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I want more fish!!! Which kind?!


sara

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Hello! My name is Sara (as the user name may suggest ;) and I am a new member of WAMAS that already loves the club! I went to the winter meeting and could not stay long but from what I saw I loved the environment and came home with several new frags.

 

I’m looking for some advice about fish. I want more fish! Colorful, cute, full of personality, etc, etc. But I also want to keep my tiny bits of coral in-tact. Perhaps someone can offer advice on a few fish that would work with my current set-up? 

 

FISH

Yellow Tang (~3")

2 Ocellaris clownfish  (one mature ~3" and one teeny)

Watchman Goby (~1")

2 Cardinal Fish (~3"/each)

 

INVERTS

1 Large Cleaner Shrimp

2 Peppermint Shrimp

2 emerald crabs

Various snails and hermits

 

CORALS (all very small frags - just getting started)

Zoathids: yellow, unknown orange, radioactive, captain america, fairy dust

Palythoas: everlasting gobbstopper, mindblowing

Montipora: sunset, mystic sunset, setosa

Leptoseris: moonmist 

Cyphastrea: my oddity , bling bling , copper 

Soft Corals: Toadstool Mushroom Leather Coral, Sinularia Finger Leather Coral, Green Star Polyp (GSP), Duncan

Gorgonian: Purple Sea Whip

I don’t have it yet, but will be getting a tiny bit of Pulsing Xenia too! and eventually a bubble tip anenome for my clownfish

 

TANK

90 gallon Glass tank (Marineland 90 w/ corner overflow)

 

LIGHTING

Current USA Orbit Marine 48" LED (x2)

 

FILTRATION

Aqueon Sump - 2 filter socks changed 2x a week

Reef Octopus 110SSS Space Saver Protein Skimmer

Reef Octopus VARIOS-6 DC Controllable Return pump

BRS Dual Chamber Media Reactor with GFO and Carbon

 

Circulation

Virtech MP40 (1)

 

Auto Top Off

Tunze Osmolator

7G RODI Reservoir (All water for top off and water changes is RODI)

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Lawn mower blenny, good work fish, graze on rock all day, plus have a fun personality.

I also like the bicolor blenny. lots of personality

Anthias, very active. create lots of movement in your tank

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I'll second the wrasse recommendation. 

 

Might want to consider a fang blenny as well, very underrated fish IMHO - active, hardy, won't bother coral, and they get along with most fish (except other fang blennies).

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I am a wrasse addict, love them. but be warned. If you are going to get them, make sure you put a screen top on the tank. They WILL jump. Unfortunately, i have lost several this way

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Pair (m&f) of occelated dragonets (aka "scooter blennies"). They are adorable in pairs.

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Agree you need a wrasse.  My leopard wrasse is one of my VERY favorites!

Also love my yellow assessor.  Such a quirky fish, swims upside down under rock ledges.

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You guys are freakin awesome!!!!!!!! Thank you for all the great ideas. I have my fish wish list now! :) I'm going to choose the variety of these fish that have the most peaceful temperament and are the easiest to care for:

-One or two blenny's (their faces look like cartoon characters - I'm going to love these guys!)

-Anthias (Ignitus seems to be the most peaceful of the anthias)

-Mccosker Flasher Wrasse 

Thanks again to all who replied or read ;)

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Just to emphasize what menglish said above, you defintely need to have a screen top on your tank. Particularly with wrasses and anthias. Egg crate isn't enough to keep fish from jumping to their doom.

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Less is more.

The fish you have are enough.

No way! More is more!! :) But I know I know, I will probably learn my lesson the hard way. 

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Hi Sara, 

 

Jon and I have been working on our stock list for our 350 and agreed that some of the most interesting behavior comes from having bonded pairs of some species.  We have several bonded pairs in quarantine right now. I love the bonded neon blue and yellow line goby pairs (the tank is big enough to support both).  They scoot together on the surface of the rocks and are quite entertaining.  We have bonded orange stripe prawn gobies (unfortunately their paired shrimp perished shortly after arrival) and a pair of yellow watchman gobies. 

 

We also have pairs of fire fish and orchid dottybacks.  I love the antics of the tail spot blenny and could watch him for hours.   

 

Our next phase after these are out of quarantine includes anthias and wrasses. The final phase is the more aggressive fish, mostly tangs.

 

Can't wait to see pictures of your new additions!

 

Maureen

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Just came back for Fintastic Aquarium in Fredrick.  They have McCosker wrasse very reasonably price.

Plus other small fish

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We also have pairs of fire fish and orchid dottybacks. I love the antics of the tail spot blenny and could watch him for hours.

How were you able to get the bonded pair of orchid dottybacks? I would love to have a pair of them.

Edited by treesprite
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How were you able to get the bonded pair of orchid dottybacks? I would love to have a pair of them.

 

We bought two juveniles from ORA so there'd be less aggression, and introduced them simultaneously in a tank with lots of hidey holes.  Introducing a large and a small at the same time is reported to also increase the odds of success.  

 

Dottybacks are hermaphrodites, so they'll naturally transform into a male and a female like clownfish do.  Ours have a ways to go before they're laying eggs, but they're interacting as a pair...not just two fish in the same tank.

Edited by Jon Lazar
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I'd like to jump on the wrasse bandwagon. Also want to put in a good word for non-reef safe wrasses, but you can't keep clams or any kind of clean up crew.

Edited by FirstContact
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This is what I ended up buying from LiveAquaria:

 

3 Blue/Green Reef Chromis

Sailfin/Algae Blenny

McCosker's Flasher Wrasse

Ignitus Anthias

Royal Gramma Basslet

 

2 of the chromis were DOA which was sad but the rest are doing good so far. The anthias hasn’t eaten yet and is hanging in the corner but started coming down today. The basslet is mostly hiding. The wrass is really cute. I have a feeling the lawnmower Blenny will become my favorite. 2085dd600bd17f6af9308e020daa5516.jpg

988a247e64fa6b588a1903b866a57473.jpg969196fa28202dda86556c80056af9f6.jpg

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I would stray away from the xenia.

 

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I’ve heard others say this too . It’s invasive right? I just find it so mesmerizing. I’ll wait and do more research. Thanks for the tip.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Hi Sara,

 

Jon and I have been working on our stock list for our 350 and agreed that some of the most interesting behavior comes from having bonded pairs of some species. We have several bonded pairs in quarantine right now. I love the bonded neon blue and yellow line goby pairs (the tank is big enough to support both). They scoot together on the surface of the rocks and are quite entertaining. We have bonded orange stripe prawn gobies (unfortunately their paired shrimp perished shortly after arrival) and a pair of yellow watchman gobies.

 

We also have pairs of fire fish and orchid dottybacks. I love the antics of the tail spot blenny and could watch him for hours.

 

Our next phase after these are out of quarantine includes anthias and wrasses. The final phase is the more aggressive fish, mostly tangs.

 

Can't wait to see pictures of your new additions!

 

Maureen

It sounds like you have certainly done your homework and had a great game plan. I’m jealous! I didn’t really have a plan so am just trying to get peaceful and easy fish for now :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Congrats of the fish purchase.

I love my McCosker wrasse and my lawn mower blenny, aka grampa (just looks like an old man to me).

The thing with chromis is you may have ended up with one anyway.  They have a way of "taking out" each other.  I started with 9 in my old 90G and over time ended up with one. A common complain from people who keep them. I do not know why this is.

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We bought two juveniles from ORA so there'd be less aggression, and introduced them simultaneously in a tank with lots of hidey holes. Introducing a large and a small at the same time is reported to also increase the odds of success.

 

Dottybacks are hermaphrodites, so they'll naturally transform into a male and a female like clownfish do. Ours have a ways to go before they're laying eggs, but they're interacting as a pair...not just two fish in the same tank.

I had no idea they changed sex. Thanks for that information.

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