Need help with Fish Selections!!

[plantass28]

Hello all,

Well I am posting this for a friend in need of some advice.

We want to know what fish we should go with next, we have done tons of research and there doesn't seem to be any clear advice on what fish go with what other than the fact that you don't mix super aggressive fish with passive fish and you don't stick large fish in with super small fish.

We have had some problems in the past, we just got clear of a bought of Velvet which we treated with seachem copper, we tested and dosed accordingly.

We are not planning on getting fish for at least a few weeks to make sure the velvet is pretty much gone.

The main problem with my friend is that he is impatient and dumb, he listens to the crappy, half assed advice from the fish store and gets these fish that totally shouldn't go in his tank.

I am trying to help him, but my experience lies more with Reefs and not Fish only, so any help you could offer would be really great!

He has a 140 (with the footprint of a 125) gallon tank with 1 asfur angel half grown, Blue Tang, Foxface Rabbit Fish, and a Sleeper goby (I know it belongs in a reef, and I have lectured him about it, but he decided to try and make it work anyway, and it has stayed alive for 2 months now with no problems).

His tank has a 220 gallon Wet-dry/skimmer system, he has two 175 watt ebo Jaeger heaters.

Here are his parameters,

SG 1.019 (something were trying at the advice of a seasoned veteran to keep possibility of ich away)
PH 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5ppm
Temp 78 degrees F

He does a 20 gallon water change twice a month with Natural seawater (C-pure Sea Water purified) mixed with distilled water to get the 1.019 Sg.

Anyway what would be some interesting fish to go with next, any idea appreciated? Something hardy would be preferable!

Hopefully I covered everything, but If I missed some info to help, please let me know!

[Makaiveli]

The main problem with my friend is that he is impatient and dumb

hahahhahahha, you just called your friend dumb. LMAO

Plant tanks are not gay!

ROFLMAO!!!

aren't they boring though? An exercise in patient discipline and boredom? lol

you're funny

this is an AWESOME LOOKING fish

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=1701

[OrionGirl]

Maybe a marine betta? Shy fish, but lovely, and normally good with most other large fish. I probably wouldn't add anything--the footprint doesn't really allow any more fish than a 125--the gas exchange will be the same, even with the extra water volume.

OG

[plantass28]

Any other fish you guys can think of, I need some choices for him. He is very superficial he wants only colorful boisturous fish! His daughters have a lot to do with this, they want fish like the ones in Nemo :rolleyes:

How many fish do you think we can go with here, should we just follow the 5" of fish per gallon rule?

[Max]

Hate to say this but, I've found that people who aren't concerned about the welfare of their critters aren't going to listen to anything you tell them anyway. I'd just stick to real hardy tough fish cause they probably are going to be over fed water changes neglected etc.... :( :( . The novilty will wear off their new toy all too soon I fear. " I'd stick to species like damsel's etc if they asked me about the lions,"very hardy", I'd almost encourage you to lie to them and tell them that they are delicate. I've seen to many people take these beautifull creatures home and basically love/abuse them to death. I'm not certain but, I would imagine that's why you haven't gotten very many responces to your message. We've all seen this happen far to often and the out come is almost gtd. Unless your friend starts caring about his pets for what they are I don't hold out much hope. Also he could go in so many different directions with his tank that the mind boggles. I don't mean to flame you or anything like that but.. The first thing I'd do is buy your friend the contientious marine aquarist by fenner. I think I have the tittle and name right if not someone will correct me. I'd hate to be in your shoes and I really do wish you the best.
Chris :(

[plantass28]

Well I had a nice talk with him and I am going to take care of it for him I will do bi-monthly 20 gallon water changes, pick the fish out etc. The problem is that I just dont know what fish to get him, my experience lies more in the reef keeping end of the hobby. So when you say Damsels, etc. What is the etc part? Also how many more fish do you think we can go with? Thanks!

[plantass28]

Chris I love that book it was my Second marine book, kinda like a bible to me now!

Thanks for your very helpful advice, just need to know what other fish to go with and how many? Should I just stick with the 5" of fish per gallon rule?

[OrionGirl]

I've never heard of a 5 inches per gallon rule--heck, even if FW, it's one inch per gallon! 5 gallons per inch of fish might make more sense, but it still ignores the territory needs of most fish.

The angel is not likely to welcome any additions, and the tang might cause problems as well. So, anything you add would have to be aggressive--but anything more aggressive might end up killing the other fish off. You could probably add a school of blue or green chromis--busy, bright, and quick enough to avoid everyone else. I'd avoid adding any other tangs, triggers will probably be too aggressive...Maybe a large maroon or tomato clown? It would have to be a large female...An eel might work as long as it had enough places to hide...Not sure how angels are around eels?

I know you're in a tough spot.

[jhrivera]

I do one inch of fish (maximum size fish will grow) per 1.5 to 2 gallons of water just to be on the safe side. Maybe I'm being overly cautious because I'm new to the hobby and I'm trying to be extra careful in my approach. I must have been in the planning stage for at least 4-5 months.

[Max]

I'll have to bow to O.G. on this one. All I've ever kept are reefs and peacefull tanks. I like the butterfly fishes though they are pretty tough. I hope you didn't read my earlier post ,"deleted". if so disregard any comments I made about lion fish.
:D
chris

[plantass28]

Which Butterfly fish would you recommend? I was thinking a hawk fish might be a good tank mate in this system.

[Max]

Well the long nose butterflys " trade name not sure of latin" look really neat and are real hardy. You could get one or a pair @ least 3 inches in length. they look really delicate have this long beak and are real easy to keep they'll eat almost anything. I think that fairy wrasses are real pretty to they get to be fairly big and aren't too rambunctious. These guys are both pretty sensative to good water condition though. Marine betas will put on a good show and are fairly hardy. There really are a lot of choices I'd have to say it would depend mostly on what you can get in your area/afford. The half moon damsels are really hardy and pretty active to. Most of the gobies and kin are pretty hardy to and should be a pretty good additon to the tank. The angle fish are also real beauties but, some get big! You could use something like a conch as a substrate sifter or even a horseshoe crab. How long has the tank been set up and what are the water parameters is there going to be live rock? In short it's really hard to tell you exactly what to get but, I'm sure most all of us would be willing to inform you about individual selections.
I know it's vague but, it's kind of hard to give you a real direct answer everyone has different taste.
hope this helps you out a little
Chris

[plantass28]

Hey Chris,

Some good suggestions, tank has been setup for over a year. The parameters are in my first post. Money is no object for this guy he sneezes it out his nose and *** simultaneously!!

Thanks!

[as40]

"Money is no object for this guy he sneezes it out his nose and *** simultaneously!!"

Man, wish you're friend would catch a cold and have a bad case of the runs around my place then! ;)