Hello. I am about to add water and live rock to my first tank in a couple of weeks. I have been working on my "Fish Wish List" to try to work around the fish I want most. Do any of my fish on my list below have to be removed because they would not get along with the fish in my "Must Have" List? Do I have to cut down on the amount of fish on my list? (53 gallon display with 7 gallon Sump)

Must Haves:

Possum Wrasse
Pair of True Percula Clowns (or Ocellaris, but leaning towards True Percs)
Green Mandarin (I know I have to wait a good 12 months and get
a Copepod population going).

Want List (One of each of the following):

Labout's Wrasse or Long Fin Fairy Wrasse (Social Wrasse)
Red or Purple Firefish
1 Goby - Yellow Clown, Green Clown, Hi Fin Red Banded, Tangaroa, or Yellow Watchmen
1 Blenny - Two Spot or Tail Spot

Possible Choices if my tank can house any more than the above:

Royal Gamma Basslet
Curious Worm Fish
Yellow or Blue Agressor

Thanks!!
Pam

welcome, Pammy!

if you're dead-set on the mandy and the possum wrasse, i'd hold off on any other wrasses as they'll be in direct competition with the possum and the mandy, and in that size tank, it won't take long to deplete your pod supply and end up with starving fish.

the royal gramma may get nasty after a bit, as they're very territorial once they get settled. IMHO, a pair of clowns is plenty of nastiness for a tank.

i've kept a curious worm fish, and they're great fish, but you won't see it unless it's feeding time (it will spend most of its time buried in the sand), and they're very tuff to feed.

the ASSESSORS are great fish, as are the gobies and firefish.

the biggest/hardest thing to learn in this hobby is to be patient, go slow, and don't overstock...oh and ALWAYS QT your new fish. :)

yeah, you better add that ... oh and ALWAYS QT your new fish !! what would Renee have done if you didn't remember that ??!! lol

hey...only one cuppa coffee so far, Bobby!

Thanks Greg. Ok....Royal Gramma is off the list then....and I think I'll skip the curious worm fish if they hide all the time. So would the Possum Wrasse and Mandy be ok if that's the only Wrasse I get....or would it still be pushing it for them fighting over the pods? Am I better with either just the wrasse or just the Mandy, and not both or you think both will be ok as long as I don't add a second wrasse?

One note....my tank is an open top...so I have to be careful for Wrasses since a lot of them jump. Are the Possum Wrasses jumpers ? I hate to put something on top of my open tank, but I also don't want to lose poor fish that may jump out. I was thinking of covering the tank while I'm away at work with some type of framed screen or something I make myself (any suggestions?), or cover it if I'm gone for a couple of days.

Any great fish I may have overlooked?

Are the Ocellaris likely to be less agressive than the True Percs?

Thanks.
Pam




welcome, Pammy!

if you're dead-set on the mandy and the possum wrasse, i'd hold off on any other wrasses as they'll be in direct competition with the possum and the mandy, and in that size tank, it won't take long to deplete your pod supply and end up with starving fish.

the royal gramma may get nasty after a bit, as they're very territorial once they get settled. IMHO, a pair of clowns is plenty of nastiness for a tank.

i've kept a curious worm fish, and they're great fish, but you won't see it unless it's feeding time (it will spend most of its time buried in the sand), and they're very tuff to feed.

the ASSESSORS are great fish, as are the gobies and firefish.

the biggest/hardest thing to learn in this hobby is to be patient, go slow, and don't overstock...oh and ALWAYS QT your new fish. :)

i kept a mandy and a leopard wrasse in a very mature, 55 gal reef with a 20 g fuge for quite awhile. that being said, both fish ate prepared foods, so that took some heat off the pod population. if you can find fish that will eat for you (in addition to the pods), you'll be ahead of the game.

i love possum wrasses, but having the leopard and the mandy kinda precluded my getting one. as far as them being jumpers, it's not something i've heard of. perhaps somebody who has kept on will chime in.

bigtime kudos to you for researching before you buy!

Thanks Greg. :) I don't think I've ever researched ANYTHING so much in my life. I'm not sure even having a baby! ;) Do the Blennys and Gobys stick to the bottom of the tank? Mandarins do correct? If I skip the Labouts Wrasse....are most of my fish in my selection going to be bottom dwellers? I know the clowns would swim the whole tank. Possum...hopefully will not hide all the time. Should I be looking at another fish that would stay in the middle/upper half of the tank more?

Thanks.
Pam

QUOTE=saxman;50293]i kept a mandy and a leopard wrasse in a very mature, 55 gal reef with a 20 g fuge for quite awhile. that being said, both fish ate prepared foods, so that took some heat off the pod population. if you can find fish that will eat for you (in addition to the pods), you'll be ahead of the game.

i love possum wrasses, but having the leopard and the mandy kinda precluded my getting one. as far as them being jumpers, it's not something i've heard of. perhaps somebody who has kept on will chime in.

bigtime kudos to you for researching before you buy![/QUOTE]

the gobies will pretty much hang out at the bottom, while the mandy will be all over the bottom and LR hunting food.

i'm thinking a super nice addition would be a dwarf angelfish. my faves are the coral beauty (common, but very pretty), the flame, and the La Marck's. they will swim in the water column as well as thru the rockwork.

Thanks Greg. I'd love to get an angel fish, but I'm a bit concerned because they list them as semi-agressive (don't want them to torment the possum wrasse) and they are also iffy as far as being reef safe which is why I wasn't considering them. I looked again at the ones you mentioned, and it seems the Coral Beauty Angel might be the safest in a reef, and I really like it! Very pretty. I think I might add the Coral Beauty instead of a second wrasse. Plus....angels aren't as likely to jump as wrasses correct? (my tank is an open top). I wanted a blue or purple fish, so love the color with the blue/purple and orange. Might be just what I'm looking for.

Someone also mentioned a Bellus Angel for my tank, and I think the females are beautiful....but I saw their max size was something like 6 or 7 inches, and I thought that might be too big for my 53g tank.

how is this for order as far as adding them to my tank? I don't think it matters for the order I add the Blenny, Goby or Firefish, but I'd put them in, in the middle somewhere.

Possum Wrasse (most peaceful / shy fish)
Pair of Clowns (True Percula or Ocellaris)
Tail Spot Blenny
Goby
Red or Purple Firefish
Coral Beauty Angel (chance of it being semi-agressive)
Mandarin (when the tank is really established at 12 months)

Could I add a yellow assessor with the above, or would that be too much for bio-load? Tank is 53g and about 7g in my sump for a total of about 60g.

Thanks for the suggestion Greg!!
Pam


the gobies will pretty much hang out at the bottom, while the mandy will be all over the bottom and LR hunting food.

i'm thinking a super nice addition would be a dwarf angelfish. my faves are the coral beauty (common, but very pretty), the flame, and the La Mark's. they will swim in the water column as well as thru the rockwork.

ah...OK. i was under the impression you were heading in a FOWL direction. yes, the dwarf angels MAY be polyp nippers, but not necessarily. as far as compatibility goes, they should be the last fish added.

the orate angel (G. bellus) should work nicely in that setup. it's a planktivore that will probably be less prone to polyp nipping than some of the other dwarf angels. i don't know much more about the fish than that, such as aggressiveness, i'm sorry to say.

Thanks Greg. I've read conflicting things on the Coral Beauty Angel as far as it being reef safe. One website said it was, another said it wasn't. Everyone seems to say the G. Bellus is reef safe, and any angel in the Genicanthus family. Isn't the Bellus too large for a 53g tank though? I'm having a hard time finding much on the Bellus (nothing in my Expert Guide to Reef Fish). According to the following link, they grow to 7" and require at least a 80g tank.
Vivid Aquariums Tropical Fish Store in Los Angeles - Buy Bellus Angel / Female (Genicanthus bellus) - Size: 2"-3" (http://www.vividaquariums.com/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=01-1131-10)

Thanks!
Pam

ah...OK. i was under the impression you were heading in a FOWL direction. yes, the dwarf angels MAY be polyp nippers, but not necessarily. as far as compatibility goes, they should be the last fish added.

the orate angel (G. bellus) should work nicely in that setup. it's a planktivore that will probably be less prone to polyp nipping than some of the other dwarf angels. i don't know much more about the fish than that, such as aggressiveness, i'm sorry to say.

i think you'd be hard-pressed to find a captive specimen that large, but let me ask you this: is your tank a normal rectangular tank or is it a bowfront or hex? tank shape can be important in terms of a fish's swimming pattern. i'd say as long as your tank is at least 48" long, you're OK with the the bellus.

Hi Greg. It's a rectangular tank, but it's not long like a 55. It's 31.5 x 19 x 19.
So I guess the Bellus is out? I'll look into the Coral Beauty more.

Thanks. Pam

i think you'd be hard-pressed to find a captive specimen that large, but let me ask you this: is your tank a normal rectangular tank or is it a bowfront or hex? tank shape can be important in terms of a fish's swimming pattern. i'd say as long as your tank is at least 48" long, you're OK with the the bellus.

yeah...in a tank that short, i'm afraid the bellus might "pace", altho i bet those dimension will be fun to aquascape! having "front-to-back" space gives you a lot room for creativity.

Yes...looking forward to aquascaping it. I know in my mind, how I want to do it.
Hopefully, the rock I end up with will work. I was first looking at standard 55 tanks...glad I did some research and found out that they are really difficult to aquascape.

Bye
Pam

yeah...in a tank that short, i'm afraid the bellus might "pace", altho i bet those dimension will be fun to aquascape! having "front-to-back" space gives you a lot room for creativity.

we have a std. 55, and a 60, so i know where you're coming from!

the 100 gal we're working on (the buffing's DONE!) is non-standard...it's 48" long, 24" deep, and 20" tall. i'm looking forward to the 2 foot front to back for aquascaping!

Nice Greg! Great size tank!
Pam

Pam, check out our sponsor MarcoRocks (http://www.marcorocks.com/) for some really nice base rock. They will cherry pick for you based on your specs.

so, what is your list consisting of?
you'll love the gobies (any species), they are cute little character's that are fun to watch.