Question about compatability...

[Cloudburst2000]

I posted this thread in another section but didn't get much response at all. Anyhoo, my brother-in-law has a 45g aquarium. His cardinalfish recently passed away. My sister (his wife) has requested to replace the cardinal with a fish that has more movement. She wasn't much of a fan of the slow, methodical swimming of the cardinal. Anyhoo, his other tank inhabitants are a pacific redstripe hogfish aka candystripe hogfish (I'd guess it's maybe 3 1/2" or so), pair of occy clowns (some designer type), tailspot blenny, and citron goby. Anyhoo, the only fish they have that cruises around the tank is the hogfish. The cardinal seemed to keep mostly to one section of the tank, the clowns stick to the anemone area, the blenny likes to poke his head out of rocks (my fave fish in the tank), and the goby is a percher. They want another fish that will cruise the tank. All the fish have been very peaceful tank mates so far but the hogfish was added last (sometime over a year ago). My brother-in-law really wants a basslet, but I have warned him there may be compatability issues most compatability charts list hogfish and basslets with caution. The redstripe hogfish is generally seen as one of the more peaceful hogfish, LA lists it as peaceful but would that change if a basslet was added to the tank? My brother-in-law really likes the black cap basslet best (semi-aggressive) and my sis likes the gold assessor basslet (peaceful). If they went with a basslet, which would be the best choice? Do you foresee problems having a hogfish and basslet in the same tank? If you advise against them getting the basslet, what else would you recommend that is 3-4" full grown and likes to swim about the tank? Tangs need not apply. This tank is not suitable for them. I think most wrasses and dottybacks face the same problems as basslets in terms of caution when mixing with hogfish. They also really like the neon dottyback but if the hogfish has a problem with a basslet, it would probably also have a problem with a dottyback.

 

[ilikefish34]

to address the first issue of having fish that will add "movement" to the tank, the Black Cap (which i have kept with the Candystripe in a 125 gallon) will most likely not fit this bill along with most basslets as they tend to stay around their favorite spot. The Neon Dottyback is aggressive in it's own right and may not get along with the Hogfish, the Blenny and may pick on the goby. I'm glad you acknowledge the size of the tank versus having tangs, but keep in mind that it will eliminate most fish that like to use the whole tank. I don't have any experience with the Assessor, but of the options you have presented, it is the basslet that i would try. Personally, i would go with a Flame, Flameback or Cherub Angel. I'm sure that there are many that would disagree with the Flame Angel pick due to the size of the aquarium, however, if you were to observe them diving, they swim around the reef all day long covering areas the size of my living room, so i don't see the big difference between a 45, 55 or 75 gallon when it comes to housing them... just my two cents.

As always, glad to see people doing their homework before purchasing new tank-mates.

Good luck.

 

[Monkeyfish]

A dwarf angel is a good suggesion - I'd stick with the smaller species such as C. Argi.

You may also want to look at some of the filefish. They generally don't bother other fish, are fairly active, have an interesting look and neat "personality."

 

[Donkeykong]

gold assessor is a timid fish that will stay close to his cave especailly if there is alot of other fish swimming around. How about a yellow coris wrasse? They have a bright color and are pretty active once they settle in.

 

[Cloudburst2000]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll let them know that the basslets probably won't have the movement they want. I did suggest a dwarf angel. They have had one in the past that was a bad coral nipper so they really don't want to deal with another angel. Do you think the yellow coris wrasse will do well with the hogfish? If so, I might suggest this fish as and option.