Something Red

A

a_free_bird73

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Jun 13, 2002
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Melbourne, Australia
My Wife wants to add a touch of Red, orange or pink to the tank (purple is a much lower on the scale of preference). The tank currently has a couple of corals, a bi-colour angel and a green chromis with a rather strong bias towards greens, yellows and blues. The problem is it needs to be cheap, small (less than 3")and easy to look after (going through the list that is kind of asking for the impossible).

So far Clown is out of the question, She does not like fire gobies and she can live without a dotty back. Most hawks are predators and we have been told to stay away from them (except for long nose Hawk which is too expensive for us). We have also been told that Anthias are not easy to look after and may not like the company of the angel. So what is left?

Most red corals are too hard to look after to my knowledge and I am left wondering if a star fish could be a possibility. Is there a red star fish that does not grow large, does not eat corals and won't get eaten by the bi-colour (who is rather nasty towards a brittle star fish that is already there). Have I missed any red fish that could be a possibility. Forgot to say also that a flame angel is not a possibility.
 
Unless you're willing to save up the $30-40 required for most SW fish, you don't leave yourself many options. I'd say reconsider a tomato clown; it's the only cheap, reddish fish that comes to mind. Usually around $20 or so.
 
Does it have to be mobile? There are some great sponges in those colors, and they are pretty easy to care for, prefer low light/high current areas. They usually aren't too costly--under $30 each time we've purchased one. Tile stars are bright red, and stay under 2-3 inches in diameter, we never had a problem with ours, think it was around $8--problem is, they aren't often seen. Most other stars will be too big, and compete with the brittle for foods.

Other inverts--like blood shrimp--would work, but tend to be a bit on the expensive side. There are cheaper ones, like camels and peppermints, but they are not as brightly colored.
 
Six lined wrasses usually have a managerie of colors and I've seen those run for around $20. Pretty hardy too...
 
Occasionally you might find a Flame angel, they are really nice red fish. But they are hard to take care of. I had 1 and he was eating really good, no problems. Had him for probably 6-7 mos. and then one day found him dead, hard as a rock???
 
Occasionally you might find a Flame angel, they are really nice red fish. But they are hard to take care of. I had 1 and he was eating really good, no problems. Had him for probably 6-7 mos. and then one day found him dead, hard as a rock???
 
I will propose the sponge idea although the bicolour has cleaned up a couple of sponge species that I had in my tank so I don't like my chances. He is a little on the distructive side but he also learns quick when he chops bits of something that does not taste good. If it is relatively cheap, I would not mind the experiment.

I will also ask if the LFS can get hold of a tile star. How big does a six lined wrasse get? My book says they get larger than I can accomodate.

The reason why I don't want to add a clown is because I am experimenting with conditions required to keep a flower pot. Clowns are likely to take it as a host adding another variable that I don't need.
 
Sponges are typically inexpensive, but make sure that your water quality is in great shape before you add them...algae growth on a sponge is usually deadly.

A sixline is going to max out around 3" with most not getting much bigger than 2". As for the tile star, is that a Fromia sp, Orion?
 
On second thought, the wrasse may not be a good idea. Angels would be a problem in the first place for something as timid as a six-line, and one that's established could really be the death of the little guy. Even if you re-arranged the rockwork I'd still be too worried.
 
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