Thinking about some new fish...

Conesus_Kid

Conesus_Kid

Premium Member
I'd like to add a few fish to the classroom aquarium, and would like to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Here are the current inhabitants:

-1 lyretail anthias
-Tennenti tang
-yellow tang
-1 Banggai cardinal
-3 Blackbar chromis
-1 Yellow watchman goby
-a pair of Clarkii clowns
-1 yellowtail blue damsel

As much as I'd like to try a group of yellow tangs, I'm pretty sure that wouldn't end well at all. The two tangs are very well established. They get along with one another, but adding more to the mix is too risky.

I used to have a Kole tang and a scribbled rabbit fish, but lost them two summers ago in a electrical/pump mishap.

I really regret trading in the Navarchus angel I had too, but don't think I want to get another.

I'm not hung up on the whole "reef safe" thing. If some corals get munched, so be it.

Possible addition(s):
-Niger trigger
-Klein's butterflyfish
-a dwarf angel or two (most likely Coral Beauty and/or Flame angel)
-a large group of green chromis
-pair of mandarins

For those of you who haven't seen it, feel free to check out the aquarium webcam to see what kind of real estate I'm dealing with. After following the link, click the Login tab. Username: rcuser/ Password: aquarium. Then click on the 'Single' tab. You can move the camera around using different preset positions.

http://classroomreefcam.no-ip.org/

Looking forward to hearing your ideas.
 
I know the kids would get a kick out of a Niger.

Keep in mind they get BIG and there's ALWAYS the possibility it will do some damage if it wants to.
 
Have you considered a Blue Throat Trigger (Xanthichthys auromarginatus)? You'll get a trigger and they're demeanor and diet is more reliably "reef safe." I know you're not too worried about that but Odonus nigers are known to get aggressive with age.

I think the Chomis would be a bad choice. You could add 10 and end up with 3, not really the kind of interest and talk you want from students. In my opinion they can be dull too. They do more hovering than schooling.

Mandarines are very cool and will get a lot of interest from your students. Make sure your tank can support more than one before you add two. You'll also want to make sure you don't get two males. You can usually tell the difference by the dorsal fin, males are much longer. Personally, I would add a female, see how things go before adding a mate.
 
I think you should go for the flame angel. They are a beautiful fish!
And then the maderins, very cool to stare at, great color and don't get spooked when someone walks in front of the tank. Always out and about
 
How about chalk bass? They dont knock each other off like the chromis end up doing and they are pretty docile plus they will actually school. They don't get very large and you could keep like 5 or 6 and not have an issue in that tank Scott. Just my .02 cents...
 
I like the niger but I like the blue throat(male) better or even a bersa trigger.Bet the kids would like the colors on the bers and the smile on the fac on th bluethroat. I'd probably stick to one centropyge angel ;they fight. I think the chromis might kill each other off. If mandarins don't make it maybe scooters can. Maybe a foxface for more yellow and size. The female Japanese swallowtail angel is nice and durable,ime. Sorry for the lack of latin names; it's late and I know you know them anyway. A yellow coris( halochores chrysus ) is a very nice active fish, stays high in the tank and swims in and out of coral branches all day.It's inexpensive but may jump.
 
Get a trigger! Interesting body shape and fin movement. They're very unique and fun to watch. A lot of the other fish you're talking about are "just another fish" as far as I'm concerned.

I'm biased though, having just added a pair of triggers to my reef. :)
 
I got a pair of blue throats at the ABC frag swap. Not the most colorful species but I enjoy having pairs of fish when possible, and they have a reputation for being safe.
 
Get a school of ONE blue chromis. Save yourself the money of buying a dozen and just get one. Then you can tell people that the one that is left is the only one who made it.
 
magdelan said:
Get a school of ONE blue chromis. Save yourself the money of buying a dozen and just get one. Then you can tell people that the one that is left is the only one who made it.
Click to expand...
:spin3:

C'mon, Mike. You usually end up with at least two or three..........

Regarding Triggers: Jarek at Ithaca Reef had a pair of Bluethroats in his mixed 180 reef. They were nasty. Had to watch out at feeding time or they'd bite ya.

Cully had a Pinktail. Let him chime in.

I had a Hawaiian Black Durgeon. Nasty sunofagun. Killed a Yellow Tang, a Foxface and an Engineer Goby. All extremely large fishes.

Also have experience with Odonus niger (was huge) would eat smaller fishes and shrimps introduced AFTER it.. but KEWL

Gary Majchrzak said:
IMG_6273.jpg


Odonus niger (Niger Triggerfish) might not be a good addition to your reef aquarium :)
Click to expand...
 
I had a Male Bluejaw for a week. My Regal Tang nipped all his fins off!!...*****!

Very beautiful fish though... while it lasted.
 
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