Showfish suggestions

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djkms

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
#1
So I am getting near the end of my fish stocking for my 125.

I have:
2 False Perculas
Mckoskers Flasher Wrasse
Yellow Coris Wrasse
3 lyretail Anthias
Bellus Angel

I still want to get a Pearly Jawfish & a Red Mandarin (possibly pair).

So I am looking for a showfish. I like all the fish I have now but I want something that is gonna be a real looker. Would prefer it to be reef safe but will entertain reef/caution depending on the fish.

My tank is a mixed reef with display macros. I might consider moving the macros that will get eaten to the fuge if the fish is right (Tang perhaps?).

Now on for what I have been looking at! I have listed the info I have found on them, if you have any experience with any please let me know!

Marine Beta
Very Hardy. Shy. Will not accept any food but live to begin with, can be weened onto frozen. Can possibly eat small fish and inverts (mainly shrimp but known to leave alone cleaners).
View attachment 1230

Regal Angelfish
Difficult to keep. Risky with coral, especially zoas.
View attachment 1231

Potter's Angelfish
Extremely difficult to keep, coral at risk
View attachment 1232

Singapore Angelfish
Difficult to keep. Risky with coral, especially zoas.
View attachment 1233

Kole Tang
Easy to keep, will eat display macros
View attachment 1234

Purple Tang
Easy to care for, aggression might be a issue? Will eat display macros


Any other thoughts?
 
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djkms

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#6
#6
Zooid;67287 said:
A pair of goldflake angels :D
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[attachment=59371:name]
Now we are talking!!! WOW thats a showfish with a showprice LOL. Do they often come in pairs? Where to find? More info?

wicked demon;67288 said:
blue spoted jawfish
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[attachment=59374:name]
Nahhhh... I saw one at reefnpond today and passed on it. For some reason they blue spotted just doesn't do it for me, I think the pearly's are so much cooler looking. I also wouldn't consider jawfish to be a "show" fish. Most the time all your gonna see is their head unless they are moving gravel around.
 
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hurrafreak

Orca
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
#7
If you don't consider a Jawfish a "show" fish you might not consider my suggestion one either lol. You won't see them all the time but they get pretty decently sized, but engineer gobies are freaking WAY cool! They also have a cool simming swagger!
 
Mini T

Mini T

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#8
#8
With a 6 ft long tank and mp40's I bet you would be fine. I've been reading up on them. Soaking the nori in garlic and having a cleaner shrimp seems to help keep the ich at bay.
 
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djkms

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#14
#14
Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions guys.

I know I am probably going to get flamed for this but I have been looking at a Moorish Idol also. This is my all time favorite fish. Back in the day you couldn't keep this fish alive in captivity nor could you get it to eat. I have been following the Moorish Idol Primer thread closely on RC and there are a lot of success stories. There are also a lot of stories of them dying.

If I am even going to consider getting a Idol it will be from Diver's Den only. In the last few months they have had 1 show up for around $100. According to divers den it was eating frozen and pellet food. From what I understand the biggest challenge is getting them to eat. I think my best
chance for success would be to purchase one from Divers Den since they do one heck of a job getting it accustomed to captive life.

Even still I haven't worked up the courage to attempt a Idol yet. Have any of you had any experience with a Idol? I know some will say better left in the ocean and I have studied up on the difficulties of this fish, looking for real world experience.
 
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dsandfort

Copepod
#16
#16
You might want to look at the Genicanthus angels. The bellus and watanabei are pretty cool as pairs and perfectly reef safe. Also, they don't get too big. I have a pair of bellus that show spawning behavior from time to time.
 
Zooid

Zooid

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#17
#17
That would be cool.
Gather some of those eggs Del! :D
I'll bet Andy (Ummfish) would love a crack at raising them :)
 
rmougey

rmougey

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#18
#18
Genicanthus angels, as mentioned earlier, are a great choice. Also, a nice yellow bellied regal (P. diacanthus) could work well, though be aware that they may treat zoas like candy!

You mentioned that you were interested in a marine beta. They are beautiful fish. The downside is you will have to describe the fish because it won't 'show' at all. They hide. But when they do make an appearance.... wow.

Moorish Idols are hit and miss. Diver's Den is certainly a good choice, but you might also look locally. The fish do best when the supply chain is short. But they are difficult.

I find that I like fish with 'personality', or rather, a fish that is active and interacts with me when I walk into the room. There's nothing like that "Are you gonna feed me now?" stare....... :)
 
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djkms

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#19
#19
rmougey;67337 said:
Genicanthus angels, as mentioned earlier, are a great choice.
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I do love my Bellus and would consider her my show fish at the moment. I really like the Watanabei but the wife really doesn't like it for some reason. I wish the male Bellus's werent so ugly otherwise I would get one for the female!
rmougey;67337 said:
Also, a nice yellow bellied regal (P. diacanthus) could work well, though be aware that they may treat zoas like candy!
Click to expand...
This is probably my second choice when it comes to show fish. I absolutely love the regal. From my readings they are probably the most prone of angels to eat coral, especially zoas. I guess this wouldn't be so bad as long as the angel sticks to one type of coral. I don't have many zoas anyways. If it got a tasting for SPS though that would be a huge problem for me.

rmougey;67337 said:
You mentioned that you were interested in a marine beta. They are beautiful fish. The downside is you will have to describe the fish because it won't 'show' at all. They hide. But when they do make an appearance.... wow.
Click to expand...
What you mentioned is the one huge drawback for me when it comes to this fish. Again from reading up on it its possible that they become less shy and come out more as time goes on and some people just never see them :(

rmougey;67337 said:
Moorish Idols are hit and miss. Diver's Den is certainly a good choice, but you might also look locally. The fish do best when the supply chain is short. But they are difficult.
Click to expand...
I adore this fish. I just want to make sure I give it the best possible chance to live if acquired. I would love to get the fish locally however I don't think any local vendor will be able to quarantine it properly before selling it to me. Diver's Den will make sure it is eating properly, eating prepared/frozen food and have it go through a stringent treatment/acclimation period of at least 2 months. I think this is way more important for the Moorish Idol compared to other fish due to how sensitive they are to parasites and eating. Don't get me wrong im not trying to bash local retailers, I just don't think a local retailer would be willing to quarantine a MI for 2 months in a system by itself and get it on prepared foods then sell me the fish after 2 months. I just don't think it financially makes sense for the LFS. I know that I don't have the proper quarantine/acclimation setup to do this myself. All I have is a 20 gallon quarantine tank with a HOB filter. This works great for a smaller fish but the MI requires lots of feeding and care and I don't have a established enough QT to accommodate. The MI would have to go directly in my DT.
 
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