Trying to decide on a fish..please help

smitty65 · 03-07-2007, 03:10 AM

I know this is for reef fish but I didn't see a forum for FO tanks. My husband currently has a FO with semi-aggressive fish. Volitan, SF eel, cowfish, valentini puffer and a couple urchins. He wants another "cool" looking fish and I'm trying to find something. He did have a Picasso but he went back to the LFS after he bought the cow, No way was I going to have a kill off from the trigger ticking off the cow. He really wants a scorpion or a waspfish but I am concerned as I do the tank cleaning. One guy with spines is enough for me ! Can someone tell me about a few fish he may be happy with? He likes the weird looking ones but I like the ones that won't kill you

turbo4603 · 03-07-2007, 05:17 AM

Im not too good with predator tanks, but i do like them, and it sounds like you have some nice fish!!!
I wish i could recomend something, im sure someone will.

mm2002 · 03-07-2007, 06:32 AM

I'm somewhat new to reef keeping, but not to fish. A Porcupine puffer would likely be a great addition to that tank, and they are simply awesome fish. I did, however, have a juvenile eat one of my Urchins one time. I'm pretty sure it was just because he was under-fed though. I've kept them with Lion fish with great success, and even though they both loved live food, they never fought over it. It's kinda like a mutual respect I suppose. They become very friendly too, and can be tamed fairly easily.

coral reefer · 03-07-2007, 07:54 AM

Their are a number of peaceful Trigger fish available that would be a good choice for your tank such as a Pink-Tailled or Blue-Throat. Urchins and Triggers may not mix though as the triggers will eat the urchins! Grouper make wonderful additions as well though many species tend to grow rather large.
How about a nice Angel fish(Queen, French, Koran, Clarion, and Scribbled to name a few).
Raccoon butterfly is a nice fish as well and is one of the more hardy of the butterflies!!!
Maybe a Squirrelfish, or a Scorpionfish, may be another choice.
I wouldn't suggest a Devilfish or Stone fish as their sting and venom makes a sting from a Lionfish look like a bee sting as a number of deaths have been attributed to people being stung by these rather interesting fish!!!
Before going with another predatory fish, you MUST be aware that these fish are big waste contributors to your water thus causing a big strain on your skimmers/filtration equipment...so weekly water changes, carbon addition and stringent skimming and good water agitation/aeration is a MUST!!!!
Let us know what you decide on?

RAVEN · 03-07-2007, 08:57 AM

I would stay away from aggressive fish with that Cow fish. How about a Canthigaster species puffer like a Valentini or something similar. A long nose Hawk Fish is very interesting too. Just make sure you have all holes in the top covered because they are jumpers. Any of the other Hawk Fish are very interesting too. You'll probably want something slow swimming so as not to stress out and compete for food with the Cow Fish. Another nice fish is the Long Nose BF.