fish for a 75?

[rz1a]

im going to be setting up a 75g and i have no idea what kind of fish i want in it. so far its going to be fish from my other tanks

i have a
-dwarf lion
-blue damsel
-onyx female clownfish when she gets a little bit bigger

i want some colorful fish that can handle a lot of flow and wont nip at SPS; im looking for any recommendations

anyone know what kind of wrasse i can put in there besides a sixline? i was thinking of maybe a mystery wrasse, or some other wrasse that doesnt need to burrow in the sandbed since i wont have one

[C.Mydas]

The dwarf lion will eat other fish especially a slow moving small clown. The same for non-burrowing wrasses...they sleep in the open. A burrowing wrasse would have more of a chance b/c they are safe at night from the lion. But if you are going BB that is not possible.... If you keep the lion in another tank your possibilities will open up quite a bit.

[rz1a]

my bad, its a fuzzy dwarf, not the regular dwarf lion (if that makes a difference).everyone i talked to told me that the fuzzy dwarf lionfish was reef safe and okay with other fish, just not some inverts, and tiny fish like babies or clown gobies.

its been avoiding going out in the open, most likely because of the high flow and lighting from the metal halide. it only comes to me when the powerheads shut down for feeding time. it comes up to me and waits for me to feed it

[C.Mydas]

They are reef safe...with coral. Keep in mind that most onyx's available are going to come in small. And your lion is going to grow. Lions can eat anything equal to their own body size. Fish that sleep out in the open are easy dinners. You may be able to get away with it just keep yout lion well-fed and buy fish that are bigger (and going to stay bigger) than the fuzzy. A mystery might work, but you'd have to get an adult (those dont come by very often) and Im not sure Id spend the money if it is going to be a possible meal. Good jon on getting the fuzzy to eat...not very many people get them weened from live.

On a side note, I had a 37g with a Radiata and a dwarf zebra with wrasses. My reasoning was that those particular lions are mainly crustacean eaters in the wild. All the wrasses were large and burrowing so they were safe at night. When we had our 100g break we threw the clowns in the 100g into my 37g and they were gone the next morning and my dwarf was as round as a bouncy ball. They were the only fish to ever get eaten, but they were unprotected at night.

HTHs

[rz1a]

i get you about the onyx clownfish. i had a pair in my biocube 14 that i got when they were tiny from Rod, the male passed away last week from an accident (sucked up by return pump). now i just have the female. shes about 2", maybe a tiny bit bigger but she wont be going near the lionfish until next year, maybe. if its a problem, i can keep her in the biocube since its the only fish in there

i made sure the fuzzy was eating before i got it, but the guy said he was eating pellets. i cant get him to eat anything else besides raw shrimp, and i know its bad for him to only eat one type of food. but if its not white, it wont touch it. if its soaked in anything else, itll be reluctant to eat it.

as far as the mystery wrasse, do you have any thoughts on these others? which ones do not need a sandbed and which ones can you put together with each other? sorry for so many links :\ i was also thinking of a pair of GSMs, but not sure yet.

http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=355&N=0
http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=2648&N=0
http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=1153&N=0
http://bluezooaquatics.com/productDetail.asp?did=1&pid=949&cid=290
http://bluezooaquatics.com/productDetail.asp?did=1&pid=962&cid=290
http://bluezooaquatics.com/productDetail.asp?did=1&pid=974&cid=290
http://bluezooaquatics.com/productDetail.asp?did=1&pid=971&cid=290
http://bluezooaquatics.com/productDetail.asp?did=1&pid=970&cid=290
http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=319&N=0
http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=2242&N=0
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=361&N=0

[C.Mydas]

Psuedochellinus (6 lines and mystery)- dont bury just get a big one.
Flasher wrasses- stay too small
Cirrhilabrus (fairy wrasses)- one of your safer options based on size
Halichores (radiant, christmas, hoeven's/melenarus)- these need sand beds

The flame, mystery, and scotts can get very pricey...if you do decide to attempt it get them big, otherwise they'll be a very nice meal for the lion...lol.

If a LFS sells live SALTwater ghost shrimp you can gut-pack those and and feed them to your lion too. I know some people have success with silversides for dwarfs.

[C.Mydas]

About mixing them... You can mix the different families just do it order from mildest to most aggressive. Start with the fairies move the the mystery.

GSM's are mean! If they get established they may pick on wrasses in a 75g. They'll probably be fine for the first few months before they think they own the tank. They are fair game for the lion too...especially at night.

[rz1a]

wow thats crazy, didnt think this little fuzzy could cause that much trouble. seeing him in the tank with the royal gramma and damsel swim by him, they seem to get along well. they stay their distance and he just focuses on eating the food i drop in. ill have to see if someone in the local club might be interested in it

thanks a lot for that list and all your help. someone mentioned that the fairy wrasses and flasher wrasses dont need a sandbed.

so basically, you can mix wrasses as long as theyre not in the same Genus?

so you can put a mystery wrasse with a ruby head fairy wrasse (Cirrhilabrus cyanopleur), and a mcCosker's flasher wrasse

so far this is what i was thinking:
-mystery wrasse
-ruby head wrasse
-maybe a mcCosker if the lion is removed
-someone mentioned a Kole tang; said it was the only tang ok for a 75; not sure about this and the bioload
-GSMs, maybe--- i have seen them push boulders around the tank. might cause trouble in a BB tank

what do you think so far? do you think it might be too many fish? its going to be a RR tank with an octopus nw150 thats mesh modded and has other mods done to it.

like i said, im not really sure about fish. the tank was mainly going to be a tank for SPS, trying to keep it low nutrient as possible which is why i went BB. hopefully the fish poop will help feed the SPS

[FSU]

sounds to me like you need to place your Black Onyx clown. I would be willing to taker her if thats the case!

[C.Mydas]

You are correct flashers and fairy's dont need SBs. I dont think that is too many fish. I would go onyx over GSM. They are just too fiesty for some wrasses. Your gramma is going to be an issue... Id bet good money that it will not appreciate the wrasses...lol. Make sure you add them in the correct order, our mystery has never shown any aggression towards our other wrasses BUT he is related to a 6line so Im not putting it past him...lol. Also get the best skimmer you can afford!

Im no expert on BBs. Maybe the hubby will chime in, he knows more about that.