Originally Posted by
Lorene
http:///forum/post/3164568
Oh, well a Coral Beauty is definately out! I have had my "fill" of aggressive fish!
Maybe a PJ Cardinal instead of the CB?
I am thinking a midas, a lawnmower or a bicolor (only 1 blenny though)
I am also thinking of a couple of gobies: a purple firefish, a neon goby and a yellow watchman and maybe add a pistol shrimp for them.
I am not sure if I will get any more snails after Stoney our Astreas passing.
I have Aragonite (kind of chunky) substrate (no sand) and so not sure of what kind to get. With only a tiny bit of algae on my glass (I am pretty concious of cleaning the glass all the time) I would think a Blenny would do better than a snail for the little parts around the rocks I cant reach.
Other than that I think my tank will be complete although I have news on the forefront now.....
I just met a guy who has a 90 reef that he said had a major crash and all his corals he thinks died. He still has the rock in it and water but he said he is tired of keeping up with it so he just wants to get out of the hobby altogether (His loss=my gain!) He has very expensive metal halide lighting/skimmer/powerheads etc so I would like to throw out there what a reasonable price I could offer him. I am not sure if the live rock he has that fills the tank is "Live" anymore but if I could throw it in something and "cure" it that would be worth something too right? I dont want to spend too much money on a "dead" tank but I would like something to "work" with as well and take my time and "do it right" this time with this tank. Please anyone give me an idea of what I should pay for this 90 with all accessories considering if I may have to start it over from scratch.
Well if you're good with cleaning the glass, I'd get a lawnmower blenny for the algae on your rocks, especially if you're not set on snails. There are quite a few people that don't have snails in their tank. You may also have to add algae sheets to the tank to keep him well fed. They're great, personable little fish. The midas can be tricky and aggressive with gobies and firefish. I've had two lawnmowers and loved them. Right now I have a black combtooth and he's just as good, but the lawnmower's definitely had more personality. Midas are not as beneficial as the lawnmower either.
If you decide to do snails, I highly recommed Ceriths and Nassarius as well as some Astrea's or Trochus. I wouldn't go crazy with snails in a 29G since you plan on having a blenny.
The Coral Beauty will be fine as long as it's the last fish you add, so if you really want one, just get your other fish first. I didn't know any better when I bought mine and she was one of the first fish I added. She's beautiful, but it was really had to add fish with her and she killed quite a few. Now that she's not the biggest in the tank, she's calmed down a lot and is one of my favorite fish again. She just needed to be put in her place. The problem was, she was one of the first in the tank, so she was able to establish a big territory and din't want to share with other fish. If you added your other fish before the CBA, it would not be able to establish it's territory and get dominant so fast. Cardinals really like to be kept in pairs or more so you'd really have to get at least two. You could also take a look at some of the reef safe wrasses, some of them are really pretty (DO NOT GET A SIX LINE WRASSE - many people refer to the as the "fish from hell" on this forum and I agree). I recently bought a fairy wrasse that is just beautiful to watch swim around. He's trying to school with my anthias right now.
As for the 90G, I don't really know what you should offer. I got my 40G with PC's/sump/pump/overflow/powerheads/50lbs live rock/some small corals for $125-, my 155G I got for free, but, I knew the guy I was buying/receiving from. It really depends. If this guy really wants out and is fed up, he'll sell for cheap. What's the worst that happens, you offer too little and he asks for more? Then you'll know what he wants. Look on Craigslist and see what used tanks go for in your area. I live in NY, so used stuff is EXPENSIVE.
Good luck
