advice on mixing fish

[drewm253]

hey guys right now i havea brittle star, a yellow tang a diamond goby, 2 perc. clowns a fire goby a blue devil damsel {im trying to catch right now lol} and a few shrimp in a 55 gal tank. and im thinking about adding a few new fish and were wondering if they would mix well just because ive heard different things about mixing different fish. since i have the yellow tang should i be worried adding a copperband butterfly to the tank??? ive always heard when you have a tang you dont want to add another tang or butterfly that has the same colors. so i just wanted to make sure it would work. then i wanna add a blennie to the tank, not sure what kind yet but was wondering if that would be a issue with have a diamond goby in there right now. he and the fire goby get along great but they are not simular in size, so i didnt know if that would b a issue. and last are there any triggers that would work in the tank?? i know they are more aggressive so i wasnt sure if they would work or not. thanks for any help, there are a few other fish that i plan to add but i know they are fine to mix. if anyone has any good ideals or cool fish i should add let me know. want to make sure im not missing out on anything lol thanks

 

[Chichas01]

hey guys right now i havea brittle star, a yellow tang a diamond goby, 2 perc. clowns a fire goby a blue devil damsel {im trying to catch right now lol} and a few shrimp in a 55 gal tank. and im thinking about adding a few new fish and were wondering if they would mix well just because ive heard different things about mixing different fish. since i have the yellow tang should i be worried adding a copperband butterfly to the tank??? ive always heard when you have a tang you dont want to add another tang or butterfly that has the same colors. so i just wanted to make sure it would work. then i wanna add a blennie to the tank, not sure what kind yet but was wondering if that would be a issue with have a diamond goby in there right now. he and the fire goby get along great but they are not simular in size, so i didnt know if that would b a issue. and last are there any triggers that would work in the tank?? i know they are more aggressive so i wasnt sure if they would work or not. thanks for any help, there are a few other fish that i plan to add but i know they are fine to mix. if anyone has any good ideals or cool fish i should add let me know. want to make sure im not missing out on anything lol thanks

If it were me, I wouldn't add anything to what you already have other than maybe a tail spot blenny. The tang is on the big side for a 55 and I would hate to imagine any trigger in a 55 with our without the yellow tang in the mix. How about a smaller fairy wrasse (there are TONS of cool ones!) or pygmy angel? Either way you may already be maxed on your fish load.

 

[vinny2261]

Being a 55 gallon tank you have to keep in mind that as your fish get larger they should be rehoused or traded in for a smaller fish. The Copper band should be OK. Keep in mind the Yellow Tang will be a "butt" to anything you add to the tank. Because the Butterfly "picks" at the rocks while looking for bugs to eat the tang thinks it is eating it's algae and will attempt to stop that. If the tang is pretty good size already maybe consider getting rid of it before you add new fish. I have kept Nigger Triggers and Huma Huma, Triangle, and Blue Jaw. The Huma Huma and Triangle go through the sand looking for tidbits and can spit sand all over everything. All of these fish get quite large and are predators. As they run out off space, territory, food you can have fighting and death. Try and buy small fish and try and add Triggers, Tangs, Butterflies or whatever at the same time. Sometimes you can get the Triggers to eat different food, pellets, krill shrimp. If you get lucky here there will also be less fighting. When you feed, do not just drop everything in one spot. Spread it out so the fish can all get to food without fighting over the meal. There will be a lot less fighting. No one fish will have it's territory established, so the should settle in and establish the pecking or more smoothly. Less chance for injury and a lot less stress. Then you should start looking for a bigger tank.

 

[bigblue141]

I don't know that I'd feel safe adding a trigger to any tank that I have shrimp in...

CBB's are a large fish, and probably should not be housed in a 55gal.

Keep in mind that your yellow tang will get up to 6" and they like to have lots of swimming room.

I have experienced and have witnessed fish in fish tanks that should not be housed together do very good because of the size of tank they were in and the amount of food that was available to them.

I would advise to stay away from the butterfly and look at the numerous amounts of smaller fish that are available in the trade. You should also keep in mind that when your percs mature and claim a section of your tank as their territory, they can become extremely aggressive towards anything that enters "their bubble"

 

[returnofsid]

Your tank is not large enough for a Yellow Tang.
A Copper Banded Butterfly would be fine, WITHOUT the Yellow Tang. However, there's a good chance that it'll eat some corals, if you have any.
A BlueJaw Trigger is very reef safe, but your tank is not large enough for any Trigger.

 

[drewm253]

thanks for the advice. i do plan on getting a 100gal tank down the road a little. i just dont have the room for it right this sec. but if i where to add any bigger fish it would most def. b in time before they got to big. thanks again

 

[Jesse_emel]

I had the same type of questions awhile back. The advice I've received was to add all the smaller docile fish first. I've got a cardinal, a few different gobies, a pair of clowns, 3 anthias, 2 chalk bass, lawnmower blennie, watchman goby, rabbit fish and a few others. After tax day I plan on getting my big fish which will join a yellow tang and a purple tang already in the tank. In an attempt to create a non-aggressive tank i had to remove all the pests which was some work. But no I'm very happy with a docile tank. My favorite fish are the Anthias (colorful and active). Good luck catching your Damn Damsel here is my story.....

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49042

 

[drewm253]

lol thanks for the luck, lord knows imma need it to get that dam devil outta there. i wouldnt mind him but the only fish he messes with is the fire goby. that poor little guy lol. and the fire goby just hides all the time cause of him to i figure time to get rid of him

 

[vinny2261]

Look, I am not knocking the above advice because the fish do get bigger and that should be a major consideration of what to do when it gets to big. But you can sometimes find a one or two inch fish that will work in a 55 gallon tank, for a while. Some fish do gain some value as they get bigger. Most do not. They are basically tank raised in a community enviroment that transfer to larger community tanks that are owned by other people looking for a bigger fish. Almost every fish on the market will out grow most house tanks. Just try and be a responsible reefkeeper. Think of the enviroment that you are creating and if it is overloaded you will have a crash or a bunch of death.

 

[drewm253]

thx for the advice there vinny. thats what i am trying to do is get smaller fish so that way i have time untill i need to move em to a bigger tank. so what you said is kind of what i was hoping to hear lol just caause thats how i was thinking about it

 

[drewm253]

hreat news i got the damsel out lol!!!!!!! i was pulling my LR out to find the blue devil and heard some flapping around, and he was in the bottom of my bucket lol got lucky

 

[vinny2261]

That's the easiest way to catch them !!!

 

[Jesse_emel]

hreat news i got the damsel out lol!!!!!!! i was pulling my LR out to find the blue devil and heard some flapping around, and he was in the bottom of my bucket lol got lucky

I'm jellous but nice work. make sure to post some pictures of your new fish so we can follow along.

 

[drewm253]

yes i will figure id give em a day or two to settle in lol, but i did find one hell of a find at my lfs. i bought a peppermint hog just cause i thought it looked cool lol and got home looked it up and relized that fish is a rare fish and some site have it so sale for 150-250 dollar. i had to double check my receipt and make sure i didnt pay some crazy price for it lol i only paid 17.99. i guess they only sale em around christmas so its a hard fish to find. a little info on him.
http://www.marinecenter.com/fish/wrassereefsafe/pepperminthog/

 

[Jesse_emel]

Score, Nice find!

 

[drewm253]

wow went back to the store and they had one more lol so you know i had to grab it!!!!!!!!!!