Preparing to move to mixed reef. Do I have too many fish?

The sunbursts that I have always seen where cryptic and solitary. Do yours swim together? Would you say they swim more above the rock out in the open or in the rock somewhat hiding? A LFS has a huge 300g tank with four blotched anthias. Each has their spot and do not swim around much.
 
Lyretails and Sunburst Anthias can get pretty huge from what I'm reading. I would much prefer a trio if at all possible and a trio of fish that gets huge sounds unappealing and problematic since my tank isn't that large.

What about Bartlets Anthias? Anyone have input on those guys?
 
sandwi54 said:
Ideally you'd want to return those chromis. As they mature, they almost always fight among each other to death until one is left.

For the yellow tang, I don't see the problem of keeping it in a 90 long term, assuming the rock work is not tight to allow enough swimming room. Of coure, if it grows above 6", you may want to rehome it. Ideally though, I wouldn't keep any tang (even the smallest ones) in anything smaller than a 5-foot tank.
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Thats is one of the least internally consistent posts I've ever seen. It's fine long term. But if it grows over 6" rehome it. But "ideally" no tang in under a five foot tank??? What?!?
 
My signature has a lot of great fish for a four foot tank. Some are difficult to feed though. 6-10 foot tanks can be tang tanks. 4 foot tanks are wrasse/goby/blenny tanks.
 
These Leopard Wrasse look gorgeous!

I would love to bring one home. Seems like a pretty big hit/miss scenario from what I'm reading. I think I have a good chance though. Tank has been established for about a year now and has TONS of copepods, amphipods and bloodworms.
 
ReachTheSky said:
These Leopard Wrasse look gorgeous!
Tank has been established for about a year now and has TONS of copepods, amphipods and bloodworms.
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Bloodworms? I must ask . . .

If you're attached to the tang, keep it. Just be sure it has enough swimming room and keep an eye on aggression levels. Keep in mind that you may see more attitude when you add something new.

As Small Alien says, there are a lot of great fish you can keep in a 90. I haven't braved a leopard wrasse yet, but there are lots of other wrasses you can keep assuming you've got a cover on your tank. They add a lot of activity and are much easier to keep than anthias, which are beautiful but a pain (IMO). I think Bartlett's get as big as lyretails and they're kind of obnoxious. Sunburst anthias get a decent size, but are very passive - maybe too passive in a tank with an established yellow tang.

Some wrasses are also kind of obnoxious, so find what you like and ask. Lots of people on here with great knowledge about them.
 
rssjsb said:
Bloodworms? I must ask . . .

If you're attached to the tang, keep it. Just be sure it has enough swimming room and keep an eye on aggression levels. Keep in mind that you may see more attitude when you add something new.

As Small Alien says, there are a lot of great fish you can keep in a 90. I haven't braved a leopard wrasse yet, but there are lots of other wrasses you can keep assuming you've got a cover on your tank. They add a lot of activity and are much easier to keep than anthias, which are beautiful but a pain (IMO). I think Bartlett's get as big as lyretails and they're kind of obnoxious. Sunburst anthias get a decent size, but are very passive - maybe too passive in a tank with an established yellow tang.

Some wrasses are also kind of obnoxious, so find what you like and ask. Lots of people on here with great knowledge about them.
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I definitely will. Thank you. :)

Looking at the sandbed from the side, I see small red trails, tunnels and the occasional red wormy looking thing. I'm assuming these are bloodworms. Maybe I'm mistaken. There's a ton of bristle worms in there too. Not sure if any animals really chase after these things. My friend and I ID'd them to make sure they're safe and they are. Regardless, I'm very confident in my copepod and amphipod population. Ever since I got rid of my starfish, they've been booming like crazy. I see thousands of them all over the DT when I shine a flashlight on the sand/rocks at night time.
 
The reason I asked is that blood worms are actually some kind of insect larvae. I do know the tunnels you're talking about. I think they're made by some kind of little crustacean. Or it could be bristle worms. Either way, I think it's a good sign of a healthy little system.
 
Update brah's:

Shortly after doing research on Leopard Wrasse I decided to try my luck with it. Speaking of luck, I went to my LFS about a week later and saw an absolutely gorgeous male Vermiculite Leopard. He had been there for two weeks, was very active and eating. Didn't even bother thinking about it... I just bought him immediately and rushed home.

It's been nearly two weeks now and he seems to be doing very well. He get's along well with my other fish and has not gone into hiding for days like I thought he would which I find strange but every day he burrows himself at around 8 PM until around 11AM the following morning. I've been feeding him a mixture of mysis, brine and bloodworms 2-3 times per day and he eats well. He'll eat a couple of really small pieces of flake food once in a while also. He swims all throughout the tank and constantly picks on the rocks for food. Gorgeous swimmer.

Thanks for the recommendation small_alien! Couldn't be happier with him. If you guys have any advice on keeping him healthy and active in the long term, I would very much appreciate it.
 
My original advice would have been to return the blue tang for sure. A yellow will likely be fine in a 90 but it isn't an ideal setup for it for sure. I agree with small alien, tanks under 4 feet really are much more suitable for fish that dont exceed 4 inches or so.
 
Yeah, Blue Tang is long gone. Yellow seems to be doing fine but I'm keeping an eye on him.

How's the fishing up in Big Bear this season?
 
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