Fish Wish List.....need advice please.

[thepirate]

my 150 gal reef tank is now fully up and running (week 4), i have added my first two fish (tank bred percula clowns) and a small clean up crew.

having spent time in the lfs and carrying out my research i have come up with the following fish wish list:

moorish idol
mandarin
goby (sand sifter)
copperband
regal tang
polker dot (sweet lips)
yellow tang
flame angel
coral beauty
goldrim tang
red firefish


any advice would be appreciated. should i avoid any of these fish?
in what order should i add the fish? i'm aware that the mandarin needs a mature tank, are there any others?

i plan on adding one or two fish at the begginning of each month.

can't wait to add more fish........i know i must be patient though!!

cheers

Mark

 

[lando]

moorish idol

Skip it. It WILL die in your tank. This fish should not be sold in the aquarium trade. Leave them in the ocean.

mandarin

You need lots of LR (suggested over 100lbs) and a very healthy pod population. This is best added to a mature tank.

copperband

Also needs lot so LR for grazing and may comepte with the manderin for food. These fish are difficult to keep and very hard to get to accept prepared foods. Not a great survival record in captivity.
The rest of the list looks okay. Just remember to add these fish very slowly one at a time.

 

[Fluff]

I agree with everything lando has said. I just wanted to add, the sweetlips is a very beautiful fish but it may eat any small inverts in the tank. Including pods, serpent stars, snails, etc. Also, they are difficult to feed. Be sure it's eating before you buy it. You may have to feed it live food and slowly wean it onto prepared foods.

Good luck with your new tank.

 

[Rach101]

Skip it. It WILL die in your tank. This fish should not be sold in the aquarium trade. Leave them in the ocean

My uncle had a saltwater tank, he tried for over three years to be able to keep a few but every time they died. He even called in a professional and they couldnt do much more themselves. In the long run he spent alot of money, and gave up.

 

[lando]

He even called in a professional and they couldnt do much more themselves. In the long run he spent alot of money, and gave up.

Even a lot of public aquariums do not ave success keeping the morish idol. please, please, please do not support the collecting of this fish.

 

[thepirate]

thanks for the advice, the moorish idols are very beautiful but i won't get one if it doesn't have a great survival rate.

does anyone know of an eqaully attractive fish which is easier to keep in a reef tank.

cheers

mark

 

[Phyl]

There's a butterflyfish that looks just like a moorish idol: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=242

No go on the "reef" though.

 

[thepirate]

any recomendations on which order i should introduce the fish? will there be any problems with aggression?

does the yellow tang need a mature tank?

are any of these fish suseptable to ick?

cheers

Mark

 

[lando]

There's a butterflyfish that looks just like a moorish idol

There is one species of heniochus that is considered feef safe. h. diphreutes is the reef safe version. It is often listed as the "schooling bannerfish". Be very careful not to get it's close cousin h. acuminatus, it looks very similar but is not reef safe. As the title suggests, the schooling bannerfish does best in groups of two or more.

 

[Oceanicsublimat]

I recommend this http://www.tmc-publishing.com/books/book-54.htm and this http://www.tmc-publishing.com/books/book-36.htm
Very good resources for picking and choosing

 

[AR15 guy]

Firefish are pretty cool. I added one to my 38 gallon today. Along with my 2 O. clowns. They don't seem to mind each other one bit.