Harlequin Tusk in an SPS reef?

[SPStoner]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6775602#post6775602 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Big E
Hi Tony,

These guys are active swimmers & need room to roam. I don't think one would be very comfortable in your packed reef. It's hard to get them small, so your looking at a 6-7 inch fish.

If you do get one, hold out for the Australian version. Their colors are twice as bright as the normal Indonesian ones. They're worth the extra price, plus you have a better chance of it not being cyanide caught.

Thanks, Ed. That was my experience as well. I had one years ago in my 180 FOWLR that lived for 7 years before my tank got wiped out by my wife's cat The damn cat knocked the power strip out of the wall while we were on our honeymoon....killed everything except my snowflake moray...DOH!)

I have my eye's on an Australian one right now. It's about 5 inches, maybe a little less. I'm mainly worried about the smaller fish I have in there. The one I kept before was with all larger, aggressive fish. This time, it will be the biggest by a few inches. My last one was somewhat timid compared to the other fish.

 

[Big E]

I've had two over the years............my first one was eaten by a moray back in my dumber days. I learned the hard way morays can eat fish alot bigger than their heads.

If you buy it, I'd go in thinking the worst & if it doesn't eat the smaller fish, it's a bonus. You have some nice small wrasses in there.

Any way you can QT him for a while to get conditioned to frozen or pellet food?

Way back then I'd feed goldfish occasionally & the HT would catch ones alot bigger than his mouth & rip them apart to make them bite size.

Good luck, they are awesome fish.

 

[jimmy n]

Mine ate a diamond goby on introduction. Leaves a lawnmower blenny and purple basslet alone. Weird, but pretty fish

 

[maikoa02]

Very hard to find a small Aussie HT. Diver's Den has them maybe 1/quarter & then you'll pay close or over $200. Small Indo HT are more common sometimes even 1-2" and cost $50-$100. I've had mine for almost 3 years when it was 2 1/2". The key is to get them small & placed in an established tank. Hasn't eaten any animals that were there already, but when I tried to add more Fire & cleaner shrimps he did have a nice feast. As far as small fish, common sense says if you have any big fish & you add a fish that is so small that it can be swallowed whole by the big fish, well then don't add that small fish. Lastly, HT's get big, and w/ any big fish in a sps tank they can & will accidently break off pieces when they get startled.

 

[dcantrall100]

Your list looks good.

 

[pjsonnentag]

I'm quarantining one from reefs2go right now to put in my sps/lps/zoa reef. If you go through them, note that my " 3 inch" tusk arrived twice that size. Eating frozen krill on day 1 though. Can't wait to give him the all clear an see him under the metal halides of the reef!