Help choosing "centerpiece" fish

[Karliah]

After a period of senescence much longer than I am used to, my octopus (O. mercatoris) has finally died this morning. He was my 4th, and after thinking on it all day I've decided not to replace him, as they live such sort lives and how sad it is to watch them wither away and die.

I would like a different creature. Predatory would be nice but is not required. If it's not predatory then I might throw in a few other fish, or shrimp/crabs as those were all just octopus food previously.
Also, 4 inches is pretty much max, with smaller being better. I don't like large fish, and prefer them to have lots and lots of room to explore.
"Perching" behavior is a plus.
I've been looking at some smaller lions and anglers, as that's all most online fish stores carry. So if someone has something more "out of the box" suggestions that'd be great.
Thanks in advance!

 

[b7fig]

How big is your tank?

 

[ThRoewer]

How about a gouper?

Pollenei Grouper (Cephalopholis polleni)

 

[Karliah]

Help choosing "centerpiece" fish

How big is your tank?

It is a 40B

How about a gouper?



Pollenei Grouper (Cephalopholis polleni)

Not sure how else to state this, but I'm going to assume you're joking as I said I'm trying to stick with a 4 INCH maximum size.

 

[ThRoewer]

Sorry, I didn't read the 4 inch restriction. I only read the "center piece" and "predator"

I've see tanks with large groupers and they are quite impressive.

For a 40B I personally would go with a carpet anemone and a pair of anemonefish. I simply can't think of a better centerpiece and it's what I have.

 

[Karliah]

I also have a tank set up with clowns in a nem, and I couldn't agree more. Trying to stay away from the overly common fish with this tank though.

 

[ksicard]

With a 40 breeder you could do several unique set ups.

Off the top of my head and you could do a:
1.) Seahorse and pipe fish tank
2.) mantis shrimp tank
3.) angler/frog fish tank
4.) invert only tank

 

[mitchrapp]

Longnose hawkfish? They definitely perch and are semi-aggressive. Max size is a little larger than what you wanted, but is at 5 inches.

 

[CoralsAddiction]

Red painted angler

 

[moriarty]

Ever looked into Caracanthus (coral crouchers)? If you don't mind a very sedentary fish and target feeding, a pair of these would do very well in a species tank. (Considering setting a tank up for a pair myself).

Sorry to hear about your Octopus btw... Their tragically short lifespan has been the only thing that's prevented me from keeping one.

 

[Karliah]

With a 40 breeder you could do several unique set ups.

Off the top of my head and you could do a:
1.) Seahorse and pipe fish tank
2.) mantis shrimp tank
3.) angler/frog fish tank
4.) invert only tank

I do want seahorses eventually, but this tank has too many pest anemones so it's not a tank for them. Though my peppermints in my other tank do love to eat them, so maybe I'll throw them in there and make it seahorse safe.

Longnose hawkfish? They definitely perch and are semi-aggressive. Max size is a little larger than what you wanted, but is at 5 inches.

I'm not to fond of how they look in pictures, but I've never watched one in motion. Perhaps I'd change my mind if I watched a video or five. Haha

Red painted angler

Do you have any experience with how big they get? Any of them not just the red. I've seen sources that say 4", but I found one with colors I liked and that website said 15"

Ever looked into Caracanthus (coral crouchers)? If you don't mind a very sedentary fish and target feeding, a pair of these would do very well in a species tank. (Considering setting a tank up for a pair myself).

Sorry to hear about your Octopus btw... Their tragically short lifespan has been the only thing that's prevented me from keeping one.

I had done some reading on them a few months ago, I'm just concerned that they'd hide too much. Might have to do some more research.
I would never recommend an octopus to someone. I love them, and it's a wonderful experience to have, but at the same time it's horribly sad.

 

[Karliah]

I know I should probably start a separate thread for this but...
Does anyone have experience with leaf fish?
Will they usually eventually accept frozen?

 

[rehype]

I know I should probably start a separate thread for this but...
Does anyone have experience with leaf fish?
Will they usually eventually accept frozen?

Yes Ive had one and you can train them to accept frozen. IME it wasnt very difficult.

Just as a suggestion to your centerpiece fish. Dwarf fuzzy can be a beautiful centerpiece fish IMO. I just recently added a yellow dwarf as my "show" fish and she is truly stunning

I call her Adonia..

 

[Karliah]

Not very difficult huh? Might have to give that some more consideration as my boyfriend likes how they look.
I do love lions and plan to have on in a much larger predator tank in the future.
When they list common sizes, is it just the body or does it include the long fins? I always assumed it was just the body, so with the fins they'd take up much more space.

 

[rehype]

Not very difficult huh? Might have to give that some more consideration as my boyfriend likes how they look.
I do love lions and plan to have on in a much larger predator tank in the future.
When they list common sizes, is it just the body or does it include the long fins? I always assumed it was just the body, so with the fins they'd take up much more space.

No not at all. Just takes a bit of patience but it was alot easier than I thought it would be. Typically those common sizes listed just account for the body not the extension of the pectoral fins.

 

[Karliah]

I'd be concerned with their size including the fins. It was set up as an octopus tank, so there's not much swimming room. I made a long island with thin swimming space between glass and rock on all sides and it's mostly rock-work up towards the surface.
So I feel that if a lion were trying to swim around it would be scraping it's fins all the time.
Not only do I love the perching behavior but my tank kind of makes it necessary.
(And to anyone who says "just change the rock-work", I don't want to)

 

[rehype]

I'd be concerned with their size including the fins. It was set up as an octopus tank, so there's not much swimming room. I made a long island with thin swimming space between glass and rock on all sides and it's mostly rock-work up towards the surface.
So I feel that if a lion were trying to swim around it would be scraping it's fins all the time.
Not only do I love the perching behavior but my tank kind of makes it necessary.
(And to anyone who says "just change the rock-work", I don't want to)

Well it depends on the lionfish species you go with... You could go with a Fu manchu lionfish as they arent open water swimmers but spend the majority of their time within the rockwork.

Heres one I had in my previous build..

 

[Wills612]

Rhinopias

 

[ThRoewer]

How about one of the smaller puffer fish? If I had the extra space I would love to have a puffer fish tank simply because they have great personality.

The Valentini Puffer (Canthigaster valentini) is colorful and with a maximum size of 4 inch right on the money.

Though my favorites would be the dog faced puffers as they have the greatest personality of them all.

 

[Karliah]

Well it depends on the lionfish species you go with... You could go with a Fu manchu lionfish as they arent open water swimmers but spend the majority of their time within the rockwork.

I've never liked their appearance, but may have to give them some consideration as they fit my criteria very well.

Rhinopias

Are there any that are 4" or less? All the ones I'm familiar with get larger than that by a good amount.

How about one of the smaller puffer fish? If I had the extra space I would love to have a puffer fish tank simply because they have great personality.



The Valentini Puffer (Canthigaster valentini) is colorful and with a maximum size of 4 inch right on the money.



Though my favorites would be the dog faced puffers as they have the greatest personality of them all.

I do love puffers and have always wanted one, but I don't think I'd be up for trimming teeth if I needed to, which is unfortunately why I've never gotten one.