stocking questions(ideas please!)

[BluePhish]

hello, so i went to LFS today and it started to get me thinkin about what i want in my 44 gal corner. (its cycling with live rock now). I want a few peaceful fish. I would like a few easy too keep corals maybe after like a year. so id like to stock the fish while still leaving this option open. suggestions would be greatly apprieciated. my ideas are..

common clown
mandarin fish(S.splendidius)
flame angel(C.loriculus)
gobie of some sort

those are the couple of fish i find very attractive. how many fish would you suggest i have. please suggestions on clean up crew would be a big help too. fell free too give your suggestions. one more thing would a yellow-tail damsel be a bad idea to help cycle.(is it too aggressive in the long run). the rock is cured so it has some biofilter in the tank...should i add a fish or crab to keep the bacteria colonizing... if soo what.
thank you very much this site is the shiz-nit. ha

[omard]

Check out "sticky's" at top of tropical fish forum...

Lists some good fish for beginners and fish to be avoided.

I really like my two yellow tail damsels, have had them since just starting out --- I love the flashing blue color they add to tank... have a bad rep, but solution may be to have more then one. They spend all their time chasing each other around the tank, so they don't have energy to bother anything else. (also may help by adding only very young ones at beginning).

A very attractive fish.



Yes, using live fish to start cycle is a bad idea.

[amcarrig]

I would avoid the mandarin fish as they usually require mature tanks with refugiums (they only eat pods). You MIGHT get lucky and find one that eats frozen mysis however.

[Jason McKenzie]

I agree with Amcarrig a mandarin will need a large population of pods. So it's likely very difficult to maintain in a 44G

[BluePhish]

thats what i figured with the mandarin, its just so amazing looking. Maybe someday.
my LFS had like 25 of them, so maybe they are tank raised but prob not likely.

[Jason McKenzie]

You can take a look at this link It may help. REEF DINER

[scvc]

What will a person do for the fish they love. too cool.

[21fisher]

Just throwing in my two cents.. My Flame Angel is my baby, it's a great fish to have. You could add a few small crabs depending on how far in your tank is maturing. But if you already have live rock in there they should be fine. Damsels, I have always been told, are good starter fish, but then some type of them get older and get more aggressive. Some LFS, if you get to know them well, may even let you "rent" some damsels when your water is ready for fish additions to help with the biological filtration, and then you can just return them before adding what fish you want. You never know until you ask.

eta: That website is hilarious. ITA scvc, people will do almost anything for their pets. Thats awesome.

[BluePhish]

hey mckenzie that site gives me hope. thanks. good idea too.
went to the LFS today again to get more live rock and they had a bunch of TONGA live rock . i had the guy weigh me out some, it seemed really dense so i did not purchase it. is this low grade type rock, not much coarline on it ither. phorous and light for thier size are better correct?

[nemo79]

Is the LR cured? If you add uncured LR you may have a mini cycle again. For fish, yellowhead jawfish are peaceful fish and really fun to watch. Clowns are cool. A great site for fish compatability is Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums