Lookdowns and sps, help

Bsixxx

New member
Just picked up a starfire 48"x36"x30" tank,
and wondering if i could get a small school of lookdowns and sps going together?
Are lookdowns reefsafe? Also what do I need to make this workout, no experiance with either of the two thanks in advanced.
 
I don't think your tank is big enough. They get pretty huge. I could be wrong. I don't think they're very active swimmers so that is in your favor. What do you mean by school exactly.
 
I don't think your tank is big enough. They get pretty huge. I could be wrong. I don't think they're very active swimmers so that is in your favor. What do you mean by school exactly.

Sorry didn't go into detail. Plan is this is just a growout tank. I have bigger systems, I was just curious as if the look downs were reef safe. And by school i meant about 3 fish. Tank is basically going to be just coral and the look downs if possible.
 
They are not aggressive, they get big like Sugar Magnolia says, but as long as they can't eat another fish they are fine. They wont bother corals or any sessile inverts but any shrimp or crab that they can get will be eaten. They are very active so you need a lot of room even for a growout tank, a 48 inch tank is too small for one let alone 3, and you almost never see them as tiny juveniles. Usually they come in a little smaller then a dinner plate, every once in a while I see a 5 inch one, but that is rare. Only once have I seen a tiny one, it was a fantastic find in the sargasso weed that was close to shore and still had all the the fin streamers, I was collecting quarter sized porcupine puffers with a friend and he caught it.

The other thing about them is they are very poor shippers, even from store to home they lose scales, stress out and get all beat up. If you see them in a store I would put them one to a bucket and cover it so they are completely dark, a big bag is normally how they transport them but they panic and thrash about, causing the damage. Finally they are all caught by hook and line, nets just beat them up so much that they are unsellable if they are seined or barrier caught. Watch for infected or irritated mouth and lips, and make sure they eat before you take them home.
 
There are small tank raised lookdowns available from time to time from an operation in Florida. However, they grow fast and need lots of swimming room.
There is one way that they are not reef safe - they have a habit of running into coral and either getting stuck, or damaging their eyes or bodies. They don't inhabit coral reefs in nature, so appatently they just are not adept at dealing with lots of pointed obstructions.


Bill
 
I realize they are pretty much open water fish. but I think th shinney silver with coral would be amazing.

I'll look into it further and plan a little more.
Thanks for the quick replies though,
cheers.
 
We catch them here at the end of the summer every year swimming around in the eel grass. They get swept up in the gulf stream and we get them tiny with all their streamers. Pretty cool fish but get large and need at least 1000g to swim around in.
 
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