Anemone March 5, 2016 Share March 5, 2016 I'm looking for stocking suggestions to appeal to my kids. They're pretty much over most fish. On the other hand there was a big blennie they saw recently that was hilarious because they thought it was too fat to swim. So I'm trying to come up with a few unusual things to stock, e.g. pipefish, sea cucumbers, nudibranches, or particularly odd fish. Any suggestions or experiences? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apcoleman March 5, 2016 Share March 5, 2016 How big of a tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sad Panda March 5, 2016 Share March 5, 2016 If the kids are boys stock the tank with small girls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squishie89 March 5, 2016 Share March 5, 2016 Size of tank and what is already in the tank would help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anemone March 5, 2016 Author Share March 5, 2016 125 and air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy March 5, 2016 Share March 5, 2016 Get a longhorn cowfish , I have one and he always get attention , they're not really toxic when they died , its just a myth . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squishie89 March 5, 2016 Share March 5, 2016 Just throwing out some suggestions: eel, puffer, cowfish, anglerfish, goby/pistol shrimp pair, jawfish, goatfish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anemone March 5, 2016 Author Share March 5, 2016 How big is the tank for the longhorn, Tommy? Liveaquaria says 250 is the minimum since they get to over a foot long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy March 5, 2016 Share March 5, 2016 125g is plenty of room for them ( Reefescape has one nice one in a 50g i believe) , they only get over a foot long the ocean i believe , and they don't really swim much as they are weak swimmer. I have a 4-5 inch in my 25g shallow and he seems to do fine ..for now , he even spit water at you when he see you coming with his food so the kids will love that. Just make sure he's the first fish in the tank and don't house him with any aggressive fish because they are slow swimmer, also moderate flow too , not too strong. Also buying one thats fairly decent size (3-5 inch) will significantly increase the survival rate ( I found this out the hard way..lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy March 5, 2016 Share March 5, 2016 Here's mine spitting water at me asking for food . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy March 5, 2016 Share March 5, 2016 For some reason I can post the video, pm me your number and I can send you the video if you like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anemone March 6, 2016 Author Share March 6, 2016 How long have you had it Tommy, and how much has it grown? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCDRDATA March 6, 2016 Share March 6, 2016 I'm not including the various hermits and snails you'd expect in a clean-up crew Crustaceans: Fire shrimp and/or skunk cleaner shrimp; "halloween" hermit crab. Coral banded shrimp and (especially) arrow crabs are "cool looking" but with a bad attitude. Echinoderms: Large Serpent/brittle stars, Tuxedo and/or pincushion urchins Mollusks: Tiger or fighting conchs Annelids: Feather duster/Coco worms, Christmas Tree worms Softies: pulsing Xenia (most kids I've seen love the movement); branching gorgonians/sea whips LPS: Bubble coral, frogspawn/hammer Fish: I think you'll be better off with peaceful, "plays well with others" types, which admittedly limits you somewhat. Even so, I think there are some fun options for kids. For example, an engineer goby will give you the look of an eel without worrying about who else in the tank it's going to eat. If you're going with a sandy substrate, once its well populated with microfauna I'd suggest a scooter blenny (aka ocellated dragonet). Our kids loved ours, which they named "Puff" because of the fine substrate he ejected through his gills while feeding. Our kids also really liked the sharknose cleaner and yellow clown gobies we've had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt March 6, 2016 Share March 6, 2016 I let mine "pick" the first fish for my 90g. I controlled it a bit, but it was their choices. 5 year old got 2 gold neon gobies and the 3 year old picked 2 ocellaris clowns. They used to love our old yellow tang from the previous tank..and now we have a sailfin and hippo. Had good kid experiences at Marine Scene and BRK...patience is a true virtue. Quantum is also great as they give the boys a light show. In all those instances of the fish they liked, they were at the store and carried the bags out. Their involvement helped their interest more than the actual fishe selected. They aren't total fish heads yet, but they do really like the tank. I've also let the oldest one hand me corals from the acclimation bucket so I could put them in the tank. Cheaper frags helped me get comfortable with this...and posed less risk...but I never had a problem no matter how he handled them...and he certainly tested a couple of them for durability... haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anemone March 6, 2016 Author Share March 6, 2016 Excellent suggestions, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy March 6, 2016 Share March 6, 2016 How long have you had it Tommy, and how much has it grown? Ive had it for about 4.5 months now and I haven't noticed any growth yet ..lol he eats like a pig tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnievaz March 6, 2016 Share March 6, 2016 My 12 year old daughter has been hounding me to get a long spine urchin. I don't want it because I'm afraid it's going to knock everything over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime March 6, 2016 Share March 6, 2016 Algae blenny. They are characters. Or a pistol/goby pair! Go by live Aquaria recommendation on tank sizes, vendors have stock in smaller tanks for heavier stock and more rotation. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime March 6, 2016 Share March 6, 2016 My 12 year old daughter has been hounding me to get a long spine urchin. I don't want it because I'm afraid it's going to knock everything over. It will. Take the opportunity to epoxy to your rock work! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keraxis March 6, 2016 Share March 6, 2016 (edited) Pom pom crab. He was my favorite thing in my last tank. I would feed and he would run out like a mad man waving his anemones around to scare the fish away.. he would them mop the food up in one and slowly wave back into his cave. If your fish are large enough to not be eaten I find the frog fish kinda cool Edited March 6, 2016 by Keraxis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anemone March 6, 2016 Author Share March 6, 2016 If the kids are boys stock the tank with small girls.How about I tape pinups to the back glass as a background? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCDRDATA March 7, 2016 Share March 7, 2016 How about I tape pinups to the back glass as a background? Preferable to putting girls in the tank, but I wouldn't do anything to encourage the boys in that direction (not that it will likely require any encouragement). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCDRDATA March 14, 2016 Share March 14, 2016 Make sure to let us all know what you finally end up with! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anemone March 15, 2016 Author Share March 15, 2016 Make sure to let us all know what you finally end up with! I will. You gave some great ideas. I'll start a build thread when things get closer. We're about a month from moving back in to the house. Our builder is putting in a custom stand skinned to match the cabinets, and we've got plumbing from under the stand down to the fish room (former laundry room so it's got everything going for it). Anyway once we're a little settled I'll start looking for more input. For the time being I'm content to be curing some live and dead rock in the basement of the temporary place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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