Add a Harlequin Tusk?

djminus1

djminus1

Member
Hello...
I am looking for the final member of my tank. At this point, I have a strange mix of agressive/community fish. Trust me, these guys get along and I monitor them closely. As soon as some of the more agressive fish become territorial, I will swap out some of these fish.
I am looking into getting a juvenile Harlequin Tusk as the final member of this tank. Good idea?
Tank
90 Gallon FOWLR
Fish List
1 Med Perc Clown
1 Small Humu Humu Trigger
1 Medium Yellow Tang
1 Small Flame Hawkfish
1 Medium Lunare Wrasse
1 Snowflake Eel
 
whitey

whitey

Member
I would say you're at your limit if not a little over.
Tusk's are a tough fish to acclimate, and with the amount of fish you already have, the Tusk could get stressed easily. Not to mention, I'm not sure if a Lunar and Tusk would even get along both being large aggressive wrasses.
JM 2 Cents.
 
djminus1

djminus1

Member
One thing that I should have mentioned about my tank...
I keep only about 40 lbs of LR. I have set up the rock with large caves and tunnels while maximizing open water space for swimming. Also, the fish I have mentioned are not large. I constantly monitor the water and I can't even detect traces of nitrate.
In terms of bioload, I think I would be fine. I was mainly concerned with compatibility, but not with the Lunare. I was concerned about the other fish.
 
J

jcrim

Guest
Just a thought... it's strange that everyone assumes he's maxed out his bio load but no one has asked about his filtration. Doesn't anyone think this affects capacity?

And by the way, a tusk wouldn't bother your other fish but I'm surprised your perc has survived in your tank.
 
oceana

oceana

Active Member
Originally Posted by jcrim
Just a thought... it's strange that everyone assumes he's maxed out his bio load but no one has asked about his filtration. Doesn't anyone think this affects capacity?

And by the way, a tusk wouldn't bother your other fish but I'm surprised your perc has survived in your tank.

if he had a tank big enough for the tang or the tusk i would have then moved to filtration to figure out is it could handle another fish but since all i need to see is the fish list and tank size and see a problem there is no need to go any farther to know its a bad idea.
 
S

shark bait

Guest
the tusk may get beet up over time by the other wrass or even the triger. I lost mine to a minatta grouper the tusk was 7", grouper 5. You tell me!! so I would loose one only if you can find a good australian one with blue teeth.
 
djminus1

djminus1

Member
Originally Posted by jcrim
Just a thought... it's strange that everyone assumes he's maxed out his bio load but no one has asked about his filtration. Doesn't anyone think this affects capacity?

And by the way, a tusk wouldn't bother your other fish but I'm surprised your perc has survived in your tank.

I know...If I listened every time someone said "Don't add that" or "You can't do that", I would have a lovely 90 gallon LR only tank with no fish.
My filtration is a CPR CY-194 Sump/Skimmer combo. Works great and keeps my water pristine.
Also, the whole reason why the Clown is still in there is becasue he is actually the boss of the tank! Every fish respects him and his little corner in the tank. One thing I have learned from fish keeping is that you will usually know within a couple of hours of adding a new tankmate whether or not your community will be compatible. I know that fish get bigger and meaner, but I watch that carefully.
 
gasguzzler

gasguzzler

Active Member
Ive seen lunares get really nasty when they age. I would be concerned about the tusk in the long run. IMO, listen to shark bait and ditch the lunare for the tusk.
 
djminus1

djminus1

Member
Originally Posted by gasguzzler
Ive seen lunares get really nasty when they age. I would be concerned about the tusk in the long run. IMO, listen to shark bait and ditch the lunare for the tusk.
Yeah...the tusk is definately the cooler of the two anyway.
I hate to give up the Lunare because he is one of the brightest and most colorful I have ever seen. His tail is a brighter yellow than my Yellow Tang.
 
thangbom

thangbom

Active Member
I've had almost the same combination of fish in my tank before and it worked out fine...except the tusk and the lunare will fight a lil....they wont kill each other but they will act agressively towards each other. BUt then hey, its entertaining to watch em work for their food. Previously i had
1 emp angel
1 poweder blue tang
2 clown fish
lunare wrass
harlequin tusk
niger trigger
clown trigger
currently i've added about 5 more fish to that tank and its a little overloaded but i just change my water more often and rearrange my rockwork so there's more caves and caverns. As long as your numbers look good and the fish dont stress there's really no reason you cant get another fish. just pay very close attention tho and feed them right. BTW...get the nicer harlequin tusk from australia....its colors are worth the $30 difference in price.
 
aw2

aw2

Active Member

Originally Posted by ThaNgBom
I've had almost the same combination of fish in my tank before and it worked out fine
How long did you have the fish in the tank together? I bet not long...
Originally Posted by ThaNgBom
...except the tusk and the lunare will fight a lil....they wont kill each other but they will act agressively towards each other. BUt then hey, its entertaining to watch em work for their food.
The purpose of people being in this hobby isnt to watch our fish "fight each other to see who gets to eat".
We're trying to give this guy the best advice here, not "I've done it and it will work for a while".
Originally Posted by ThaNgBom
currently i've added about 5 more fish to that tank and its a little overloaded but i just change my water more often and rearrange my rockwork so there's more caves and caverns.
Would you mind telling us what size tank you have, what the inhabitants are and what type of filtration you're running?
 
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