Back in the Saddle (Need advice)

[Bassoonguy]

Hi all,

I am rebuilding my tank after a complete loss of fish to Marine Velvet.. got a 75 gallon that I will be upgrading at some point to a 150 gallon, so long term bio load will not be an issue. My goals for the new tank setup include a more active and diverse tank, with smaller fish than the Miniatus and Volitans Lion I had last. Here are my choices for the tank.. let me know if I am on the wrong track with any of these:

1) Radiata Lion.. I've heard they only get to be about 8-10".. is this true? Any special requirements that set them apart from the general lion advice?

2) Regal (Hippo) Tang.. Iffy about this one.. will add activity to the tank.,. but I'm worried about Ich, ect. So If I don't go with the Tang.. one to another blue fish:

3) Indigo Hamlet (I've included a picture).. A dwarf carribbean grouper.. can't find much out about these guys.

4)Coral beauty or Flame Angel.. any preferences between the two? I have two feather dusters, and I've heard this can be a potential problem with the pygmy angels, more so with the flame angel.. also.. since the flame gets to be about 4" and the coral beauty 5".. I worry about gulp loss to the lion..


5) Longnose Butterflyfish .. have always loved these guys.. are they hard to keep?

So.. there it is.. what do you think of my choicers? Any potential compatibility issues? Caveats?

Please let me know

 

[michealprater]

1) Radiata Lion.. I've heard they only get to be about 8-10".. is this true? Any special requirements that set them apart from the general lion advice?

If you are looking for a smaller lion, I would recommend the dwarf zebra lion. They are about 4" full grown. Plus they look very much like a Volitan.

2) Regal (Hippo) Tang.. Iffy about this one.. will add activity to the tank.,. but I'm worried about Ich, ect. So If I don't go with the Tang.. one to another blue fish:

Regals are very susceptable to ick. If you want a active tang, Yellow tangs, and sohal tangs are about as hardy and active tangs as you can get. However, the sohal can be around the 100 dollar range.

4)Coral beauty or Flame Angel.. any preferences between the two? I have two feather dusters, and I've heard this can be a potential problem with the pygmy angels, more so with the flame angel.. also.. since the flame gets to be about 4" and the coral beauty 5".. I worry about gulp loss to the lion..

I have owned both, Both are fairly hardy and beautiful to look at. I prefer the flame. I never had a problem with them eating my feather dusters. If you go with the dwarf lion, he will never get big enough to eat either of these angels.

5) Longnose Butterflyfish .. have always loved these guys.. are they hard to keep?

I have never kept a butterfly. I have heard they can be very difficult. This is why I have never kept them.

3) Indigo Hamlet (I've included a picture).. A dwarf carribbean grouper.. can't find much out about these guys.

I have never heard of them. However the panther grouper is a beautiful, hardy selection.

Hope that helps!!

 

[Bassoonguy]

The Indigo Hamlet gets to be about 5 -6" long, so has none of the size considerations a Panther Grouper would have. I too have heard Butterflies are difficult, but that the Longnose is one of the hardier species. Sohal tang would be a bit too aggressive for a community tank of this nature, and I don't have my heart set for a tang.. just an active brightly colored fish (Green bird or Lunar Wrasse maybe instead?) I think the Radiata is a beautiful fish.. just don't like the looks of most of the other lions.. if I will go with a lion it would have to be Volitans, Radiata or antennae Lion.. radiata is the smallest of these three.. here's pic's of some of thefish I'm considering

 

[michealprater]

Well, to be honest I think your list would go fine in a 150 as long as you did your homework on your fish. I just thought you were looking for possible alternatives. Just a few suggestions I was throwing out. Good luck on you new tank!

 

[Bassoonguy]

Thanks! I appreciate the input... in fact it's exactly what I wanted LOL In fact.. it's interesting you should recommend a Sohal tang.. when I move into my new house (in 2 years) I plan on having a 750 gallon tank.. I'm definately having a Sohal in that tank.. beautiful fish!

 

[Guest]

I second the Sohal being beautiful....I also looked at the price tag today at the LFS...

 

[michealprater]

Another great thing about the sohal tang is that in a lot of peoples minds it is the hardiest of all tangs. So that kind of lessens the blow of the price, considering it might stick around for a while. I have read some respected authors (cant think of what book I seen it in) say that it is even hardier than the yellow tang. 8O

Some day I would like to have one also. In a 750 gallon tank, Im sure you could house a number of different tangs due to the size of the tank. Im green with envy. LOL