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chizzle

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Aug 16, 2006
Messages
95
Location
Va Beach, Virginia
Any suggestions for a fairly large, centerpiece, reef safe fish? Anything other than a tang, btw. Love them, but I'm not sure they are right for me. I know other people will use butterflies, angels, or triggers, but those aren't really reef safe, and I don't want to take the risk. I'm not sure that there is anything that meets this criteria, but I thought I'd ask anyways just in case I'm forgetting about a different species. Also, its a 75 gal tank. TIA.
 
Hmmm...

Flasher or Fairy wrasses, sunburst anthias ( if you can take care of it )

Thats about all I can thing of other than tangs and angels as centerpiece fish.
 
I like lionfish as a centerpiece fish..depends on what other fish are in the tank though.
 
They are reef safe. I have had two huge lions in my reef in the past and they were by far, my favorites. Of course, you must be comfortable with your choices, and if you arent comfortable with a lion then you shouldnt even ponder owning one.
 
I've never thought of lions as reef safe, but I see what your saying Hara. Reef safe in the sense they will not bother clams/corals I assume. Any other inverts(ie crabs, shrimp) or fish are pretty much guaranteed to be eaten, right?
 
That is what I though too Mike....I'd like to hear a bit more on your experience with the lions Hara, and what you had in the tank with them!
 
Shrimp would be toast. Snails and crabs were ok. I attempted a school of chromis once...he ate 7 in one night. all the other fish were larger, tangs, rabbit, butterfly and a marine betta.

The first one was in mid gulp with a pink spotted watchman goby and I smacked the tank glass and he literally coughed it back out and the fish was fine and lived forever after in my sump.

Corals were never disturbed and the lion was huge when it passed on.
 
Hmm...I definitely may have to look into the lion. I had always considered one, just not with the reef. Always just assumed I'd have to do an aggressive tank to have one.

Although I don't know how the boyfriend would feel because then he would definitely have to do all the work in the tank. Being severely allergic to fish & insect stings, you think I would have chosen a different hobby...but you know, you love what you can't have :)

Thanks for all the suggestions, it definitely helped & opened my eyes to a couple different possibilities. Much appreciation.
 
My LFS gets them all the time. Somehow she always get ones that are alway out in the open.
I agree with Hara, they are very beautiful fish and you will have to be careful of your other critter selection. Personally I think the Volitan Lionfish http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=279 is my favorite one.
As for your boyfriend, they usually don't actively attack hands/fish with their spines. It is more of a defense mechanisim. He would have to be more careful and maybe wear some thck gloves.
When I was looking at loinfish I considered a Harptail Blenny http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1141. Neat little guys. I had a forktail, kind of the same thing and he was neat.
 
Roka, its not the boyfriend with the allergies, its me. I try to do most of the work outside the tank - cleaning equipment, mixing water, testing, ect. Getting a lion would just guarantee that I can only do work outside of the tank. But anywho...

I did talk to him tonight about the lion & he loves our shrimp too much to risk it, or to get rid of them. So, I'll have to show him the different wrasse suggested & see what he says.

Oh yeah...and its not so much that we want a big fish, but just one that stands out on his own. Who knows...maybe we will just resort to the tang. Thanks for all the suggestions so far, though!
 
My only problem with the bi color is that it might be prone to nipping at the corals.
 
melosu58 said:
My only problem with the bi color is that it might be prone to nipping at the corals.

I've heard that while some do, most do not. It's a bit of a crap-shoot.
 
Regarding the Bicolor:

chizzle said:
Yeah, and I'm not really wanting to take that risk. Thanks for the suggestion though.

IMO it would be a much larger risk to your tank if you get a lionfish. They may not harm corals but much more would be in danger.
 
Sorry if I am missing something, but how would the lion be much more of a risk? If we did decide to get it, I would take the shrimp back to the LFS. What else would be in danger?
 
Basically, like groupers, anything a lion can fit in his mouth will be food. Of course, there are critters that have defense mechanisims, foxface lo, forktail blennys and others that will make the lionfish think twice (or even only once) as to weather he should try to swallow them. I think the general consensus is, pick your other critters carefully.
For your shrimp question, if the shrimp is a lot larger than the lionfish's mouth, you might be good to go......
 
Thanks Roka, I knew that also but I wasnt sure that was what was being implied. I don't think we are going to do the lion though, so oh well.
 
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