[cofstl411]

I have not been able to find Dori. It has been two days since I have seen her. She was doing fine then she was gone. I looked everywhere to no avail. I looked around the room in case she jumped, I looked in overflow and sump. I even moved every rock in my 125 tank to see if she was dead somewhere. Why is it that the $40 fish disappears and my chromis will live for 15 years. I guess they were ich magnets anyway but I will still miss her. I am going out today to replace her with something of comparable size. Here is what I have currently:

1 clownfish
2 blue/green chromis
1 scooter blennie
1 firefish
100 lbs live rock


1 serpent sea star
4 Turbo snails
10 astrea snails
1 camel shrimp
1 cleaner shrimp
1 scarlet hermit crab
3 blue leg hermit crabs (started with ten less than a month ago I only see one but figure there are probably 3 left)


I am probably going to get:

1 Foxface Lo
1 Royal Gramma
1 clown fish (to make a pair)
1 blue/green chromis (read here that odd number is what you want)
1 sea cucumber
More snails?

Is this a good combo for the size of my tank? How many more fish can I fit safely? I have read about the Foxface and feel that it will not be aggressive towards the other tank mates but I also read that about the arrow crab that I used have. I then found out otherwise. I know that the foxface is venomous which concerns me a little since I have children. They don't get in the tank but I am worried if it jumps out or whatever. Is there another fish that is this colorful, gets to be at least nine inches, has some personality, and won't eat everything else in the tank?
I also read about a small gobi that bobs up in down in the substrate with a lot of personality. I think it was a blue spot or some other color spot? Would this conflict with the scooter blennie who loves to roam the bottom of the tank?
Any advice would be appreciated because I would like to purchase at least some of the fish today before they close at 5:00pm.

[Reefland]

If you just lost a fish, you might want to reconsider adding that many new items at once. If the fish was lost then you should continue investigating to make sure there isn't a predator in the tank (mantis maybe) or something out of whack that caused the problem. You however are the best to determine if the tank is safe for a new fish.

If however you want to add a fish or 2 today because you feel it is safe, go with a couple of the smaller, hardier ones that you mentioned. The Royale Gramma and Clown would be my choice. If they do well after a month or more, then consider something a bit more delicate like the Foxface, which would be an excellent addition with your current tank mates.

[cofstl411]

I don't think that I have a predator because I moved all of the rock and didn't even find a piece of a carcass. Very perplexing. The only place that I have not checked is the overflow tubes going to my sump. I think that she was small enough to easily fit down them though. I will be getting the Clownfish and the Gramma or Chromis. I will probably get a cuke as well but everytime I go to the store they never have one anyway.

[Reefland]

Well if there was a predator or 2, they could easily finish off the carcass before you looked.

Also, do a search for cuke before you go that route.

[Peterock]

If you are going to get more fish I would get 4 more firefish so you can start seeing them school, and play Hide N Seek like mine do. Also get another clown so you can be paired up on that. The Last fish would be some sort of angle or a purple or blue tang. Deffently add a few more critters that seems to work margarita snails are my fav.

[Reefland]

True Margarita snails are temperate snails and will not survive long term in tropical reef temperatures.

[cofstl411]

Good call on the sea cuke. I forgot that they expel their internal organs when threatened. When you get ready to go to the LFS sometimes you forget stuff like that. Sometimes they don't have what you want and you don't want to make another trip so you buy something that you are not familiar with until after you buy it. That is what happened when I bought my sand sifting starfish. I know that I saw them listed in different clean up crew packages but did not have all of the information. Like that it eats all good fauna in sand bed and gets to be 1' across. I was looking for a serpent starfish which they did not have but did not want to go home empty-handed.

As for my firefish, he just plays hide right now. Nobody looks for him. Sounds interesting though...

[The R/C Man]

Hey Guys!

Well I just wanted to mention fish compatability. Although some fish may not get along with fish of the same or another species sometimes you can still place them together so long as you add them in a certian order. (pecking order) And they will get along fine. This will also depend on tank size. Doing this is based on years of fish keeping experience. So I always ask people with that kind of knowledge before I start adding fish. Luckly for me Kevin is local so I get most of my help from him. Before I start adding fish to my new tank I will make a list of what I would like to have so I can put them in according to the "pecking order"..... Just a thought... I hope that helps.

[cofstl411]

I ended up getting a blue/green chromis and a clownfish. The only fish that I plan on buying for my tank is the royale gramma and a foxface lo. I am not sure about pecking order but I would imagine that maybe I should add the foxface last? I hope that the total number of fish can be supported by my 125 gallon tank.

[cofstl411]

I have another fish missing today. I do have a serpent starfish. He looks very big today. He is chowing down on one of my snails. I am not sure if he killed it or if he is just eating it because it could not right himself. My blue green chromis is missing and the LFS said that the serpent star may become predatory and attack sleeping fish if not fed enough. Is it possible for a sepent starfish to consume a 3" fish in one afternoon and then eat a snail as well?