My 180 Gallon "Pair" Themed Build Thread

[Victoria M]

@Victoria M
I am posting from my notes as I did not start this build thread when I started the tank a couple year ago. However, I am posting in order of when things happened. Please notice the dates as I listed them in the post. So this last post is the second Interruptus to form a pair as this is a "pair" themed tank. (Fish to be mostly in pairs as they would be in the wild.)

I thought so. But then I got confused...thank you for clarifying. I know these issues have passed then, but have you ever tried putting up a mirror to distract a fish from other fish? That and pictures have worked for me. If this is still ever an issue I mean. And are you still working on stocking the tank?

 

[Victoria M]

On February 6, 2019 I received word from one of my vendors that a juvenile Interruptus was available! Knowing that these fish are rare to find I jumped on it immediately.
Picture of fish sent by the vendor.

That is the prettiest little one.

 

[MrsBugmaster]

I thought so. But then I got confused...thank you for clarifying. I know these issues have passed then, but have you ever tried putting up a mirror to distract a fish from other fish? That and pictures have worked for me. If this is still ever an issue I mean. And are you still working on stocking the tank?

I have tried the mirror method in other tanks, but have not in this one.
I am still stocking the tank.

 

[puffy127]

Just came across this thread and love it!

I have two pairs of butterflyfish - a pair of tinkeri and a pair of semilarvatus.

I also have an interruptus and a goldflake and the interruptus torments it nonstop. It also harasses my borbonius, but the goldflake is its main target. Never saw anyone else report this although probably not many have this combo.

Excited to follow along.

 

[puffy127]

My juvenile goldflake also lost the black on its dorsal fin (and never developed a black tail fin). I was thinking it just needs time to develop, but seeing how yours lost the black on its dorsal fin and tail fin, I wonder if it might be stress induced from the interruptus?

 

[MrsBugmaster]

Just came across this thread and love it!

I have two pairs of butterflyfish - a pair of tinkeri and a pair of semilarvatus.

I also have an interruptus and a goldflake and the interruptus torments it nonstop. It also harasses my borbonius, but the goldflake is its main target. Never saw anyone else report this although probably not many have this combo.

Excited to follow along.

That's awesome on your 2 butterfly pairs! Did you pair them yourself or buy them as a pair? I had a single tinkeri in the tank where everything died. I do like them a lot and thought about them again for this build. But then decided since I had one once I wanted to try something else. The semilarvatus were also on my short list, but decided against them as I thought it would be too much yellow in the tank with the yellow angels.

Interesting on your experience with the interruptus and goldflake. Which one was added first? And what size was each one?

Got any pictures of your to share?

 

[MrsBugmaster]

My juvenile goldflake also lost the black on its dorsal fin (and never developed a black tail fin). I was thinking it just needs time to develop, but seeing how yours lost the black on its dorsal fin and tail fin, I wonder if it might be stress induced from the interruptus?

Maybe it is a stress thing. There is still so much we don't know about these beautiful creatures. What are the odds that we both have the same combination and with the same issues?

 

[puffy127]

I have some photos in this thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/125-gallon-fowlr-stocking.336487/

The interruptus was added before the goldflake.

 

[MrsBugmaster]

I have some photos in this thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/125-gallon-fowlr-stocking.336487/

The interruptus was added before the goldflake.

Mine was added before too. I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

 

[puffy127]

Mine was added before too. I wonder if that has anything to do with it.

Maybe, but I also added other fish (smaller) after the interruptus and it never bothered them as much as the goldflake. The interruptus is the biggest bully in my tank.

 

[puffy127]

I bought the tinkeris as a "pair" but I don't think they really were, since the price for both was less than the price if I bought them individually. Usually they charge a premium for true pairs. They chased each other throughout QT, but never anything major so I went ahead and added them to the DT. No major issues with them.

I started out with a single semilarvatus, then added a smaller one. I had no issues with them coexisting. But the smaller one only lasted about a year and then it suddenly died out of the blue. No apparent reason - all my fish are QT'ed and no other fish had any issues. I then added another one (much larger) and again, no issues with them coexisting. I'm not sure any of my "pairs" are really pairs or just tolerate each other.

I also have a trio of bimaculatus anthias, which I am in the process of trying to add 2 more.

 

[puffy127]

The semilarvatus were also on my short list, but decided against them as I thought it would be too much yellow in the tank with the yellow angels.

Ha ha! I initially also was hesistant to get certain fish due to too much yellow, but then decided to embrace it and make the whole tank yellow-themed. Most of my fish have some yellow in them.

 

[puffy127]

Here is a photo of my juvenile goldflake back in June 2018:

Here is my goldflake now:

 

[puffy127]

I was just about to point you to a thread a while ago where someone was asking about hybrids and I pointed them to copps, then I realized it was you! ;Facepalm

 

[MrsBugmaster]

Here is a photo of my juvenile goldflake back in June 2018:

Here is my goldflake now:

Thanks for sharing the pics. I wonder if anyone else has had this happen?

 

[Victoria M]

I love the photos and reading about your shared experiences guys. Much fun for this fish geek!

 

[MrsBugmaster]

So where was I, oh yes, February 7, 2019 my new juvenile interruptus arrived. Started eating right away! I am very happy with how she looks and is acting. Now 6 to 8 weeks of qt time.

And a video of the little girl eating.

 

[MrsBugmaster]

In the meantime, the Indian Vegabond pair are doing nicely in the DT.

 

[MrsBugmaster]

A few pictures.

 

[MrsBugmaster]

While the juvenile interruptus was in QT I taped several pictures of large interruptus fish on the sides and front of the tank in hopes of making sure she stays a female. I think it worked. Here are a couple pictures of her out of qt and in the acclimation tank in the DT. This was on April 10, 2019

Her future mate doing a swim by checking her out and trying to act cool.