New tank - deciding on livestock - any problems here?

[ragawaga]

My new tank arrived yesterday. I've went into research mode to figure out what sort of plumbing and sump setup I'm going to make.

The tank is 48" x 18" x 18".....I've not completly decided on what livestock I want yet, but here are some of my thoughts.

1 Coral banded shrimp
2 blood shrip
1 yellow tang
6 Chromis
2 Bangaii cardinals
2 occilaris/perc clownfish
1 long nosed hawkfish
I would also like to have a regal tang

I already have a mandarin in the current setup (that's all I have due to size)


Does anyone see any probs there or have any suggestions.

I know that the shrimp might come under attack from the hawkfish, I've been reading that as long as the hawkfish is kept well fed, it will leave them alone.....failing that, I can supply it with glass shrimps that can easily be caught in rock pools locally.

 

[Expos Forever]

My new tank arrived yesterday. I've went into research mode to figure out what sort of plumbing and sump setup I'm going to make.

The tank is 48" x 18" x 18".....I've not completly decided on what livestock I want yet, but here are some of my thoughts.

1 Coral banded shrimp
2 blood shrip
1 yellow tang
6 Chromis
2 Bangaii cardinals
2 occilaris/perc clownfish
1 long nosed hawkfish
I would also like to have a regal tang

I already have a mandarin in the current setup (that's all I have due to size)


Does anyone see any probs there or have any suggestions.

I know that the shrimp might come under attack from the hawkfish, I've been reading that as long as the hawkfish is kept well fed, it will leave them alone.....failing that, I can supply it with glass shrimps that can easily be caught in rock pools locally.

Nice to see people asking before buying.

First off, you will likely have to chose between shrimp or hawkfish, or you will likely end up with just hawkfish anyways. Feeding your hawk grass shrimp, IMO, will only make your shrimp look tastier. My unfortunate "experiment" with a well-fed flamehawk and fire shrimp resulted in a couple "mistake" bites during normal fish feedings. The end result being a dead shrimp.

If you'd rather shrimp I would stick to one species, or you might just end up with a banded coral anyways.

I would go with a yellow tang with your setup. They stay smaller than the the regal and won't be almost surely cyanide-caught. Two tangs in a four foot is asking for trouble bio-load wise and compatability wise IMO. If you must, put them both in at once (after quarantine of course ).

Lastly, your banggais may fight. A single fish may be safer, unless you can find a couple.

Good luck, and have fun with your new set-up.

 

[JohnD]

I mostly agree with Expo - either the shrimp of the hawkfish.

IME blood shrimp are always out of view. I spend a lot of money on the blood shrimp that I rarely see. The coral banded, however, show no fear and are out and about. Maybe you want to consider a mated pair.

Personally, I like cleaner shrimp. You can add several to your proposed setup.

The yellow tang is a better selection, IMHO, compared to a hippo/regal tang. Both fish are stunning, but the yellow tang can go in a smaller tank.

On a presonal note: I have a hippo and he will be with me 14 years this fall, but a regal needs room to swim. Go with the yellow. Another option is to consider a purple tang; elegant beyond words.

My $0.02.

 

[shellshocked]

I agree with the above except:

My blood shrimp was shy for a few months but eventually sat out in the open and was a good investment.

I have had chromis and in my opinion they are very plain fish. Mine lived many years and I regretted getting them. They are much prettier as juveniles than adults. The idea of them cruising and schooling in the tank was what caught me but while they do tend to hang together I would not call it schooling.

 

[EmilyB]

Coral banded shrimp spear and kill fish. If you haven't owned one, you won't have seen this.

 

[Anonymous]

Can anybody refute what Emily just said about CBSs spearing fish? The one's I've seen don't look fast enough or well equipped enough to spear a sinking mushroom

 

[MI0706]

Well Emily... I own a mated pair of Coral Bands housed with 6 fish in my 55 gallon... The CBS have never touched any of my fish... They've been together now for about 8 months...

Personally, I think this whole thing that people have with CBS is just like having any angels with corals... It is a crap shoot... Some CBS are fine with fish, others aren't...

But to blatently make a comment of "Coral banded shrimp spear and kill fish" is not a wise statement... That would be the same as saying "All angels eat corals"... See my point?!?

Just my $.02

 

[Anonymous]

1 Coral banded shrimp - can be very aggressive , would worry most about the blood shrimp.

2 blood shrimp - neat, hardy compared to cleaners, will rarely clean in closed system and hide a lot but otherwise one of my favorites.

1 yellow tang - tank too small for fish at adulthood. Consider maybe a Kole / Yellow Eye tang or one of the other small bristletooth surgeons.

6 Chromis - good choice

2 Bangaii cardinals - get captive bred if at all possible. There has been extreme mortality in wild caught bangaiis lately for some reason.

2 occilaris/perc clownfish - good choice

1 long nosed hawkfish - introduce your crustaceans first and let them get established before adding hawk. Even with the small mouth they can smash the shrimp into small pieces to eat.

I would also like to have a regal tang - Juvenile might be ok for a year tops - wait till you get a 6' tank IMO

 

[fishfanatic2]

I personally think Banggais look better in a big gropu or not at all. You could try a wrasse of some sort, like a six line or whatever. Regals get big and may eventually become fairly aggresive if they are introduced first or become kings. Your gonna also have to pick your kind of shrimp, since the cbs will not hesitate to rid the blood shrimps of its territory(aka the whole tank). I dont have experience with hawkfish so i cant comment on that. GL

 

[MotleyZoo]

Chuckle. I'm glad somebody's blood shrimp act normally and hide. I call mine the 2 Furies because they're all over the place and I couldn't ask for better detritus scavengers. Apparently, I really lucked out.

I've been searching through posts and this one caught my attention because of the hawkfish. I'm thinking of adding a Falco hawkfish (2.5" max.) to a tank with 2 firefish and my blood shrimp and cleaner shrimp. According to all sources I've seen, less of a problem than other hawkfish species, but I was wondering....

Does anyone have any experience with a Falco hawkfish interacting with shrimp or firefish?

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bboyin4lyf]

ive got the same sized tank - 48*18*18 , ive got a coral beauty angelfish, one occ.clown and one bi coloured blenny. also thinking of adding 3-6 blue green chromis. if this is a reef setup wouldnt you be worried about over stocking with your current list? i was also thinking of adding a mandarin. how much liverock do you have? ive often heard that they cant do well in anything less then 100 gallons. how does yours fair?
good luck with the list!

 

[Steven]

MotleyZoo,

I've had a Falco Hawkfish for about three years now. Great personality and never any health problems. I introduced three, 1 inch, cleaner shrimp after I got the Falco. He went after them right away but the shrimp were too big for him to eat. By the next day, the Falco seemed to forget all about them. The shrimp grew nicely over the two or so years I had them, but they disapeared, one at a time, over a period of several months. Could be the Falco got them during molting, maybe they just got old and died. My Falco has always been peacefull towards other fish, even smaller new additions.

Good luck.