Next Fish??

[rebekwl]

Hello everyone! I am looking into getting about 2 more fish for my tank and was wondering if any of you have any suggestions. My tank is 55 gal with 20 gal sump/fuge and about 75-80 lbs. of LR.

Fish I have so far:
Orange Spotted Shrimp Goby
Scooter Blenny
Clarkii Clownfish
Fiji Devil Damsel (I know, I know, they're evil, but he's my husband's favorite)

I am considering getting a yellow headed jawfish, even though I'm scared, I will never know if I can keep one alive if I never try right?

I'm not sure what other fish I want, it has to be reef safe of course. Does anyone have any cool ideas?

[kyle1284]

Green Mandarin (Synchiropus splendidus) it me its amazing how colorfull these guys are and to watch them hunt for pods durring the day is awesome! its a fish that needs some special attention but as long as u have a happy and healthy POD population u should be fine... check him out

[Dentoid]

Yellow Headed jawfish are very hardy, come form tropical Caribbean waters and can withstand summer tank temperatures. Most of all they are fun to watch. You can not go wrong with a jawfish! Royal grammas are nice too.

[prow]

well, sorry to say your scooter blenny is likely to die in that tank, they are more demanding then mandrines. on the bright side it will give some room for others. i hope he makes it but dont get down if he doesnt, they are just very demanding fish. dont add a mandrine both the scooter and the mandrine will suffer. if your able to keep the scooter your lucky, if you add a mandrine too both will surely suffer.

have you looked into a orchid dottyback, tank bread? they are sweet and unlike other dottybacks they are pretty laid back. dont confuse it with the strawberry dottybacks. i like royal gramma's and canary blennies too, they really brighten up the place. almost any goby would be cool in there too. is there any color or swimmer type(top, bottom, mid water swimmer, rock dweller, percher, sandsifter) you like or perfer?

[rebekwl]

I really like bottom dwellers the most, but am wanting some vibrant colors in my tank as well. I know I am limited to how many fish I can have, so I want to choose them wisely. The Scooter Blenny and Goby are my fav fish right now. I also LOVE Royal Gramas and was looking at a tank raised Neon Dottyback the other day. They are so much prettier in person than they are in pictures. I love the Orchid Dottybacks too, they are such a pretty color. I really don't know what to get because there are so many to choose from.

I will deffinitely not be getting a mandarin (although they are beautiful) because I already have a Scooter Blenny. He eats prepared foods and I am supplementing pods and hoping he will make it. I don't want him to die even if it will open up room for others He is doing great so far, but only time will tell, I have only had him for about a month.

I would really like to get another goby, but I have heard that they will fight with each other, are there certain ones that get along? Another fish that I really like is the Bi-color Blenny, are those guys pretty easy to take care of?

Thanks for the encouragement on the Yellow Headed Jawfish Scott, I am really hoping to be able to keep one successfully. I wouldn't dare try a Bluespot, maybe one day when I have a nice big tank with a nice deep sand bed, or even a small tank for one to have to itself. That's a long way off though!!

Thanks for all your suggestions guys, keep um comin!!

[prow]

Originally Posted by rebekwl

I really don't know what to get because there are so many to choose from.

a problem we all share. we want them all. there is no cure. the only hope is to get a bigger tank. but then that will only buy you time .

I will deffinitely not be getting a mandarin (although they are beautiful) because I already have a Scooter Blenny. He eats prepared foods and I am supplementing pods and hoping he will make it. I don't want him to die even if it will open up room for others He is doing great so far, but only time will tell, I have only had him for about a month.

if you hit the year mark with him your looking good. most go with in the first year though. there is a couple things you can do. aside from a working refugium, get a big(or two small)plastic strawberry baskets or something like them. put a bunch of rubble rock in a pile and place the basket upside down over the pile. make sure you push the basket a ways into the sand to keep unwanted creatures out, then cover the basket with more rubble rock and puff you got a pod motel. it works good. i had a friend keep a mandrine in a 50gal with no sump using this. dont know if feed more pods, knowing him i dout it, maybe form time to time.

I would really like to get another goby, but I have heard that they will fight with each other, are there certain ones that get along?

you can put many gobies togather. the one thing you want to watch is when mixing gobies with the same niches. clown gobies, watchman, rainford gobies all have different niches. they would not even really notice eachother. some with the same niches you can mix but as always check before mixing those.

Another fish that I really like is the Bi-color Blenny, are those guys pretty easy to take care of?

yup. peaceful tankmates really helps them. like gobies, blennies with different niches can be mixed.

Thanks for the encouragement on the Yellow Headed Jawfish Scott, I am really hoping to be able to keep one successfully.

i think you will do a fine job taking care of them.

maybe one day when I have a nice big tank with a nice deep sand bed

its the only thing that will help with these symptoms. feed the addiction . i really think you should get a 120ish gal and use the 55 for your sump. it will not take up much more room, then just think of what you could keep in there

[kyle1284]

sorry i didnt read the fish list u had... yeah the mandarin is not a good choice! lol SORRY!

[tbittner]

Do you have any inverts? Cleaner shrimp, snails, etc? Dottybacks eat those. lol... I'm guessing you don't have snails based on your tag line...

[2455coop]

Originally Posted by tbittner

Do you have any inverts? Cleaner shrimp, snails, etc? Dottybacks eat those. lol... I'm guessing you don't have snails based on your tag line...

A Flame Hawkfish would be nice if you don't have any small shrimp...

And You might look into a Sleeper Gold Head Goby....I love the blue/green and yellow head...lots of color from both of these fish

[prow]

you know what i was thinking, i want to change my suggestions. dottybacks, flamehawks and other fish that are pod killers should be avoided with the scooter.

[rebekwl]

Wow, I did not know that Dottybacks ate snails and shrimp!! I was thinking about maybe getting an Orchid, but I have enough problems with my hermits eating my snails!! I didn't mention the inverts before, here is what I have:
Numerous snails, margaritas, turbo, astrea, hitchhiker swirly snails(??), Nassarius Snails(my fav), I think that's about it as far as snails, there are tons of them though.
I also have a ton of hermits, a skunk cleaner shrimp and a serpent starfish that NEVER comes out from under his rock. I think that's it besides corals and things. I deffinitely do not want anything eating my shrimp, he's one of my favorite inhabitants.

Thanks for your encouragemet with my Scooter Prow. I am trying to keep him alive and well, I will have to try the thing with the strawberry basket, sounds like a cool idea. I also keep rock rubble in a HOB filter (no floss) and a bunch in my fuge along with a huge ball of chaeto and sand. I've added pods twice and will do so again this weekend and for a while so I can keep the population up and hopefully they will start to propegate like mad.

I LOVE the idea of a 120!! We are thinking about building a 4'x2'x2' 120 out of acrylic that my husband got from work. We are in the process of researching and seeing exactly what to do, and if it will work with what we have. I hope we can do it because an upgrade is most certainly in order!!

I think I will deffinitely be getting a Bi-color Blenny and a Yellow Headed Jawfish. I think that will be all we can keep as far as fish for now, until we upgrade. I don't know if we'll ever be satisfied with and tank size I would like to go straight up to a 300 and just cut out all the tanks in the middle, but we will have to wait until we have a basement and PLEANTY of room. One day we will go all out and have a fish room and automate everything **dreaming**

[BEELZEBOB]

helfrichi fire fish (if you can afford it)

purple fire fish (a lil more finacially plausable)

firefish ($20 for broke starving artists like Bob)

Anthenas (sp) are sweet. theyll put your damsel in his place too.

[prow]

Originally Posted by rebekwl

Thanks for your encouragemet with my Scooter Prow. I am trying to keep him alive and well, I will have to try the thing with the strawberry basket, sounds like a cool idea. I also keep rock rubble in a HOB filter (no floss) and a bunch in my fuge along with a huge ball of chaeto and sand. I've added pods twice and will do so again this weekend and for a while so I can keep the population up and hopefully they will start to propegate like mad.

nice, your doing all the right things, i think some karma is inorder here

I would like to go straight up to a 300 and just cut out all the tanks in the middle,

Brilliant!!
good idea, right now i have a 10, 15, 20, 45, and a 120gal with enough stuff to run them all at the same time, its crazy two closets full of fish stuff. on top of all that i am currently looking for a 280-300gal. that will be as big as i go, i think

[kathywithbirds]

What about a geometric pygmy hawk?

[lcstorc]

If you have sand engineer gobys are cool. They build a burrow and poke their head out looking at you. Then when the food comes out they zip out and eat with everyone else. Mine has build like 4 tunnels that connect so you never know where he may pop up. They do grow big but it takes some time so you should have a bigger tank long before he becomes a problem.
My all time favorite of the small fish is clown gobies or citron gobies. They stay towards the top of the tank on the rockwork or even the corals. The corals done't seem to mine and they are super cool to watch. They also stay very small.