Fish recommendations

[bopeep]

I'm planning a new 80 gallon, but I'm a newbie and don't really know what kind of fish I want to
keep. I like the look of the small colorful reef fish, but then again I've always wanted something aggressive that eats live food. Are there any animals that I can plan on keeping in the reef environment that will only eat very small fish. An eel would be really cool, or maybe something very small from the shark/ray family. Thanks.

 

[naesco]

How about sheep!

 

[danmhippo]

Carnivore fish, being what they are, grows faster and usually bigger then average reef fish. If that is what you want to keep, you should plan on bigger tanks. Think about how big they will get a year or 2 down the road.

80G, well, you can probably keep an eel (look for max size no more than 24", say, snowflake?). Dwarf lion, Puffer, Triggers and Groupers. You will have do the research on your own to see 1. how big they will grow, 2. tank requirement, 3. food requirement, 4. filter requirement.

One thing to watch out for, you will have difficulty to reproduce suitable live food for them. Not many marine fish bred easily and readily in the aquaria. You will have to wean them to accept substitute dead food (shouldn't be too hard). The substitute food must be selcon/selco fortified to maintain long term health. Freshwater feeder fish must not be used as these have been reported to cause chronical liver diseases.

Research, research and more research. HTH. Good luck.

 

[Roach]

I'm recently finding out what cool fish Anthias are. There are so many of them and they will eat small guppies and ghost shrimp. They aren't the hardiest fish out there but if you can get one that survived transport in good shape or has been in you LFS's tank for awhile then your chances are good.

 

[stephtannen]

Just a thought: When I had 16 marine tanks in my classroom, most of them were just 10 gallons. We were able to keep all of the organisms that you listed in these tanks (smaller of course and then we did sell or give them away when they grew to large). Anyway, concerning the food, here is what I have found to be the best for food for these organisms:
1) the best thing is live ghost shrimp, the bigger the better...it is very simple to establish a small 2 or 3 gallon tank to breed these organisms and to supply a constant supply of food for your fish and you don't have to keep running to the fish store every week...
2) brine shrimp, but I have not been very successful in keeping them alive for very long and they foul up a tank pretty fast if not kept in control
3) flash frozen krill...the eels that I've had really go for this
4) good old fashioned frozen salad shrimp found in the freezer dept. at grocery stores
All of the above I have used with my tanks and have found success...you just need to experiment, but make sure you don't leave uneaten food lying around in the tank...unless you have other scavenger fish or invertebrates to take care of them
Good luck!

80G, well, you can probably keep an eel (look for max size no more than 24", say, snowflake?). Dwarf lion, Puffer, Triggers and Groupers. You will have do the research on your own to see 1. how big they will grow, 2. tank requirement, 3. food requirement, 4. filter requirement.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by bopeep:
<strong>...... I've always wanted something aggressive that eats live food. Are there any animals that I can plan on keeping in the reef environment that will only eat very small fish......</strong><hr></blockquote>
A Marine Betta is a perfect fish for you. They are very hardy and will eat feeder fish and shrimps. They are beautiful and their behavior as they hunt is also very intersting. They are shy and often hide behing rock works at first but will come out often later.
There is one thing you should know: Marine fish will get sick if they eat fresh water fish too much. Feeding salt water feedier fish is often not possible or realy cost alot.