) and the 6-line really doesn't eat pods very often. That's why I want quite a bit of input. I've known people who buy mandarins that eat flake food (my dad), 6-lines that are peaceful and some that are not, clowns that like certain anemones and others don't...just like people, I think they do their own thing, but if I can get an assortment of opinions then I think I can get a better idea.
 
The Fridmani is a good choice, as is a pair of Bartletts Anthias. You could buy 2 females, cheaper that way, and the dominant one, like clowns will sexually morph into a male. Usually happens fairly quickly with Anthias. Flasher or Fairy Wrasses are also good choices, but make sure your tank is secure...they will jump.
 
I have glass and both have canopies - it's seems all my fish will jump. My yellow goby got upset and for two days hung around the top of the tank. He did end up into the refuge - e-ticket ride. Small area in the overflow which I would never think he could get through, but he did. I could never have a none covered tank - to many jumpers. The green gobies are big time jumpers.
 
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