Time for another crazy idea

[Jesterrace]

Okay, I know that this may not be the best idea, but here is the situation. I currently have a 36 gallon bowfront tank. I currently have a good collection of hermit crabs, snails and the following:

1 Cleaner Shrimp
1 young female Melenarus Wrasse
1 Diamond Watchman Goby
1 Scissortail Dartfish
1 Purple Firefish

Here is my current dilemma. My Purple Firefish spends about 80% of the daylight hiding in it's cave. As such I effectively have a slot taken up by a fish that is effectively an unwanted source of nitrates. Added to this, my scissortail hides about 50% of the daylight hiding in it's cave. So I have 4 fish in my tank and half the time I only have 2 that are visible I only have all 4 visible about 20% of the daylight. Effectively this makes the tank look almost barren and it really bugs me. I know the Wrasse will grow in color and size to help fill that void, but I keep feeling that my tank could offer much more than it does. Furthermore the Firefish's sissy nature and bright colors make it the number one bullying target of any fish I add to the tank (I have already removed a Flame Angel and Solar Fairy Wrasse due to this) I am at the point where I am willing to attempt to trap the Firefish (not easy by any means) and replace it with something more active and bold. As such I keep coming back to one fish and I know it's a stretch, but I am really liking the African Flameback Angel. I have heard that the African is a little less aggressive than it's Brazilian counterpart. I know technically my tank is a bit small for it, but I am hoping that a light stock and adding it when it is small might help with this. Any thoughts?

 

[jay0705]

Easy answer, get a bigger tank. With that small of a tank iam not surprised the fire hides. The issue you have is your current wrasse is going to get big. Mine is 5" so while only 1 fish, thats a big chunk of your biomass. If you want active fish look at most captive bred fish. There far less skittish. Clowns, blennys, ect

 

[Jesterrace]

Easy answer, get a bigger tank. With that small of a tank iam not surprised the fire hides. The issue you have is your current wrasse is going to get big. Mine is 5" so while only 1 fish, thats a big chunk of your biomass. If you want active fish look at most captive bred fish. There far less skittish. Clowns, blennys, ect

Yup, I kind of figured that as for the easy answer to get a bigger tank, yeah that's not going to happen as I don't have the money or space to upgrade and my wife is already at the end of her patience with me and fish. I know the Wrasse will get just shy of 5 inches when fully grown so that will be interesting, but she is such a cool fish that I just had to have her. I have considered the possibility of some kind of captive bred Occ (ie Black Ice). I like the Orchid Dottyback which is easy to find captive bred, but other family members don't seem to care much for it. Either way, I have to get rid of my Firefish before I can do anything else. I really want to get rid of my scissortail as well but my 6 year old boy really likes it as it is his favorite fish.

 

[Jesterrace]

Okay, it's not exactly what I had in mind. All my attempts to catch and return my Purple Firefish have failed. I did however order a Black Ice Occ from my LFS as they can get them much cheaper than online. This will be my final fish added to the tank (outside of replacing fish as they die down the road), and if I catch either my Purple or Scissortail, I won't replace them with another fish. I also think the Purple got the message. He has been out in the back of the tank the last couple of days.