Livestock list-opinions on compatibility...

[piscivorous]

I am nearing the completion of my tank cycle and I am double checking my planned stock list. It is a 55 tank with a 15 gallon sump. It will be mainly LPS though a few SPS might go in there (175 Watt MH). I intend to have a Crocea clam eventually (once the tank has matured more). I would appreciate feedback on the following list..obviously I will be adding slowly over time...I would appreciate feedback on compatibility (with other fish as well as LPS and clams), along with whether this is too heavy a bio load, or whether I have room for anything else....
-2 Percula Clowns
-6-line wrasse
-Royal Gramma
-Purple firefish
-Cardinal fish
-yellow clown goby
-Wheeler’s watchman goby
One other "maybe" would be some kind of blue/yellow damsel by itself...though I will be doing more research on this first.....

[Ston3]

I'd recommend not getting the damsel since they can be very aggressive towards tank mates.

I know gobies can have a tendency to fight each other if they don't have enough space since they occupy the same regions of the tank. I think it might be ok depending on your footprint.

Bioload seems reasonable to me.

[garrett9]

I agree. I think you will find yourself wanting to remove the damsel after a month or so. They do add a lot of movement to your tank, but they get very boring after a while, plus they are punks. Will you get an anemone for your clowns?

[piscivorous]

Yeah...I may hold off on the damsel...though the yellow tails and the blue/green chromis don't sound too bad...but then again, they still may be iffy with a firefish. I have not decided on the anemone yet. I'd love to get one, but the fact that they move around some and other issues makes it sound like they may be a little too much work...and since I want mainly LPS, my clowns are just as likely to host in something like a duncan or something else that looks like a nem.

[greggnyce]

Good list, I agree on the damsel as well. They are a PITA to catch also. I have had to empty an entire tank to get one out.

[returnofsid]

The 6 Lined Wrasse and Royal Gramma will probably fight with one another and both will pick on the Fire fish. The Yellow Clown Goby is libel to nip on corals, but probably not to an extent that it does any permanent damage.

Which Cardinal fish? There's many species available.

[piscivorous]

Pterapogon kauderni (Kaudern's Cardinal)....
Well....with the response from returnofsid it is making me feel like one really CANT keep any fish together in a tank....
Angles nip at corals and clams
Boxfish get too big
Damsels are the devil
Dartfish/firefish are wimps and get picked on or eaten
Dragonets/Mandarins will starve to death
Hawkfish will eat things
Lionfish -don't even get me started
Puffers -get too big
Seahorses can't handle the flow
Tangs need more room than a 55
Triggerfish are nasty, and get too big
Wrasses will pick on things
Basically what it comes down to is you can keep one specimen of one fish in a tank....with that, you have a 50/50 chance of them eating your corals or eating your snails/crabs.

[thebkramer]

Pterapogon kauderni (Kaudern's Cardinal)....
Well....with the response from returnofsid it is making me feel like one really CANT keep any fish together in a tank....
Angles nip at corals and clams
Boxfish get too big
Damsels are the devil
Dartfish/firefish are wimps and get picked on or eaten
Dragonets/Mandarins will starve to death
Hawkfish will eat things
Lionfish -don't even get me started
Puffers -get too big
Seahorses can't handle the flow
Tangs need more room than a 55
Triggerfish are nasty, and get too big
Wrasses will pick on things
Basically what it comes down to is you can keep one specimen of one fish in a tank....with that, you have a 50/50 chance of them eating your corals or eating your snails/crabs.

HEY!! Sounds like you are throwing your hands up and giving up!?!?!?!
Don't lose all hope. Everyone has their own opinions. Make a list of what you would like, then research them all, then start deciding what would be best in YOUR tank. Some choices may be good and some bad. Sometimes you need to make a mistake to become better at this hobby. I've been told not to put this or that in because of this or that...if you listen to all that, you won't have a damn thing in your tank! Keep your hope alive!!!! ;)

I have a 55g. I was told while back not to get a dwarf lionfish with my other habitants. I got him anyway and things were great!!! He was an awesome addition (Simba was his name!) I'm not telling to not take any advice, but you gotta skim through it!!

[footballdude2k3]

dont be discourage, we are telling you what CAN happen, not what WILL happen, so much of what fish are bullies really depend on the individual fish, i have a clown that i have had less than a week, it is already eating out of my hand, there are other people that have a clown that makes them bleed when they clean the tank.

[piscivorous]

Actually footballdude....I've heard people train their clowns to eat out of their hands and now their clowns make them bleed when they clean the tank because they associate the hands with food :) sorry :)

[footballdude2k3]

this is bs, that fish came up to me, i didnt say hey come eat out of my hand, this is hogwash :(

[piscivorous]

Just what I read somewhere along the line....
What about changing up the list drastically...what about
2 percs
2-3 blue/green chromis
-Purple firefish
-Cardinal fish
-yellow clown goby
-Wheeler’s watchman goby

[jenglish]

My occelaris actually come face out of the water to try and take food. They cannot draw blood but IDK that I would try it with a GSM :lol:

[returnofsid]

I've had a pair of Black Occellaris for about 4 years. The female has drawn blood on several occasions. Has nothing to do with "feeding." She's being protective of her anemone and her male. Can't use the search function, or I'd find a thread I started, a couple years ago, with pics of her damage to my hand...lol.

Piscivorous, don't get discouraged. As was mentioned, these things can happen, and usually will. It's not that you can't keep multiple species, it just that you need to find fish that are more "willing" to co-habitate.

[piscivorous]

What about this list??
2 percs
2-3 blue/green chromis
-Purple firefish
-Cardinal fish
-yellow clown goby
-Wheeler’s watchman goby

[thebkramer]

Capn replied to you in "Intended Fish Purchases" forum, you should check it out :)

[Salamander]

IMO...
I'd skip the chromis (you'll end up with one), get two firefish (they'll hangout together), skip the lone cardinal (or get two), only get one goby and then add a pseudochromis fridmani. But that's just me.

[piscivorous]

why only one goby?

[mthomp]

instead of 2 gobies, perhaps a herbivore type blemmy and a carnivore gobby.

I also suggest more then 1 firefish, they are great little fish and always on display whenthe lights are on.

[thebkramer]

only one goby because they might fight. I have 2 gobies though. I put them in together. They do fine with each other. It might also be because they have different shapes though. 1 is a sharknose and other is a green clown.

Did you see Capn post to you yet??? He is one person that you can def trust and believe in here!!!
Sisterlimonpot, Paul B, and IridiscentLily are some others :)

BTW..I am not knocking anyone else...I just know they are experienced here and give great info and advice!! I know there are others, but those names stick out :)

[dudley moray]

gobys are usually the least aggressive BUT some species won't tolerate even similar looking fish but that is not always true some people get lucky most it is best to keep only one per species but if your tank is big enough which it isn't 48" is not enough considering most have home ranges of 48' squared in the wild

[piscivorous]

Yeah, but I am not interested in keeping more than one of each species...I am just interested in one specimen of each:
-yellow clown goby
-Wheeler’s watchman goby

[Jay508]

I think the best way for you to go about this little issue is to select one fish to be your "center piece" fish and then select other fish that are compatible with your main fish. A lot of what people are saying in this thread and a lot of what you are reading are generalizations, there are lots of species that "supposably" fight with other species or pick at corals here and there and they never do. Don't get frustrated, learning reef husbandry is part of the fun. Try some things, it may work out for you it may not, every tank (and its habitants are individualistic). JMO

Also a recommendation for you is to pick up a book called " Reef Aquarium Fishes" by Michael Scott. This is like the bible of fish husbandry and has an easy to use guide system for reef compatability for fish.

Good Luck, and remember that this hobby is supposed to fun.......

[Chiefsurfer]

Chromis do not particularly school as I think you are expecting them too. When faced with big predators, they huddle together for protection, but will not school. Cardinalfish will, and generally they do MUCH better with mroe than one.

Both cardinals and firefish are sissies, and would go great with eachother.

I also agree with mthomp, it would be nice, AND I think they might get along better together than 2 goby's. The goby's would likely NOT attack eachother out of spite, but if either catches the other scoping out their cave/rock/territory, they would probably retaliate. That also said, Clown gobies are the sissies of the goby world. I had a striped goby(similar body style to a YWG) and a green clown goby together for 3 weeks until my green clown starved.(he would suck the food in, then spit it out) and they got along fine, even became buddies, perching on the same rock, almost holding hands.

The concerns I have are that the firefish and wrasses are known to be jumpers. Also, it is either the 6-line, OR 12-line that some people have particularly noticed being aggressive. The other one has mostly positive feedback.

I would stock it like this:

2 clowns
1 or 2 purple firefish
friendly wrasse
Clown goby
Lawnmower blenny
2-3 PJ or Bangai Cradinals

Done.

[travis32]

Yeah, don't get too discouraged, I started the same thing as you when I started looking at fish. It's like, o.k. I can have every non-cool looking non-colorful fish.. Great... ;)

Then I fell in love with the marine beta and am receiving 2 of them Saturday (tenatively, haven't gotten a shipping confirmation yet.)

I've gotten flack for getting these also, but, I made a choice, went with it, and I'll have to suffer the consequences if it was a poor choice. Time will tell. :)

Define what you want, how you will accomodate them if the negative behaviors do show...

Lots of people here will tell you angels are bad for any reef tank because they can eat corals. The other half here have angels with corals with no problems. Then there's a few that tried angels and had issues with them eating corals...

You have to decide what you're willing to try and stick to it and figure out a plan if a fish doesn't work out.. e.g. what is your plan if it does start to eat corals? Remove and return to the LFS?

There's lots of possibilities once you realize you can still try things. ;)

[returnofsid]

The reason someone mentioned skipping the Blue/Green Chromis, is because they typically will pick one another off, until 1 remains. As was said, this is a generalization. Twice, I've tried "shoals" of 6 and 8 BG Chromis. Both times, I ended up with 2 remaining...lol.

A different option would be the Blue Reef Chromis, they are much less aggressive, toward one another, and great shoaling fish. However, they are a bit more expensive and do have a higher mortality rate, in transport, from ocean, to middle-man to LFS. This explains the added expense.