I got a pair of matched firefish!

[AllenF]

http://www.geocities.com/allennbridget/temporarypreviewfile.html?1047179169838


Ok,

Now I need continued stocking help!
65Gallon 36x18x24

So far this tank has:
10 Reef Hermit Crabs
1 purple brittle sea star
1 Fla Pink tipped aneome
1neon Goby

Ok, Here is my Wish list:
Pair of Maroon Clowns
yellow watchman goby
lawnmower blenny
royal gramma
blackcap basslet gramma
orchid dottyback
canary wrasse
midas or bicolor blenny
fairy wrasse

Invert wish list:
scarlet cleaner shrimp
feather dusters
sponges
mushroom anemone corals

Fish that were eliminated from my wish list
Foxface
all angels
all tangs
comets

Ok, not all of these fish are going in....but what I want to know is:

Which ones would YOU put in this tank!

 

[Anonymous]

my vote goes to the lawnmower blenny and shrimp! :wink:

 

[Minh Nguyen]

....
Now I need continued stocking help!
65Gallon 36x18x24

So far this tank has:
10 Reef Hermit Crabs
1 purple brittle sea star
1 Fla Pink tipped aneome
1neon Goby

Ok, Here is my Wish list:
Pair of Maroon Clowns

I would keep smaller, less agressive clowns like Ocellaris, Pink Skunk, or Percula

......
royal gramma
blackcap basslet gramma
orchid dottyback
canary wrasse
midas or bicolor blenny
fairy wrasse

I would not have all these copetitors together. They will fight and you will end up with the canary wrasse because he is the meanest. Of these fishes the Gramma can be deep in two or there (I have not keep black cap yet but was told that their care are similar to RG)
Orchid Dotty back are great reef fish and can be keep in pair but in your small tank they will fight with the rest in the list.
I keep a Canary wrasse once, he went after my clams with vengence thus out he goes.
Fairy wrasse will jump.


I will put in two Percula, two Orchid Dottyback, a watchman goby. If you have a refugium and a thriving population of pods and have two Royal Gramma instead of Dottyback, I would also add a Mandarin Dragonette

Minh Nguyen

 

[AllenF]

Minh,

Thanks for the advice,

Im going to look into doing exactly that. The mandarin will need to wait for a few months. I need another 30-40lbs of Live rock before Id be conficent in the survivalbility of a mandarian.

There is a descent population of pods (or so i observe them scurrying in the tank frequently) but with only 30lbs of LR so far, I dont think it would do well.

One last (stupid) question.

What do you think a pair of blue devil damsels would do in there? :?

 

[Anonymous]

Minh,

Thanks for the advice,

Im going to look into doing exactly that. The mandarin will need to wait for a few months. I need another 30-40lbs of Live rock before Id be conficent in the survivalbility of a mandarian.

There is a descent population of pods (or so i observe them scurrying in the tank frequently) but with only 30lbs of LR so far, I dont think it would do well.

One last (stupid) question.

What do you think a pair of blue devil damsels would do in there? :?

the yellow tail blues are pretty mellow, as damsels go-abit less aggressive than the regular blues, towards each other, ime

 

[wombat1]

IME, firefish and dottybacks don't mix well. The dottyback attacks the firefish relentlessly... BTW which firefish are they? I would kill for a mate for my helfrichi's.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

Minh,
.......................
What do you think a pair of blue devil damsels would do in there? :?

I have no experience with Blue devil damsels (Chrysiptera cyanea) but read that they can be aggressive, especially the larger males in small tank like your's.
The only damselfish I ever keep is Chrysiptera parasema. They are beautiful and active fish and will stay at about 1.75 inches or so in size. They give an irredescent blue to the tank. IMO, they have the brightest blue you will ever seen in aquarium. They will spawn in aquarium. Your tank is on the small size for reeftank, thus space is of premium. This damsel species is very beautiful. I have no problem with them attacking any of my other fish. How ever, the smallest tank I have them in is a three in a 90 g tank. Here is a link to pictures of this fish:
http://www.fishbase.org/Photos/ThumbnailsSummary.cfm?ID=12448
Minh Nguyen

 

[Palmetto]

I have a pair of those in my Ricordea tank, Minh. They are very well behaved for damsels!

Gorgeous blue, too. This tank is a 75-gallon that is mostly Actinic White VHO (my last surviving VHO tank, hehe), and the fish just seem to GLOW blue. I don't have many good pics of them, but there is one of them in this pic:

 

[Anonymous]

I second the vote to skip the orchid dottyback. I was just about to buy one for my 15 when I read

"may disembowel other tank mates on a whim"

I wish I could remeber where I read it, but it stopped me from buying the fish.

Brett

 

[Minh Nguyen]

I second the vote to skip the orchid dottyback. I was just about to buy one for my 15 when I read

"may disembowel other tank mates on a whim"

I wish I could remeber where I read it, but it stopped me from buying the fish.

Brett

I have an Orchid Dottyback pair in my tank. They are not aggressive at all. I think you or the person who wrote the above mistake a Magenta Dottyback for an Orchid Dottyback. They looks very similar but temperment is like night and day.
Minh Nguyen

 

[AllenF]

IME, firefish and dottybacks don't mix well. The dottyback attacks the firefish relentlessly... BTW which firefish are they? I would kill for a mate for my helfrichi's.

Click on my link

More likely to get a matched pair if you observe them peacefully co-exsisting in the dealer tank and purchase/acclimate them simultaneously.

 

[Al G Blenny]

Just got a pair, actually they are still in the Dealer tank while my tanke finishes cycling. They are awesome and rather rare to get paired off. I have done some research on these clowns and they are a little unique as far as clowns go. It would be completely possible to pair them off yourself however, the trick with Maroons ( Premas Biaculeatus) is making making absolutely sure the female is considerably larger than the male. IE more than twice the size and there are no distractions while this is going on. But I recomend them, they are neat and unique when paired off.