What happens when you take 4 kids to the LFS to pick out fish for your new reef upgrade?

[Modge]

Love my kids - love my tank.

So yesterday I scooped up my kids (4, 6, 10 & 11 years old) to the LFS for family fish-a-palooza. I had a solid idea on how I wanted to direct them and what fish would end up in my new 110g upgraded reef. Most of my solid ideas become mushy - especially when my kids start swirling. Before I go further, my current inhabitants are:

2 Ocellaris Clowns
1 Warpaint Clown Goby
1 Brittle Starfish
~3 Unknown weird spikey clams that came in on Florida live rock
2 Tiger Conchs
3 bumblebee snails
3 aistria snails
1 giant lawnmower snail (I don't know what kind)

Into the store we went and my young daughter says, "they're all so pretty, I want them all and cannot pick". Easily directed her to an in-stock schooling fish on my safe list - 3 Banggai Cardinal Fish.

I talked my youngest daughter into a Hippo Tang, but the LFS store clerk said they were sickly and would wait. So she ran off somewhere else looking. In the meantime, my 11 year old autistic son fell in love with a colorful fish and we ended up bagging a juvenile Neon Dottyback - clerk noted it would have to be the only dottyback in the tank. Not on my list, but my son fixated on it. I have 2 kids left to pick out fish at this point.

I was hearing 6-7 different voices in my head at this point - clerks, kids, a voice of conscience saying "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea", and my panicky dad voice trying to figure out "Cost ("buy 1 get 1 50% off sale"), 'Where's your brother', 'Watch your sister', etc etc".

My other son's 1st pick was not reef safe. His 2nd pick of schooling fish were chromis, but the clerk again pointed to one that had a diseased spot. He then picked a healthy red grouper! Unfortunately I have no plans on upgrading to house that as it grows. Finally he landed on a fish that was a replacement for a long lost 6-line wrasse "Stripy" he loved. Only this one was orange and white.

My youngest daughter found the fish she wanted and promptly named it "Jingle - Jingle Bells - Black Spot". I looked at it and asked the clerk "Reef Safe?" - "Yes, but might go after inverts." Sold and done!

I got them home, acclimated them, and into the tank all the fish went.

I officially added:
3 Banggai Cardinals "The 3 Musketeers - Big Birtha, TBD, TBD"
1 Neon Dottyback - "Houdini"
1 Red Coris Wrasse "TBD - MIA"
1 Diana Hogfish - "Jingle - Jingle Bells aka The Black Spot"

So the big question now is, "WHAT HAVE I DONE?" And Dang-It - I wanted a Kole Tang!

The Hogfish and Dottyback don't seem to like each other - are having intense staring contests and barking at each other. My Ocellaris clowns seem confused by the Coris Wrasse and want to influence its sex - that's right before it disappeared into a poof of sand. I thought my brittle star got it, so moved that to the sump amid my son's tears over his missing fish. My goby is in a what the heck stage and has been giving me weepy eyes all night.

I am really concerned our universe has turned upside down - especially with 'The Black Spot'. I don't want to watch warfare between that and the Dottyback unfold - and for my son's sake, the Dottyback has to stay. And I don't know where the Coris Wrasse is - I've read they can sleep buried in the sand. I'm also wondering what sent it there early and so abruptly.

I called and spoke with the LFS store about the Hogfish and they said it should be fine. They did give me the option to bring it back at a 50% discount and pick another fish. Decisions to make...is it bad juju to send a fish named "Jingle-Jingle Bells" back to the selling blocks right before Christmas?

 

[blaxsun]

The coris wrasse will disappear into the sand nightly; hiding after being introduced is a natural streas reaction to a new system - he should make a reappearance in a day or two. I also have a brittle-banded starfish; it's never gone after any of the fish.

The dottyback and hogfish should be fine; I also have several dottybacks that cohabitate peacefully in my tank. The banggai will be fine chilling together.

 

[Modge]

The coris wrasse will disappear into the sand nightly; hiding after being introduced is a natural streas reaction to a new system - he should make a reappearance in a day or two. I also have a brittle-banded starfish; it's never gone after any of the fish.

The dottyback and hogfish should be fine; I also have several dottybacks that cohabitate peacefully in my tank. The banggai will be fine chilling together.

Watched the hognose pick at my bumblebee snails and 2 of my aistria snails are MIA. I read the Diana hogfish isn’t reef safe, but other literature says it is with caution (aka eats small fish and inverts). Still like it though - hopefully it doesn’t wipe out my clam hitchhiker population.

 

[Modge]

Watched the hognose pick at my bumblebee snails and 2 of my aistria snails are MIA. I read the Diana hogfish isn’t reef safe, but other literature says it is with caution (aka eats small fish and inverts). Still like it though - hopefully it doesn’t wipe out my clam hitchhiker population.

I do need to rethink my CUC now - my conchs are okay for now, but how long?

 

[blaxsun]

Watched the hognose pick at my bumblebee snails and 2 of my aistria snails are MIA. I read the Diana hogfish isn’t reef safe, but other literature says it is with caution (aka eats small fish and inverts). Still like it though - hopefully it doesn’t wipe out my clam hitchhiker population.

"With caution" generally means it could go either way on the flip of a coin (or depending on how tasty the invert looks)...

I do need to rethink my CUC now - my conchs are okay for now, but how long?

Your conches should generally be ok (mine always have been) as they're not as easy to tip and they can 'launch' themselves without warning.

 

[ninjamyst]

Soooo....you bought a bunch of fish that you don't know much about from a store that has sick fish in display tanks and you didn't qt.

- banggai don't school. Your 3 will become 2 at some point. 2 will pair up and kill the 3rd.
- red coris will flip frags and small rocks. I rehomed mine after it kept burying frags or turning them upside down.
- neon dottyback is one of the most aggressive fish. Once it establish itself, it will go on a murder spree especially with any new fish.

Good luck!

 

[Modge]

Soooo....you bought a bunch of fish that you don't know much about from a store that has sick fish in display tanks and you didn't qt.

- banggai don't school. Your 3 will become 2 at some point. 2 will pair up and kill the 3rd.
- red coris will flip frags and small rocks. I rehomed mine after it kept burying frags or turning them upside down.
- neon dottyback is one of the most aggressive fish. Once it establish itself, it will go on a murder spree especially with any new fish.

Good luck!

Thanks for your input - appreciate it and hear what you’re saying. Lesson learned with bringing a family circus along…sort-of…they all have taken a much greater interest in the tank and everything in it. Even to the effect my eldest son was willing to send Houdini back to the selling block.

I’ll watch those Banggai. Perhaps I did get lucky because we ended up with 2 juveniles and one large adult (perhaps too old to care anymore about breeding!)

I did return the hognose fish today - it was the main target of the dottyback - which turns out to be a diadema with the purple stripe on its head. Now it seems to be semi aggressive once in a while to other passing fish; however I have a solid plan on getting him out if I need to. I know where he sleeps.

The original planned stocking list had all peaceful fish I had selected for their individual appearance and activity. After I get a couple of tangs (Blue Eyed Kole and a Brown Scopas), I’m set for the next 2-3 years (mysteriously coincides with that dottyback’s lifespan). If the dottyback attempts murder - I’ll chuck his home into the Mariana Trench.