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Glad to help. I think you may be able to do two but three Rabbitfish is one too many. A Foxface and a non-Foxface would make for some contrast. Having that many in an 8 foot tank isn’t what I’d do personally, but hey if it works and the owner’s happy that’s good. They do also tend to be social fish that travel in groups in the wild, although I am not sure if they travel in groups as large as that of many Tangs. What I do know is on average they’re more peaceful, even skittish, so bullying / incidents of aggression regarding Siganidae as a whole from my experience, tend to be rare compared to many of their Acanthurid cousins.
I think your idea of building the tank around Tilefish social interactions could be a very interesting one and I’d love to see how it turns out. The Tilefish that form the bulk of your stocking for this family all belong to the “Flashing Tilefish”, so while there may be temperamental and maybe some minor differences between species, in my opinion they will have the same basic requirements though I could be totally wrong as I don’t know much about them. I am not sure how they go with Dartfish but since they are all relatively peaceful and even shy fish, I don’t think it would be too bad.
I think with the fish you are considering, since Tilefish will be your focus, it would be best not to have any overly aggressive fish especially not ones that are bottom dwellers. Regarding the Hawkfish, in a 7ft 210 I think there would be enough space for them to coexist peacefully. They like to perch more than remain on the bottom.
I actually like you are keeping it (almost) Tang-less. Tangs are all the buzz so it’s really refreshing to me to see someone do a big shift away from them. I am personally not really into a tank full of different Tangs swimming around, it’s frankly boring.
Onto the butterflies, quite a list you’ve got there (though I know it’s been narrowed since). I would pick at most, two of the more difficult ones that normally have relatively more specialized diet requirements, and let the other two be ones with better records (as far as butterflies go) in captivity.
Looking at your list, according to my research the ones that have a not so bad reputation in captivity are:
1. Madagascar
2. Semilavartus (though some people can’t get them to do well, others can)
3. Burgess (deepwater fish, will have to pay more though it’s the most affordable in the subgenus Roaps)
4. Pakistan (though some people have trouble with them getting infections and getting them to eat)
5. Mueller’s Coralfish (Chelmon)
6. Marginal Coralfish (Chelmon)
7. The Prognathodes
I see issues with Falcifer and Marcellae. Falcifer because it is a rare and deepwater fish that needs cooler temperatures, and Marcellae because it is native to the West African coast where natural coral reefs don’t grow due to a lack of warm ocean currents, and thus also requires cooler temperatures. Aculeatus would probably be your best shot at getting a member of this genus to thrive at normal reef temperatures. There was a member here called pcon who keeps one in his reef (albeit at a slightly lower temperature due to some of his other deepwater fish) and he said the Aculeatus wasn’t as easy to condition as he thought due to it being a shy and picky feeder at first, though it’s settled in well.
The rest of the butterflies on your list belong to the difficult / very difficult category mostly due to their dietary requirements.
The two non-Copperband…. Copperbands may be hardier than the standard Copperband though Bob Fenner of Wet Web Media believes that the Marginalis and Muelleri are actually less hardy than the standard Copperband. As for whether this has any truth, I cannot say. But I’d imagine that if you can get a Copperband to thrive, neither of these two should present an issue.
It’s great that you will be able to get your hands on an Eibli x Lemonpeel. It will look awesome.
Looking forward to this tank being set up and coming to fruition. It’s good to take things gradually and slowly. If you want to look into any other fish I’ll try my best to see what I can find about it.
I would also get the butterflies settled early on before adding them to a very crowded tank. This is to make sure they don’t get too stressed and are eating well.
I think your idea of building the tank around Tilefish social interactions could be a very interesting one and I’d love to see how it turns out. The Tilefish that form the bulk of your stocking for this family all belong to the “Flashing Tilefish”, so while there may be temperamental and maybe some minor differences between species, in my opinion they will have the same basic requirements though I could be totally wrong as I don’t know much about them. I am not sure how they go with Dartfish but since they are all relatively peaceful and even shy fish, I don’t think it would be too bad.
I think with the fish you are considering, since Tilefish will be your focus, it would be best not to have any overly aggressive fish especially not ones that are bottom dwellers. Regarding the Hawkfish, in a 7ft 210 I think there would be enough space for them to coexist peacefully. They like to perch more than remain on the bottom.
I actually like you are keeping it (almost) Tang-less. Tangs are all the buzz so it’s really refreshing to me to see someone do a big shift away from them. I am personally not really into a tank full of different Tangs swimming around, it’s frankly boring.
Onto the butterflies, quite a list you’ve got there (though I know it’s been narrowed since). I would pick at most, two of the more difficult ones that normally have relatively more specialized diet requirements, and let the other two be ones with better records (as far as butterflies go) in captivity.
Looking at your list, according to my research the ones that have a not so bad reputation in captivity are:
1. Madagascar
2. Semilavartus (though some people can’t get them to do well, others can)
3. Burgess (deepwater fish, will have to pay more though it’s the most affordable in the subgenus Roaps)
4. Pakistan (though some people have trouble with them getting infections and getting them to eat)
5. Mueller’s Coralfish (Chelmon)
6. Marginal Coralfish (Chelmon)
7. The Prognathodes
I see issues with Falcifer and Marcellae. Falcifer because it is a rare and deepwater fish that needs cooler temperatures, and Marcellae because it is native to the West African coast where natural coral reefs don’t grow due to a lack of warm ocean currents, and thus also requires cooler temperatures. Aculeatus would probably be your best shot at getting a member of this genus to thrive at normal reef temperatures. There was a member here called pcon who keeps one in his reef (albeit at a slightly lower temperature due to some of his other deepwater fish) and he said the Aculeatus wasn’t as easy to condition as he thought due to it being a shy and picky feeder at first, though it’s settled in well.
The rest of the butterflies on your list belong to the difficult / very difficult category mostly due to their dietary requirements.
The two non-Copperband…. Copperbands may be hardier than the standard Copperband though Bob Fenner of Wet Web Media believes that the Marginalis and Muelleri are actually less hardy than the standard Copperband. As for whether this has any truth, I cannot say. But I’d imagine that if you can get a Copperband to thrive, neither of these two should present an issue.
It’s great that you will be able to get your hands on an Eibli x Lemonpeel. It will look awesome.
Looking forward to this tank being set up and coming to fruition. It’s good to take things gradually and slowly. If you want to look into any other fish I’ll try my best to see what I can find about it.
I would also get the butterflies settled early on before adding them to a very crowded tank. This is to make sure they don’t get too stressed and are eating well.