Interested in fish I have no experience with

[bigbugoutfitters]

Fish I have really been thinking about and believe should be fine, just not sure on how they will all get along:

1 Mombasa Lionfish/fu manchu/dwarf(just one, in order of preference, and availability)
1 blue spotted/spotted/central American sharpnose puffer (just one, in order of preference, and availability)
1 Dusky wrasse(had one of these in my last tank, by far favorite fish ive seen)
Either some flasher/fairy wrasse or a Halichoeres chrysus(had one of these in the past, loved it)
1 pixy hawkfish

Fish that i would love, but feel free to talk me out of:
tomini tangs are cool, but this is a 60 gallon :'(
ghost ribbon eel

I have been looking at liveaquaria with my wife for the last few years dreaming about coming to a place in our lives where I/we can get back into the hobby. Well, I am currently building a stand for a 60G tank! Nice! My previous tanks have been wrasse focused and i definitely would like a wrasse or two, but I have always loved puffers and lions. As a kid our sunday brunch place had a FOWLR tank with triggers, a zebra moray, a spiny puffer and a big ol lionfish. Hawkfish would just be nice to watch rollin around on the rocks.

SO, from what I have read all of those fish are coral safe if not necessarily reef safe however I am not sure on the followning:
Stocking order being something like flasher, hawkfish, puffer, dusky wrasse(wanting a more mature tank, waiting longer), maybe tang, maybe eel, lionfish?
Is the bio load going to be bonkers on this tank, will have a fair bit of macro algae so that should help
thinking about going with tampa bay saltwater live sand, should be fine for the dusky wrasse to burrow into, no?

If you have any other questions about the build or plans for the tank, please do ask, thanks!

 

[blaxsun]

For a 60-gallon you might want to look at a dwarf lionfish a smaller pufferfish like a Valentini. This should help with the bio load. The tang is definitely out and I'm on the fence with the eel.

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

Spend a bit more time looking at the mombasas, and it sounds like they are more difficult. Looks like the dwarf is the way to go, and i am perfectly fine with that. As for the puffer from what i understood the spotted puffers are right around the same size as the Valentini puffer with the south american perhaps being even smaller. As for the tang, its been in the back of my mind,
knew i shouldnt ask, but at 1 in the morning thought that perhaps a new species of 2 inch long tang had been discovered. Haha.
Is there a particular reason for your eel fence sitting?

 

[nereefpat]

What are the dimensions of the 60 gallon? There are 2x2x2 cubes up to 4 foot 55s.

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

Ah, definitely should have stated! 48x18.5x16.5

 

[nereefpat]

Ah, definitely should have stated! 48x18.5x16.5

That's got the footprint of a 75, so the tomini tang should actually be okay.

Fuzzy dwarf lion would be a good choice.
I don't have experience with those puffers.
Some of the bigger hawks, like the spotted or flame, might be safer with the lion.
H. chrysus wrasse is always great. Any fairies need to be big enough to not be eaten. Fairies are also generally peaceful, so that might not be what you want.
I would skip the ribbon eels unless you already have experience there, or you are dedicating a tank for them. Difficult.

 

[vlangel]

I have a tomini tang in a 56 gallon column tank and it's doing great, even though I know my tank is a bit small for it.

I would think any of the sharpnose Toby type puffers would work in your tank. I would get one except I love my shrimp.

Ribbon eels are tough to keep so that is a consideration.

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

Hmmm, from my experience the ghost ribbon eel is not like the ribbon eels. https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/1737/?pcatid=1737
Still can be challenging to feed but not to the level of the black and blue.
Just saw that the petco 50% off sale just began, but it looks like they dont have the 60 breeder on sale! dang! It does look like the 75 gallon is half off which is kinda peaking my interest however I am not sure how my two AI primes will do for a 75, perhaps it is pushing it?

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

The eel would largely be the icing on the cake, not totally necessary for my happiness like the dusky wrasse or lionfish.

 

[dennis romano]

I had two ghost ribbon eels. Both were easy to get to eat. They loved small fresh shrimp from the supermarket. Stab the shrimp with a rod and place it by their face and they should be fine. The only problem is tank size, both were three foot long and active. One was lost to carpet surfing, the other got into a fight with another fish over food and had its jaw broken.

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

Hmmm, perhaps eel will be last addition, added only if the tank would not be burdened by the big ol sneaky snake fish.

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

Some of the bigger hawks, like the spotted or flame, might be safer with the lion.

Thought the pixy was the same as the spotted?

Pixy/Spotted Hawkfish (Coral Hawkfish): Saltwater Aquarium Fish

Perhaps a longnose?

 

[lion king]

You want to learn about lionfish. click my name and "find all threads". Do some research on your own and if you have specific questions, I'll be happy to answer them. The mombasa is a very difficult fish and rarely makes it. The fu is also a very challenging fish. A 60g is too small for a ghost eel.

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

I was sorta hoping that you would reply to this thread! Definitely going to stay away from the mombasa and the fu, stick with the dwarf and dip my toes into the lionfish world. I had an anglerfish for a good while in college so i have experience with the predators. Awesome big ol yellow warty, started on frozen and eventually got him to eat silversides. He ate a frag and died... My only thought was that it was dislodged, saw the movement and took his shot. Was planning on getting an aqueon from petco during their sale and unfortunately they arent including the 60 gallon. But they are doing the 75 gallon, nearly the same footprint. May as well...
As for the ghost ribbon eel I had it in my head that it was 2'4" on live aquaria, not 3'4". dang. Perhaps a snowflake, but if it doesnt feel as though it is needed when the time comes Ill be fine foregoing it.
I'll have to check out some of your previous posts, just got 70 pounds of dry rock for free, gonna get 40 pounds live rock when ive got everything put together. Ive been thinking alot about aquascaping recently and I suppose I may need to take the scape into consideration with lionfish and the puffer if I am wanting to keep any sps thatll be needing higher flow. Any advice?

 

[polyppal]

those ribbon eels are expert-level fish, prob not going to have much luck with one in a small tank. 60g is pretty small for the predatory fish your interested in...

 

[i cant think]

Does it NEED to be predatory fish?
If you also want communal fish that you may not have experience in then I can name a few I love, have kept and are relatively more difficult than others.

 

[lion king]

Tips for scape that lions enjoy, they do need a cave, maybe even a couple to choose from. They will perch on the vertical face of rocks. They may get less active in sps flow so provide areas protected from direct blast. They will likely end up perching alot or hanging in their cave if the flow is overwhelming.

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

those ribbon eels are expert-level fish, prob not going to have much luck with one in a small tank. 60g is pretty small for the predatory fish your interested in...

I havent had the ghost ribbon myself but I have second hand experience acclimating and feeding em. maybe the owner got lucky and had an easy one. Regardless if I do end up getting an eel itll probably be a snowflake. Ive had one in the past but it could be good to have an easier refresher on keeping eels with the snowflake. As for size of tank, I will probably just go with a 75, and the 2 predatory fish you are speaking of are the lion and the puffer I assume? Dwarf lion should be alright in a 60, even better in a 75 from what I have read and the puffers are pretty dang small, the CA sharpnose puffer is only 3.5" on LA. My inspiration for this tank is largely coming from a 40B that was featured on nano-reef a handful of years back that had 3 lions, an eel and a few other inhabitants. Very cool successful tank. Gotta imagine that 1 dwarf lion in a tank nearly twice as large wouldnt be too much.

Does it NEED to be predatory fish?
If you also want communal fish that you may not have experience in then I can name a few I love, have kept and are relatively more difficult than others.

I dont NEED a fish tank but i get where you are coming from. If this was my first reef tank I would definitely go with a standard community tank. Ive successfully had some angels, gobies, wrasses, blennies, dottybacks, seahorses, etc but I have always been drawn towards predator species. I have had frogfish in the past so this wont be my first time dipping my toes into predator fish, even had an eel about 20 years ago(i was 14 and didnt like it when it ate my cleaner shrimp so I brought it back to the LFS. Who would've guessed that an eel would eat a shrimp!) I am a fishing guide and outfitter so I definitely get some of the allure to predator fish due to that.

 

[i cant think]

I havent had the ghost ribbon myself but I have second hand experience acclimating and feeding em. maybe the owner got lucky and had an easy one. Regardless if I do end up getting an eel itll probably be a snowflake. Ive had one in the past but it could be good to have an easier refresher on keeping eels with the snowflake. As for size of tank, I will probably just go with a 75, and the 2 predatory fish you are speaking of are the lion and the puffer I assume? Dwarf lion should be alright in a 60, even better in a 75 from what I have read and the puffers are pretty dang small, the CA sharpnose puffer is only 3.5" on LA. My inspiration for this tank is largely coming from a 40B that was featured on nano-reef a handful of years back that had 3 lions, an eel and a few other inhabitants. Very cool successful tank. Gotta imagine that 1 dwarf lion in a tank nearly twice as large wouldnt be too much.

I dont NEED a fish tank but i get where you are coming from. If this was my first reef tank I would definitely go with a standard community tank. Ive successfully had some angels, gobies, wrasses, blennies, dottybacks, seahorses, etc but I have always been drawn towards predator species. I have had frogfish in the past so this wont be my first time dipping my toes into predator fish, even had an eel about 20 years ago(i was 14 and didnt like it when it ate my cleaner shrimp so I brought it back to the LFS. Who would've guessed that an eel would eat a shrimp!) I am a fishing guide and outfitter so I definitely get some of the allure to predator fish due to that.

That makes sense - I too am drawn to the predator side but man when I got into the nano half of community fish I loved it!
Would you believe there’s Atleast 7 (Possibly 8 if the 8th is even alive) fish in this Max Nano haha.

 

[bigbugoutfitters]

My wife has a 16 biocube for nano community fish. Slowly upgrading the pumps, lighting etc on it. Should be fun.