Petcrazyson
5000 Club Member
Maybe instead of the Gem Tang you could get a Mustard Tang? Halichoeres wrasse species? Scribbled and Bimaculatus Anthias to form one large group of Anthia?
It was this big... Now its this big...
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OP
OP
F i s h y
2nd In Command.
I don't have any experience with Anthias. Can you mix species?
MrsBugmaster
2500 Club Member
What size tank is it again? My experience with watchmen gobies is limited but not sure if you want that many. I had a yellow watchman and a pink spot that was in my 180. They each had their own side of the tank. If one crossed into the others territory there was a fight. But nothing major. They both died of old age at around 13 and 15 years old.
OP
OP
F i s h y
2nd In Command.
96x30x25 310 ish gallons
Powder Blue Tang: I don't love this option. If it's already started being a punk, chances are that's not going to change even in the big tank. If it's that old, there will always be someone for it to pick on.
OP
OP
F i s h y
2nd In Command.
I was thinking this as well. Beautiful fish. but not sure its a good fit for my tank.
crusso1993
7500 Club Member
I’ve had to do this on more than one occasion.
I got a powder blue on cheap sale a year or so ago that came in emaciated and diseased. Through the hospital tank with basic (and beginner-level) medication and proper feeding, it is doing well now, but it was aggressive in the community QT and is currently in my bottom 75g QT with 2 bicolor foxfaces and a small snowflake eel. It has been non-aggressive under the current circumstances, but I got a purple tang a couple months ago for my main community group since I do not trust adding the powder blue back again. The powder blue will either end up in my basement FOWLR or be rehomed if I cannot get it to get along with the other fish. They are beautiful but aggressive!
Gem tang is quite expensive if you are not hyped for it, but maybe worth it for your son...
Cleaner wrasses would be neat in your large system as they should have enough fish to clean to stay healthy even if they do not take to prepared foods.
Groups of cleaner gobies are very fun, in my opinion. In my experience, pairs have about equal chances to pair up and get along or end up fighting, while larger groups seem to get along fine. I have 5 neon blue gobies in my 90g live rock tank and 3 more in the QT waiting to go home with the group. So far, there has only been fighting when in small groups. The QT 3 have 2 that paired that occasionally chase the 3rd but will probably get along with the others in the 90g when they move home. Especially due to their short lifespan, I'm hoping to breed them in the future. It would be amazing if your tank would house breeding pairs and the babies would survive naturally in the tank, though I don't know how likely this is without special food sources being added regularly (rotifers?).
Others are just fish that I like that could work well in your tank.
As always, I'm looking forward to progress pictures as the tank continues to come together!
You probably already knew my top votes, and in this given order...
These are my other personal preferences from your list, though not much specific reasoning that I can share beyond preference.
Gem tang is quite expensive if you are not hyped for it, but maybe worth it for your son...
Cleaner wrasses would be neat in your large system as they should have enough fish to clean to stay healthy even if they do not take to prepared foods.
Groups of cleaner gobies are very fun, in my opinion. In my experience, pairs have about equal chances to pair up and get along or end up fighting, while larger groups seem to get along fine. I have 5 neon blue gobies in my 90g live rock tank and 3 more in the QT waiting to go home with the group. So far, there has only been fighting when in small groups. The QT 3 have 2 that paired that occasionally chase the 3rd but will probably get along with the others in the 90g when they move home. Especially due to their short lifespan, I'm hoping to breed them in the future. It would be amazing if your tank would house breeding pairs and the babies would survive naturally in the tank, though I don't know how likely this is without special food sources being added regularly (rotifers?).
Others are just fish that I like that could work well in your tank.
As always, I'm looking forward to progress pictures as the tank continues to come together!
OP
OP
F i s h y
2nd In Command.
I am a big fan of the foxface as well. Might actually go ahead and get 1 each of the 4 common types and not get many or any more tangs. What are you finding is the typical life span of your neon gobies.I got a powder blue on cheap sale a year or so ago that came in emaciated and diseased. Through the hospital tank with basic (and beginner-level) medication and proper feeding, it is doing well now, but it was aggressive in the community QT and is currently in my bottom 75g QT with 2 bicolor foxfaces and a small snowflake eel. It has been non-aggressive under the current circumstances, but I got a purple tang a couple months ago for my main community group since I do not trust adding the powder blue back again. The powder blue will either end up in my basement FOWLR or be rehomed if I cannot get it to get along with the other fish. They are beautiful but aggressive!
You probably already knew my top votes, and in this given order...
These are my other personal preferences from your list, though not much specific reasoning that I can share beyond preference.
Gem tang is quite expensive if you are not hyped for it, but maybe worth it for your son...
Cleaner wrasses would be neat in your large system as they should have enough fish to clean to stay healthy even if they do not take to prepared foods.
Groups of cleaner gobies are very fun, in my opinion. In my experience, pairs have about equal chances to pair up and get along or end up fighting, while larger groups seem to get along fine. I have 5 neon blue gobies in my 90g live rock tank and 3 more in the QT waiting to go home with the group. So far, there has only been fighting when in small groups. The QT 3 have 2 that paired that occasionally chase the 3rd but will probably get along with the others in the 90g when they move home. Especially due to their short lifespan, I'm hoping to breed them in the future. It would be amazing if your tank would house breeding pairs and the babies would survive naturally in the tank, though I don't know how likely this is without special food sources being added regularly (rotifers?).
Others are just fish that I like that could work well in your tank.
As always, I'm looking forward to progress pictures as the tank continues to come together!
Petcrazyson
5000 Club Member
If there is enough territory and the tank is large enough to escape the bickering. Not always successful, but sometimes it is.
You have my full support for all 4 foxfaces! I think they look particularly nice in groups, either of the same type or different types.
I've lost a few of my gobies due to other issues than life term, so none of mine have been in my tanks long-term.
2 paired sharknose gobies were lost in my first QT when I had near-total loss to what I suspect was a vibrio infection while trying out a concept with 3D-printed porous infill plates on the floor that probably trapped detritus and made for a stagnant environment.
2 paired sharknose gobies died when I introduced some bacterial infection with a Tomini tang after a 3-week QT in the 10g at work then moved home to the top 75g community QT...
Some may have died at lifespan, as I had them 6-8 months and they were not tiny when I got them, so they may have reached an age around 1.2-1.5 years, but I do not know for sure.
Longest I've had some is about a year now with 2 broadstripe gobies in my Work Desk 40B system that were started small in the original 30B tank. They are not paired up, so one hides most of the time. I assume I have 2 males, but I really don't know.
The neon gobies in my 90g live rock tank are all recent additions within the last 6 months. One in the group is large at 2" and was a find at my LFS when I went several weeks ago. It acclimated well and joined the group of 4 (sized ~1.5") with no difficulties. The other 3 in the 10g QT are from an order a few weeks ago to use up reward points before they are discontinued (I got them free).
I'm still undecided which species I like best between the neons (E. oceanops), sharknose (E. evelynae), broadstripe (E. prochilos), and yellowline (E. figaro).
Also note that I don't value my experience as great advice yet, since I am still relatively new and have had mostly essentially QT systems due to the slow progress on my primary build.
I do a lot of reading, but my experiences are still pretty limited.
OP
OP
F i s h y
2nd In Command.
Every little bit helps. i appreciate the info.
White Cheek/Gold rim I think (obviously) is a nice supplement. Same body, same swimming habits. Way less attitude
OP
OP
F i s h y
2nd In Command.
Hadn't even considered this! Love these guys.
Goaway
10K Club member
i keep forgetting they exist. I think I have a taste for murderous monsters....
Those are my top favorite out of the tangs of similar appearance!
danieyella
unfriendly local swamp witch
I did a lot of research on this because it's something I've been considering - generally, yes. They'll exist as separate groups most of the time but usually do fine together with enough space.
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