Halloween-Themed Tank

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Hey everyone Halloween-themed creatures list below!
(I know it's the wrong season - sorry - but I'll forget if I wait until October.)

Long story short, it occurred to me that a lot of critters in our tanks have common names that could work for a Halloween-themed tank. So, knowing that a lot of people love Halloween, I figured I would share a list of the creatures I could think of with names that I associate with sort of the "classical" image of Halloween (I haven't listed any corals or macroalgae here, but there are things like Jack-o-Lantern Leptoseris, Dead Man's Fingers [Codium spp.], and Sailor's Eyeball [Valonia ventricosa - A.K.A. Bubble Algae] that would work well; I also intentionally tried to avoid totally unrealistic options like the Vampire Squid - sorry). A few of these (like the Witch Flounder) would likely need to be special-ordered for a hefty sum, but the vast majority of them are relatively common/easy to find.

I've tried to list some particularly important info (such as if they are predatory or coldwater), but I've likely missed adding that info for some of the creatures below (in some cases, I purposefully left the tag off as the common name applies to multiple species - so in cases where the tag may or may not apply depending on the specific species involved, I left the tag off).

If you can think of anything I missed (or any corals/algae that work well) that might be viable, feel free to add them here!

Inverts:
-Halloween Hermit Crab
-Halloween Urchin
-Red Heart Urchin
-Nassarius Snails ("Zombie Snails")
-Spider Conch
-Spider Crab
-Ghost Shrimp
-Candy Cane/Candy Stripe/Randall's Pistol Shrimp
-Skeleton Shrimp
-Blood Cockle/Blood Clam (*these have hemoglobin in their blood and can pass blood-borne diseases to people)
-Giant Heart Cockle (there are smaller heart cockle species, but this is the only one I've seen actively sold)
-Black Widow Bubble Tip Anemone
-Serpent Starfish
-Blood Starfish (Coldwater)
-Bat Starfish (Coldwater - Predator)
-Razor Clam (Coldwater)
-Moon Snail (Coldwater - Predator)
-Sea Spider (Pycnogonida) (*these are considered pests, and they typically eat corals)

Fish:
-Batfish
-Midnight Angelfish
-Fiji Blue Devil Damselfish (or any number of other "devilfish")
-Dracula Goby
-Vampire Tang
-Ghost Pipefish
-Blood Spot Anthias
-Firefish
-Lantern Basslet
-Coral Catfish (or other Catfish species, but the others I've seen for sale get huge)
-Candy Basslet
-Sea Moth
-Scrawled Filefish/Broomfish
-Broom Filefish/Broom Leatherjacket
-Dusky Wrasse
-Tonguefish
-Lizard Blenny
-Snake Eel (Predator?)
-Duckbill/Witch Eel (Predator?)
-Wolf Eel/Wolf Blenny (Predator)
-Lizardfish (Predator)
-Toadfish (Predator)
-Frogfish (Predator)
-Sea Goblin (Predator)
-Hagfish (Coldwater)
-Snailfish (Coldwater)
-Witch Flounder (Coldwater)
-Facciola's Sorcerer (Coldwater)
-Dogface Witch Eel (Coldwater?)
-Lanternfish/Flashlight Fish (Coldwater)
-Candlefish (Coldwater)
-Sea Raven (Coldwater - Predator)
-Wolf Fish (Coldwater - Predator)

 

[KrisReef]

CANDY APPLE RED/Green ZOA –​

Bleeding apple Scolymia, Bowerbanki

And coral bones

 

[Slocke]

Great list!!
I was going to ask but I guess both types of Batfish would work depending on if you wanted a pretty tank or a gross one.

I don’t know if it’s possible for a hobbyist but I love chimera’s and I’ve seen Ratfish on display in a public aquariums cold water section .

 

[AydenLincoln]

I’ll add zombie clownfish to the list!

 

[NotReefsafe]

Achilles tang and black tang!

 

[Stomatopods17]

Aren't blood clams illegal?

I have no idea if it'd be possible (mostly because of how destructive these guys are so couldn't imagine a reef) but a tide pool mangrove style tank with halloween moon crabs (Gecarcinus quadratus) sounds fun to try since they need both land and saltwater.

 

[L0L_Z]

Snake eels are pretty fish safe and somewhat invert safe. They do get sizable.

 

[toadstool_paradise]

Midnight Ocellaris!

 

[i cant think]

Great list!!
I was going to ask but I guess both types of Batfish would work depending on if you wanted a pretty tank or a gross one.

I don’t know if it’s possible for a hobbyist but I love chimera’s and I’ve seen Ratfish on display in a public aquariums cold water section .

Chimaera’s are my dream fish to own if they ever are available to hobbyists. I don’t know why but they do have that puppy look in my eyes.

 

[Fish Styx]

Blood shrimp,
Angler fish (because they're freaky looking),
And, along the same vein, God forbid, Bobbitt worms <shiver>

 

[i cant think]

The Ornate Ghost Pipefish would be perfect for this list if it was available in captivity.

 

[i cant think]

A more available one in captivity is Halichoeres margaritaceus, which is over here called the Bleeding Heart Wrasse as it it has a red spot right where you’d expect a fish’s heart to be
(Not my photo)

 

[i cant think]

Blood shrimp,
Angler fish (because they're freaky looking),
And, along the same vein, God forbid, Bobbitt woms <shiver>

My first ever pest I had to face was a ‘family’ of 4 bobbits… This was in the early 2010s when we didn’t really have ‘cures’ to bobbit worms and being able to keep the rock. I ended up smashing that piece up and binning it because there was no hope in saving it.
By the way, the largest had to be a good 2-3’ long with the smallest being only 5-6”.

 

[Fish Styx]

My first ever pest I had to face was a ‘family’ of 4 bobbits… This was in the early 2010s when we didn’t really have ‘cures’ to bobbit worms and being able to keep the rock. I ended up smashing that piece up and binning it because there was no hope in saving it.

Nightmare fuel!

 

[i cant think]

Nightmare fuel!

Definitely was! I haven’t faced a Eunice worm since, however I know they can go undetected for a long time, mine went undetected for a few years and then suddenly my large fish began to vanish and that’s when I decided to scout and low and behold, 4 large bobbits.

 

[Fish Styx]

Definitely was! I haven’t faced a Eunice worm since, however I know they can go undetected for a long time, mine went undetected for a few years and then suddenly my large fish began to vanish and that’s when I decided to scout and low and behold, 4 large bobbits.

I saw a video many years ago on a different forum that shall remain unamed, where a guy had to completely break down his tank to get it out. When he did, it was over 4' long! Good lord....

 

[Fish Styx]

Here you go!

 

[Slocke]

Speaking of bobbit worms heres a funny and rude "Educational" video on them. If you haven't discovered Ze Frank then welcome to the weird world of comedy documentaries. Warning Rude Language:

 

[Fish Styx]

Speaking of bobbit worms heres a funny and rude "Educational" video on them. If you haven't discovered Ze Frank then welcome to the weird world of comedy documentaries. Warning Rude Language:

This is gold!!!! Bwahahahahahahahahahahahah

 

[rmorris_14]

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