Centerpiece fish in trafficked area?

[kkutac001]

Hope some people with more experience than I can give me ideas. I'm looking for suggestions for a 'pet' fish for a lps/softie tank (100G) which will be in a fairly busy area (living room). Fish will not be the focus of the tank (rather, inverts). Maybe a school of chromis; some blennies for sure.

But, it'd be cool to have one featured fish. Seems like all the angels could fit the bill for being centerpiece fish, but from what I read they all seem to like munching sponges and/or soft corals. Domino damsels? Though not very big, I have heard they have bold personalities. Some other, colorful fish anyone know of? Which won't eat my polyps/corals/whatnot?

Anyone offering their two cents will get a happy face sticker in his/her stocking, so it is definitely worth you while to jump in with an opinion... :) Karl

[Ram_Puppy]

ok, so it's a 100 gallon right?

has to be non-predatory to sponges, corals, inverts.

to be a 'centerpiece' fish it would need to not only have striking colors in my opinion, but a striking personality, and enough size to stand out.

I have to admit, while it is predatory I would try putting a radiata lion in there. It is definately a with caution fish and for sure it could take out your inverts. (I have heard lions will leave hermits alone if they are introduced first, and there are enough empty shells to confuse the situation)

then there is the waste issue, your filtration would have to be up for it.

you would have to be brave enough to put your hands in a tank w/ a venomous fish.

If the Lion is a no go.

Then I would probably go for a less common Tang, maybe a Tomni.

I know this is not '1' fish, but what about getting a pair of clowns and an anemone to host in? the focus of the tank is invertebrate life, why not have the centerpiece fish be symbiotic with that life?

I have always been partial to the gold stripe maroon clowns. the ones Richard gets in out at CB pets seem to always have very nice coloring, and I believe that Larry breeds them as well.

[NaCl_H2O]

If you have the pod population, a Green Mandarin - mine will "flutter" in front of the glass and show off as long as you are watching :D

http://www.maast.org/albums/NaCl_H2O/Mandarin.jpg

[Ram_Puppy]

radiata's are soooo pretty.

[kkutac001]

I should mention I have two young children (3 and 5). Lionfish is probably not a safe idea. I did a quick lookup of the "Tomini Tang"; found a Flame Fin Tomini for a mere $150. :-) The brief info did not mention that they eat corals/sponges. (Wish the Koran angel did not like sponges -- there's a striking fish.) That mandarin is amazing, but like you said, needs a mature tank with plenty of pods. Also, I really like zooanthids, gsp's, briareum, xenia, clavularia... I've read time and again how it is no good to introduce an anemone into that kind of tank. But relatedly, maybe a large frogspawn would fit the bill here; I don't think a frogspawn'd care about traffic!
Back to fish. So, can I say (in general) that tangs are merely herbivorous, whereas angels might eat soft corals and sponges? If so, can tangs endure a trafficked area? What about dottybacks/pseudochromis? Anyone with experience with these? They seem to be battery-operated, their colors are so intense. Or are they all really small fishes? Or maybe take RamPuppy's idea in a different direction: the more-than-one approach -- perhaps feature a colony of some kind of jawfish?
Thanks again for helping separate me from my money. :-) ..Karl

[kkutac001]

Ooops, just saw some info saying dotty's are really elusive -- not a good choice.

[Ram_Puppy]

well, you could always do a school of chromis if you want to keep it simple.

I am not knocking you, but I have always found it interesting that people with kids don't want to keep a lionfish. Most kids that are young are to short to get thier hands in a tank anyhow, and my nieces and nephews are trained to keep their hands out of their parents fish tanks as easily as not putting their hands on a hot burner. but, alas, I have no kids SO I DO NOT JUDGE! :)

I just really like Radiata and Antenata Lions. Anyhow...

I have heard the same things about anemones, however, I have also heard of them being successfully kept in a system with these critters as well, all you have to do is be religious in changing your carbon out. (Again, I don't speak from experience on that. my only anemone cooked when my 30 overheated.) I do quite well with aiptasia though. :) lol. I think a frogspawn might work with ocellarius and others, but I doubt it with maroons, they are very picky about that they host in, if memory serves, only H. Magnifica and E. Quadricolor (only the latter is suitable for a private aquarium.) if you want a better chance of hosting you might have to go with wild caught.

Tangs are, as far as i know all, always completely reef safe unless I missed a memo somewhere, they are herbivorous, yummy yummy nori! I had forgotten Tomni's turn brown as they get older...

how about this guy?

http://www.marinecenter.com/fish/tangs/hybridpowderbluegoldrimtang/

achilles tangs are striking too.

of course, with kids you couldn't go wrong with a blue tang - dori ya know.

[Richard]

I love mine...

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=341

[Bug_Power]

The LFS has a Fu Man Chu Lion...wow nice looking fish! I am also getting a Achillies Tang, supposidly the LFS will get one and a powder blue for $40ish each.

[Jeff]

if you want to keep it simple a yellow tang would be noproblem at alland they are relatively cheap. dont worry about an anenome in a soft coral tank, just provide plenty of light and water flow and it wont move much if at all.

[blueboy]

how about a nice flasher wrasse?

[PeeperKeeper]

I agree the lion shouldn't be a problem with kids, Ram Puppy. I've got two girls (admittedly, boys may be different) ages 5 and 8 and it's just not a problem keeping them from putting hands in the tank and never was. By the time they're tall enough for it even to be possible, they understand enough to be able to put the fear of God into them about how much it will HURT if they put a hand in with the lion. Tell them lions especially like small fingers.

May even be a good thing to have something in there to give them pause. After all, even if the most dangerous thing you have in the tank is Nemo, you don't want them putting sticky fingers in the water anyway.

Centerpiece for a 100g reef...hmm...this shouldn't be hard but I'm having trouble coming up with an imaginative answer. Cardinals come to mind, like a school of Bangai or Pajamas?

[GaryP]

The dwarf and pygmey angels are not a problem in that kind of tank. My potters angel is almost competely herbivorous but does eaten frozen meaty feeds. Likewise, a flame or coral beauty would do well. My tank is covered in sponges as well as the other things you named. The only thing I noticed was that the Christmas tree worms disappeared shortly after I introduced him. Other then that, I have not noticed him picking at anything in the tank and he has been in there for a year. There was a really good article in one of the fish magazines a while back about angels. There main conclusion is that angels are usually only a problem in reefs when they are not being fed enough. They will then go "live off the land" so to speak. This mainly applied to the large angels. The smaller angels are lot easier to keep in a reef and most reef keepers I know have, or have had, one in their tanks.

http://www.marinecenter.com/fish/angelfish/pottersangel/

[blueboy]

my flame angel is deffinately the centerpiece of my tank, fishwise anyways.

[loans_n_fishes]

My clark clownfish are hosting in a sarcophyton (toadstool) that Gary gave me. They took to it right away. I was reluctant to get an anemone too, and was thrilled when this situation occurred. Maybe they wouldn't be the "main attraction", but I think this combo would make a good sideshow!

Angela

[Bug_Power]

I've got a plate coral that my damsels host in, and Troy has a Hammer Coral that his Perculas took too.

[kkutac001]

Thanks to everyone who gave an opinion. Based on the discussion and further readings, I'm leaning at this time towards the tangs. (I always have liked them when visiting big aquaria.) For instance, the Desjardini Tang, Lavender Tang, and Yellow Eye Kole Tang would be top contenders at this time. On the pygmy front, the Bicolor Pygmy Angel was my personal favorite. And I'll explore the Euphillia - percula connection, trying (for instance) frogspawn, which I've always been attracted to. And of course some blennies.
Thanks again! Sure was fun 'brainstorming' with you. ..Karl

[Ram_Puppy]

I expect my smiley face soon.

[Enigma13]

I have noticed clowns mentioned in several of the previous posts, but I am not sure they would fit the bill of the centerpiece fish. I have a pair of Oscellaris that have decided to host in a large patch of Xenia. However, once they chose a host they rarely venture far from it. They are fun to watch if you are looking for them, but they do not come out looking for attention.
I would follow the advice of several above who recommend the Flame Angel. Also a Purple Tang might be a good option.

[Bug_Power]

if you get a pair that contrast from thier host, it will have a good color combo, and be a good example of simbiotic relationships.