Aggressive fish eating question

[player676]

I am still in the process of doing my initial research and something came up that I havent seen answered in my various searches.

Aggressive fish that eat inverts like a clown trigger, puffer and grouper for example...will they also eat starfish and sea cucumbers? As I look at various clean up crews alot of them have these for detritus cleanup. Are there aggressive fish that eat snails, shrimp and crabs that will leave starfish and cucumbers alone?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Guest]

I am not a FOLWR guy but puffers will eat alot of inverts and probably those as well. Clown trigger may also.

Just a side note, I do not feel most groupers should be sold in the aquarium trade at all so make sure you know how big they get if you consider getting one please.

 

[player676]

I will...thanks. I'm looking at the Minitus for a 180g. From everything I've read they should be fine there. My father's office has a 220g and they have one thats about 18 inches and he looks small in there.

Like I said, right now I am still in the early stages. The tank probably wont get set up for 4-6 months.

I wish I could do a reef tank that has aggressive fish but that seems to be impossible. Almost all of the fish I want wouldnt do well in a reef. I am more of a fish guy than coral anyway.

 

[Innovator]

I would not put it past a trig or puffer to take down a starfish or cucumber, but lionfish and eels will most likely leave them be be as some others. The grouper should be fine in your 180g and can get along with other fish, but that will seemingly be trial and error. I am curious to see what fish you are interested in, in general? I do hope this tank will be adequately filtered (heavy)...

 

[player676]

The plan is for at least 300 lbs of total rock. Probably half live and half base. I might be leaning towards the 2lbs per gallon and go with 360 lbs. I'm kicking around a few different ideas for fish. I think I may posted my ideas before, but here are some I'm considering. Obviously not all of them, just ones I like so far:

Tangs - Yellow, Purple, Kole
Trigger - Clown, Picasso
Miniatus Grouper
Eel - Snowflake, Jeweled Moray
Clown - Maroon Yellow Stripe
Volitan Lionfish
Foxface - Yellow, Bicolor
Angel - Flame, Annularis, Imperator
Harlequin Tusk
Puffer - Spotted, Pocupine, Dogface
Lookdown
School of Chromis (obviously not if i go super aggressive)

So I know I listed alot, but thats kind of where I am. If I had to list the actual tank I wanted right now:

Miniatus Grouper
Yellow Foxface
Harlequin Tusk
Spotted Puffer
Clown Trigger
Jeweled Moray Eel

I am guessing this might be somewhat overstocked, but I thought with the huge liverock amount that it would be okay.

 

[Innovator]

There are several sp. of "jeweled moray" so which are you referring to? Also, by spotted puffer are you referring to Canthigaster sp. or perhaps Arothron sp? This is why scientific names are so important. There are mixes that can be formed with some certainty, but anything with the miniatus will be trial and error, but plausible. An oversized protein skimmer will be a must for this tank by the way.

 

[player676]

I do plan on a "top of the line" protein skimmer. I should have mentioned that as well.

Sorry about lack of scientific names. Here are the ones I am eyeing:

Jeweled Moray - Muraena lentiginosa http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1689

Spotted Puffer - Canthigaster sp. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=260

Thanks for your help

 

[Innovator]

A doable list from your interests would be:

x1 Pair: Premnas biaculeatus (Maroon Clownfish)
x1: Choerodon fasciatus (halequin Tuskfish)
x1: Siganus vulpinus (Foxface)
x1: Diodon holocanthus (Porcupine Pufferfish)
x1: Echidna nebulosa (Snowflake Eel)

A plausible mix could consist of:

x1: Cephalopholis miniata (Miniatus Grouper)
x1: Arothron nigropunctatus (Dogface Pufferfish)
x1: Pomacanthus annularis or imperator (Annularis or Imperator Angelfish)
x1: Rhinecanthus aculeatus (Huma or Picasso Trigger)
x1: Echidna nebulosa (Snowflake Eel)