Suggest some fish for me

kangadrew · Sep 23, 2016

I am designing a lagoon project with a few teachers at the school, and we are wanting to breed one species that is rarely successfully kept in captivity - let alone bred. In fact, these have never been bred in public or private aquaria to my knowledge.

Anyways, the theory is that if they are kept in a lightly-stocked tank, with biotope specific fish/inverts, a natural filtration system, and natural lighting, they will not only thrive but breed. I'll not say what the fish is - but feel free to guess, I'll reveal it if someone gets it right ;)

Anyways, the tank is designed around these two fish. So anything else in the tank has to fit under the criteria:

No fin-nipping (especially important with these fish, hint hint)
ABSOLUTELY cannot harm the eggs of my "star pair"
Must be biotope-specific (this fish's range includes most of the Indo-Pacific, including east Africa, all of the Indian ocean, Hawaii, Japan, and most of the South Pacific islands)
Must be reef safe - clearly (the star coral will be a massive colony of pink birdsnest, I think)
Must not decimate the plants in the system (which will include macroalgae, seagrasses, and mangroves)
Must not add too much bioload to the tank - I want to run without any kind of skimmer or anything, just trimming the plants and the occasional water change

That's all I have for now. If someone guesses the fish, I will let you know. Please give me some suggestions though. I have been thinking of mandarins, that's my main thing I would like. I will post more on the system's design later

Humblefish · Sep 24, 2016

I would just focus on keeping the pair you're trying to breed. Even my female mandarin once tried to eat some clownfish eggs. :eek: Thankfully, big mama clown just pushed her away and didn't attack.

kangadrew · Sep 24, 2016

Humblefish said:
I would just focus on keeping the pair you're trying to breed. Even my female mandarin once tried to eat some clownfish eggs. :eek: Thankfully, big mama clown just pushed her away and didn't attack.

Hmm, the lagoon is probably going to be approximately 950 gallons, 8 feet in diameter and 30" high although that might change. I feel like that much floor space (before rocks are added that's about 50 square feet. A pair of 8" fish wouldn't be the most interesting thing, lol (although if I get them breeding, they will likely be impressive to anyone who knows a bit about the species)

I'd like to use this tank to try and breed other species as well, I wasn't thinking about any other large species but mandarins are on my "breeders wish list"