I Need More Fish!

[migston]

I've had my tank set up for close to two years now and after a period of neglect and laziness it's finally back in shape. It's a 60g with a 10g sump and a 10g fuge. The plan is a mixed reef dominated by LPS and softies with maybe a few SPS here and there.

My current livestock are:
2 Ocellaris Clowns
1 Black Sailfin Blenny
1 Flame Hawkfish
1 Spotted Mandarin

I recently got rid of a Flame Angel but sadly in the process of trying to catch him, I must have scared my Sixline Wrasse into jumping. I didn't find him until it was too late so now my tank looks very bare in terms fish and especially water column swimmers. So I'd like some input on the fish I should get.

Ideally, I'd like to get 2 or 3 more fish that don't get aggressive. Also, I'd like fish that do not actively hunt and eat pods so that my Mandarin can have them all to himself. I really need some yellow or blue in the tank as well. I'm currently looking at the following:

Longnose Butterfly
Hippo Tang
Banggai Cardinal
Yellow Watchman Goby
Blue Reef Chromis
Yellow Wrasse

Anyone have any other suggestions? I'm very open to unusual/lesser know fish so long as they are relatively reef safe and non aggressive.

Also I'm really hurting for some mobile invertebrates but I'm not sure what won't be eaten by my Flame Hawk. Suggestions on crabs and shrimp that won't become expensive meals will also be appreciated.

And yes, I know the Tang and the Butterfly get big, but I will be upgrading within a year or two anyway.

 

[littlevietnam]

I would pick these three fish:

Hippo Tang
Banggai Cardinal
Yellow Watchman Goby

 

[transae]

I have almost the same setup with you. 2 clowns, bicolor blenny, yellow watchman goby, firefish, 6 line wrasse, hippo tang, and a friedimani. Used to have a hawkfish but learned it ate my shrimp. I'd rather have a cleaner and red blood shrimp. My yellow wrasse died. All of them got along. The wrasse is a bit aggresive of an eater and chases my friedamani around sometimes-thinking of giving away the wrasse.

Anyways-a baby hippo tang is pretty good addition. A lemonpeel angel. About to get one of those.

 

[migston]

Concerning the watchman Goby, do they pair up with pistol shrimps and would that pair be able to fend off or at least hide from a hawkfish? Any problems between the watchman and the blenny or is the watchman mostly a sand dweller? My blenny can get territorial about the rocks. Gave the hawk a hell of a time until the wrasse jumped. Now they're buddies.

 

[NicoleC]

Longnose Butterfly - very poor survival rates in captivity
Hippo Tang - far too large a fish for a 60g
Banggai Cardinal - peaceful and fits your criteria (swims mid-water, doesn't eat pods), but not blue or yellow. However, survival of WC cardinals is very poor and they are severely overfished. Do spend the effort to find a captive bred one.
Yellow Watchman Goby - excellent reef fish with great personality, but does not swim mid-water and will eat pods.
Blue Reef Chromis - Some individuals get aggressive, but most are peaceful, pretty and active. Swims in midwater and doesn't eat many pods.
Yellow Wrasse - Which one?

Other options are yellow and blue assessors, firefish and the yellow clown goby (don't keep with most SPS corals, they won't do much damage but they will inevitably choose your prize specimen to nest in),

 

[NicoleC]

Concerning the watchman Goby, do they pair up with pistol shrimps and would that pair be able to fend off or at least hide from a hawkfish?

They don't need to pair in captivity. If the hawkfish and the pistol went at each other... one or the other would likely end up dead. My money would be on the hawkfish.

Any problems between the watchman and the blenny or is the watchman mostly a sand dweller?

YWG's stay on the sand except in rare instances. If the blenny stays on the rocks, they will proably ignore each other.

 

[migston]

Wow thanks for the detailed info Nicole

I'm really liking the watchman goby despite the fact that it doesn't free swim. I really don't have any fish that live on the sand (unless you count the mandarin who hovers everywhere) so it's an unoccupied niche. Does it eat a lot of pods though?

Don't assessor's get aggressive/territorial? My main reason for ditching my angel was because he was harassing my clowns and that is a big no-no.

The wrasse I was thinking of is the Yellow Coris Wrasse.

Such a tough choice. Ah well, my QT won't be ready for a few more days so keep the suggestions and info coming!

 

[NicoleC]

Depends on the goby. Mine are too lazy to sift sand anymore, they just wait for me to feed them. If you QT and carefully train him/her to eat prepared foods while in QT, the fish will probably hunt less. They also do not roam the tank, so if they eat pods it will really be in one area outside their den, and they are going to me more interested in worms and amphipods and other critters that are mostly too big for mandarins.

Assessors don't get territorial at all, except with each other. They look like a basslet or a dottyback, but they are a comet. They are even safe with seahorses and other ultra-docile fish and are far more likely to get picked on themselves than to do any picking. They are, however, hard to come by. I can only suggest sweet talking a LFS into placing an order with ORA to get some CB assessors. Nor are they really open water swimmers, but I see mine all the time. They are reported to eat pods, but I think I have seen mine actually do so... well, maybe once. Again, if you get them hooked on premium prepared foods in QT, they will keep coming to the dealer.

I don't know much about the wrasse.

 

[migston]

I'm pretty sure that i've seen both kinds of assessors at Aquarium Center in Sherman Oaks. Which is good because they're probably the only place I'll ever buy fish from.

Blue Assessor and Yellow Watchman Goby are looking like the top contenders for the sensible, smart stocking list, but a Blue Tang and the goby is still soooo tempting. Hehe.

Anyone know anything about pygmy angelfish or various dottybacks like the Fridmani Pseudo or Blackcap Basslet? Basically I'd like to know about aggressive tendencies, compatibility with my current stock, feeding habits, jumping habits etc.

 

[NicoleC]

The blackcap is very hardy and peaceful (except to other basslets), but they don't like high lighting and tend to be very shy. They are a show-stopping gorgeous, though.

Dottybacks/pseudochromis are very aggressive despite their small size and cheerful colors. I wouldn't mix with a mandarin at all, and they are likely to harass the clowns, too.

 

[NicoleC]

P.S. Assessors are seasonal when wild caught and we are not in season. Perhaps the store is getting them from ORA?

 

[migston]

The Chalk bass are looking very appealing as well since they stay small and can be kept in groups. Everything I've read seems to give the thumbs up (aside from the fact that they are known jumpers). Anyone have any bad erxperiences with them?

http://www.etropicals.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=41&pCatId=1309

These purple ones are especially attractive.
http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_1...ategory=4&category_search=61&root_parent_id=4

 

[NicoleC]

They are mean, nosy and aggressive, or at least that was my experience with them. I had a pair (they are synchronous hermaphrodites; any two makes a pair) that were happy and chummy in QT -- they went in the main tank and one killed the other within days.

Then the murderer wasn't smart enough to take the minor thrashings as a warning from my clowns to stay out of their eggs, and my clowns solved the problem permanently. No more chalk bass.

Chalk bass individuals vary widely in coloration and also change a bit with their environment. Any photo or picture you seen online isn't necessarily representative of the whole species.

 

[migston]

Blah. And they seemed so promising too. Is there such thing as a peaceful schooling fish that isn't a chromis then? LOL

 

[NicoleC]

Nothing will school in a 60g. It's too small. Only in the very largest of tanks will you get schooling behavior once the fish calm down and stop being terrified.

If you want a group that will get along together well, how about cleaner gobies? Small, but cute. They have a short listspan, though -- about 2 years.

If you have two QT's, you could try for a pair of YWG's

 

[migston]

That sounds interesting Why would 2 QT's be necessary? Fighting? How do you sex YWGs?

I do like Cleaner/Neon Gobies but their lifespan versus their price tag has always dettered me in the past. Plus they might make a ready snack for my Flame Hawk. hehe.

 

[NicoleC]

That sounds interesting Why would 2 QT's be necessary? Fighting? How do you sex YWGs?

You don't -- that's why you need two QT's. If I were to try to pair again, this time from scratch, I would:

• Buy two average sized fish.
• QT separately in an enriched environment -- not PVC, but fake rocks and plastic plants -- until they are nice and comfortable, healthy and eating well, with a den they call home. Say, 8 weeks.
• Introduce one fish to the other. If it's love at first sight, you have a pair. If they avoid each other or fight, remove the fish you just added, find a new home for it, and start QT'ing another potential mate. Repeat as necessary.

Oh -- and in most pairs, the male stays yellow and the female turns grey and blue... so there you go; friendly, reef safe, and the colors you wanted.

Pairs do tend to be aggressive about defending their den, but they are going to stay very close to the den, so the other fish can avoid them if they don't want to deal with it. My clowns would deliberately "buzz" their den just to get them to come out and puff up. You could almost hear the clowns laughing all the way back to their host.

 

[DRC69]

Sorry, a little off the track. But what does your Blk Sailfin Blenny eat????
I have one, but I don't know what it eats or not sure if I ever seen him/her eat?

 

[818]

Migs get two green clown gobies, Im going to get some they look cool!

From what Ive read they are very chill and will keep ur reef at peace.

Sam

 

[migston]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7553270#post7553270 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DRC69
Sorry, a little off the track. But what does your Blk Sailfin Blenny eat????
I have one, but I don't know what it eats or not sure if I ever seen him/her eat?

I see him pick at the Formula one and two frozen foods that I dump in the tank but it always just looks like a bite. Yet he's been fat and healthy for two years and whenever I see him poop, there's a lot of it. So he's definitely getting food somewhere.

Nicole, ah now that makes sense. But I think I might be able to pull that same process off with a 10g and a tank divider, no?