Few Fish Qs- Could be very interesting if you like chromis,wrasse, fire gobies, hawks

[Madoktopus]

1. is it true that in a shoal of chromis the most dominant fish will kill the others until only he is left?

2.my tank is full of gobies and small wrasse ATM. i heard that flame hawks can be quite pugnacious, will he terrorize them?

3. would it be ok (*generaly speaking) to put dartfish aka fire gobies into a 30" high uncovered tank? or is it still silly?

4. Ive seen the wrasse i want, but i know nothing about him. he is navy with horizonatl electric blue stripes. does anyone have information on him or the leopard wrasses??

-madok

[RichConley]

1. yes and no. If you put 6 chromis in a 90, then yeah. If you put 24 in a 750, probably not. It comes down to diffusing agression, and giving them space to roam.

the smaller cardinal species are better in most cases.

[Amphiprion]

1. I completely agree with Rich
2. Potentially, yes. but usually mainly to later additions (also depends upon hawk species).
3.Assuming low traffic, no agressive species, then yes. Otherwise, I would cover it.
4.I assume you are talking about the Red Sea cleaner wrasse, Labaricus quadrilineatus, right? If so, I would avoid it altogether.
Leopard wrasses need a sand bed (or some have had success with a rubbermaid tub w/ sand) and plenty of organisms (copepods, forams, etc) to graze upon.

[Angel*Fish]

1. is it true that in a shoal of chromis the most dominant fish will kill the others until only he is left? I agree with others above except to add that they may whittle down to a pair rather than just one dominant fish

[GinoP]

I can answer the one about the firefish: I just had one jump out of my 30G cube after it's been in there for a few months. He must have gotten spooked at night. Although it is uncovered, I have two sets of lights that pretty much cover the entire top, yet he still zipped through the 3 inch clearance above the water and I found him dried up on the floor in the morning. So I'm never putting another firefish in an uncovered tank (even though I thought my lights would suffice as a cover) and I wouldn't recommend risking it.

[Angel*Fish]

2.my tank is full of gobies and small wrasse ATM. i heard that flame hawks can be quite pugnacious, will he terrorize them? Well depending on fishes sizes & the hawk's mouth size... he might eat them

[Madoktopus]

i always learn so much here. thanks guys.
i really want a shoal of small fish but i cant find anything that will fit comfortably in my reef that wont eat my gobies (ie. cardinals).

yep that was it the red sea cleaner aka fourline wrasse. found out eats sps. will not be buying...

i was planning on keeping the flame hawkfish (red with black back)

probably wont get the firefish then.

:(

[Madoktopus]

been thinkin over the past few hours, can many many chromis be kept together like done with malawis so as there ae too many fish for a dominant to arise??

[Amphiprion]

There would be too much fish mass (of Chromis) for your tank to support.

[Madoktopus]

can anyone suggest small schooling fish then?

or at least some fish to compliment my percs and dusky jawfish to create a full stock list?

[Amphiprion]

I believe it was Rich who suggested cardinalfish. I think the threadfin cardinal Apogon leptacanthus is a good choice. Just be sure to get some healthy ones, as they can sometimes be poor shippers.

[Madoktopus]

dont they eat small fish like gobies?

[Amphiprion]

That species? no. The largest thing they can get into their mouths is tiny shrimp and planktonic organisms. They only get a bit under 2.5 inches.

Here (http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/speciesSummary.php?genusname=Apogon&speciesname=Leptacanthus) is a link to this species' taxonomic/general profile.

[Madoktopus]

how many would you recommend baring in mind i would like a few other fish and maybe a small kole tang.

[Amphiprion]

Well, in this case, more is also better--since they feel more secure this way--so get as many as you feel you can accomodate. I think you should spring for at least 4.

[Madoktopus]

thy will b done.