larger reef/invert safe fish??

[sharuq1]

My fiance wants one large fish for our soon to be 120g mixed reef. I need some ideas for a larger fish that will not eat coral, decorative cleaner/fire shrimp and not pick on or eat small fish. Critters that will be in the system are: royal gramma, clowns, sand sifting gobies, cleaner wrasse, mandarin, cleaner shrimp and fire shrimp.

I am thinking some kind of tang or butterfly? But I really don't know jack about them other than that tangs are ick magnets but vegetarians. Butterflies I have no clue at all and I worry that most of them would make a snack of my shrimp (I love shrimp, lol).

[chevyjaxon]

tangs are great fish and quite hardy maybe you can do a tank with alot of tangs? introduce them all at once when the lights are out they are very territorial so it is best if you were to buy as many tangs as you want to keep all at once BTW it is not uncommon for a tang to eat freeze dried shrimp or any other food you introduce the veggies really help to keep their colors vibrant though! dont know much on butterflies. hope this helps

[chevyjaxon]

oh yeah you gotta introduce them all when the lights are out so as no territory will be established right away and you gotta put them in all at once:biggrin:

[mr_alberta]

There are certain tangs that will work for you. Some of the smaller ones such as Kole or Scopas or Yellow may work.

Most butterfly fish are not reef safe for one reason or another, but if you really want a butterfly, the safest candiates IMO are the Copper Banded Butterfly or the Pyramid Butterfly. Keep in mind that Butterfly fish often are difficult to feed.

If you have a lot of crabs/shrimps, etc., then that rules out Triggerfish, though some are reef safe-ish (like Blue Throats, Crosshatch, Pink Tail, & Sargassum).

Some angelsfish may work for you. Being in a mixed reef the safer large type of angels would be those in the Genicathus family (Bellus, Swallowtail, Lamark, Watanabei).

[fishoholic]

I have a 8 inch salfin tang (and some other tangs as well) with sexy shrimp, green clown goby, chromis, & prec.'s together in our 230g and none of our tangs bother them at all.

[mr_alberta]

Another thing I should point out is the order in which you add these fish. If you add the tang first, it could cause problems when adding the smaller, more docile fish.

Also, if you do plan on doing the multiple tang thing, try not to put tangs of the same family together (i.e. Scopa + Yellow or Powder Blue + Powder Brown, etc) as you will for sure get territory/aggression issues unless your tank is really big (and a 120 is not considered really big).

[sharuq1]

I don't want multiple tangs. I think just one larger fish would make fiance happy. I prefer having small fish to large ones as you can have more variety. Looking at pics I like the bella, longnose butterfly and the yellow foxface, but not sure what he would like...

[dsaundry]

I agree with a Foxface or a Rabbitfish of some type. My wife who was a little hesitant at first, loves our little Foxface..Just make sure you remember the fins are venomous so don't pick it up without gloves...not that you would..:biggrin:

[mark]

Seems some turn away from the Yellow Tang as common, but it is a really nice looking fish; active , bright yellow, readily available, relatively cheap, reef safe and does well in aquariums (at least long lived (http://216.187.96.54/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=35905)).

Due also seriously consider setting up a QT, unless you're sure the fish are problem free (say from a fellow reefer you can trust).

[SeaSerpant]

srry if this is rude/wierd but- fiance- male or female?

[sharuq1]

he is male, lol, I'm one of those "rare" "reef women" :razz: :lol:

[SeaSerpant]

Rare is to strong a word :biggrin:

[atcguy]

I have a 120 sps tank with 2 tomato clowns that lay eggs every 2 weeks. 2 yellow tangs a couple smaller fish and just today 2 blue nigger triggers around 3 inches each. I love these fish they stay together and they are cheap at aroun 25 bucks each. Consider. and they are reef safe if anyone tells you otherwise

[fishoholic]

he is male, lol, I'm one of those "rare" "reef women" :razz: :lol:

Not so rare I'm one too! :mrgreen:

[sharuq1]

We need more women.....oh yeah we are sposed to be talking about big safe fishies...someone say another nice/pretty/big safe fish! :mrgreen:

[Aquattro]

and they are reef safe if anyone tells you otherwise

While my favorite all time fish is a Niger, these are not "safe" in every sense of the word. They will eat cleaner shrimps and any small fish they can bite into. The signal goby would be done day one. Mine also tried to eat the hermits, just wasn't big enough yet to break the shells. It ate a couple of blue damsels and a orange spot goby. It also moved my frags around so much I gave up moving them back.


A nice big pretty fish would be a tang, lots to choose from.

[super7]

I kept a blue throat trigger in my mixed reef and I had 3 cleener shrimp and one peppermint and snails. He never bothered any of them and they also look really good.
Super7

[Skimmin]

I have a male blue throat trigger in my 120gal mixed reef tank and he is great with all the corals and the other fish as well( including three small reef chromis). He's very well behaved personable. Not only that but he has really nice colouring as well. Here's what he looks like.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6orcg0ZhXU&mode=related&search=