New fish for a Newbie (in mind... at least)

[Muerten]

I've had my aquarium for about 2 years, although I still consider myself a Newbie in my mind. I currently have a 37 gallon aquarium with 2 Yellowtail Damsels and 1 Tomato Clownfish. I have a mushroom, a ton of miniature feather dusters, and a couple of snails. I was wondering what my next choice of fish might be. I was thinking of getting another clown (bright red) and hoping that it would pair up with my current one. Are there any fish that anyone would reccommend that I get that will get along well with my current fish, and won't be too hard to take care of? Also, are there any that wouldn't eat the feather dusters?

On an unrelated note, one of my damsels has a somewhat darker frontal portion of its yellow tail. Does this mean anything?

Sorry for the questions, but I can't help but ask them. (Also, I was up late working on a project for school, so I'm a tad... incoherent. Sorry!) And Thank you!

 

[Anonymous]

I've had my aquarium for about 2 years, although I still consider myself a Newbie in my mind. I currently have a 37 gallon aquarium with 2 Yellowtail Damsels and 1 Tomato Clownfish. I have a mushroom, a ton of miniature feather dusters, and a couple of snails. I was wondering what my next choice of fish might be. I was thinking of getting another clown (bright red) and hoping that it would pair up with my current one. Are there any fish that anyone would reccommend that I get that will get along well with my current fish, and won't be too hard to take care of? Also, are there any that wouldn't eat the feather dusters?

On an unrelated note, one of my damsels has a somewhat darker frontal portion of its yellow tail. Does this mean anything?

Sorry for the questions, but I can't help but ask them. (Also, I was up late working on a project for school, so I'm a tad... incoherent. Sorry!) And Thank you!

sorry to have to warn you-but you'll probly have to remove the dams and the clown first-if they are the first 'kids on the block'-they probly won't let in any new neighbors!(tomatos can be mean-mine drew blood from my hand almost every time i put my hand in the tank!)

the first thing i'd recommend is swapping the three for a pair of percs/ocellaris clowns, and another small fish-that way you don't increase the bioload-wait a few weeks after that, and maybe one more small fish, two max, for your size tank.

hth

 

[theroryshow]

I agree totally with vitz, yank the tomato clown and the damsels because they are about the nastiest little fishes on the planet. After those are gone a blenny might be a good choice, my algae eating blenny even gets along with my lawnmower and everyone else in the tank. They also have a very colorful personality. But the tomato probably has to go for sure.

 

[Muerten]

So there is nothing that I can do, short of removing the Clownfish and Damsels? The clown and Damsels are not very large, the clown not being more than 2 inches in length, and the damsels less than that. There isn't anything that can withstand them? Were I to remove them, where would I put them? I only have the one tank, and I don't know anyone else with an Aquarium. These are my first saltwater fish, and I'm somewhat reluctant to remove them. Surely something can live along with them. Would rearranging the tank help? New rock? Moving old rock?

 

[Anonymous]

Muerten wrote:

I only have the one tank, and I don't know anyone else with an Aquarium. These are my first saltwater fish, and I'm somewhat reluctant to remove them. Surely something can live along with them. Would rearranging the tank help? New rock? Moving old rock?

well, the lfs may be willing to take 'em back.but, if you really want to try to keep 'em-your best bet is probly to try and pair up your tomato(still a risky proposition, and may necessitate catching the other clown and isolating it in a net, temporarily).the problem is that the size of your tank limits you to small fish, and most don't equal the pugnacity of the clown-imho, the clown is probly the most aggressive,out of the fish you have.

if you decide to try another tomato, make sure it's appreciabely larger than the one you have now,(an equal match will almost certainly get killed) and try the following:

while slowly acclimating the new clown in a seperate container, to your water,-turn off the lights in the tank, and rearrange all your rock-try to create a totally different structure, to avoid the recognizing of 'markers' by the established fish.-best to catch the established clown at this point and place it in a breeder net trap(a guppy rearing net box works great) and then introduce the new clown-keep the lights off-wait a few hrs., at least, before reintroducing the 'old' clown.(i would actually recommend leaving the 'old' clown in the 'box' for a day or two-the dams will probably think the new clown is the old one, and may very well leave it alone.

also- a good feeding(not overfeeding)also helps cut down on aggressive behavior-a sated fish is gonna be more easily tired-just like the way you feel after a heavy meal :wink:

p.s.-another good reason why you (and everyone) should have a small quarrantine tank in operation-it comes in handy in a case like this! :wink:

good luck, and keep us posted.

hth

be prepared to seperate 'em though- it may not work out :wink:

 

[Muerten]

I want a larger clown? The clown that I have now is dark, which I was led to believe meant that it was female (See avatar). Wouldn't I then want to get a smaller, bright red one who would become a male? Assuming getting another clown worked out, would that end up as the last fish I could buy, due to the unruly nature of my current ones?

 

[Anonymous]

you're correct-in which case, the dams may pick on it because of it's smaller size.

this is one of the reasons why lfs's should not start people out with dams and clowns to start off tanks.

either way, you have a potential, and probable dilemma.

other option-get two breeder nets-one for the larger clown, and one for the dams-let the new (male-try for 1" or less) clown settle in for a day or two,release the female(larger)clown, and then the dams.

just keep in mind that it's a risk, either way

good luck

 

[Muerten]

Thank you for your help, I'll try and find a solution once I manage to get to the fish store. I'll be sure to pick up a net, and depending on the fish I end up with I'll get the breeder traps. The rock shouldn't be too hard to move around, considering someone (not me) knocked it around a little a couple days ago. Thanks again.

 

[tazdevil]

FWIW, I have seen a established tomato clown do serious damage to a newly introduced large flame angel (and they're not woussies either!) to the point the flame had to be removed and given its own tank, as the damage done was serious. Just glad I wasn't the one to do this! (probably didn't help that the colors are relatively close, the tomato might have seen the flame as competition).