Help me pick a fish

[discuspro]

Just moved into a beautiful 40gal bow front from a claustrophobic 40gal hex. Basically has a bit more room or so it feels.

I need to pick a fish that has most of these qualities:

1) Active during the day
2) Will mostly if never pick on my Maxima clam and Christmas tree worms
3) Will not pick on snails or hermits or nudibranchs
4) Will not pick/eat hard or soft coral
5) Will not bother zoanthids
6) Doesn't require constant live food (I know most fish would benefit from it but I'm talking mostly about predatory fish like lionfish, definitely a no on those right now)
7) **Reef safe
8- Will wake me up in the morning :lol Just kidding


I know this is a dream fish that still needs to be genetically engineered by humans but I figured why not throw out these requirements and see what fish fit most of them if not some. Thanks for helping; I am looking to get one in a few days.

[cbianco]

Plastic fish with built in alarm clock! :)

No, but seriously, I have always been partial to Cardinalfish.

Christopher

[discuspro]

Yeah, I have put thought into them. I've never had them, and I've heard they are more active at night (nocturnal piscatory/fish predators). Are they active enough during the day to enjoy them?

[cbianco]

I had two PJ Cardinalfish. They were active during the day as well as the night. I had a pair, one was a bit shyer than the other but both came to the front to say hi every time I came to the tank.

They are not fish predators as much as they are invertebrate predators (they are carnivores!). My PJs ate only blood worm but every once and a while I would buy them feeder shrimp to dine on. It was great watching the two PJs work together and stalk the shrimp.

Christopher

[hobogato]

just watch out, our PJ's ate a couple of skunk cleaner shrimp too.

[Ross]

Definetly consider a flame angel. They are beatiful, would do well in a 40g and as long as you get a reef safe one are everything you listed...

[cbianco]

just watch out, our PJ's ate a couple of skunk cleaner shrimp too.

Yup been there! :)

They never bothered any other inverts though.

Christopher

[hobogato]

mine have never bothered my fire shrimp tho.

[don-n-sa]

just watch out, our PJ's ate a couple of skunk cleaner shrimp too.


Thats crazy...I have two triggers, a porc puffer , a harliquin tusk, and a snowflake moray and none of them mess with my cleaner shrimp. :wacko

[cbianco]

mine have never bothered my fire shrimp tho.

I lost my one peppermint shrimp to a pair of these guys. The fire shrimp may be too spicy 8) and give them heart burn :sick lol.

Christopher

[PeeperKeeper]

What do you already have in your tank? A firefish?

[hobogato]

a couple that i would reccommend - sixline wrasse, candy hogfish

[hoho19]

Pretty wasn't on your list so I recommend Mollies...You buy them cheep and then aclimatize them to SW. Easy and they are always active and don't pick on anything and eat flake food.

[discuspro]

Pretty was suppose to be on the list, but I forgot. At the moment I have no fish at all. Sixline wrasses are one of my favorites but I'm concerned it will pick and pick and pick on my christmas tree worms and clam until they die, otherwise if someone hasn't seen them attack these creatures I will get one.

The other kind of fish I'm interested in is a Copperband Butterfly. I've got some aiptasia but again the copperband butterfly might pick on these creatures (clam and worms).

The copperband I might be able to take out if it gets too aggresive to my inverts but the sixline would be tricky, I think, to catch if I ever need to.

GaryP, don't you have a copperband butterfly? If so what kind of inverts do you have and does it ever bother anything in particular? What have you got the butterfly trained to eat?

[hobogato]

i have a six line in my tank with tons of feather dusters and several clams. i do have a coulple of the same "feather dusters" as the ones on chrismas tree rocks, and the six line doesnt touch any of them. the copperband on the other hand will eat feather dusters, so i would not trust one with a christmas tree rock.

[akm]

I suggest a hawkfish, I have one and it's the coolest and most active fish I have. But some of them will eat any small shrimp, mine has eaten 3-4.

[discuspro]

I have also thought of a hawkfish, never had em before but look very cool.

Hobogato, quick question: what do you feed your sixline? How big was it when you got it and how big is it now?

One other question for anyone, I was reading liveaquaria.com notes on sixlines and it says they eat "commensal flatworms." What are those? Surely not the nuisance flatworms, that would be a miracle!

Here's a link to that note page:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=375

[discuspro]

Okay, here is the fruit of our labor (I got the sixline), I caught him making his bed right after lights out:

http://myweb.stedwards.edu/~dholden/sixline.jpg