280g FOWLR Tank Diary

[kylev]

thanks
BTLD- I'll look into the anthias school idea a little more tonight and the yellows have been eliminated from the list. I doubt I will end up doing a trigger cause I don't believe I like them enough for the size they get and food they consume.
I'm not sure on how old my clown is, I bought her from SWF. She was definetely about twice the size of the male so that couldnt have been good considering what you had said. Now my problem is I wont be home on a saturday to receive a delivery from SWF for two weeknds and no body local has the png true percs. I'd also hate to add the female to the DT in a couple weeks then later find out I need to remove her cause shes too aggressive to males. Time to do some thinking and decide on what i need to do.

 

[kylev]

I know it's not probably the best idea but heres the plan im thinking of. SWF has the PNG True percs available so I'd buy another clown from them that meets the size of what I need plus a mystery wrasse since they are on sale at the moment. They would arrive saturday. While aclimating the new fish to the QT I'd acclimate the hippo to the DT, I know that would only give it three weeks of QT time, but i feel pretty safe with this since I just talked with the LFS i bought him from. The hippo was in there show tank for 8 months without any new additions of fish, before that it was in his home aquarium with no signs of illness. All the fish that are still in the tank still show no signs of illness. I know I'm still at risk but this allows me to get a new clown to try with the female asap while SWF still has them available. I also dont want the female clown to hold up the QT forever while I try to find her a match.

 

[kylev]

Looking at anthias's I'm liking the maldives and was wondering how many and what m/f ratio would be a good number.
So since it keeps changing my current list is as follows
Tangs
Blue hippo
yellow belly hippo
purple tang
achilles tang
(could try to sneak in a naso at some point)
Angels
Queen angel
emperor angel
flame angel
coral beauty angel
Wrasses
Mystery wrasse
Red coris wrasse
Anthias
Mixture of m/f maldives
Other fish
Red mandarin
Starry or lawn mower blenny
Two true percula clowns
Any ideas of possible additions that would work well are much appreciated.

 

[kjr_trig]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kylev http:///forum/thread/374812/280g-fowlr-tank-diary/320#post_3324243
So current list is now
Hippo
yellow belly hippo
purple tang
achilles
3 yellow tangs
2 clowns
mystery wrasse
red coris wrasse
flame angel
cb angel ??
queen angel
emperor angel
Whats the odds of being able to trade two of the yellow tangs out for other tangs such as a blonde naso and powder brown? Am i getting a little carried away or not?
I would stick with just one Acan. genus Tang....I actually kind of like what BTLD said, Anthias are beautiful additions to tanks, I look forward to doing a group in my next tank....And yes, I certainly agree with what RC about Triggers. An "Aggressive Tank" isn't really one unless there is a Trigger in there. Highly entertaining fish and several great choices that would work with your list.
Oh, I'm no expert on Hippo Tangs, but agree that might be risky.

 

[1snapple]

I prefer gold rimmed tang over powder blue, brown, and blue hippo. Just my .02

 

[kylev]

Well allright I'll say goodbye to the yellow belly but now I'm definitely adding a naso.
I'm all game for a trigger lets here some suggestions on what you think would work and look good. It needs to have decent odds of leaving my softies alone and would prefer it to not eat my shrimp.

 

[1snapple]

Not sure about it's behavior, but clown, They are so cool. or niger because the black sand

 

[rcreations]

Personally, with a tank that size I'd get a pair of Crosshatch triggers, if you don't mind the price. If you're looking for something cheaper, the Sargassum or Red Tail trigger is a very cool fish with a lot of personality. Neither of these will eat your corals or inverts.

 

[rcreations]

Let me pass a warning along. ANY trigger has the potential of being agressive, especially once they get established and large. But then again that's why it's called an Agressive tank.

 

[btldreef]

Quote:
Originally Posted by RCreations http:///forum/thread/374812/280g-fowlr-tank-diary/340#post_3324951
Personally, with a tank that size I'd get a pair of Crosshatch triggers, if you don't mind the price. If you're looking for something cheaper, the Sargassum or Red Tail trigger is a very cool fish with a lot of personality. Neither of these will eat your corals or inverts.
+1

 

[kylev]

A cross hatch pair would be awesome. If I did end up doing a pair do they need to be added together or could I spread it out? And if I added the naso instead of the yellow belly would my tank be able to support two more large fish or should I leave out the naso? I would remove the red coris in order to make a little more room if that would allow the naso to stay. These would definitely be my last fish though because I'd be saving up to buy them after the rest had been added plus I'd want a very stable tank to make the investment less of a risk

 

[rcreations]

I'd add them together, bought as a pair. Triggers are very tough fish, you should be more worried about the tangs as far as water quality.
As for how many fish is too many? Personally, I think you have too many big fish in there, especially after adding the crosshatches. But it's hard to recommend which ones to keep because that's based on personal taste and I'm not the biggest fan of tangs in general. I think they look great but otherwise don't have interesting personalities. They don't interact with people the way other fish do.

 

[kylev]

Do you think I'd be ok if I left out the naso and the purple tang leaving only the hippo and achilles for tangs, then I'd have the two large angels plus the crosshatches as the big fish in the tank?

 

[rcreations]

I think that'd work.

 

[kylev]

Sweet, but now the sohal is back in my thoughts since the tang load has been lightened so much I think my odds are much better

 

[kjr_trig]

Quote:
Originally Posted by RCreations http:///forum/thread/374812/280g-fowlr-tank-diary/340#post_3324951
Personally, with a tank that size I'd get a pair of Crosshatch triggers, if you don't mind the price. If you're looking for something cheaper, the Sargassum or Red Tail trigger is a very cool fish with a lot of personality. Neither of these will eat your corals or inverts.
Trust me, if I put a shrimp in my tank it would be battle between my Male Crosshatch, Female Crosshatch and Lime Green Wrasse as to which would eat it first.....Don't think for a second that that an 8 inch Crosshatch is invertebrate safe. That is the only issue with Crosshatch, they are not available in small sizes. My Male Crosshatch is flat out nasty.
I would look at Sargassum of do a Male and Female Pair of BlueJaw, they are available in smaller sizes and could get used to inverts before they get larger....There is no getting an 8 inch Trigger to accomodate anything when he is added, he does what he wants.

 

[rcreations]

My sargassum trigger is pretty nasty too. The only fish in the tank to stand up to the sohal but it's never touched inverts and it's now a good 5+ inches. It did grow up with shrimp though, so maybe that made a difference. Personally I don't like Blue Jaws because they're so skittish, very unlike triggers. Whenever I see one at the store, it's hiding behind or under some LR, plus the females are not very attractive.

 

[kylev]

I'm thinking I like the crosshatch pair idea a lot more than I like my inverts so if they become food so be it. Plus if it's called an agressive tank you'd think shrimp shouldnt be able to survive anyways.
What do you guys think about putting the sohal back on the list in place of the achilles?

 

[1snapple]

I would kepe the achilles. achilles are one of the nicest looking fish ever

 

[kjr_trig]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kylev http:///forum/thread/374812/280g-fowlr-tank-diary/340#post_3325130
I'm thinking I like the crosshatch pair idea a lot more than I like my inverts so if they become food so be it. Plus if it's called an agressive tank you'd think shrimp shouldnt be able to survive anyways.
What do you guys think about putting the sohal back on the list in place of the achilles?
2 of my favorite fish, but the 2 most dominant fish I've ever owned. I think you would be fine with either. To be honest, my Achilles was a more interesting fish, and more aggressive, but in a smaller tank.
Crosshatch are awesome, let me know and I will give you the contact where I got mine, they were less for a pair than the typically individual male.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RCreations http:///forum/thread/374812/280g-fowlr-tank-diary/340#post_3325115
My sargassum trigger is pretty nasty too. The only fish in the tank to stand up to the sohal but it's never touched inverts and it's now a good 5+ inches. It did grow up with shrimp though, so maybe that made a difference. Personally I don't like Blue Jaws because they're so skittish, very unlike triggers. Whenever I see one at the store, it's hiding behind or under some LR, plus the females are not very attractive.
Your Sargassum has a lot better color than mine. The tail on mine is fairly dull orange. Very funny fish though, spits water at me every time I open the tank. My Niger and Sargassum are the only 2 fish in my tank that ever fight, they hate each other. Trigger fights get UGLY!!!