Possum Wrasse + Fem McCoskers in 40B?

[Jon01]

I'm in the process of stocking my 40B and getting ready to place a LA order.
I am thinking about getting a Possum Wrasse to go along with my female McCosker's...
What say you fish gods? Think it'd work?

Other inhabitants:
1 sm Occ Clown
3 Firefish
Dwarf Angel
3 Bangaii Cardinals

Standard CUC
Tank will be heavy on LPS/Mushrooms/soft corals.
Looking for a very mellow laid back tank without a bunch of aggression.

 

[rssjsb]

To answer your question, I doubt very much that the possum and the mckosker's would even notice each other.

I do think you're pretty well stocked though, so I wouldn't add anything more than the possum.

What kind of angel do you have?

 

[Jon01]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Robin!

I am cycling the tank right now, then I plan on pulling LR and livestock out of my 29BC and putting it in there. As follows:
1 firefish
Sm Occ
McCoskers

Was thinking about a pygmy for an angel.
Any other recommendations are welcome, I'm very new at all of this...

 

[sponger0]

I wouldnt go for more than 7 fish. And that may even be pushing it.

The 2 wrasses you listed I dont forsee a problem other than 10 fish would be overstocking the tank.

 

[Jon01]

Fair enough, I can cut back no problem.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[rssjsb]

I am having a reading comprehension problem today. I thought you already had everything but the possum. D'oh!

Now that we've straightened that out, I have a little more advice.

I would trim all but one firefish. Unless you're lucky enough to get a pair, they'll thin themselves down to one anyway. Same with the cardinals.

I don't know what you mean by pygmy. Maybe a cherub? Centropyge argi? If so, be aware that, although small, they're pretty obnoxious/territorial. It might make it impossible for you to keep the firefish or banggais at all.

If you want to do multiples, I would do a pair of clowns. Then the wrasses. You could also do a watchman goby and pistol shrimp. They're pretty and easy to keep and funny to watch. If you still want to do the argi, you may be done.

 

[Jon01]

Ok, well shoot.
I'm looking to have a couple groups of the same fish in the tank and a very peaceful serene setting.
Does anybody have any suggestions?
Would bumping one group up in size and cutting out another help disperse the aggression?
I'd have no problem putting 7-8 firefish or cardinals or whatever in there, the 2 wrasses and single clown.
How about a shoal of blue-green chromis?

I've kept Tropheus for years and never had this much trouble and they are nasty nasty little buggers.

 

[rssjsb]

Firefish and Banggais don't really work that way. There are other cardinals, like the orange-striped or threadfin that might work. There's also a small cardinal that can be kept in groups, but the name eludes me at the moment (spot-fins, maybe?). I've never kept chromis before, but a lot of people report that they will also whittle themselves down from a group to only one (or, at most, two).

You could probably do a trio of flasher wrasses if your tank is covered.

Sorry to be such a downer, but stocking a tank that size is tricky. Trying to do a group of fish is even tougher. Fish don't really "shoal" in aquariums.

 

[sponger0]

Ok, well shoot.
I'm looking to have a couple groups of the same fish in the tank and a very peaceful serene setting.
Does anybody have any suggestions?
Would bumping one group up in size and cutting out another help disperse the aggression?
I'd have no problem putting 7-8 firefish or cardinals or whatever in there, the 2 wrasses and single clown.
How about a shoal of blue-green chromis?

I've kept Tropheus for years and never had this much trouble and they are nasty nasty little buggers.

You are still trying to push for too many fish. If you want more than 6-7 fish get a bigger tank. Otherwise dont go past that many or you will start running into phosphate issues, aggression and territorial issues.

Firefish are good in groups of odd numbers. 1, 3, 5 and so on.

Blue chromis usually always end up with one.

Its obviosu you want fish to swim together, but thats going to be very difficult in a 40 breeder. It isnt very common to find fish shoaling together in home aquaria.

 

[Jon01]

No don't be sorry! You're saving me from literally flushing $ down the toilet!

My goal with the cardinals was to eventually breed them - starting out with 3-4 and hoping to get a pair then shuffle the others off to my dad.
But, maybe groups won't work. I can handle that, I'm not married to any of these ideas - mostly I am trying to bounce them off of more experienced folks so I don't put any wildlife in an unsustainable situation and/or waste $.

How about this:
4 cardinals with the idea that I will hopefully get a pair or end up rehoming 2-3 of them.
Possum Wrasse
McCoskers
Single Occelaris
Single Firefish
Blue Spotted or Yellow Headed Jawfish

The tank is 100% covered by glass lid and plastic backer (cat likes to go swimming) so escape would be quite difficult.

 

[Jon01]

You are still trying to push for too many fish. If you want more than 6-7 fish get a bigger tank. Otherwise dont go past that many or you will start running into phosphate issues, aggression and territorial issues.

Firefish are good in groups of odd numbers. 1, 3, 5 and so on.

Blue chromis usually always end up with one.

Its obviosu you want fish to swim together, but thats going to be very difficult in a 40 breeder. It isnt very common to find fish shoaling together in home aquaria.

Point taken, I'll give up on the groups idea for this tank. Maybe the next one
I revised my thoughts down. I really appreciate all of the help on this, I want to do this right without killing anything due to my own stupidity.

 

[sponger0]

You are still pushing alot of fish.

The jawfish is something you will really need to plan for. They need plenty of room, a deep sandbed and they need to be the first fish put into the tank.

Honestly, Id dump the cardinals. But thats just cause I dont really care for stationary fish

 

[Jon01]

Ok, no jawfish.

What would you suggest?

What I need to work around is:
LPS/Mushrooms
2" sand bed
Peaceful, I want something that's relaxing. I've kept Africans for years and am tired of the constant pushiness.



I have a ~25g sump with chaeto, SCA-301 and Phosban-150 reactor with GFO.

 

[sponger0]

The wrasses are a good pick. Flashers and fairies are usually pretty peaceful.

Assessors are really cool fish and the blue assessor is gorgeous.

Royal gramma arent agressive but they are territorial. Cool fish if you ask me.

Dartfish or firefish.

You have alot to chose from but just keep the number down to 6 to 8 fish. That shouldnt create too much of a load problem with a good skimmer.

 

[rssjsb]

Sponger0, have you successfully kept firefish in groups? I haven't tried it, but always understood that they will not tolerate each other in a smaller tank. Dartfish (like scissortails) might be different.

Otherwise, I agree with everything you have said, including the maximum number of fish.

I've often thought of setting up a peaceful tank. Cardinals, possum wrasse, tailspot blenny, dartfish, bluestripe pipefish were all candidates. Royal grammas are cool fish but I wouldn't choose them for a peaceful tank.

 

[sponger0]

Ive only had a single firefish and he jumped out in 3 hours of the tank. I dont care for them. For one, they are suicidal. And 2 I dont care for stationary fish.

 

[Jon01]

You're right, blue assessor's are beautiful and one would look very nice in there.
Also, how about a Midas Blenny?

So:
Wrasses - 2
Single Occelaris - 1
Single Firefish - 1
Blue Assessor - 1
Midas Blenny -1
6 fish

 

[sponger0]

That looks alot better

 

[Jon01]

Thanks!