Fill My Tank! 75

[kp1991]

I've been using the Live Aquaria website since they seem to be the leader in information about fish compatibility and size related concerns, as well as always coming in at the very top of highly recommended online vendors. PIA comes in as well but I don't seem to see too much on Fishy Business. I'll check out these vendors of course, but in my research so far it seems that the rarer fish tend to be more difficult to care for which isn't something I wish to take on. In addition to that I would rather support LFS if I could.
And then that brings the question of why they are 'rare' fish? Is it because there are so few of them in the wild that they're difficult to find/catch? Do they come from areas where it's no longer legal to take fish from? Overall why is one fish considered 'rare' and not the one next to it? It sounds like it's got the potential to start getting into some murky water if you ask me.

Which is why they should be left alone they just wanna make a quick 12grand at they price of a short life of a endangered fish not sounding activist or nothing but it aint fair to the fish at all

 

[kirstyflash]

Sorry, long post...

In regards to blennies, I have a large lawnmower (Benny) and a small bicolour (Lenny) in separate tanks. Had them together for a short while in the 40g (crashed my 10g) and Lenny went after Benny whenever he went near Lennys fave rock. We then got a juvi blue spot (super small) and was in a breeder box in the qt with the rest of the 40g fish (ich outbreak). The blue spot escaped the breeder box and we found it in Bennys mouth. He died not long after. Bicolours are beautiful and if you like the tail of the Midas then go for this one. Blennies have amazing personalities...as long as they aren’t housed with another blennie.

We have a yellow clown goby (Guppy) and our lfs keeps them all in the one tank. They said they do good in groups. We are looking to get a green one when the fallow period is up in our dt. So I’ll second that for you. When they are on the glass, look at the little fins on their underside...they mimic a suction cup to hold them in place.

We have a pistol shrimp (Yoda) and had a goby (wheelers I think) bonded with it but it disappeared a few days after we brought them home. Yoda happily escavates still. We have a yellow watchman on order to go with him. You can have a few shrimp gobys together and if you have a pistol too, they will all get together and work as a team. Someone on r2r called it a ‘weird threesome’ when theirs did it.

We have a little yellow tang (Caramello) and thought he would be a bully but he has a great personality. He follows the other fish around with curiosity and sleeps in a pipe in the qt. Unfortunately he is the reason everyone is in qt. He bought home ich and we were lax on quarantining procedures. Not anymore.

There are a lot of anemones out there that clowns will host in but many like bubble tips and they come in a lot of pretty colours. Our clowns got chased off by the two porcelain crabs hosting in ours so they decided a Duncan coral was better. Unfortunately Duncan died before the ich outbreak.

My last input is with the royal gramma. Beautiful colouring but jerks. Ours (Bobby) is a bully who will be sent packing if he keeps up his shenanigans when fallow is over. Because he is a cave dweller he thinks all caves and crevices are his. So I think he is the cause of the wheelers goby and a peppermint shrimps demise. He also attacked the Yoda and ripped off his snapping claw.

I think it is great the amount of research you are doing to ensure compatibility and harmony in your setup. Good luck in your decisions and I will be following to see how you piece everything together.

 

[starypotter]

Sorry, long post...

In regards to blennies, I have a large lawnmower (Benny) and a small bicolour (Lenny) in separate tanks. Had them together for a short while in the 40g (crashed my 10g) and Lenny went after Benny whenever he went near Lennys fave rock. We then got a juvi blue spot (super small) and was in a breeder box in the qt with the rest of the 40g fish (ich outbreak). The blue spot escaped the breeder box and we found it in Bennys mouth. He died not long after. Bicolours are beautiful and if you like the tail of the Midas then go for this one. Blennies have amazing personalities...as long as they aren’t housed with another blennie.

We have a yellow clown goby (Guppy) and our lfs keeps them all in the one tank. They said they do good in groups. We are looking to get a green one when the fallow period is up in our dt. So I’ll second that for you. When they are on the glass, look at the little fins on their underside...they mimic a suction cup to hold them in place.

We have a pistol shrimp (Yoda) and had a goby (wheelers I think) bonded with it but it disappeared a few days after we brought them home. Yoda happily escavates still. We have a yellow watchman on order to go with him. You can have a few shrimp gobys together and if you have a pistol too, they will all get together and work as a team. Someone on r2r called it a ‘weird threesome’ when theirs did it.

We have a little yellow tang (Caramello) and thought he would be a bully but he has a great personality. He follows the other fish around with curiosity and sleeps in a pipe in the qt. Unfortunately he is the reason everyone is in qt. He bought home ich and we were lax on quarantining procedures. Not anymore.

There are a lot of anemones out there that clowns will host in but many like bubble tips and they come in a lot of pretty colours. Our clowns got chased off by the two porcelain crabs hosting in ours so they decided a Duncan coral was better. Unfortunately Duncan died before the ich outbreak.

My last input is with the royal gramma. Beautiful colouring but ********. Ours (Bobby) is a bully who will be sent packing if he keeps up his shenanigans when fallow is over. Because he is a cave dweller he thinks all caves and crevices are his. So I think he is the cause of the wheelers goby and a peppermint shrimps demise. He also attacked the Yoda and ripped off his snapping claw.

I think it is great the amount of research you are doing to ensure compatibility and harmony in your setup. Good luck in your decisions and I will be following to see how you piece everything together.

The more info the better don't apologize!
I do really like the midas, and I've seen some things where they've been able to be kept with another blenny so I might give that a try. I've got a fair amount of buckets/spare tanks at this moment and I'll make sure I have extra salt water on hand to make sure there's something that goes amiss.
LFS keeps a ton of the same fish in the same tank, I think they're able to manage because it's a temporary thing? Like they just put maybe a dozen lawnmower blennies in one of the tanks and there was some chasing around that I noticed but didn't seem too bad. But that's a bit different than having two I'm sure. They had a bunch of clown gobies together and they didn't even seem to notice each other. I think (If their price is good and they're available today I'll be getting some). I have an isolation box for QT just in case but I'm really excited for the little guys. They're just so funny looking! I noticed that Live Aquaria only says on the black clown goby page that they'll do okay in groups and pair up but not on the page for the yellow or green.
I for sure want a pair of shrimp gobies, I really like the hi fin ones.
Is the 40b your official tank or is it your DT for the tang? I'm really hoping one day LFS will get a tiny one so I have a bit more time to upgrade... I'll be looking at anemones more in depth in the future since I can't get any right away.
And you are far from the first report I've heard about royal gammas which stinks because at first I really liked the look of them but nope. Too much trouble for me!

 

[starypotter]

Which is why they should be left alone they just wanna make a quick 12grand at they price of a short life of a endangered fish not sounding activist or nothing but it aint fair to the fish at all

I agree, some fish are just not suited for the hobby with rare rare exceptions. I'm all for aquariums having and conservation, even the coral trade between hobbyists, as in fragging your own corals and trading and not taking more from the ocean, because at this rate it seems like the only corals left in the world are going to be the ones in aquariums, but I'll step down from my soapbox now.

 

[starypotter]

Fishy Business has a whole ton of fish, you have to look at what they're offering not their WYSIWYG section. Probably the largest selection i've ever seen.

Fish are rare because they're hard to get to, or from unusual areas. Some of the "rarest" angels in this hobby go for 15,000+ and are considered some of the rarest fish you can find... But at 300 feet you see them thriving. You'll find hundreds of them in a 30x30' area. They're rare because they're hard to get to. Some are rare because they're hard to take care of, or have a poor success rate. Some are rare because they're expensive.

But most are just not collected for any good reason.

Take your time, and don't try to stock it too quickly.

I fell asleep looking at Fishy Business last night, I'll get back on it again today. It makes me a little sad that we're collecting from even the most hard to get to areas, but at least there's not many people after 15k+ fish. That's just mind-blowing to me. I saw a... conspicuous beauty I think it was at LFS and if I'm remembering right it had a 4 digit price tag on it and frankly I wasn't even that impressed

I'll be looking at other less common fish for sure, but with a little bit more caution. I've been trying to pick mostly captive bred fish, and I know that many on my list aren't, but hey if even a yellow tang was captive bred I'm sure we will get there with other fish eventually when we learn more and develop better skills.

 

[starypotter]

@Rakie So I checked out those websites you showed me, PIA seems to be not working? Or has a super low stock? But Fishy Business had lots of fish I hadn't seen before, luckily for me they're not ones that are in my mix for compatibility/size but I must say that Fuzzy Nut/Gum Drop goby sure is fun looking.

 

[Rakie]

Which is why they should be left alone they just wanna make a quick 12grand at they price of a short life of a endangered fish not sounding activist or nothing but it aint fair to the fish at all

Rare fish are cared for much better than easy to get fish. When you're sending down people in $20,000 helium air tanks to dive 3x the depth our bodies are allowed to dive, with a descent of 3 hours, an ascent of 3-4 hours, and only about 20-25 minutes in the target zone to collect -- Plus the extreme danger to the divers?

Yeah... rare fish don't end up in bob's fish haus for 4.99 with ich. These fish are cared for like precious gemstones.

And rare doesn't mean endangered.... it means uncommon. These 20,000 angels are extremely common in the water, just uncommon in the hobby because how hard they are to get to.

I understand where you're coming form. But you should research how deep water collection works... Because it's not at all like what you're implying.

 

[starypotter]

Rare fish are cared for much better than easy to get fish. When you're sending down people in $20,000 helium air tanks to dive 3x the depth our bodies are allowed to dive, with a descent of 3 hours, an ascent of 3-4 hours, and only about 20-25 minutes in the target zone to collect -- Plus the extreme danger to the divers?

Yeah... rare fish don't end up in bob's fish haus for 4.99 with ich. These fish are cared for like precious gemstones.

And rare doesn't mean endangered.... it means uncommon. These 20,000 angels are extremely common in the water, just uncommon in the hobby because how hard they are to get to.

That is an intense dive ;Wideyed For fish with that being the reason they're rare then hey if someone is willing to spend thousands of dollars on a fish more power to 'em. At least we know they'll be well tended to in the interim as you pointed out. Learning more every day about these creatures. Thanks for the info on that, I'm glad to hear that rare doesn't usually mean endangered.

 

[Rakie]

That is an intense dive ;Wideyed For fish with that being the reason they're rare then hey if someone is willing to spend thousands of dollars on a fish more power to 'em. At least we know they'll be well tended to in the interim as you pointed out. Learning more every day about these creatures. Thanks for the info on that, I'm glad to hear that rare doesn't usually mean endangered.

Yep, rare never means endangered in this hobby. Collecting endangered fish = jail. You can't easily sneak things through customs or past CITES. That's why Indo got shut down, someone was caught, and an entire region of the world is now off-limits. Big big deal.

"Rare" means rarely collected, either because it was a small cryptic fish people never noticed, or it's an extremely hard to get to fish, or it's a new fish in a reef nobody has collected from. On these deep water dives it's literally about $20,000 per air tank, usually 2-3 people go down, and it's often marine biologists and scientists describing new species -- not some dude "trying to make a quick buck".

This typical expedition is like $80,000 per day. For less than 20 minutes time to collect fish.

That makes them exceptionally expensive.

 

[kp1991]

I agree, some fish are just not suited for the hobby with rare rare exceptions. I'm all for aquariums having and conservation, even the coral trade between hobbyists, as in fragging your own corals and trading and not taking more from the ocean, because at this rate it seems like the only corals left in the world are going to be the ones in aquariums, but I'll step down from my soapbox now.

Exactly you are on the right page my friend.... i saw a quote above on clownfish they are some of the most aggresive fish i have owned they will literally dog everyone in your tank idk why but if you get a mild tempermented one they are pretty social and fun to watch

 

[kp1991]

Well idk much about their due process in collecting these rare deepwater fish good info you provided i just feel they should be left alone i mean they are from the deep where atmospheric values are different im sure this shortens their lifespan and probably has some adverse affects on their tiny bodies from the accent to the surface im sure the collectors know what they are doing but it really isnt fair to the fish...

 

[kirstyflash]

The more info the better don't apologize!
I do really like the midas, and I've seen some things where they've been able to be kept with another blenny so I might give that a try. I've got a fair amount of buckets/spare tanks at this moment and I'll make sure I have extra salt water on hand to make sure there's something that goes amiss.
LFS keeps a ton of the same fish in the same tank, I think they're able to manage because it's a temporary thing? Like they just put maybe a dozen lawnmower blennies in one of the tanks and there was some chasing around that I noticed but didn't seem too bad. But that's a bit different than having two I'm sure. They had a bunch of clown gobies together and they didn't even seem to notice each other. I think (If their price is good and they're available today I'll be getting some). I have an isolation box for QT just in case but I'm really excited for the little guys. They're just so funny looking! I noticed that Live Aquaria only says on the black clown goby page that they'll do okay in groups and pair up but not on the page for the yellow or green.
I for sure want a pair of shrimp gobies, I really like the hi fin ones.
Is the 40b your official tank or is it your DT for the tang? I'm really hoping one day LFS will get a tiny one so I have a bit more time to upgrade... I'll be looking at anemones more in depth in the future since I can't get any right away.
And you are far from the first report I've heard about royal gammas which stinks because at first I really liked the look of them but nope. Too much trouble for me!

The 40g is the main display which the tang will go back into. He’s only about 1 1/2 inches and very cute. Not aggressive at all.
Because of your tank size you could get away with a couple of blennies as long as they have their own territory.

 

[starypotter]

The 40g is the main display which the tang will go back into. He’s only about 1 1/2 inches and very cute. Not aggressive at all.
Because of your tank size you could get away with a couple of blennies as long as they have their own territory.

I'm really looking forward to getting some sort of tang once my system is more established. There were so many at LFS today I can't wait to be able to get one even though I don't have a huge selection.

 

[starypotter]

So I went to LFS today, talked to a couple of the advanced workers there, not just the teens cleaning the tanks, and both agreed that a starry blenny and a midas probably wouldn't get along very well and considered it a very much 'at your own risk' sort of deal, but they both agreed that the algae would be a good addition to have.

So I got a Midas Blenny, and an Algea Blenny, and a yellow and green clown goby. Drip acclimated them to my water and have them all in a temporary holding tank. I also got a yellow and green clown goby. Their expert there, who I trust the advice of greatly, said I could probably get away with a couple more (!!!!!!!!) I love those things. They're so funny looking it's freaking fantastic!! I also got a conch which has been on my list. It is the best creature I have ever seen. There is nothing better than those eyes poking out of the shell and looking around. Reminds me of Tamatoa. (The crab from Moana, @Crabs Mcjones 's Icon). I also got some cleaner shrimp, two skunk and one blood. I'll only put two skunks in my DT, the other can stay in my coral frag QT tank. Blood will be going in DT once he molts. I also got a candy pistol shrimp SO TINY. No idea where he went, QT has a bunch of junk in there, rocks, an egg crate stand for corals, a container of sand for conch, so who knows where that little guy went but it's got to be only 3/4" but he had no problem eating some brine shrimp.

Both blennies have eaten, LFS was giving away brine shrimp today so I soaked them with plankton for a while and vitamins before I fed them to my fishies. The shrimp and midas gobbled them up! Algea blenny ate some algae strips I put in there and some algae off the rock, and conch. Only things I haven't seen eat yet are the clown gobies. One is super thin, didn't notice at the store. But I also went to ikea tonight got a bunch of containers to do a TTM with all of my fish by placing a bunch of the smaller containers in a larger one of heated water to reduce cleaning and the amount of water needed.

 

[Crabs McJones]

So I went to LFS today, talked to a couple of the advanced workers there, not just the teens cleaning the tanks, and both agreed that a starry blenny and a midas probably wouldn't get along very well and considered it a very much 'at your own risk' sort of deal, but they both agreed that the algae would be a good addition to have.

So I got a Midas Blenny, and an Algea Blenny, and a yellow and green clown goby. Drip acclimated them to my water and have them all in a temporary holding tank. I also got a yellow and green clown goby. Their expert there, who I trust the advice of greatly, said I could probably get away with a couple more (!!!!!!!!) I love those things. They're so funny looking it's freaking fantastic!! I also got a conch which has been on my list. It is the best creature I have ever seen. There is nothing better than those eyes poking out of the shell and looking around. Reminds me of Tamatoa. (The crab from Moana, @Crabs Mcjones 's Icon). I also got some cleaner shrimp, two skunk and one blood. I'll only put two skunks in my DT, the other can stay in my coral frag QT tank. Blood will be going in DT once he molts. I also got a candy pistol shrimp SO TINY. No idea where he went, QT has a bunch of junk in there, rocks, an egg crate stand for corals, a container of sand for conch, so who knows where that little guy went but it's got to be only 3/4" but he had no problem eating some brine shrimp.

Both blennies have eaten, LFS was giving away brine shrimp today so I soaked them with plankton for a while and vitamins before I fed them to my fishies. The shrimp and midas gobbled them up! Algea blenny ate some algae strips I put in there and some algae off the rock, and conch. Only things I haven't seen eat yet are the clown gobies. One is super thin, didn't notice at the store. But I also went to ikea tonight got a bunch of containers to do a TTM with all of my fish by placing a bunch of the smaller containers in a larger one of heated water to reduce cleaning and the amount of water needed.

well well well, I see I've been called upon

 

[kirstyflash]

Saw a huge Midas at lfs today. God they are beautiful. I love their little faces!
Got a teeny tiny ruby red dragonette and a couple of small blue damsels to eat a heap of flatworms in the 10g.

 

[starypotter]

well well well, I see I've been called upon

Maybe if we're lucky we'll get a song out of it

 

[starypotter]

Saw a huge Midas at lfs today. God they are beautiful. I love their little faces!
Got a teeny tiny ruby red dragonette and a couple of small blue damsels to eat a heap of flatworms in the 10g.

I love the colors on mine, I'm not quite sure if it's a stress thing or an age thing or if I just got lucky, but he's almost like a sherbet pinkish yellow? LFS has a bunch of ruby dragonettes and they're SO SMALL I want one so badly but well pods. Good luck with yours, they're amazing looking!

 

[kirstyflash]

I love the colors on mine, I'm not quite sure if it's a stress thing or an age thing or if I just got lucky, but he's almost like a sherbet pinkish yellow? LFS has a bunch of ruby dragonettes and they're SO SMALL I want one so badly but well pods. Good luck with yours, they're amazing looking!

Blennys are masters of camouflage. They are like chameleons changing colours with their moods. Which is really good coz when you learn his colours you’ll know when he’s happy, hungry, threatened ect

 

[starypotter]

Blennys are masters of camouflage. They are like chameleons changing colours with their moods. Which is really good coz when you learn his colours you’ll know when he’s happy, hungry, threatened ect

That's really neat, I'm excited to get to know that!