Fish Wish List

[nevpugh308]

Okay, so whilst I'm waiting for my tank to bed in, I thought it would be fun to start compiling my fish wish list and trying to spot any incompatability problems. This is what I've got so far :

Green Chromis (x6)
Coral Beauty Angel
Clownfish (x2 ?) (no anenome)
Strawberry Gramma
Pyjama (6 line) Wrasse
Lawnmower or Bicolour Blenny
Neon Goby
Purple Firefish

and if I decide against inverts :

Snowflake Moray
Yellow Tang
Picasson Trigger
False Eye Puffer

Possibles :
Lemon Goby
Longnose Hawkfish
Flash Back Gramma


Anyone spot any errors in the above ?

If I get the moray/tang/trigger/puffer would they eat my cleanup crew (turbo snails, hermits) or would they be safe ?

I'd probably add the Tang last, but what would you add first ? (I'd say the Chromis due to their hardy nature, but 6 fish at the same time into a fishless tank is asking for trouble isn't it ??)

Thanks for your opinions :)

[tricksterpup]

What size tank are you setting up?

jim

[slipknottin]

you can put the tang in with the inverts also.

Tangs are strictly herbivores, though some have quite a mean streak.

[nevpugh308]

The tank's a 100g. Obviously I might not have the whole list above, some are absolute musts and some are possibles, depending on what I can "fit" in the tank with a safe bioload (though I'm still not sure what that is yet). I'm currently planning a 30g sump/fuge for sometime in the future, which should expand things slightly, and will also allow me to have a skimmer which isn't possible at moment (tank/cabinet design)

Thanks for the info on tangs, I didn't know that (the main book I'm working from just says no to tang + inverts)

Cheers :)

[OrionGirl]

Originally posted by nevpugh308
If I get the moray/tang/trigger/puffer would they eat my cleanup crew (turbo snails, hermits) or would they be safe ?

I'd probably add the Tang last, but what would you add first ? (I'd say the Chromis due to their hardy nature, but 6 fish at the same time into a fishless tank is asking for trouble isn't it ??)


Triggers, puffers and morays will all crunch crustaceans. There are some triggers that are safer than others, but it's still a risk.

For adding fish--you want to look at the aggression level of the fish. Chromis are in the damsel family, and can be territorial. I wouldn't add them first.

You can cycle the tank before making any additions, so you don't have to worry about the bio-load increase. There's some good threads here in the Newbie forum, and more in the Marine Archives.

[nevpugh308]

Thanks for the replies.

OrionGirl - sorry for the nieve question, but would they still go after shelled cleanup like hermits ? What do people do for cleanup crew who have these fish ?

Oh by the way, I'm already cycling, which is why I'm playing "oh, what shall I get" game, coz I can't actually get anything yet ! Saying that though, I had the smallest cycle ever at first, so I've put some cooked prawn in there to rot a bit, to try and get it going a bit more ....

[Max]

I don't know if you have live rock or sand but, if you do you may not notice too much of a spike. Lots of time if you have enough high quality l.r. and l.s. you may not even have much of a cycle in the traditional sense of the word. I don't know much about triggers but, I wouldn't trust them with a hermit either the shell won't slow them down too much.
hth
chris

[nevpugh308]

Max : I bought v expensive cured LR and some "active" LS which was also painful on the pocket, but it seems to have paid off .... I've two large prawns in the tank which have virtually rotted away now, and there's still no ammonia, so I guess you're right.

I'm going off Triggers ....

[Max]

I know l.r. is expensive but, it pays off in the end. What I did was add about 2/3 of my rock prior to the cycle. After it was all done I added the other to intorduce sensative inverts that couldn't withstand the cycle. I'd say you probably had enough amonia in your water to kill off the more sensative inverts. Keep us posted!
Congrats sounds like you're well on your way.
Chris
:cool:

[OrionGirl]

Hermit crabs are no safer from crustacean eaters than were the snails they stole the shells from. General rule--if the shell won't protect the snail, it won't protect a crab, either.

You can try adding snails and such--at night, in low numbers. There will be a few bright enough to hide when the predators are out--but it won't be enough to act as a true cleanup crew, like in a reef. Bristleworms and micro-crustaceans are the best bet in with aggressive fish (as long as you don't add a micro-crustacean predator).

[nevpugh308]

I think my best bet is to stay away from the invert. eaters, especially as most of my list is comprised of "safe" fish anyway, which I like.

I wont really miss the trigger and puffer, but I will miss not having the Snowflake *. I need cleanup crew though, more than I need an eel, and that means I can then move on to corals etc when I can afford to upgrade my lighting.

Thanks for helping me decide ..... which way to go has been bugging me for a couple of months now :)


(* hehe, maybe an excuse for another species tank later ;) )