Mixing small and large fish

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WVNed

The fish are staring at me with hungry eyes.
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I have a mix of fish in my tank. As the Angels, trigger and tangs grow will the small fish like chromis, Starry blenny and cardinals continue to be tolerated tank mates?
I recently had an unfortunate event that wiped out my blue reef chromis and lyretail anthias. I am considering what to replace them with.

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Good discussion. I’m looking to have some tangs and larger fish but want the majority of my bioload to be smaller fish for movement and because I just like them. It’d be nice to hear from more experienced people what they recommend and what’s worked for them as far as mixing species goes
 
I have no experience with this. In the freshwater world the biggest fish usually ate all the smaller ones.
George the catfish won. He ate a Jack Dempsey that was half his length.
 
Neither do I, and you’re much more experienced than I am.

catfish seem to be all mouth and stomach. Kinda like groupers I suppose? Still, looking forward to what others say
 
I love the tank and the big fish!

The only one that worries me is the trigger. What species? I'm also not a large angel expert, but it seems like people commonly keep them with damsels, wrasses, anthias, etc.
 
I have no experience with this. In the freshwater world the biggest fish usually ate all the smaller ones.
George the catfish won. He ate a Jack Dempsey that was half his length.
Silver dollars are the exception or some large plecos.
 
Short answer: it depends?

In the freshwater world, with the exception of plecos, a majority of the large fish are carnivores. That means whatever's gonna fit in their mouth, is gonna get eaten. Hence why small fish usually aren't kept with large fish. Exceptions can be had especially when there are differences in mouth shape (torpedo shaped 2" cardinals are an easier snack than the bulkier 2" black skirt tetras for angelfish for example), but with the cichlids and catfish that dominate the large fish part of the hobby (anything over 5" in my example), if it's meat, it's food.

Now, bring that over to the saltwater hobby, and there's actually herbivores in the tanks. Tangs will go after other (non tang) fish if they go neurotic (not enough enrichment/food), but usually for sport and not food. They'll still nip slower moving fish's cirri off as well as other fish' fins, but that's the extent of aggression on their end. Angelfish are different. They're designed to take chunks out of sponges, corals, and larger macroalgae as well. While not exactly a predatory lifestyle, if they can nip it, they might try. Triggers...well, it's quite well documented on how triggers can go Ballistes...I mean ballistic on their tankmates. Keep them in a large tank with plenty of space so they don't have a mental breakdown.

Notice, however, that many of the smaller fish are planktivores as opposed to benthic grazers. That means that they're designed to swim fast, and eat small foods. They (probably) won't pick at the rock, so the larger tangs and angels which graze all day aren't going to see them as a threat. Anthias and chromis and damsels should be safe.

As for what you should go with...with such a big tank, have you considered fusiliers?
 

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