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Coral Vue Hydros

Help us fill our tank!


Chriscenter1

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Chriscenter1

Hi! My wife and I have a 40 br reef tank that's been running for about 15 months. We've lost some fish but things have stabilized over the last couple of months.

 

Now that I feel comfortable adding fish again, I'd appreciate suggestions of what would be a good addition, as I'd like to be smart about this! Haha

 

We have:

1 Royal Gamma

2 ocellaris clowns

1 six line wrasse

1 fire shrimp

Misc cuc

 

As for coral: Duncan, frogspawn, gorg, favia, gsp, and various zoas and palys.

 

What other fish would be good additions? We originally added the six line last but now that we're trying to add more, will he be too aggressive? I have a large compartment in the sump that's about the size of an lfs tank, should I put it down there for a little bit while we introduce others?

 

We're ideally looking for active fish, not "lurkers", but I know our tank size hampers things somewhat.

 

Any and all suggestions appreciated!

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A Dwarf Angelfish would definitely be a nice centerpiece fish, many are quite colorful and they are active. You could go with a Bangaii or Pajama Cardinalfish, they will stay out in the middle of the water column, but they might not be as colorful or active as you would like.

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Chriscenter1

We'd love a dwarf angel but the one we bought picked at the coral, so unfortunately he had to go back. Have you had different experiences w them?

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Dwarf angels are a hit or miss.. Rather - they're a hit until they're a miss. Everyone has different experiences with them but unfortunately that doesn't at all indicate what kind of experience you will have. I had one turn after over a year in my tank and suddenly it started picking at corals. They are cool fish though - and messy. Keeping them well fed may help keep them from picking at corals, but feeding heavy means having a ship-tight maintenance routine, oversized skimmer, heavy CUC, etc... or you have nuisance algae issues.

 

I'm a fan of wrasses - a fairy/flasher wrasse would do fine in a 40b.

 

I'll second a cardinal or 2.

 

Finally don't leave damsels out of the equation. You have a semi-aggressive tank so adding a damsel isn't a bad idea. I wouldn't go for the large damsels (domino, etc), but something like a yellow tail blue, alleni, etc...

 

Finally a blenny or goby of some sort would be a nice addition. I might suggest avoiding a sand sifting goby though unless you don't mind sand all over the place and you're very persistent with feeding. A 40b doesn't really have enough stuff in the sand to sustain a sand-sifting goby and on top of that they're not particularly aggressive eaters so again you would be forced to feed heavily so that enough food ends up at the bottom.

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We'd love a dwarf angel but the one we bought picked at the coral, so unfortunately he had to go back. Have you had different experiences w them?

 

 

Any Angelfish has the potential to nip at corals, some more than others. As far as the Dwarf variety goes I have kept Flame and Coral Beauty Angelfish in reef tanks with good results. With any new addition watch for aggression and any nipping at coral.

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Chriscenter1

Thanks for the responses! We're definitely going to look hard at the wrasses and Angels. Maybe some cardinal fish too, we'll see.

 

We've tried firefish a couple of times, including one we had before the six line, and as soon as the six line showed up they would hide in the rock basically permanently. They're awesome, but don't seem to work for us for whatever reason.

 

If anyone has any other suggestions feel free to add!

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rsaesq@gmail.com

How about a Hawkfish? Mine gets along well with my Clarkii Clownfish, Royal Gramma, and Blood Shrimp in my 10G Nano Fusion.Goggles_zpsfqzn1qwg.jpg

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All hail the wrasse family for this tank haha ...awesome fish with great colors that will only help keep the algae levels in the tank down


How about a Hawkfish? Mine gets along well with my Clarkii Clownfish, Royal Gramma, and Blood Shrimp in my 10G Nano Fusion.Goggles_zpsfqzn1qwg.jpg

Holy bio load for a 10 gallon tank haha how long have you had all of them together

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rsaesq@gmail.com

I bought the tank about a month ago fully stocked. The original owner had it up and running for two years. I do a 10% water change every week and everyone seems happy!

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Ok just a heads up but hawkfish are crustacean predators and don't be surprised if you come home to a dead shrimp...

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All hail the wrasse family for this tank haha ...awesome fish with great colors that will only help keep the algae levels in the tank down

Holy bio load for a 10 gallon tank haha how long have you had all of them together

 

If you like the look of the hawkfish you could go with pygmy wrasse!

 

8sB6DJx.jpg

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rsaesq@gmail.com

I've heard it depends more on the order in which they're introduced to the tank and their relative sizes. But thanks for your input. :)

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I've heard it depends more on the order in which they're introduced to the tank and their relative sizes. But thanks for your input. :)

 

 

no problemo but if I was introduced to a juicy steak at 5 o'clock and I was hungry at 6 o'clock I might just start nibbling regardless of the steaks wonderful personality if you catch my drift ;)

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With a sixline in there already, I don't think the additional wrasse suggestions would be good. I do agree on the hawkfish though, any of that species would be amazing in a 40 - and they make such wonderful pairs!

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All hail the wrasse family for this tank haha ...awesome fish with great colors that will only help keep the algae levels in the tank down

 

What? Wrasses are carnivorous - no effects on algae.

 

Wrasses can live more than 1 in a tank as long as they're different species and there is adequate space. Keeping a fairy wrasse with a sixline has been done successfully many times (though I probably wouldn't attempt with a tank size under 40).

 

As for the hawk - not a bad choice. They can be quite aggressive though as they get bigger - and I find that they're bad tank mates to share anemones with. So think about that if you think you'll want an anemone someday. If rsaesq has one in a 10g it's likely that it's growth has been stunted unnaturally as after 2 years it should be pretty large. Same with the clarkii clown. Either the guy selling the tank was lying about having it for 2 years or the fish's growth has been unnaturally stunted - which means it probably isn't going to be capable of eating the shrimp.

 

As for the procedure of adding fish, there's no evidence that adding a fish before or after a shrimp has any influence on the potential for a predator/prey situation. More likely the reason for successfully keeping a food source with a predator is introducing a small predator and a much larger prey. At least that situation should hold while the prey remains too large to eat. - obviously there are no guarantees in this hobby though.

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As for the hawk - not a bad choice. They can be quite aggressive though as they get bigger - and I find that they're bad tank mates to share anemones with. So think about that if you think you'll want an anemone someday.

 

Wait, what's this about hawks and nems?

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IF YOU CAN. Trap and get rid of the six line and swap him out with a flasher wrasse :) Another couple good ideas for fish would be a Midas Blenny for some awesome color and personality, people say dwarf angels are hit and miss which is very true but I feel pygmy angels seem to be the most reef friendly. At least mine is:) A Flame Angel would add the most color but I know they can be little jerks on fish and coral.

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Wait, what's this about hawks and nems?

 

 

So hawkfish are constant "perchers". They usually hop from rock to rock. The problem with anemones is if you get one that's big enough or aggressive enough the fish could hop close enough to an anemone and become food.

 

It's not like it happens all the time but anemones do have powerful nematocysts and can eat fish. Less likely to happen if there's a clown "defending" the anemone and keeping other fish away. Totally depends on the size of the hawk and whether it knows enough to steer clear of the anemone.

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I've never had an issue; though I should caveat that my hawks were in a very large tank with plenty of space away from the nem along with fairly territiorial clowns; they were so engrossed with each other that they didn't bother the nem. In a 40B... I wouldn't worry about a rbta; any carpet or lta and I'll agree wholeheartedly.

Before you responded, I did some googling and thought you might be referring to pixie hawks and how they can be hosted by ritteri anemones. And maybe other hawk sp might irritate nems?

And this became my favorite picture ever:
005123.jpg

For anyone thinking of hawkfish, including OP; get them a girlfriend. They make one of the best paired fish IMO.

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Chriscenter1

Hmm, my wife heard a possible flame angel and is already in love, but then again, to her coral is just overpriced decor :)

 

We may give that a shot, but I'm gonna look at those fairy wrasses too. Any problem putting the angel in a few days before a couple cardinals, or do those have to go first?

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I'd second the midas blenny or a similar blenny. Great personality and relatively cheap fish. Plus they will help with algae control.

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