Which fish goes in first?

[comycus]

Would like to find out in what order should I add fishes to my tank? I'm planning to add 2 true percs, 1 yellow clown goby, 1 borbonius anthias, 1 banggai cardinal and 1 blue tang in the next couple of months. My tank only has 3 blue green chromis now.

[stevenkoh08]

1 yellow clown goby, banggai cardinal, true percs, borbonius anthias, blue tang that should be the best to wat i know so if there's better way from other reefer pls in put this will help others also

[Digiman]

Would like to find out in what order should I add fishes to my tank? I'm planning to add 2 true percs, 1 yellow clown goby, 1 borbonius anthias, 1 banggai cardinal and 1 blue tang in the next couple of months. My tank only has 3 blue green chromis now.

The fishes are not conspecifics so they can go in at any order and there'll be no aggression. Except for the 2 true perc, make sure they are both males or male-female pair and go in together, two females will fight.

Only thing u need to consider is perhaps letting the mellow fishes go in first, like yellow goby, borb and bangai.

[comycus]

The fishes are not conspecifics so they can go in at any order and there'll be no aggression. Except for the 2 true perc, make sure they are both males or male-female pair and go in together, two females will fight.

Only thing u need to consider is perhaps letting the mellow fishes go in first, like yellow goby, borb and bangai.

blotchy considered mellow? I thought its quite aggressive... hmm so the BT should go in last even though its peaceful?

[yikai]

imo, add those small, timid and shy species in first. like the goby, followed by cardinal. to let them establish some territory before other species are introduced. i would then add in the percs, followed by the anthias, then the BT.

but as digiman said, it really doesnt matter since all are not conspecifics

[comycus]

ahhh... ok thx thx! time to start hunting for tt yellow clown goby! hmm haven't seen them anywhere before actually... anyone knows where I can find them n what's the mkt rate like?

[stevenkoh08]

ahhh... ok thx thx! time to start hunting for tt yellow clown goby! hmm haven't seen them anywhere before actually... anyone knows where I can find them n what's the mkt rate like?

ah beng have

[yikai]

ahhh... ok thx thx! time to start hunting for tt yellow clown goby! hmm haven't seen them anywhere before actually... anyone knows where I can find them n what's the mkt rate like?

very common. like what bro stevenkoh said, ahbeng has a few. saw them yesterday. AM also used to carry quite a number.

can check with henry too. he occasionally have.

they are not very expensive. cheap and hardy. and very small, colourful and a wonder to have. it won't make significant contributions to your bioload the way a blue tang might, but it will certainly add a spark of colour as it hops from rock to rock. wah now i feel like getting 1 or 2 too!

[albinosage]

Careful with the blotchy anthias, it is carnivorous, will eat small fish and shrimps, especially your clown goby. It almost ate my purple goby which was about 2 inch long! Saved it just in time cos it was too big to digest quickly. Best to keep it with similar sized or bigger fish.

[comycus]

Careful with the blotchy anthias, it is carnivorous, will eat small fish and shrimps, especially your clown goby. It almost ate my purple goby which was about 2 inch long! Saved it just in time cos it was too big to digest quickly. Best to keep it with similar sized or bigger fish.

phwar serious? the blotchy so badass? I thought it only harass your bta... hmmm but its such a beautiful fish! any idea how big will it grow to say in a 3ft tank?

[comycus]

very common. like what bro stevenkoh said, ahbeng has a few. saw them yesterday. AM also used to carry quite a number.

can check with henry too. he occasionally have.

they are not very expensive. cheap and hardy. and very small, colourful and a wonder to have. it won't make significant contributions to your bioload the way a blue tang might, but it will certainly add a spark of colour as it hops from rock to rock. wah now i feel like getting 1 or 2 too!

haha yeah just what I was thinking... nice, cute n colour would be good to add in any tank.

[albinosage]

It didn't disturb my bta, I sold it off a few weeks before buying the anemone. You should see the size of its mouth when fully open, can fit a AAA battery inside haha. Anyway, the blotchy anthias is predatory by nature and grows up to 8 inches in the wild, don't know if anyone has ever kept them long enough to reach that size.

I think this is a rare 15cm piece that was sold some time back:

[comycus]

It didn't disturb my bta, I sold it off a few weeks before buying the anemone. You should see the size of its mouth when fully open, can fit a AAA battery inside haha. Anyway, the blotchy anthias is predatory by nature and grows up to 8 inches in the wild, don't know if anyone has ever kept them long enough to reach that size.

TRIPLE A BATTERY!!! power! hahaa okie... maybe not such a good idea to get blotchy then... not when I'm thinking of keeping relatively small fishes under 4" thanks for the advice!

chomp chomp chomp!

[yikai]

blue eye anthias darling cute and peaceful. check my thread for a foto

[Digiman]

TRIPLE A BATTERY!!! power! hahaa okie... maybe not such a good idea to get blotchy then... not when I'm thinking of keeping relatively small fishes under 4" thanks for the advice!

chomp chomp chomp!

I beg to differ. Holanthias (blotchy) are predatory by nature yes but they'll only eat v small fishes tat fit into their mouth. And i my holanthias at 4+ inches din show any interest in my helfichi gobies which are 1+ inches. If u get a blotchy that's under 3inches it'll take eternity to grow in your 3ft tank. They grow v v slow in small tank. My old blotchy at 2 inches are kept w all the smallest fishes and no aggression or watsoever was experienced. From my experience, they usually keep to their own and rarely disturb other fishes even of their own kinds.

[comycus]

I beg to differ. Holanthias (blotchy) are predatory by nature yes but they'll only eat v small fishes tat fit into their mouth. And i my holanthias at 4+ inches din show any interest in my helfichi gobies which are 1+ inches. If u get a blotchy that's under 3inches it'll take eternity to grow in your 3ft tank. They grow v v slow in small tank. My old blotchy at 2 inches are kept w all the smallest fishes and no aggression or watsoever was experienced. From my experience, they usually keep to their own and rarely disturb other fishes even of their own kinds.

hmmm could it be a difference in feeding? I read that anthias in general prefer to be fed many times a day. So if they are full, prob won't go opening their big mouths...

Any other bros care to share their experience with blotchy to help me decide?

[curahee]

The fishes are not conspecifics so they can go in at any order and there'll be no aggression.

I have a bangaii, if i wanna add another specie of cardinal like blue face cardinal or pajama, it will result in aggression rite?

[comycus]

I have a bangaii, if i wanna add another specie of cardinal like blue face cardinal or pajama, it will result in aggression rite?

hmmm quoting liveaquaria...

"Due to its aggressive behavior towards conspecifics, it should not be kept in large groups, though they do like to have a few other Cardinalfish around."

[curahee]

hmmm quoting liveaquaria...

"Due to its aggressive behavior towards conspecifics, it should not be kept in large groups, though they do like to have a few other Cardinalfish around."

Haha ok thanks a lot.

[albinosage]

I beg to differ. Holanthias (blotchy) are predatory by nature yes but they'll only eat v small fishes tat fit into their mouth.

Have you seen the size of their mouths when fully opened? Scary leh hahaha.. Mine was only 2.5 inch, but I think it can swallow a triple A battery, if not a double A I agree with you that they grow very slowly, and mostly keep to themselves, but their predatory nature shouldn't be ignored.

[iskay]

Very good discipline to plan first before buying. Kudos to you.

Also consider the other sessile LS if you plan to have any. Clown gobies will nip on SPS.

[yikai]

banggai cardinals are peaceful, but might need to watch out if kept with other cardinals. i kept a pair of banggai with 2 other pair of cardinals, totaling 6, 3 different kinds. all ok. but the banggais do occasionally chase the rest. they get very territorial once in awhile. not sure, maybe when they are breeding.

[comycus]

I'm thinking of taking out my 3 pig chromis and changing to 3 bartlett's anthias instead. Is my tank too small for them? and is keeping 3 courting trouble? Anyone has any experience with keeping bartlett anthias with blotchy? They are conspecifics... Best is they can get along well...

I could add them all in at the same time. Won't be too much change in bioload coz will take out my 3 chromis before I add the bartletts in.

[Digiman]

I'm thinking of taking out my 3 pig chromis and changing to 3 bartlett's anthias instead. Is my tank too small for them? and is keeping 3 courting trouble? Anyone has any experience with keeping bartlett anthias with blotchy? They are conspecifics... Best is they can get along well...

I could add them all in at the same time. Won't be too much change in bioload coz will take out my 3 chromis before I add the bartletts in.

Bartletts can be added all in at the same time, in fact this is wat is prefered. Borbonius will not bother bartlett at all. There's prob no need to remove the chromis as 3 bartletts more will not add on too much bioload either.

[comycus]

Bartletts can be added all in at the same time, in fact this is wat is prefered. Borbonius will not bother bartlett at all. There's prob no need to remove the chromis as 3 bartletts more will not add on too much bioload either.

Hmmm will having so many fishes put a strain on my system? I don't really have an oversized skimmer, using a Deltec MCE600 for a my 3ft tank. If I don't remove any fishes, my planned fishes will be, in order:

Already have

1) 3 Blue green chromis

2) 1 Yellow clown goby (if it doesn't up lorry, not eating for >1 wk )

3) 2 juv True Percs

Adding

4) 1 Banggai cardinal

5) 3 Bartlett's anthias

6) 1 Blotchy

7) 1 Blue Tang