Need help deciding on whether or not a fish is right for your tank? Post here and we'll help!

[Zionas]

Does anyone have experience with the care and reef safeness of Monocle Breams? Do they get large and are they a very active fish? What about the Diadema Squirrelfish, Tobacco and Harlequin Basslets? Are they Reef safe at all? Do they need live foods to start eating?

What tank size do they need? Thanks.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Squirrelfish yes. What do u want to know?
Ive never had a beam or a snapper but i currently have a drum.
D

 

[Zionas]

Please tell me more about the Drum.

About the Squirrelfish the species I’m interested in is Sargocentron Diadema. I would love to know more about its feeding, hardiness, tank size and yeah. How long do they live and do they accept pellets easily?

 

[VJM 21]

60gal long setup enough for a tang? Ive been told up and down that its not big enough. I love how active they are and would love them in my tank. If I cannot fit a tang is there anything similar that swims around like a tang?

Flame Angel

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Hm. The drum is a hefer. He eats a lot... gets his for sure.
He mainly zig zags back forth along the bottom or sandy bottom looking to shovel anything in its mouth. Lol.
Its.currently at 3". Got it at 2" not even a month ago i swear.
Yesterday he ate a whole krill. Lol.
Not aggressive but estimated to reach 9" and yes he will. I can see that. Its a high hat drum

The squirrel ur lookin at is common candy stripe squirrel. Theyre bodys.more narrow than typical soldierfish. They are hardy. Sold a lot 4 yrs ago if not more with basic hawiian squirrelfish. Not the biggest fish...either of them but still will get.to 6-7" and will eat shrimp. Crabs. Any fish it can swallow and gulp down... they usually are sold 3-4". If you can find a regular squirrelfish i would suggest that. The candystripes are a little more aggresive imo. Their body shape and tone tell it all if u saw in person for sale.
Will not eat pellets. Frozen shrimp will be your main food. They eat mysis. Krill. Brine. Ect. Squirrelfish prefer overhangs. Ledges. Slides. Cliffs. Caves. They are a bottom below the reef fish. Often darting out and up or into their food and back. You can group these fish but need a large aquarium 300+gals. Ive had both and a shadowfin squirrelfish and currently i have the giant squirrelfish i think its called?! Will be 20". Lol

The beam and snapper are something ive been thinking about but have never tried to keep.or buy yet. A friend told.me in the past he bought a blue line snapper not knowing and it ate all his chromis. Lol.
This was long time ago but still i think he said it cost him $50-$60 in chromis. Lol. He ended up returning the fish after feeding him. Lol.
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

The shadowfin i had 4yrs. It was 6" easily.
U need to feed twice a day.
Id say 75+gals
D

 

[Zionas]

Thanks a lot! What happened to the Shadowfin did it die from something? You mean neither this nor the species I was looking at will eat pellets?

 

[Acros]

Tank: IM25 lagoon

Tank is seeded with pods and I feed phyto daily. I am prepared to wait for 6 month before adding a dragonet.

Can I add a pair of ruby red scooter dragonet after 6 months? Are there any other fish I can add with them in the tank?

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Yes i think 1 day i found him in my overflow.or sump skimmer section. I had no teeth on my overflow box wall. It was like a zero edge overflow and he was skinny. I didnt feed enough back than. It was zero nutrient popular time.
Watching my current squirrelfish. They eat a lot! All the fish we are talking about do and no i dont think ull get them to eat pellets.
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

James your.wanting to add scooter blennys or mandarins?
D

 

[Acros]

James your.wanting to add scooter blennys or mandarins?
D

Scooter blenny. Synchiropus sycorax

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Ive.kept.both the red and the black and white basic. Never a pair though....your gonna buy a bonded.pair?
I would say yes 6-8months good to go. They will eat.prepared foods.as.well. shelf bought. Frozen. Pellets. Occasional flake food.
D

 

[Acros]

I am not sure if I can get them as a bonded pair or just get a male and a female. I was mostly worried about the tank size as mine is 25gallon.

My other stocking option is a pair of ocellaris clowns and one small yellow coris wrasse/six line wrasse.

I am so torn and couldn’t decide.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

As long as ur tank is 12" tall. Not open top. Youll be good. Lots of character in those little guys. They mostly just hop.around on the bottom and rock. Should be plenty of room. Good.luck with the pair! would be kool.
D

 

[Zionas]

Nice! If they don’t eat pellets and I can’t get live shrimp on a regular basis will I have trouble feeding them? What about the Breams do they also not take pellets?

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Idk about the beams. No. No problems feeding squirrels. They will eat after a day or 2 np. Might hide from you but will come out more and more. Naturally they are nocturnal. Why the big eyes. They are called big eyes too. Lol. Hths
D

 

[Zionas]

Lol. Thanks for the info. Hard hard decisions I’m currently debating between doing a “Small Fish Reef” versus some of the less common ones like Squirrels.

 

[Tchung23]

Do you think a blackcap basslet and a swissguard can live in a red sea reefer xl200 together??

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

No. I think bassalets. Swissgaurds. Spendy smaller fish should be kept singular.
Royal.gramma..psuedos. all single. 1 fish.
You can risk 2... or 3 maybe in a 200+gal tank.
Hths
D

 

[Neros503]

would a pink streaked wrasse be ok in my biocube 29 with a pair of clowns, a ywg, and a small mandarin? would it eat all the pods? even though my mandarins captive bred it only eats pods.