Wondering what tank I should get considering this fish wish list
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I realise I’m almost a month late to this but let’s break down the wishlist so you can have a tank that you enjoy and can care for and honestly, having others do it for you isn’t the best move it’s a hobby we want you to enjoy which does involve the handy work but I always find a new animal hiding when I do maintenance which makes it fun.
The Cream Angel should be rethought a lot. Yes they look nice but they can be quite boisterous and as said above, will restrict your dream of Euphyllia. I would recommend looking at other Apolemichthys species or maybe even an entirely different species - specifically a Regal Angel. These only need around a 4’x2’ long tank long term IME so these would be a great option if you get a good specimen that feeds and is overall healthy. This is mine in a 4’ tank and she is with 2 other angels.
Second on the list is a Flame Angel, assuming you don’t care about the price of them (these will easily take 2-300 from you) they are fairly good and again only need 4’ tanks long term. They won’t risk your Euphyllia either. Honestly, not much to say about this fish other than consider other options as well like Multicolour angels and not just the common dwarf angels you see. Maybe even consider some of the Paracentropyge angels.
Japanese Swallowtail Angels are another good option but if you went for all 3 angels I’d aim for a 6’ tank personally as these are quite a lot more of a swimming species. Especially if you went for 2 - yes pairs of these can be bought but they will need a place to escape the other. These pose no risk as they are of the genus that is 99% reef safe in general.
3 Sunburst Anthias will not work long term. This is because they are found solitary or (very rarely) in pairs in the wild. 3 will likely fight to the death long term until one or two are left. You could also have one of these in a 4’ tank so there’s 3 fish for a 4’ tank or 5 for a 6’ tank. These don’t pose many issues towards a reef but will want a specific rockscape that has many overhangs and caves to hide.
The Black Cap Basslet is the same as the SB Anthias if I’m honest, they can go into a slightly smaller tank though (well, they can go into a nano tank).
The Harptail Blenny, although the Fang Blennies are fairly communal, I’d only do several in a 4’ tank and even then, I’d aim for 1 per foot of length personally. So for 5 you’re aiming for a 5’ long tank. These may pose a risk to SPS if you plan to have any in the future but other than that, just don’t have anything that is too aggressive towards them.
The Yellow Longnose Butterflies you could have 1 in a 4’ tank but I wouldn’t have more than one in any size tank unless they are brought in and kept as a pair (butterflies are almost impossible to sex). These will pose a risk to fleshy LPS (like acans) but should ignore Euphyllia and similar LPS. Overall, I’d stick with one of these and no more than that.
The clowns are standard, they’re easy and simple to keep. I maybe wouldn’t mix two different types (morphs) as you don’t necessarily know what species they are and it could end badly with one dead. I’d go for two of the same morph.
Firefish… Now, this entirely depends which species you mean. I wouldn’t have several in general, although LFSs have them kept in groups they are not communal. Only the Red Firefish are communal in the wild and even then in captivity they do kill eachother off. So I’d go with 1 per tank, 2 if you get them as a pair. These also need a lid, all fish should have lids but these are more risky when jumping than other fish. The Scissor Tail Gudgeon is similar but you can have a group, I’d recommend 3-4 and no more than that personally as again, in the wild these aren’t found in large groups of 5 or more but are found in small groups of 2-3. Out of these two fish, I’d only pick 1 and wouldn’t go for both species.
The dottyback is alright, just make sure it’s added after any other small fish. Also make sure you have many caves and crevices that they can hide in.
The Tiger ‘Watchman’ Gobies are not of the Watchman (Cryptocentrus) Genus but instead the Valenciennea genus. These need a 2-3” deep sandbed to be happy longterm, without it they will starve. It also needs to be 2-3 years old before they’re added as they will starve without the microfoons being able to sustain itself. I’d personally say go for a 4-6’ tank, without it even one will starve. So for 2 I’d say go for a 6’ long tank at the minimum but again, only get 2 if you are certain they’re paired. Without the certainty they will fight until one or both die.
Remove the Damsels altogether. These will cause nothing but issues to your system. They will fight the other more delicate fish as well as smaller fish. Damsels are ruthless in general, i don’t know why they would recommend them if I’m honest.
Not much to say on the Longnose Hawk other than be cautious with small inverts and also they may take out snails and crabs.
Cuban Hog, again remove it altogether. You’ll have nothing but issues and won’t be able to keep your wrasses (well, you wont be able to keep most of them anyway but I’ll tackle them later). This guy will take out your wrasses one by one, as a juvenile they may be fine but they get big and nasty.
The Valentini Puffer is going to be an issue as you’ll have to feed cockle and muscle to help it remain healthy and keep its teeth gnawed down. Other than that, it should be alright with a risk to inverts like snails and crabs.
The Tangs, I’ve left out as that can get heated and I want to try avoid that so I’ll leave that to the others.
The trigger, I’d leave out as well as they can be quite aggressive and risky towards corals. Other than that, I don’t really have much to say on these guys either.
And now the wrasses, I will tackle them all at once as there are 3 that are a bad idea altogether. The naoko and koi are good ideas, IMHO, I don’t see too much of an issue there other than maybe being boisterous towards other fairy/flasher wrasses. Also, only get 1 of each wrasse. If you get several of the same species of Fairy, they will fight to the death eventually as all fairy wrasses transition to male in the hobby.
The 2 you will not be able to keep and 1 I disagree with however are;
- Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse
- Hawaiian Red Tailed Tamarin
- Choat’s Leopard
I’ll go over the first two, these are unavailable to the hobby now. This is because they are Hawaiian and you can only get the cleaner through captive breeding and I’ve not seen them available for a long time now.
And the Choat’s I’ve seen even experienced people struggle to keep. They are a pain with establishing into a tank and need peaceful tank mates when establishing, they seem to do terribly when added to tangs and other high activity fish.
Honestly, so am I… Hopefully it’s actually just a troll but even then, it’s written like it is serious.
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