Fish stock ideas

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by naesco

No Cathy. Small yellow tangs soon get to be big yellow tangs and his tank is way too small for a tang.

They got ya Cathy! Hehehehe.

Ok, maybe not a tang but I could get, like, a dolphin, right? They don't even need to fit in the tank completely because they can breathe air!

[TimT]

If you get a small enough Yellow Tang, say 2-2.5" you should be good for a year or so. How much you feed it, what temperature you keep your tank at and the fishes genetics will have a lot to do with how fast and large it grows. Some fish do not grow big while others of the same species do. Kind of like people, all the same species but there are some big ones and some small ones. LOL I have seen a Sailfin Tang over 12" and had a Sailfin Tang myself for 12 years that only grew to 4" in a 90 gallon. They were the same species.

As for fish jumping, I have made a top of clear monofilament fish netting in a window screen. Works great... lots of airflow but no fish flow. It's not just wrasses that jump, any fish can jump if it gets spooked bad enough or chased by a tank mate.

Some of my favourite fishes are Dragon Face Pipefish, Moorish Idols, White Bar Mystery Wrasse, Fairy and Flasher wrasses, Bellus Angels, Sunset Anthias, Ventralis Anthias, Mandarin Dragonet and Leopard Wrasses... but you need to get a good one and even then they can have issues as they are very sensitive to handling/shipping stress.

Cheers,
Tim

ps. Vlamingii Tang tastes better than tuna so does that make Vlamingii Tang Dolphin safe???

[High tide]

Hmmm, so many choices, the world is your oyster! The dwarf angel idea is cool although I would probably focus on one species rather than multiple in a tank that size....possible breeding? Pipefish are very cool and for the advanced aquarist. There are a plethora of sweet goby species to be had, but many tend to reside in small territories. Fairy/flasher wrasses are pretty awesome. I usually settle on what's cool and AVAILABLE, you can wait a long time if you are looking for something rare and specific. I usually take a trip to a few stores to draw inspiration, nothing gets you more stoked than seeing the fish in the flesh. Don't make me decide for you or you'll have 10 tanks in no time

[ScubaSteve]

Tell me about it! I wants to find that cool oyster though... =P

A few options that I've been considering:

- Paired dragon-faced pipefish (would be great to tackle a couple of red bugs too)
- A pair of Threadfin or Longfin Butterflys (Heniochus acuminatus)
- Some combination of dwarf angels (Only 1 or 2 species)
- Small group of anthias (no more than 3)
- White bar Mystery and Leopard wrasse

I have a feeling I'd like to find good swimmer as my blenny just hangs out in his hole all day if there is no one to swim with (he does come out and go ballistic at the glass when he sees me come into the room like a puppy). I also don't mind a challenge and going against convention a bit... a lot of what I do goes against convention as it is and it's made for a pretty successful reef thus far.

I would really like to avoid having a mesh of anything over top of the tank. I am going to be rebuilding the tank so that it has a SUPER clean rimless look with no visible wires, heaters, hang my light over the tank instead of legs, etc. I'm even going to try hiding the powerheads. Plus I'd tried the mesh trick before and my Carpenter's Flasher found the tiniest hole to fly through off to fish-jerkyland.

[High tide]

Ha, ha, yeah they tend to do that (jerky that is). I would probably go the angel route, it meets all your criteria, especially for character and being an active swimmer. No reason why you couldn't add more fish though.

I'm not convinced of the dragonface pipefishes effectiveness on controlling red bugs or if it even eats them at all. So don't choose them based on that. But they are very cool and definitely a challenge to keep. I tried them once before because I was really hoping they ate red bugs (as advertised on live aquaria) but was disappointed, they never even looked at them.

Most Anthias and Wrasses are jumpers.

[Wayne]

Flame Hawkfish! Tonnes of personallity and colour. Make sure you have a lid though and your pistol shrimp might become a meal...

[ScubaSteve]

Ya, I've considered the hawkfish family. I love the Longnose, Falco anf Arc-Eye's... but ya, I'm pretty cure most of my crustacean's would become snacks. I also have a Pom-Pom that is the missess' pride and joy... I'd be in trouble if it got eaten.

[Wayne]

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

Ya, I've considered the hawkfish family. I love the Longnose, Falco anf Arc-Eye's... but ya, I'm pretty cure most of my crustacean's would become snacks. I also have a Pom-Pom that is the missess' pride and joy... I'd be in trouble if it got eaten.

Understandable I only ever had one peppermint "disappear" (I know he is gone because I rescaped my tank )

[rtram]

if your crustaceans are a bit large, you could try a smaller lion such as the fu man chu lion or the other dwarf lions. smaller angels could possibly nip at your coral. if you wanted something different why not a basslet? black cap, or a swiss guard? a frogfish or an angler would be pretty cool to add as well, especially if you got it eating frozen.

[whatcaneyedo]

Originally Posted by rtram

if your crustaceans are a bit large, you could try a smaller lion such as the fu man chu lion or the other dwarf lions. smaller angels could possibly nip at your coral. if you wanted something different why not a basslet? black cap, or a swiss guard? a frogfish or an angler would be pretty cool to add as well, especially if you got it eating frozen.

That would have been my recommendation too but he wants something that will actively swim around the tank. Also, he would have to get rid of his other small fish and shrimp. But at least a small scorpion fish would be very unlikely to jump out.