Stocking suggestions

[ed99]

My 92 gal aquarium has been running for about 10 months now so I am planning to start stocking up on a few more fish over the next few months. I've had some not-so-good advice from the LFSs in the past, so I am looking for some suggestions/comments on what fish to go for. Right now I'm thinking a yellow or purple tang and a couple of tomato clowns. After this I'm not sure- so... any suggestions on some interesting characters I could add safely to this mix (or put in first, I know I should add the more aggressive fish last)? The fish have to be reef safe as I have a number of softie corals in there as well.

Thanks,

Ed

[AJ_77]

Don't know if you've met Kim, Ed, but he still has a nice Yellow Tang for sale, I believe:
http://www.canreef.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5697

Their appeal is undeniable. A purple is gorgeous also, but seems to "lurk" sometimes with their darker colouration. Can't miss a Yellow...

With clowns, there are more and more really cool species available as captive-raised now. Check out LiveAquaria.com for types that have come available recently. Even in the local shops, you see a greater variety. Pisces has tanks full - orange, cinnamon, tomato, pink, orange, black... It's a great time to be interested in clownfishes!

Buy 'em small, and grow 'em up.

[Jack]

A few green chromis add movment and colour to any reef tank. They're my favorite.

[sumpfinfishe]

Six-Line Wrasses are my favorite, lot's of color and great personality's.
Green Chromis are always a welcome addition too-right Jack & Deb

As for tangs, I like the Koles as they have a crazy appetite for green stuff!
Yellow tangs are always nice too-as long as they are healthy. Everyone(LFS) have Yellow Tangs but not every store has healthy ones!

Gobbies are great in my books too, there great for keeping the bottom clean!

Cheers, Rich

[ed99]

Thanks for the tips so far.

With the six-line wrasse- is it better to stick with one or get a pair?

I have a couple of chromis already. I had planned to move them to a 30 gal tank I've started up since I heard that they wouldn't do so well with the more aggressive tang and clowns. That being said- there is no shortage of aggression in one of the chromis' I have. I actually found that rather than school the chromis' would bully each other to death sometimes. Did anybody notice if they calmed down with other fish in the tank?

Gobies- any comments on which ones? I like the clown gobies but heard they are hard to keep alive. I had a goby and a blenny before but they both starved to death. I think that was some of the bad advice I referred to- my immature tank didn't have enough for them to eat. I only want to try again if they have a good chance to survive.

And thanks Alan for the clown site- lots to choose from. I like the clowns as well which is why I picked up that tank from you. One type of clown wasn't enough!

Thanks again,

Ed

[sumpfinfishe]

Hi Ed,
Well for Six-Lines your far better with a single as two will fight to the death. Six-Lines also like to eat small worms and crusteceans, so a healthy tank full of this type of life is desired. My Six-Line eats worms and cruteceans throughout the day, but it will also eat prepared foods as well.

Sandsifting gobbies are ideal for cleaning the bottom. My two Yellow Watchmen are great and they live in the same burrow. With bottom dwellers you could introduce them both at the same time, just be sure to get two different size fish and they should pair up nicely. I have had two pairs over the last six years and I find if you bring them home at the same time, even in the same bag they will pair up better. IMO I think they bond when they are both stressed in the bag on the ride home. There are alot of gobbies available, and I prefer the bottom dwellers to help out in the house cleaning department. As for Blennies, they are also a great fish, I would just never mix Blennies and Gobbies in the same tank, as they would most likely fight to the death also. My two Watchmens do sandsift all day, however they would never starve to death even if they wiped out the entire sandbed because I feed them twice a day with spirulina and brine. So alot of the time they will simply rake the top of the sand to collect settled food particles, while the sandbed remains healthy and alive. My watchmens are now two years old each, and the pair before them were both 4 years old. While yes, some gobbies are harder to keep such as Clown's and Mandarin's because of there feeding habit's, others such as Sleeper's, Watchmen and Neon's are easier to keep. I know quite a few people who have kept Mandarins and Clowns living in there reefs for years as there tanks are mature and full of worms and crusteceans. I find the burrowing variety's easier to keep because they will eat prepared foods as well as sifting the sand. I did have a Catalina goby for almost a year, up until the last heat wave of the summer when my reef reached 86* for a few days, which for this California cold water species was simply too much heat to handle. So if you decide to go with a goby or two, do your research and make sure you can provide the ideal conditions.

Cheers, Rich

[ed99]

Thanks for the tips Rich. I had a couple of sleeper gold head gobies. Despite being different sizes and buying them at the same time, by day 2 they were like a cat and a dog. Funnily enough the big one died first, he seemed to be more worried about burrowing and chasing the other one than eating. How do you feed them? The one goby did eat mysis eventually, but I don't think he got enough since the clowns and the chromis' were much more efficient than the goby at getting the food. I tried placing the food on the bottom, but the hermits got to the food before the goby did.

As for worms and crustaceans- did they arrive with your live rock? I have about 130 lbs worth, but I have also heard about 'detrivore' kits and the like which sounds like they can boost the populations of these delicacies. Any experience?

Ed

[smokinreefer]

one thing, tomatoes tend to be one of the more aggresive sp. of clowns.
so i would add your tomatoes as the last fish to the tank.

[Bob I]

Originally Posted by sumpfinfishe

Hi Ed,
Well for Six-Lines your far better with a single as two will fight to the death.

I am not sure if that is always true. A friend of mine has three with no trouble at all. He actually had two, and then added mine to the mix with no problems.

[ed99]

Looks like others have had more than one 6-line wrasse at a time as long as you put them together when one or both are young. There's a discussion on reef central:


http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...hreadid=246076