Hoevens Wrasse

[ADAM537]

Originally Posted by crvz

And one last question, what other fish do you have in there with it? That can cause some of this type of reaction as well.

2 ARROW CRABS
1 DAMSEL
1 HOEVEN WRASSE
1 CORAL BANDED SHRIMP

AND A BUNCH OF BEAUTIFUL WELL ESTABLISHED LIVE ROCK... I JUST STARTED THE TANK 3 WEEKS AGO. THAT TYPE OF FISH SHOULD I ADD NEXT ? I REALLY WOULD LIKE A DOCILE TANK.

[crvz]

Wow, three weeks? Is this brand new live rock and sand? You likely well ahead of yourself if you're already adding fish to it. Common recommendation is to wait 6-8 weeks before adding fish to a new setup. Do you perform water tests? Also, I don't see it mentioned here, what size is the tank?

If you're wanting a peaceful tank, both the arrow crabs and damsel were not good choices. Damsels are rather territorial and could be the reason your wrasse is keeping for cover. And I've seen arrow crabs catch fish before, so they're not exactly friendly. I'd hit the pause button on additions for a bit and consider removing some of those that you have in the tank if you're pushing for a peaceful setup. I'd also wait on additions unless you have good history of data on the tank; waiting for the tank to cycle is very important when setting up new marine tank.

[crvz]

Also, just a gentle note. Using all caps for a message is the forum equivalent of yelling and is generally considered bad form. Taking the time to use proper style, diction, and punctuation is appreciated by all!

[ADAM537]

Yep, only three weeks. I purchased live rock and sand from an existing tank. I cycled just the rock for about 2 weeks before adding the one damsel. I added the damsel because their were snails, several hermit crabs, and mini stars that were doing fine. Don't inverts go first when their are problems? I added the damsel and a few days later the shrimp and the wrasse together.

Sorry, about the caps, my program at work requires all information entered in caps.

They aren't arrow crabs but regular hermit crabs not sure what I was thinking.
My tank is 120 gallons with a DIY sump with refugium that is not really started. I cycled that tank at about 80 degrees for the first 2 weeks and have it at 79 degrees now. PH at 8.2 with no nitrates.

[crvz]

Ok, if it was bought from an existing setup than that reduces the amount of risk by quite a bit. And yeah, inverts are most of the time more sensitive and will give you better clues of overall tank health before fish. So in a 120, the damsel should be pretty good. What kind of fish are you looking for? I'd be sure to add fish slowly, but you've got a lot of decent choices in a tank that size.

[ADAM537]

Too many options.. i would like to add corals sooner or later. I thinking a pair of clownfish?

[ADAM537]

By the way the wrasse came out a second time today.

[crvz]

Originally Posted by ADAM537

Too many options.. i would like to add corals sooner or later. I thinking a pair of clownfish?

pair of clowns is pretty safe, BUT... many of them get very aggressive (gold stripe, maroon, tomato, etc.) so be very selective when choosing a fish. And, they're in the same family as damsels, so there can be territorial disputes between them. Perculas/ocellaris are probably the least aggressive.

[ADAM537]

Originally Posted by crvz

And one last question, what other fish do you have in there with it? That can cause some of this type of reaction as well.

I currently have:

1 target mandarin gobie (Shrek)
1 midas blenny (Ariel)
2 percula clownfish (Coral and Marlyn)
1 orchard dottyback (Violet)
1 solid blue damsel (Bella)
1 hippo tang (Gloria)
2 fire shrimp (Pepe and Radio)
1 coral banded shrimp (Buba)
5 turbo snails
5 hermit crabs