finally narrowing it down!

[amkelly]

hey everyone,
iv done some more research on the last fish i wanted to put in my tank. ive narrowed it down to about 5 wrasses which i have done research on and would like to hear your input on them.

first a little background on my tank... 65 gallon reef ready tank with a bicolor angel, green mandarin, 2 black percs, 1 maroon clown... the maroon will be leaving soon so basically 4 fish in the tank. 20 gallon sump with Green star polyps and gonipora... Metal halide lighting. now for the choices... keep in mind i want a group or pair of these

Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse: i like the idea of the caprenters wrasse because it is compatible with all the fish i own and its the cheapest of the wrasses i want. 1 male and 2 females?

Scott's Fairy Wrasse: Once again compatible with all the fish i have. just wondering on whether you can keep maybe 1 male and 2 females... any thoughts?

McCosker's Flasher Wrasse: the same as the other two...

thank you

 

[cmor1701d]

They are all jumpers. I found my Carpenters Flasher had gone carpet surfing on night. Be sure to keep eggcrate or similar on at all times.

 

[amkelly]

i realize they are all jumpers but im not to worried about that... im more worried about the bioload in my tank... would it be possible to keep 1 male and 2 females of either of these fish in my tank.. that would give me a total of 7 fish... or should i just keep 1 male and 1 female which would give me 6 total fish

 

[cmor1701d]

The Scott's will get too big for your tank (up to 6"). The other two only grow to about 2". With a good skimmer, infrequent feeding and weekly PWC you may be able to keep a pair (6 fish total). I stress MAY as IMO you would be at or over the limits. Others will have different opinions.

The mandarin doesn't add much to the bioload. Are you able to generate enought pods to keep it healthy?

 

[amkelly]

yeah im positive my tank has enough pods for the mandarin... its been running for atleast a year and a half now and the mandarin has been doing fine...

 

[melosu58]

Hopefully you`ll be able to train it to eat other food source while you have it. Like maybe mysis, vitamin fortified brine and flake.

 

[austinsdad]

How are your nitrates?

I like the threesome also. The scott's can get big and move REAL fast come feeding time. Basically a hog. And nothing prettier than a flashing male.

Still waiting to find me a threesome too. Had'm at once. One female jumped after a few months. Then the male a month later. Finally, the remaining female lasted for about 7 months before she just disappeared. Didn't jump though. Nice friendly fish.

 

[amkelly]

yeah im hoping he will come around... and eat something that is prepared for him... that would be a relief and make me happy... the nitrates are fine... actually tot ell you the truth everything is thriving and since the tank has been running so long i dont test anymore.. as long as nothing dies... my tank has seemed to reach its equalibrium which is awesome... which is why when i introduce the trio or pair... it will be one at a time with the females first