LCDRDATA June 3, 2013 Share June 3, 2013 (edited) My wife was looking through my fish book (Scott Michael's Marine Fishes PocketExpert Guide) and tabbed a couple she thought might be interesting. I'm wondering if anyone has experience with these particular species: - Fantail Filefish (Pervagor spilosoma) [liveaquaria link] - Saddled Filefish / Mimic Saddle Puffer (Paraluterus prionurus) [liveaquaria link] - Saddled / Valentini Puffer (Canthigaster valentini) [liveaquaria link] - Scimitar / Boomerang Triggerfish (Sufflamen bursa) [fishbase link - liveaquaria doesn't seem to list it] Also, whether any of our LFS might have these on any kind of a regular basis. We'd be looking for this to go into our FOWLR. Thanks! Edited June 3, 2013 by LCDRDATA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallreef June 3, 2013 Share June 3, 2013 had a bursa for a few months in my 150g with a niger, clown, picasso, and blue jaw triggers (also had a maroon clown pair) ended up taking him out because he and the picasso had issues, dont know whether its because they looked similar or not but liked the picasso more...he had a better personality...though i have to say each of my triggers personalities were quite different than most described by anyone else?they were all nice and loving, and my niger was very puppy like...never had a problem with any...even throughout my trials with other fish...they never went crazy or got mean, except when they tried to eat my blue faced angels eyes... he had to come out quickly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE June 3, 2013 Share June 3, 2013 (edited) Good that you're looking for FOWLR with these as most are not suited for reef tanks. I've had experience with some: -Fantail filefish: no experience here, but a pretty fish that I have heard is pretty easy and active probably wouldn't do too well with another filefish or dwarf puffer like what you have on the list. -Saddle Filefish: peaceful and also pretty easy. Filefish are fun to watch because they're so unique. I didn't have mine long but it was also shy. -Valentini puffer: I'm a little biased toward this fish. It was the second fish I ever owned and had a ton of personality. It was super fun, hardy, and easy. Didn't really give anyone issues, was just very curious as most puffers are. I have always wanted to put a saddle filefish and a valentini puffer in the same tank because they're so similar it would be cool to see them together. Not sure if you'd have issues with aggression though. -Bursa Trigger: If you get one, get a small one. Often they come in huge (and they get huge btw), and don't do well, don't eat, etc. That's what happened to us and I have a pretty good record for getting fish to eat. IMHO not as cool as they look in the pics and you'd be better off with a clown or huma trigger. Edited June 3, 2013 by L8 2 RISE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind June 3, 2013 Share June 3, 2013 I had a saddled puffer for several years and it was very peaceful. It never bothered anyone and stayed kind of small, never grew past 3". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCDRDATA June 5, 2013 Author Share June 5, 2013 (edited) We were also thinking about a lionfish. After going through the descriptions in the same book, we thought the Antenna Lionfish (AKA Spotfin or Ragged-finned, P. antennata) might be the best for us. It seemed the best combination of size (Volitans gets too big) and temperament (Fuzzy Dwarf might spend too much time hiding). Any experience with these? I should probably mention that the FOWLR is a 55; along with our Erastus, our Snowflake Moray, we have a Humu Trigger (~3"), a Velvet Damsel (~2"), and a Canary Fang Blenny (~2") - all of whom spend most of their time inside the rockwork. I'll get a build thread up one of these days. Edited June 5, 2013 by LCDRDATA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind June 5, 2013 Share June 5, 2013 Antennata's to me are just like the Volitans as far as how they act in the tank, they are just smaller. I think the blenny and damsel would become dinner eventually as it grows up. The Mombasae is very similar to the Antennata but even smaller. That is a good bit of fish with messy eating habits. What type of filter do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCDRDATA June 6, 2013 Author Share June 6, 2013 (edited) Antennata's to me are just like the Volitans as far as how they act in the tank, they are just smaller. I think the blenny and damsel would become dinner eventually as it grows up. The Mombasae is very similar to the Antennata but even smaller. That is a good bit of fish with messy eating habits. What type of filter do you have? I think the damsel will be big enough to be safe at the rate it's growing, and the fang blenny hides so much I'm not sure the lionfish would ever find it - or that we'd know in anything like a timely manner that it was gone . And of course it's called a FANG blenny for a reason. The filter is a converted wet/dry flowing through sponge, then filter pad, then biomedia into the sump; it also pumps through a skimmer into a 'fuge of about 12 gallons growing chaeto, which flows back into the main sump through a media canister with carbon & phosguard, and passes through a UV sterilizer on its way back up to the tank. It's significantly Rube Goldberg, but it seems to work. Edited June 6, 2013 by LCDRDATA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind June 6, 2013 Share June 6, 2013 That sounds like a pretty good filter. Have you decided on which fish yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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