Stocking suggestion - large tank fish only - one or two last fish?

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daverf

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
#1
I definitely have room for 1-2 more...Let me know any suggestions...

Current stocking, all medium to large size fish, semi-aggressive environment:
Volitans Lion
Porcupine Puffer
Harlequin Tusk
Red Coris Wrasse
Bluehead Wrasse
Engineer Goby
Bicolor Goatfish
Zebra Moray Eel (not in yet)

What I don't want:
Another wrasse or eel.
A trigger, angel, butterfly, hawkfish (all tried, aggression issues)
A tang (200G tank, but only 5', not long enough)
A grouper
Any fish that will be eaten by the volitans.
Any highly aggressive fish.

Maybe:
Another puffer? Or lion?
Something colorful and active.
Vegetarian (not required).
 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#2
#2
Are you out on the reef safe angels and triggers? They are not aggressive, but are not wusses.

I was going to suggest:
Bluethroat, Sargassum or Crosshatch Trigger
Swallowtail Angelfish

Are you into rabbits? Magnificent foxface are pretty cool.
 
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daverf

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#4
#4
Doug, thanks for the ideas...appreciated...got me looking again at reef safe triggers or angels...awesome fish, maybe I need to rethink on thim. I do like rabbits as well. Hm...

Daniel, bamboo shark - I don't know if I have a good setup or compatible group for one. Post or PM me the details and a pic, I give it some thought...Do you the species, how big are they now, what are they eating, price...thanks...

Appreciate any other suggestions or ideas.
 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#5
#5
If you ever get a Genicanthus Angel or X trigger and don't want 'em, send me a PM and I will be right there with cash. ...what a guarantee, huh? They are my favorite fish along with leopard wrasses, and.... wait for it:

Mimic tangs stay small and are great tankmates - my favorite tang and almost should not be considered a tang. Purples stay small too, but can be a-holes sometimes.

I had great success with Semilevartus being good fish, even for butterflies.
 
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daverf

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
#7
Doug, stop twisting my arm! OK OK I'll get one of each! Ha. Seriousness, I do appreciate that, maybe I will to a bluejaw trigger (again, smaller than before)...but you got me thinking about mimic tangs as well now too...hmmm... and then there's the bamboo shark...

So Daniel, let me know the details. Tank is 200G, 5' x 2' x 30" high, I'd want to research the type of bamboo you got and give it some thought. I'm not too worried about the goby, it is about a foot long, but then again a shark may want to taste anyone in the tank I suppose...
 
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daverf

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#8
#8
Any idea whether a dwarf lion would fare OK in my tank? Fu man chu, etc.
 
dvenson

dvenson

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#10
#10
I don't know the exact type of bamboo shark but they are brown with lighter brown stripes and about 24 inches. We have 2 in a 500 gallon so 1 should do ok in a 200. They eat silversides and have been in an aquarium for almost a year now
 
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daverf

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#12
#12
Appreciate that the ideas keep coming...

Shark...Daniel...I think I'll pass, but I sure appreciate the offer. I don't think it would be comfy in my digs for long, I just don't have that much tank space and my system is tall (not deep/wide).
 
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daverf

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#13
#13
jda123;234082 said:
Mimic tangs stay small and are great tankmates - my favorite tang and almost should not be considered a tang.
Click to expand...
What do you mean by this? More peaceful than tangs on average...less need for wide swimming space...etc?
 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#14
#14
Both. Mine never bothered anything and I had mine in a standard 120G even when adults. I have seen 8" on some sites, but mine grew pretty quick to 5" and pretty much stopped. They have one in some store in a frag tank (I forgot which one) - that is about the size that mine was and just as fat. I doubt that it would get much bigger since I feed my fish like pigs and I had it for many years. They just kind of take a mellow cruise.

I never really had any agression issues with tangs as long as they got fed a lot in my fish-only tank. However, the mimic was in my reef where I did not let them chow down like in my fish tank.

Great fish. The pics on the net don't do them justice. I love the color.
 
D

daverf

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#15
#15
which species did you have? lemonpeel mimic?
 
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jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#16
#16
Yes, the chocolate tang, or lemonpeel mimic. Elite Reef had that mimic - I just remembered - it is an adult and really close to what I would consider full size if you want to look at it.

You know, I always wondered why they mimic'd the super-bad-*** lemonpeel angel. I have always though of lemonpeels as the scourge of the ocean. Maybe they wanted to scare some polyps and clam mantles?
 
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daverf

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#17
#17
I'm leaning towards a chocolate mimic tang, a rabbitfish (not sure on species but keeping options open to find a great colored fish). I'm also considering a bicolor angel and/or kole tang. I don't really think I can do all of these as I don't want to overstock.

Anyone think I have a bad pick in here?

Don't have the puffer any more, but do have a second large volitans lion. I was afraid a fu man chu wouldn't be able to compete for food in my tank, elbow to elbow with the rest of the rowdy/big crew.

I did lol on that last post Doug. Thanks for all the suggestions.
 
Cake_Boss

Cake_Boss

Blue Whale
M.A.S.C Club Member
#18
#18
Re: Stocking suggestion - large tank fish only - one or two last fish?

No idea Dave, hopefully smarter guys can come in.

jda123;234595 said:
You know, I always wondered why they mimic'd the super-bad-*** lemonpeel angel. I have always though of lemonpeels as the scourge of the ocean. Maybe they wanted to scare some polyps and clam mantles?
Click to expand...
They they did it all for the noo......nevermind
 
J

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#19
#19
Magnificent Foxface is by far my favorite rabbit. Their colors are amazing under reef lighting - no idea what you have. They also destroy the largest range of algae, IME.

This is a late addition, but how about a zebra eel? They are super wusses and a really good community fish. I used to have a zebra eel and a gunea fowl puffer that would hide together in the same "den."
 
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daverf

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#20
#20
jda123;236544 said:
This is a late addition, but how about a zebra eel? They are super wusses and a really good community fish. I used to have a zebra eel and a gunea fowl puffer that would hide together in the same "den."
Click to expand...
Do you think they'd play nice with the engineer goby? I see mixed results in combining these with eels, since they occupy the same niche (space at least). Maybe I'd be better off throwing more engineer gobies in, versus a zebra eel?
 
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