fish question

[ARsaltnewb]

I've been trying to plan out what fish I want to get and I was wondering if I get one semi-aggressive fish should I stick with other fish of the same aggression level? I wouldn't want to put a docile fish in with a more agressive fish if it would bully it. I'm also not sure if multiple semi-agressive fish will just result in them killing each other. I appreciate any insight given.

[Havok_9]

It all depends on the fish itself, their personalities and temperament vary on levels of aggressiveness and still get catergorized as "semi".

Generally you should be alright, depending on the space requirements per fish. As long as all your guys have their own little areas and enough room to feel comfortable, I wouldn't foresee any issues.

 

What fish are you looking at?

[Fnard]

Really depends on the size of tank and how you introduce the fish and what type of fish you want to get. If you have a larger tank, say 55g, you could be a semi/aggressive fish in there with out too much trouble because there is space. Conversely, the smaller a tank you have the less space to claim and aggression may increase. On top of that, if you have a tank where you want 3 fish. The first 2 should be the less aggressive introduced. Let them settle in and get their areas. After some time (weeks, months) then introduce the more aggressive fish. This should help keep him in line since he is the new kid on the block and will have to find his own room. Granted, this isn't a surefire success, but much better than having the aggressive guy first and then having him protect his territory to the new strangers.

[ARsaltnewb]

Thanks for the input. I'm not sure what fish I want yet other than an ocellaris clown. I have a standard 29g tank, and I'm not sure how many more I could put in. I am open to suggestions. I like bright colors and movement to keep me distracted, kind of like a cat chasing a laser pointer. lol

[Fnard]

In a 29g you should have plenty of options. I had one myself and had a pair of saddlebacks, a 6 line wrasse and 4 chromis. All up to your preference and maintenance. The 6line may be something to look into. Being a wrasse, it is semiaggressive and not all corals are safe, but it also depends on the individual. I had a pretty tame one. He is pretty in color and constantly in motion. You could also look at some PJ cardinals. Had a couple also at one time. Nice looking fish that has plenty of motion. Best thing to look for is a good combo of fish that stay low, some that stay mid and some for the water column in the tank. This way you have something going on throughout the tank.

[Havok_9]

I've got a 30 and pretty much have the same thing as Fnard. Pair of o. clowns and a six line wrasse. I agree about purchasing fish that occupy different levels of the tank to keep all your inhabitants happy and aesthetically pleasing.

 

Six line wrasse are always darting in and out of the rock work and investigating, constantly on the move looking for pods. I love the way they check everything out with their chameleon like eyes, definitely an interesting fish. But it is on the more agressive side but would be fine among fish that can hold their own- ie a pair of clowns. My female finally put my wrasse in check after a week of harassment, and all seems harmonious... for the moment. I loved my neon dottyback and royal gramma (owned at seperate times, never housed together) but those also have a tendancy to be on the nastier side. Mine were pretty chill tho, but that could change with age/maturity. I really grew fond of my dottyback becuase he was very active and he got along great with my clowns, even friendly, but the poor dude jumped.

 

Check out liveaquaria.com, I really like that site when I need a little extra info on a fish, gives you a readers digest version on requirements/tips/and personality. They have a compatability chart as well.

[ARsaltnewb]

I love sixlines' color and activity level. It's one of my favorite (if not my favorite) marine fish, but some people on another site were saying that they would be too aggressive in that size tank. I was thinking about getting one anyways because I read that they get that way due to insufficient feeding or hiding places. The pajama cardinals stay higher in the water column right? I read that in the wild clowns mostly swim just above the reef, so I was thinking that I would keep the height of my aquascape between 1/2 to 2/3 the height of the tank. Does that sound ok? I would really like to build the tank to suit the fish. Thanks for the tips.

[Havok_9]

Sounds good to me, definitely on the right track with feeding and hiding places. Rock sounds good, mines about at that level. I have 30-40lbs (lost count honestly) of LR with lots of nooks and crannies. I feed mine very small amounts twice a day and plan on adding a bottle of pods to the tank once a month to keep him happy. Sixlines will wipe out a pod population in no time- I don't think I have any left in my tank after a yr of maturity and he's only been in there a week.

[ARsaltnewb]

I was thinking about getting 30lbs of live rock and another 15-20 of dry rock. Do you have any pics of your tank? I would like to see how much 40lbs actually is. BTW thanks to everyone for all of the help, I really appreciate it.

[Havok_9]

75% of the rock is fiji, which I found out I really like. Lots of interesting shapes and holes. I've also come across some hard coral skeletons and threw them in the mix, adds some diversity. These are a few months old, but rockwork is still the same-

 

and

 

[ARsaltnewb]

Thank you. I really like that! I hope mine looks that good when I get it going. What do you run in your filter? I have an emporer 400 and one guy told me to use the E cartridges and another said just the refillable cartridges with carbon.

[Tamberav]

In most cases you can mix peaceful fish with occy clowns if that is what you are worried about. I have never seen any aggression from the two pairs I have. The Pink-streaked wrasse is a peaceful fish and looks a lot like a 6-line. A safer bet if you want other peaceful fish like firefish, ect.

[Havok_9]

Thank you. I really like that! I hope mine looks that good when I get it going. What do you run in your filter? I have an emporer 400 and one guy told me to use the E cartridges and another said just the refillable cartridges with carbon.

Thanks! It's a marineland bio-wheel, took out the wheel, and just run the standard filter cartridges for it to catch extra debris. That filter combined with diligent weekly 25% water changes has served me well over the past year. The carbon in those types of filters don't do jack for saltwater. I like the idea of putting activated carbon into the refillable cartridges, though.

 

 

In most cases you can mix peaceful fish with occy clowns if that is what you are worried about. I have never seen any aggression from the two pairs I have. The Pink-streaked wrasse is a peaceful fish and looks a lot like a 6-line. A safer bet if you want other peaceful fish like firefish, ect.

I wish I heard of the pink-streaked wrasse before I got my sixline!!

[ARsaltnewb]

Ok so basically the same filter as mine, just a smaller one. I should take the bio-wheels out? How come?

[Havok_9]

Yea mine's the 280. I just took the wheel out because it became non functional with salt creep and was more of a nuisance than anything. It doesn't really serve a purpose honestly in the grand scheme of things anyway.

[ARsaltnewb]

Oh ok. I just wasn't sure because I had a guy at one lfs tell me to run it with them and one tell me not to. Also one of them told me depending on the fish to put no more than 4 fish in that size tank, and the other said 6. After researching for myself I've found that six is too much.

[Havok_9]

Personally feel comfortable at 3 with bioload and availability of space. I enjoy the look of calm, natural fish doing their own thing as opposed to stressed fish crammed in a box bumping into each other. And because our filters aren't really geared to take on that much work. You could easily do 6 fish if most were small and peaceful, and if you also had a sump and skimmer plumbed in. Which is something I'm working towards...

 

Everyone's gonna have a different answer. Do your research and make educated decisions based on what you feel comfortable with. There's always gonna be someone who's gonna tell you to do it differently

[ARsaltnewb]

I was thinking four but we will see how the tank handles the fish one at a time and go from there. Do you have a skimmer on your tank?

[Havok_9]

Four would be fine. I just notice that a lot of detritus builds up every week with three fish as it is. Though I'm considering putting in a chromis to occupy that top tier of water. And no skimmer yet, just the hob filter and water changes for mechanical filtration. Been working great for a year.

 

I do have a sump, overflow box, and a bubble magus skimmer I've been threatening to install since December just haven't gotten to it. While what I have right now has been working fine, extra water volume and a skimmer will make life so much easier and water parameters more stable and forgiving.

[ARsaltnewb]

I think I am going to have a skimmer from the beginning. As far as a sump goes, that will be later on down the road.

[ARsaltnewb]

What kind of gph do you recommend for circulation?

[NYR]

In most cases you can mix peaceful fish with occy clowns if that is what you are worried about. I have never seen any aggression from the two pairs I have. The Pink-streaked wrasse is a peaceful fish and looks a lot like a 6-line. A safer bet if you want other peaceful fish like firefish, ect.

 

I was planning on stocking a pink-streaked in my tank..do you know what season they come around? Can't seem to find them anywhere now

[Tamberav]

I was planning on stocking a pink-streaked in my tank..do you know what season they come around? Can't seem to find them anywhere now

 

I would just sign up for email alerts on LA, bluezoo, ect. It shouldn't take THAT long. They aren't really rare, just uncommon.

[NYR]

I would just sign up for email alerts on LA, bluezoo, ect. It shouldn't take THAT long. They aren't really rare, just uncommon.

 

Already did that thanks!! I'll have to tap into my patience again

[Havok_9]

What kind of gph do you recommend for circulation?

 

I'm not the expert on that ... On my setup between the filter and the powerhead I have about a 300 gph turnover rate, which I think is good. I think it's like 7-10 times your total tank's water volume.