60gallon almost ready..Need stock advice

[kroniclove]

hey guys.

my 60gallon has been running for 2months now and i am about to start stocking some fishes. this will be fish only tanks with lr.

here is the list of the fishes i want and hopfully you can get guide me toward the right directions.

1. frog fish, dragon warrasse, puffer, dwarf lion, trigger or eel.
2. how many fishes can i have in the 60?
3. which ones do you guys recommend??

thanks

[XtrmCHoPZ]

Sorry to say but out of what you listed you can only keep either a frogfish OR a dwarf lion, not together though. In the long run a 60g is WAY too small for a trigger, puffer or dragon wrasse. YOu may be able to keep a snowflake eel or something similar but no Gymnothorax species at all, they get way to big. Maybe if you buy a really small trigger, like 1"-2" you'd be ok for a while. Definitely do not buy anything bigger than 4". Puffers wont really work in there if youre talking about Arothron or Diodon species. A toby puffer would work though.

[XtrmCHoPZ]

No more than 3 fish.

[kroniclove]

hmm than what you would recommend to keep in a 60 gallon?

[XtrmCHoPZ]

WHats your preference? Do you like small colorful fish or aggressives? Your list has fish that tend to be larger and more aggressive so Id say if you want fish like that youre somewhat limited. IN a 60 maybe a small trigger and a wrasse, maybe a dwarf angel. Depends on what you like. List some more fish you want. The problem with a 60 is that most fish will outgrow it rather quickly. Its only 4 ft long and most triggers, tangs, angels, puffs, etc need a tank at least 6 ft long.

[kroniclove]

thanks for the rpely...but i am into the aggressive fishes.

what would you recommend if its a predator tank??

[PuffersKick]

Unfortunately, a 60 gallon tank isn't big enough for many predators.

If it was me, I would definitely get a Dwarf Fuzzy Lion. They stay small and have a great personality. You could probably get a smaller snowflake eel. Since they can curl up they don't need much space.

After that it's tough. Puffers, triggers, wrasses, tangs, & groupers all get too big for that size tank.

If you're not stuck on only predators you could add a flame angel & clown fish of some sort. Just make sure they are big enough that the dwarf lion won't eat them!

Good luck!

[syndrome]

goldentail eel could live in there. they are smaller then snowflake eels. but that would be the only fish in your tank.

[kroniclove]

Awesome Great advice guys. i appreciate it.

ok so how about this list

1. dwarf lion fish
2. snowflake or goldentail eel
3. Frog fish

let me know thanks in adavance.

[kroniclove]

Oooo how about a box fish???

[XtrmCHoPZ]

Youre going to have to keep the frogfish in a separate tank. I had a small snowflake eel shred and eat a frog before. What kind of boxfish are you talking about? MOst get fairly large for a 60g tank.

[Sk8r]

If you want action, fill it with damsels. Oneriest fish in creation. And very fast-moving. :) You could have four or five of those.

Seriously, that tank would do well for nanofish. Aggressive applies to all carnivores, and if you want little predators, try dottybacks. They're cousins to the wolf eel, they come in bright colors, and they hunt, no question.

[kroniclove]

thank you for all your help

[Patchy]

quick list
dwarf angel (flame, yellow fin etc)
pair of Occ. clowns
fuzzy lion

good active/predator set up and as long fish size bought right they shouldnt eat each other

[Torno]

Hello! Hopefully I can give you some insight onto having a boxfish, (if you are still interested in one), as I house one myself in a 55 gallon tank along with a lionfish.

She's a female spotted boxfish, (chocolate brown with white spots,) about 4" long including her tail, and I ordered this healthy specimen from liveaquaria.com, (which I highly recommend if you're still interested in them). The good thing about the spotted boxfish are that they only attain a size of about 6" in captivity, so a 50-60 gallon aquarium is the perfect size for one!
The personality on these little guys is heartwarming to say the least! I have had mine for about a week and a half now, and it already recognizes my presence when I enter the room! It swims to the front of the tank, facing me, and swims back and forth, back and forth, begging for food! It's almost like a little dog!

Unfortunately, these guys sometimes get a bad reputation as they have the potential to wipe out an entire tank with their toxin, including themselves, when stressed or threatened! Thankfully though, this can be easily avoided by housing them with peaceful tankmates that won't compete with it for food.

If you are serious on keeping a boxfish, a good thing to keep in mind is to plan on building your tank around the boxfish's needs, not add a boxfish to a tank that you don't know how things will work out.

Hopefully I gave you a little more information that you can look at when planning your tank. A boxfish themed tank is definitely one that is entertaining and worth it, in my opinion!

Good Luck!
Neil

[kroniclove]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7465684#post7465684 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Torno
Hello! Hopefully I can give you some insight onto having a boxfish, (if you are still interested in one), as I house one myself in a 55 gallon tank along with a lionfish.

She's a female spotted boxfish, (chocolate brown with white spots,) about 4" long including her tail, and I ordered this healthy specimen from liveaquaria.com, (which I highly recommend if you're still interested in them). The good thing about the spotted boxfish are that they only attain a size of about 6" in captivity, so a 50-60 gallon aquarium is the perfect size for one!
The personality on these little guys is heartwarming to say the least! I have had mine for about a week and a half now, and it already recognizes my presence when I enter the room! It swims to the front of the tank, facing me, and swims back and forth, back and forth, begging for food! It's almost like a little dog!

Unfortunately, these guys sometimes get a bad reputation as they have the potential to wipe out an entire tank with their toxin, including themselves, when stressed or threatened! Thankfully though, this can be easily avoided by housing them with peaceful tankmates that won't compete with it for food.

If you are serious on keeping a boxfish, a good thing to keep in mind is to plan on building your tank around the boxfish's needs, not add a boxfish to a tank that you don't know how things will work out.

Hopefully I gave you a little more information that you can look at when planning your tank. A boxfish themed tank is definitely one that is entertaining and worth it, in my opinion!

Good Luck!
Neil



that is some good information. now you got me really interested in keeping a box fish....i am interested since they do resemble a puffer and i know i cant have a puffer....

ok so here is the list i am leaning toward and let me know what you think

1. box fish
2. dwarf lion fish
3. snowflake eel

thanks everyone...keep the information coming...

[kroniclove]

hey Torno.

can you give me a little more information about box fish since they release posions when they died. i am up for the challenge but jsut a little worried about other fishes i will have in the tank..

[stykthyn]

if you run acitvated carbon it will help to remove the toxins from the water. cowfish and boxfish release it a lot, it will quickly build up and kill fish if you dont do frequent water changes and run carbon. a good skimmer is essential also.

[Torno]

Actually, to my knowledge boxfish only release the toxin when they are extremely threatened, (such as being chased around the tank, food taken out of their mouth, etc.) or when they are very sick and close to death (at which time it will be up to YOU to remove it from the tank). From the list of fish you have, I think they would make fine tankmates for a boxfish, as the lions aren't aggressive to fish that can't fit into their mouth, and eels are only out and aggressive during feeding time.

Should the boxfish get stressed enough to release its toxin, I would definitely have some carbon on hand to run in the filter (I have a Hang On Back filter that I can easily put a bag of carbon into) Also, it is smart to run a skimmer and if you are lucky enough to catch it, should it release the toxin, a large water change will need to be done. I've never seen a boxfish or cowfish release the toxin, but I hear it makes the water "cloudy"

Here is an excellent website for more information on them, sorry I didn't give it to you before: http://www.cowfishes.com/

Any more questions, feel free to ask! :)

[kroniclove]

great advice guys... keep them coming...

i am definately doing my research on box fish. cant wait to get them soon. i was just wondering is it possible to still have a dragon warrase in it. so a total of 4 fishes in the tank.

also when i run the carbons should i rinse them out first or do i just place them in the tank??

thanks guys

[kroniclove]

Oooo one more question... how do you guys feel about black sand for the tank??? i have black background and kind of want to try out the black sand..thanks

[Torno]

I don't think carbon needs to be run constantly, only if you suspect the tank has been "toxined" by the boxfish, although it may be a good idea just incase you aren't there to catch it, should it get stressed enough to do so.

Carbon can be activated by rinsing under warm water until the water coming off it is not cloudy black, and all the dust has been washed off. You will probably hear it crackle, thats the sound it makes when you activate it.




I'm not sure on size of the dragon wrasse, as you may be pushing it bio-load wise, but also if you didn't know you may want to consider your aquascaping situation. The nickname for a dragon wrasse is the "rockmover" wrasse as they quite literally have the ability to bulldoze over your liverock and rearrange it constantly to their liking when they get larger. This may or may not be a stress factor to the boxfish, if its a risk you're willing to take. Personally, I think the dragon wrasse gets quite boring and plain looking as an adult, but to each his own. :)

[Triggerman1964]

Boxfish need to go into an extremely peaceful tank.They are very hard to keep.One of my fav's but I never had any luck with them.
The toxin issue is way over exaggerated.I had one die when I went to hawaii,and all that was left was his armor plates.The tank was fine.It is a voluntary decision for the box to protect itself.

[kroniclove]

you guys are getting me very excited with box fish. thanks

[Torno]

No problem. ;)