planning fish stocklist for my new tank: Go big or small?

[Mihai]

I keep dreaming about a small school of small cardinal fish (I remember there was a species with yellow stripes). I think they would be awsome.
I may be wrong . I'm sure to try it when I upgrade (I'm pretty much at capacity for now).

M.

 

[klayko]

go small. Big fish get boring and don't take advantage of the aquascaping.

 

[Len]

Okay, here's an interesting question that touches on ethics as well: What do you think about a grouper + small fish, such as a school of chromis? The chromis will definitely school and take advantage of the aquascaping if there's a natural predator around.

 

[Anonymous]

I think the grouper would appreciate the $6 snacks.

That could become expensive.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Okay, here's an interesting question that touches on ethics as well: What do you think about a grouper + small fish, such as a school of chromis? The chromis will definitely school and take advantage of the aquascaping if there's a natural predator around.

I think you'd be better off putting a whole load of reasonably tough fish like damsels in there than chromis. As Louey said, they'd eventually end up as snacks. That might also be true of the damsels, but they'd stand a lot better chance than the chromis (especially if the grouper wasn't that big to begin with).

Of course, they'd fight each other, but if you had enough and enough space, that aggression might dissipate. When I was snorkelling last week, I saw plenty of large groups of damsels together (though some of these groups were definitely of young fish).

Hmmm. :?

 

[MandarinFish]

I don't think it's ethical to keep large ocean swimmers in these little glass boxes.

Just because a baby queen trigger can fit inside a 50g, doesn't mean they belong in 97% of the aquariums of hobbyists.

Pollenis are *very* pretty animals. I like them a lot. Depends on the size of your tank.

An LFS owner near me kept a really cool blue spotted grouper that you could pet. He was so cool - I loved that fish.

After diving, I see how many of our fish need much more room than we really give them. I'm a big fan of little fish, and when full grown, most of our fish get so much bigger than we realize.

Groupers get massive. Tangs need a lot of room to swim, as do the big wrasses. It probably freaks them out to be in the same small prison the rest of their lives, at least if they're built to cruise miles daily.

I never met a damsel in distress - I've seen them eat little fish themselves and co-habitate with lions and triggers. Until I saw one with a Giant Hawkfish. Oh man. The damsel hid for it's life constantly. Considering how mean the little bastards are, it was funny. Giant hawks get massive.

Sunburst anthias get big, have social structure, and are fantastic animals.

 

[Len]

Pollenis are amongst the smallest grouper species (its growth will plateu at about 8-10" IME). Groupers are not active swimmers so I'm not worried about it being uncomfortable. The welfare of other fish are actually of more concern to me should I keep this grouper. Tank is 52x28x28 180 gallon.

 

[MandarinFish]

Very nice sounding tank - perfect for a Polleni probably. Didn't realize they stayed quite that small.

And they get big as a group (no pun intended) but are pretty sedentary.

They'll eat anything they can.

Do you already have the grouper? Do you have pics of the tank? Sounds like a great start.

 

[Len]

Tank is still empty. I'm preplanning right now, and some decisions will depend on my future stocking. It's a lot safer and easier for me to do another typical reef, but a Polleni just seems so cool in a reef!

 

[MandarinFish]

Great choice - expensive though. I've always wanted one. There's one at a LFS here, but it's way overpriced and also would need it's own tank. It would munch all my little fellers.

TMC.com always has outrageous photos and cool choices of animals...

 

[Bojangles]

Great choice - expensive though. I've always wanted one. There's one at a LFS here, but it's way overpriced and also would need it's own tank. It would munch all my little fellers.

You obviously havent seen what Len keeps in his "normal" tanks, if you could call his tanks normal.

Personally I like both. When I started I wanted a fowlr with big fish, but as I got going I really wanted a reef with tons of small schooling fish.

Since you've done that already with uncanny success, I say go with the large fish aquarium. Get the grouper, a large angel (I've been in love with Emperor angels since before I started my first SW aquarium), a sweet trigger or 2 and a tang. That'd be an awesome tank IMO

Heres what I would stock it with:
Grouper (not for me, for you )
Emperor Angel or Blue Faced Angel
Dog Face Puffer
Picasso Trigger or Undulated Trigger
3 Golden Butterfly(s) - Chaetodon Semilarvatus

I'm thinking that you might be bored looking at a tank without or very few corals though. :?:

 

[Anonymous]

Since you will have a grouper in there anyway, a suggestion--

Bodianus pulchellus.

One of my favorite fish. Gets kind of big, but a 180 should be fine for it. Killer personality and looks and very hardy. I know you've already kept a Bodianus, but I like this one a lot. This one, the grouper, a harlequin tusk, one large and one swallowtail angel, maybe some fairies...it'd be nice. I vote big

 

[MandarinFish]

Big angels are often cyanide caught and butterflies have pretty dismal survival rates.

Bo - I look forward to seeing Len's pics!

Did my photo get taken down because it's a tmc.com shot? If so, no problem. I just can't see it now.

 

[Anonymous]

I can still see your pic, Manderinfish.