[prow]

hey peoples how goes it out there?
well i have a few fish kickn' it in QT. not sure if i should put them my 115ish gal or my 30gal. i am not trying to stock the 30gal yet that will be a species tank with jelly fish and such. working on stocking the 115ish gal. ok here is the issue, i decided to go with a very docile tank. so most of these guys are smaller fish. the 115ish gal is 72X18X20. 150lbs LR. lots of tunnels and overhanges. here is what is in the tank now;

2-percula clowns (Amphiprion ocellaris)
yellow watchman goby (Cryptocentrus cinctus)
thats it.

in QT i have the following;
yellow clown goby (Gobiodon okinawae)
neon goby (Elacatinus oceanops)
purple firefish (Nemateleotris decora)
hector’s goby (Amblyeleotris hectori)
rainford's goby (Amblygobius rainfordi)
royal gramma (Gramma loreto)
orange back fairy wrasse (Cirrhilabrus aurantidorsalis)
banded goby (Amblygobius phalaena)

will for sure be getting these guys later;
2-bluejaw tilefish (Hoplolatius starki)
regal tang (Paracanthurus hepatus)

i am thinking about adding these guys also;
canary blenny (Meiacanthus oualanensis)
and one of these: a black cap basslet (Gramma melacara) or a orchid dotty back (Pseudochromis fridmani).

as you can see this group will stay pretty small, most anyway. the thing i am worried about is if these guys will disappear in this tank. they all seem to love swimming out in the open. what do you guys/girls think? i see possible issues with the gramma and the black cap or orchid. not sure about the canary either. i am thinking i have a good size peiceful community of fish and think i have enough room for the territorial ones to be comfortable enough not to become punks. i will be letting the wrasse, firefish and gobies to settle in before adding the bluejaw and sm. 1" regal tang, let them settle in then add the gramma and blackcap(if i go with him)-last one or two would be the canary and orchid(if i go with him)

the banded is in a 20gal with the wrasse. he has been in there about 3 weeks. i added the wrasse and the banded is pretty aggressive towards the wrasse. i expected some, but i am now a little worried about him and the watchman, and the other little guys once they are all in the same tank. the bigger tank might fix it, but i am not so sure about that, any idea?


P.S. not that i dont appreciate everyone's advice, buuttt, please keep in mind i have reachered all these guy on a individual bases. just dont want to fill this thread with with things like "most dottyback are real aggressive". or things like "beware the canary blenny has a venomous bit" i am aware of each one nitches. i am thinking more on their behavior as a group, if that makes sense.

[Penguin]

I'd probably choose the orchid over the blackcap, just for variety. JMO. I think the gramma and blackcap are more similar behavior-wise. Compatibility is another issue though.

When I was stocking my tank I was thinking about adding a royal gramma when I already had a Springer dottyback from my old tank. In the end I decided it wasn't a good idea. You have more things working in your favor though--6 ft tank (mine is a 75), gramma in first, orchid (probably the least agressive of the dottybacks). You'd probably at least have some skirmishes in the beginning. Individual fish act differently so it's hard to predict, but I think it could work. Maybe someone who's actually kept the two fish together will post here.

Also JMO, but I'd probably add the regal tang last.