Order of Addition and Advice as to What to Add

brianw3185

Detritus
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
Hi folks,

I have a 36 BF with only two fish, an orchid dottyback and a green mandarin (I had a McCosker's an two clowns, the smaller of which was part snowflake and part wyoming white, for what it's worth; in any case, the hybrid started to chase and attack my McCosker's, essentially chased him to death. With his death and the fact that I brought the two clowns to the LFS for rehoming, I am now left with the two).

I have lots of rock hiding places and caves which I accomplished by changing most of my rock out for life rock, which I am very happy with btw.

What I would like is a royal gramma and/or a six line wrasse, or another McCosker's or Carpenter. I am not sure of what to add and when, but the (semi-agressive?) fish goes in last from what I have seen in the literature.

Also please advise as to what your recommendations are for my tank other than what I would like to put in.
PS I have a fire red shrimp, can I put a cleaner in there also or would they kill each other?

Thanks, any advice is appreciated!

Parameters: SG= 1.025, nitrates about 20, phosphates near 0, pH = 8.1, pKh= 9, temp = 72-75 deg F
 

neil82

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#2
I don't have personal experience with a six line wrasse, but I have heard they can be very aggressive.
 

Cake_Boss

Blue Whale
M.A.S.C Club Member
#3
Welcome to the club!

IMO you’re going to run into a few problems with the size of tank and the type of fishes you’re wanting to keep.
The orchid dottybacks are a good fish for adding last, as are the six line wrasse(add melenarus to the list too), due to their territorial nature. Also fish with similar body shapes can have aggression issues towards each other.
I’m unsure how mature your tank is or if your mandarin is eating frozen, but keeping him well fed could be a struggle because the wrasse also eat pods. Some supplemental pod feedings could help with aggression issues. Getting your mandarin to eat frozen foods will keep him from starving.
You can try catching the dottyback, putting him in the sump or qt, rearranging the rock work, adding the new fish, add the dottyback once the new fish have established their territory. A feeding at the same time or re-introduction can’t hurt either.
P.S. Don’t leave the dottyback in the sump to long, he’ll eat all of your pods.

IMO, do some reading on wrasse types and re-evaluate if you have the space to keep several kinds.

Are you keeping coral?

Your nitrates are on the high side, a water change will help.

Is there any reason you’re keeping a lower temperature range of 72-75?



Sent from my iPhone using MASC mobile app
 

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#5
6 line can be a torpedo of aggressiveness. I would never own a 4/6/8 line wrasse again. You an add them last, or first, and they will likely be a complete pain.

Flashers and fairies are good tankmates. Add them whenever you get the chance to acquire a good, healthy specimen.
 

TheRealChrisBrown

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#6
I had a 6 line for about 8 years, he recently passed. He was a model citizen, always on the move. He apparently had places to go and people to see, no time to be an ass. But perhaps he was an outlier. I will say, he swam a lot so more space might have been key.

I'm jealous of people that can keep mandarins. I've never had any success, even when adding pods. Perhaps a target mandarin, but you would likely have to dose pods every day. I think the Royal Gramma is a peaceful fish, you can add anytime. I think the Orchid Dottyback can be fairly aggressive. The purple Firefish are nice additions, as are goby's like the yellow watchmen.

Apparently I like a lot of the fish on Live Aquaria's list for nano tanks!

good luck!
 

halmus

Registered Users
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#7
Welcome. I’m not a fish expert by any means. I’ve looked at the orchids many times wishing I had one but knowing their reputation for being a jerk.

I really like the Ruby Red Dragonets. If you can find a mated pare, I’ve heard their display is awesome. They might have the same feeding requirements as the Mandarin though.

The pair I bought got sucked into my overflow somehow. I need to rework that before buying any more mini fish.
 

SynDen

Administrator
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#13
Whale Shark!
 

Ambrosio Aquatics

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
Platinum Sponsor
#14
i would avoid a gramma if you want to keep the orchid they will most likely fight unless your dotty is tank bred. six line is asking for trouble with any other wrasse
 

brianw3185

Detritus
M.A.S.C Club Member
#16
Hi folks, thanks for the advice... I took the dotty out, leaving me with the Mandarin (who loves to eat frozen as well as flake, so he is not a challenge ; had him for 2 years, still going strong). I put in a 2 1/2 inch longnose hawkfish, so now I can add one or two more, peaceful types. I still would like to add a royal gramma, but apparently they need to be added last. Thanks for the input, I am getting close. I wanted to get the fish in the tank before I started to add more corals, so any more comments/ideas are still appreciated. Tank parameters are stable as above post, except that NO3 is at 5ppm, two weeks after my last water change. Like I say, I'm getting close. Talk to you soon!
 
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