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

[wannabesalty]

Hey everybody, new here and new to saltwater tanks. Over the past couple years I got into the aquarium hobby with planted tanks. It's been a love/hate relationship as algae has been my eternal foe.

I'm ready to take a break from planted tanks and am considering giving salt water tanks a go. Do any of you have experience both with planted tanks and saltwater? Is algae control any easier with saltwater?

There are some good deals on craigslist right now for the Red Sea 20g nano, so that's what I'm leaning towards going with.

Any estimates on weekly/monthly time investment would be appreciated!

Appreciate any and all input!

Thanks

Jared

 

[Slocke]

Hey everybody, new here and new to saltwater tanks. Over the past couple years I got into the aquarium hobby with planted tanks. It's been a love/hate relationship as algae has been my eternal foe.

I'm ready to take a break from planted tanks and am considering giving salt water tanks a go. Do any of you have experience both with planted tanks and saltwater? Is algae control any easier with saltwater?

There are some good deals on craigslist right now for the Red Sea 20g nano, so that's what I'm leaning towards going with.

Any estimates on weekly/monthly time investment would be appreciated!

Appreciate any and all input!

Thanks

Jared

I’d say that’s a great topic for its own thread!
May I suggest posting a thread here: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/meet-greet-forum.129/

 

[davidt123]

Hello I have a 40 gallon AIO cube I am trying to find a wrasse that would work in this setup to use as a cleaner. I currently have 2 clownfish 1 diamond watchman goby 1 royal gramma and 1 red fire fish I also have a cleaner shrimp and snails and hermit crabs along with corals my idea is to add one last fish and I was thinking about a yellow coris wrasse or a melunaris wrasse what are your guys thoughts?

 

[Slocke]

Hello I have a 40 gallon AIO cube I am trying to find a wrasse that would work in this setup to use as a cleaner. I currently have 2 clownfish 1 diamond watchman goby 1 royal gramma and 1 red fire fish I also have a cleaner shrimp and snails and hermit crabs along with corals my idea is to add one last fish and I was thinking about a yellow coris wrasse or a melunaris wrasse what are your guys thoughts?

Might be a bit too big for that tank. Ideally you'd get a pink-streaked or possum wrasse the problem is they are both fairly rare. After those though the next best bet would probably be a halichoeres like the two you mentioned. They are far more common.

 

[i cant think]

Hello I have a 40 gallon AIO cube I am trying to find a wrasse that would work in this setup to use as a cleaner. I currently have 2 clownfish 1 diamond watchman goby 1 royal gramma and 1 red fire fish I also have a cleaner shrimp and snails and hermit crabs along with corals my idea is to add one last fish and I was thinking about a yellow coris wrasse or a melunaris wrasse what are your guys thoughts?

I wouldn’t do either of those Halichoeres in a tank less than 3’. Ideally 4’ is a need for these guys, 4 inches sounds small until you add how active these guys are. I have a 4 inch Halichoeres iridis in my 4’ tank and he is fat and very active.

The best bet for wrasses in a 40G Cube is one of these guys;
Pseudocheilinops ataenia
Wetmorella tanakai
Wetmorella albofasciata
Wetmorella nigropinnata

Out of those 4 wrasses the only one I have found to be good at pest hunting is Pseudocheilinops ataenia. For care on these guys, I have an article on them, if you search up “Pseudocheilinops ataenia” it should appear. Generally these “Pygmy wrasses” all have the same care across the board. I’m terms of rarity they are uncommon and I have found it’s best to hunt them during March-April and September-October. These seem to be the best months to get them as they come in in rather large groups whilst the rest of the year they come in in singular specimens which isn’t always the best as you don’t really have options to choose from if one looks worse than the others.

This is two from my trio of ataenia.

This shows off the pattern better, this guy was a 1 year old specimen that I unfortunately lost (He came in larger than I wanted and didn’t last too long).

 

[davidt123]

Thank you very much

I wouldn’t do either of those Halichoeres in a tank less than 3’. Ideally 4’ is a need for these guys, 4 inches sounds small until you add how active these guys are. I have a 4 inch Halichoeres iridis in my 4’ tank and he is fat and very active.

The best bet for wrasses in a 40G Cube is one of these guys;
Pseudocheilinops ataenia
Wetmorella tanakai
Wetmorella albofasciata
Wetmorella nigropinnata

Out of those 4 wrasses the only one I have found to be good at pest hunting is Pseudocheilinops ataenia. For care on these guys, I have an article on them, if you search up “Pseudocheilinops ataenia” it should appear. Generally these “Pygmy wrasses” all have the same care across the board. I’m terms of rarity they are uncommon and I have found it’s best to hunt them during March-April and September-October. These seem to be the best months to get them as they come in in rather large groups whilst the rest of the year they come in in singular specimens which isn’t always the best as you don’t really have options to choose from if one looks worse than the others.

This is two from my trio of ataenia.

This shows off the pattern better, this guy was a 1 year old specimen that I unfortunately lost (He came in larger than I wanted and didn’t last too lon

I wouldn’t do either of those Halichoeres in a tank less than 3’. Ideally 4’ is a need for these guys, 4 inches sounds small until you add how active these guys are. I have a 4 inch Halichoeres iridis in my 4’ tank and he is fat and very active.

The best bet for wrasses in a 40G Cube is one of these guys;
Pseudocheilinops ataenia
Wetmorella tanakai
Wetmorella albofasciata
Wetmorella nigropinnata

Out of those 4 wrasses the only one I have found to be good at pest hunting is Pseudocheilinops ataenia. For care on these guys, I have an article on them, if you search up “Pseudocheilinops ataenia” it should appear. Generally these “Pygmy wrasses” all have the same care across the board. I’m terms of rarity they are uncommon and I have found it’s best to hunt them during March-April and September-October. These seem to be the best months to get them as they come in in rather large groups whilst the rest of the year they come in in singular specimens which isn’t always the best as you don’t really have options to choose from if one looks worse than the others.

This is two from my trio of ataenia.

This shows off the pattern better, this guy was a 1 year old specimen that I unfortunately lost (He came in larger than I wanted and didn’t last too long).

thank you so much for your reply ya I was very uncertain about those to. I am very particular about what I put in my tank. I will look into that guy. Hopefully I can find one if I like what I read. I just want one that will control some of the pests in my tank but defiantly don’t want one stressed cause they don’t have space

 

[reaper93]

How long should I wait to add a Diamond Watchman Goby to a 120g display? I don't want to starve him. Also, if I have a DWG can I also have a pistol shrimp goby pair?

 

[Slocke]

How long should I wait to add a Diamond Watchman Goby to a 120g display? I don't want to starve him. Also, if I have a DWG can I also have a pistol shrimp goby pair?

I feel like watchman is a massive misnomer for diamond gobies and the rest of the Valenciennea genus. They don't do any watching like shrimp gobies do for their partners as far as I've seen. They should be referred do as sand sifting gobies or chaos gobies.

I don't think I'd go with any gobies of the Valenciennea genus like the diamond anymore. They're often starved upon arrival and struggle to eat the food we usually give to our other fish. If you really want one I had success supplementing the diet with algae wafers and other sinking pellets. They also cause absolute chaos to the sand and will bury corals.

If you really want though I'd say a few months old tank. Sooner if copepods are established early. It can get along with a shrimp goby pair but I'd make sure to add them at the same time or the diamond second as they like a big territory. Also they love to jump tanks and will find the smallest gaps surprisingly; so tight fitting and strong lid.

Honestly I use a sand-sifting starfish now and it's so much easier. If they start captive breeding them than I may reconsider but not for me anymore.

 

[52728299]

Pretty sure I'll run into issues with this list but wanted to start with:

Pink margin fairy wrasse
One Spot foxface
Pearlscale butterfly
Flame angel
Valentini puffer
Melanarus wrasse
2x ocellaris
Royal gramma
Midas blenny
Flame hawkfish
Mandarin (I have pod cultures I add 1-2 times a week)

Mixed reef, 76g tank 47.24"L x 23.62"W x 15.75"H. 24g sump

 

[Slocke]

Pretty sure I'll run into issues with this list but wanted to start with:

Pink margin fairy wrasse Cirrhilabrus rubrimarginatus, good choice IDK about tank Size though @i cant think ?
One Spot foxface Good choice
Pearlscale butterfly Will eat your corals. Not reef safe at all.
Flame angel Might eat your corals. A risky addition
Valentini puffer Also probably will eat corals.
Melanarus wrasse Good choice
2x ocellaris Good
Royal gramma Good
Midas blenny Great, love em.
Flame hawkfish Either model citizens or little terrors, I've seen both
Mandarin (I have pod cultures I add 1-2 times a week) Consider going captive bred. Much more likely to do well (the one in my profile is a biota captive bred FYI).

Sand bed?
What about gobies?
Want some inverts?

 

[52728299]

Pink margin fairy wrasse Cirrhilabrus rubrimarginatus, good choice IDK about tank Size though @i cant think ?
One Spot foxface Good choice
Pearlscale butterfly Will eat your corals. Not reef safe at all.
Flame angel Might eat your corals. A risky addition
Valentini puffer Also probably will eat corals.
Melanarus wrasse Good choice
2x ocellaris Good
Royal gramma Good
Midas blenny Great, love em.
Flame hawkfish Either model citizens or little terrors, I've seen both
Mandarin (I have pod cultures I add 1-2 times a week) Consider going captive bred. Much more likely to do well (the one in my profile is a biota captive bred FYI).

Sand bed?
What about gobies?
Want some inverts?

Yea the biggest risk I believed was to corals being eaten. But ive also heard people having success with puffers, butterflies with corals and was considering taking some risk and maybe get lucky.. i know the puffer needs to munch on inverts to wear down their beaks so I'd be replacing cuc often. But was also told puffers are otherwise fairly safe but idk..

you know anyone with butterflies or puffers in a reef? Or if you know of a safer butterfly? Idk.. I'm also open to other dwarf angels, coral beauty, bicolor, lemonpeel..

Sand bed would be around 2 inches minimum. As for gobies no real plan was just going to let the mandarin and flame hawkfish cruise the bottom areas of tank.. was also not sure if one spot would be too big for the tank.

 

[52728299]

Hope it doesn't come across as me pushing back on your advice, I very much appreciate it. Just sharing what I've heard and discussing. Ty promise I am listening to what you have to say

 

[i cant think]

How long should I wait to add a Diamond Watchman Goby to a 120g display? I don't want to starve him. Also, if I have a DWG can I also have a pistol shrimp goby pair?

I wouldn’t do a diamond, and personally I would wait till your tank has a 2-4 year old 3” (at a minimum) sand bed to sustain the life these guys need to feed on. As mentioned above by @Slocke these come in starved and generally don’t feed on what we feed our tanks. So they really do depend on the life in the sand bed and usually they deplete the life of a young tank (6 months or less is a young tank IMHO).

 

[i cant think]

Pink margin fairy wrasse Cirrhilabrus rubrimarginatus, good choice IDK about tank Size though @i cant think ?

Sand bed?
What about gobies?
Want some inverts?

Pink Margin Fairy Wrasses, assuming the OP means Cirrhilabrus rubrimarginatus, are a rather large Cirrhilabrus species and can get to 5 inches. Ontop of this, these guys can become very aggressive as they age. I wouldn’t do this species in a 4’ tank simply due to the aggression. The size isn’t overly large for a 4’ tank (I did have a 5” Cirrhilabrus melanomarginatus in my 4’ tank for two years but unfortunately lost it in the summer).

I wouldn’t swap out this wrasse for a totally different fish as there are some wonderful wrasses out there that will fit this tank size. For example;
- Cirrhilabrus lubbocki
- Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa/rubriquamis
- Cirrhilabrus hygroxerus

These are just a couple of examples of Cirrhilabrus species that fit, this genus is a huge one with 50+ species. I recommend searching around. Also, I would add Atleast 2 flashers and 2 fairies to that list. I have a 4’ tank with this wrasse list. P.S. This is a dangerous gang to have, I am playing with fire with this gang and don’t recommend following it completely (The risky ones are labelled with a *)
- Cirrhilabrus lubbocki (Indo)
- Cirrhilabrus lubbocki (Cebu)
- Cirrhilabrus naokoae*
- Halichoeres iridis
- Halichoeres chloropterus*
- Paracheilinus sp. (Hybrid)

The reason I have the Naokoae and Chloropterus labelled with a * is due to how these can be highly aggressive as they age, and I have seen this in person with the Chloropterus however I generally find that the Naokoae is relatively peaceful. Also, it’s not recommended to mix specimens of the same complex let alone species, but I haven’t had much issues so far. However it’s best to not mix species of the same complex until you have experience with this genus.

 

[52728299]

Pink Margin Fairy Wrasses, assuming the OP means Cirrhilabrus rubrimarginatus, are a rather large Cirrhilabrus species and can get to 5 inches. Ontop of this, these guys can become very aggressive as they age. I wouldn’t do this species in a 4’ tank simply due to the aggression. The size isn’t overly large for a 4’ tank (I did have a 5” Cirrhilabrus melanomarginatus in my 4’ tank for two years but unfortunately lost it in the summer).

I wouldn’t swap out this wrasse for a totally different fish as there are some wonderful wrasses out there that will fit this tank size. For example;
- Cirrhilabrus lubbocki
- Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa/rubriquamis
- Cirrhilabrus hygroxerus

These are just a couple of examples of Cirrhilabrus species that fit, this genus is a huge one with 50+ species. I recommend searching around. Also, I would add Atleast 2 flashers and 2 fairies to that list. I have a 4’ tank with this wrasse list. P.S. This is a dangerous gang to have, I am playing with fire with this gang and don’t recommend following it completely (The risky ones are labelled with a *)
- Cirrhilabrus lubbocki (Indo)
- Cirrhilabrus lubbocki (Cebu)
- Cirrhilabrus naokoae*
- Halichoeres iridis
- Halichoeres chloropterus*
- Paracheilinus sp. (Hybrid)

The reason I have the Naokoae and Chloropterus labelled with a * is due to how these can be highly aggressive as they age, and I have seen this in person with the Chloropterus however I generally find that the Naokoae is relatively peaceful. Also, it’s not recommended to mix specimens of the same complex let alone species, but I haven’t had much issues so far. However it’s best to not mix species of the same complex until you have experience with this genus.

Thanks! Yea there's a ton of wrasse options I'm sure I'll spot one that will work better. Have any expert advice on keeping butterflies in a reef?? Heh

 

[i cant think]

Thanks! Yea there's a ton of wrasse options I'm sure I'll spot one that will work better. Have any expert advice on keeping butterflies in a reef?? Heh

How’s this?

Whilst I don’t have him in my SPS reef, he’s in my LPS & Softie reef (surrounded by Leathers, Duncan’s, Euphyllia/Fymbriaphyllia ect). He behaves nicely however I do keep on top of all my natural food sources and feed heavily nutritional foods later in the day. I make sure he has the sponges, aiptasia, pods, ect… to forage on. Ideally you want to get a butterfly that’s feeding, it’s not just the CBB that’s a difficult species to get into prepared foods. It’s the majority of butterflies. But once you get a feeding specimen it’s surprisingly easy, just avoid the expensive coral at first and instead try to test them with certain cheaper coral such as zoas, leathers, duncans ect.

 

[Slocke]

Pink Margin Fairy Wrasses, assuming the OP means Cirrhilabrus rubrimarginatus, are a rather large Cirrhilabrus species and can get to 5 inches. Ontop of this, these guys can become very aggressive as they age. I wouldn’t do this species in a 4’ tank simply due to the aggression. The size isn’t overly large for a 4’ tank (I did have a 5” Cirrhilabrus melanomarginatus in my 4’ tank for two years but unfortunately lost it in the summer).

Thanks. I just assume all fairy's are perfect little fish!

you know anyone with butterflies or puffers in a reef? Or if you know of a safer butterfly? Idk.. I'm also open to other dwarf angels, coral beauty, bicolor, lemonpeel..

There are 3 potentially reef safe butterflyfish that I've seen kept in reef tanks.

1. Heniochus diphreutes, the bannerfish which is a pretty easy fish and very pretty though it may chomp on some corals like all 3 on this list.
2. Forcipiger flavissimus, the yellow longnose butterflyfish which is also fairly easy though it always looks malnourished to me though that's probably just due to the semi-transparency
3. Finally Chelmon rostratus, the copperband. I wouldn't recommend this fish to anyone because they usually don't take to tank foods or get outcompeted by other fish so like the gobies mentioned above I don't keep them and am hesitant to recommend.

The way they were kept though is in a mixed reef with a lot of Xenia. Many of the fish munched on the Xenia and left the other corals alone. Thus controlling the Xenia and allowing the rest of the tank to grow.

 

[reaper93]

I feel like watchman is a massive misnomer for diamond gobies and the rest of the Valenciennea genus. They don't do any watching like shrimp gobies do for their partners as far as I've seen. They should be referred do as sand sifting gobies or chaos gobies.

I don't think I'd go with any gobies of the Valenciennea genus like the diamond anymore. They're often starved upon arrival and struggle to eat the food we usually give to our other fish. If you really want one I had success supplementing the diet with algae wafers and other sinking pellets. They also cause absolute chaos to the sand and will bury corals.

If you really want though I'd say a few months old tank. Sooner if copepods are established early. It can get along with a shrimp goby pair but I'd make sure to add them at the same time or the diamond second as they like a big territory. Also they love to jump tanks and will find the smallest gaps surprisingly; so tight fitting and strong lid.

Honestly I use a sand-sifting starfish now and it's so much easier. If they start captive breeding them than I may reconsider but not for me anymore.

I honestly really like having such unique personality in a tank. Walking up to the tank and seeing something different is fun to me. However, if you feel that the fish won't be happy in the system I would love to here some alternatives to some cool sand-dwelling fish.

 

[reaper93]

I wouldn’t do a diamond, and personally I would wait till your tank has a 2-4 year old 3” (at a minimum) sand bed to sustain the life these guys need to feed on. As mentioned above by @Slocke these come in starved and generally don’t feed on what we feed our tanks. So they really do depend on the life in the sand bed and usually they deplete the life of a young tank (6 months or less is a young tank IMHO).

What alternatives would you recommend for some sand-dwelling fish with big personality?

 

[Slocke]

I honestly really like having such unique personality in a tank. Walking up to the tank and seeing something different is fun to me. However, if you feel that the fish won't be happy in the system I would love to here some alternatives to some cool sand-dwelling fish.

I had one successfully and it was very fun until it jumped the tank (through the smallest hole). One of my LFS's has natural tanks with sand and corals and that's how I got a healthy one. As for an alternative how about an engineer goby. They get massive and are as big of sand movers and buriers as a diamond but are also far easier.

Here's one uncovering all my buried pipes.