Taking on a difficult challenge (2 expert fish)

[carlson]

Things have been going so well in my tank! All of my fish are happy and all of my corals are growing, but naturally, as a hobbyist, I am constantly searching for a new challenge. I have picked two fish to add to my tank, a Copperband and a Moorish idol. My 75-gallon tank has been running for a while now and the tank has matured with all sorts of colorful things growing on the rocks. The fish I have right now are 3 Chromis, a Valentini puffer, a Tomini tang, and Kamohara blenny. I have had them all for a while and could not be more pleased. Hopefully, buying these two new fish will not ruin everything I have right now. I ordered them from saltwaterfish.com (not a great idea) for $130 and they will be here Wednesday! I plan on feeding them what my fish eat right now (sea weed, mysis, and brine with selcon and garlic extreme) along with fresh shrimp and clams. My biggest concern right now is that they could come with their own diseases or not be good specimens. Most people would say what I'm doing is not smart and bet their money on my failure, but I am going to do my best for these fishes success!! If the fish end up doing well in the long run and they get too big I will either upgrade my tank or donate them to the public aquarium I work at. I will post lots of pictures and what not when they come Wednesday!

 

[carlson]

I'd also like to point out that the largest tank I have to qt these to guys in is 15 gallons. I'm setting it up right now so it will run for 3 days before I get my fish. I'm using reef crystals and live rock from my fuge with some pineapple sponges, I have all the basic medicines for saltwater fish on deck already

 

[P-Dub]

I'm not sure if the Moorish Idol is a challenge or a disaster n a reef tank. They are difficult to keep and have some pretty specific dietary needs. If you are not supplying the necessary food it will likely start picking on your corals to satisfy its needs. Good luck with that one. Hope that you have a second tank that he can go into... I would always ask if the fish is feeding already and what it is eating before purchasing.

 

[carlson]

I'm not sure if the Moorish Idol is a challenge or a disaster n a reef tank. They are difficult to keep and have some pretty specific dietary needs. If you are not supplying the necessary food it will likely start picking on your corals to satisfy its needs. Good luck with that one. Hope that you have a second tank that he can go into... I would always ask if the fish is feeding already and what it is eating before purchasing.

Thanks for the advice! I know I'm likely going to lose some zoas and some lps but I've always been more of a hard coral guy anyways. As far as asking them about the fish I'm not sure if their poorly reviewed customer service would be able to provide that but I'll definitely call and ask around

 

[carlson]

I still have to add some pvc behing the rocks, I'm wondering if I could cause an algae bloom in the tank on purpose to give the fish more of a natural feel?

 

[carlson]

Luckily there's some pineapple sponges on the rocks hopefully they will take off

 

[Ento-Reefer]

Good luck with your new fish. I would add an ammonia badge to the tank. I really like them for qt. tanks.

 

[carlson]

Good luck with your new fish. I would add an ammonia badge to the tank. I really like them for qt. tanks.

Thanks! I wanted to get one today but they only have freshwater badges at PetSmart.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Good luck!

 

[eatbreakfast]

I would be wary of the puffer nipping the idol's pennent. MI's get big and will definitely outgrow a 75g if it survives.

 

[carlson]

Im not sure why they're going to be here Wednesday since I ordered them Sunday, but whatever

 

[jakeh22]

Because orders placed on weekends don’t get processed till Monday anyway

 

[shred5]

It is going to be hard. First that tank is too small for a tang, butterfly fish and the moorish idol together. There will probably be aggression because of the size of tank, the tang will probably go after the butterfly fish since the tang is established.
Those two fish have special dietary requirements and need to be met. For the copperband you can add clams in the shell to help out or any food that sticks to the glass and is not eaten right away.

 

[Mr. Limpid]

I would put a top on that QT hate to see you wake up to two dried up fish dead on the floor. Sea weed? Nori? I would give the Moorish green and red nori. Good luck with the Copper Band in QT they eat live food mostly. You may need to buy live pods until it gets into your DT.

 

[carlson]

I would put a top on that QT hate to see you wake up to two dried up fish dead on the floor. Sea weed? Nori? I would give the Moorish green and red nori. Good luck with the Copper Band in QT they eat live food mostly. You may need to buy live pods until it gets into your DT.

Yes! I'm going to put some egg crate on top thanks for the reminder. Right now I have red seaweed, spirulina flakes, nls pellets, frozen brine and frozen mysis. I also have some brine shrimp eggs! Do you think they would eat some baby brine shrimp if I hatched them?

 

[Mr. Limpid]

The Copper Band will, you can gut feed the brine with yeast this will help out the Copper Band. Check out your local fish shops, they usually have tiger pods. They wont live in your DT but in QT it will work out for feeding.

 

[carlson]

I put an acrylic tube in and surrounded it with the rock, I still have to add one more piece of pvc in the back that's big enough for the idol

 

[carlson]

I hope I won't have to take out all the rocks to put in medication

 

[carlson]

The Copper Band will, you can gut feed the brine with yeast this will help out the Copper Band. Check out your local fish shops, they usually have tiger pods. They wont live in your DT but in QT it will work out for feeding.

The lfs I had wouldn't of had any, they were terrible, and now they're out of business

 

[Josh Kraft]

Is there any kind of filtration on that tank? Or a heater?