fish dilema

[braindawkins20]

hey everyone,

 

 

I have a dilema.... i cant decide what fish to get for my 12 gal. tank. im sure that i want 2 percula clowns.. but the rest is wide open. i had in mine a fish that looked alot like a butterflyfish. what people have told me is that they need bigger tanks. do you know any fish that loo alot like a butterfly fish and will fit in my size tank?if you dont please suggest your favorite fish that will fit in my tank...

 

Thanks

[sjpresley]

Two Percs are probably enough for a 12G, you may be able to add a small goby, but that would definitely be it.

 

There really wouldn't be any room for another active swimmer in your tank. If you nix the Percs, you could get a small Centropyge.

 

Regardless, no butterflies.

[Masoch]

I have 2 percs and 1 royal gramma in a 20 gallon. I'm thinking that 2 percs in a 12 is close to plenty; mine aren't yet full grown and they're all over the tank -- much to the displeasure of the royal gramma who had the tank to himself for a month ... but only swam in about a quarter of it

 

If you want to add some more interest to the tank, look at cleaner shrimp. Most fish get along well with them, they have great personalities, look funky, and don't add as much to the bio-load as fish. They'll also scavenge food, leave cool looking carapces in the tank as they grow, and, possibly, remove parasites from sick fish.

 

Just a thought.

 

And keep in mind I'm a rank amateur.

[Rocket_155]

I think that 2 A. percula will be enough for a 12G. I agree with Masoch that if you want something to add something more interesting, for a cleaner shrimp or maybe a coral banded shrimp.

 

sjpresly: i think that you'll find that most Centropyge Sp. of angels will still grow to a large size the smaller of them being Centropyge lutorius (flame angel) and being at 7cm is abit to much bio load for such a small tank.

(No Flame in tended)

 

hth

[sjpresley]

No flame taken.

 

You mean C. loricula or did they change the name? C. loricula will get much larger (10 cm+) than any of the Centropyges I listed above which usually do top out around 7 cm. [interestingly, C. loricula is recommended for smaller tanks than the smaller Centropyges, must deal better with having less swimming room.] I don't know that is still only around 3 in. (and for most of those species that is a huge individual in captivity). I have asked a number of professionals and they all said essentially one of these fish would probably do fine in a 10G if it was the only fish. I had a C. flavicauda for about 8 months that was doing great and never bothered anything except my Xenia (which I had to give away), he then succumbed to mysterious girlfriend death while I was in Puerto Rico for three weeks doing research. After a billion questions that were all answered, "I don't know." I finally figured out that my skimmer lost it's prime while she was visiting her family one weekend. The skimmer was my main source of oxygenation so I think the poor guy suffocated. I added a small airstone in the back attached to a gang valve as a back up O2 source, which has helped stabalize my pH too. I added a C. argi and it is doing just swimmingly, has yet to bother any corals which in clude numberous LPS, goronians, corallimorphs, leathers as well as Montipora and Porites.

 

I was flamed regularly for putting a Centropyge in a 10G, but privately many people e-mailed me saying they had done it and the fish thrived.

 

Everyone says it is a crap shoot that they will bother corals, but I have yet to hear a personal account of one wreaking havoc on a reef.

 

Anyway, just my experience. Hey, I really wanted to put a juvenile tang in my 10G(and believe it or not many people say they will be fine for a while...at least I didn't do that.