reef fish compatablilty

[latazyo]

just a few questions about compatability of reef fishes
in a 40BR will:

A) 2 species of hawkfish get along?
in particularly longnose and flame

B) 2 species of goby get along?
in particularly firefish, neon, yellow watchman

C) 2 species of wrasse get along?
in particularly 6 line and red head fairy and scott's velvet

thanks in advance, I appreciate the input I can get

I am getting ready to get my tank going and am throwing around some fish stocking ideas

I already own a pair of clowns and the yellow watchman goby and am trying to think of fish to add to them

note: the shrimp will be goign in months before the hawks, so they should get big enough to avoid being lunch before the hawks come into the equation

[squid]

hummm as for queston #1, I don't think I ever had a anyone have 2 hawk fish in a 40

2) the gobies mentioned have different needs. The firefish is a middle swimmer and likes to eat meaty foods The watchman also eats meaty foods, but he is a bottom dweller. The mandarin is also a bottom dweller, andgoes thru rocks looking for food, eats pods.

3) We never had a problem with the 6 line and fairy wrasses, just make the 6 line the last. I have seen a 6 line wrasse established in a tank, and the customer put in a puffer...the 6 line came out of no where and hit the puffer so hard it knocked scales off the poor fish. Puffer died 2 days later. Don't know if it was because of the hit it took or something else...

[latazyo]

I was thinking tha tmaybe 2 hawks couldn't be kept together...looks like it'll be longnose then by a nose

and I wasn't interested in a mandarin goby???

[CAT]

I wouldn't bother with the hawks. Aside from snacking on shrimp, I think someone here mentioned a hawk bitting the head of a goby, and that was about the 3rd of 4th time this hawk had been returned to the lfs for pulling that same stunt.

[squid]

Mandarin gobies are great fish...I would not put one in for at least 6 months so he doesn't stave to death

[Gruv]

I dont know alot, but I have a mandorin goby, a fire goby and a neon goby that get along fine.

[latazyo]

I don't want a mandarin!!! hehe

any info on the wrasses?

[Gruv]

Sorry, I was just stating that two species can get along, however as for the ones you want, I can only say that I know the neon and the fire both get along fine in my tank. I dont know abut the watchman. Sorry (

[squid]

OK OK OK...no mandarin!! lol

Scott's velvet wrasses are known jumpers, at least that was our experience at the shop The red head liked to hide, but that could have been cause he didn't have someone to play with...so to speak

[Alice]

LOL Cat; that was me that posted about the freckled hawk from he** that kept getting returned to the shop. Nasty bugger.

Latazyo, if it were me, I wouldn't trust many hawks with smaller fish and shrimp, though I have seen it done. Frank had a Flame Hawk and shrimp in his tank for a long time with no harm done. Hawks can also get fairly good sized for a 40 gallon tank though they don't need a lot of swimming space.

I've also seen Scott's Fairy Wrasses over 5". I'd say in a 40 with 3 fish already you've got room for 2-3 more small fish but it sounds as though you're narrowing it down. I love fish; it's hard to choose!

Alice

[latazyo]

well I woudln't mind a mandarin, but my tank wouldn't support it for a while, I"d say....hehe..I was just wondering where it came about that I might want a mandarin, you were confusing me squid

I am slowly facing the fact that the coolest fish ever (longnose hawk) might not be a good choice, since I am interested in keeping several shrimp in here as well

I have only begun to look at wrasses though, perhaps I can find some smaller ones

keep the suggestions coming!!

[squid]

Have you looked at the leopard wrasse? They don't get as large as the fairy wrasses

[latazyo]

alright, I've begun looking into some different wrasses on liveaquaria...they say teh leopard is a difficult level fish with the expert only tag on it...I've also taken notice to a few of the flashers they have there, keep in mind I'm not getting any certain combo of these fishes, just wondering about compatability issues before I go making final decisions

[JennM]

Just my 2 cents...

I know it's semantics, but a Mandarin is a Dragonet, not a goby. In general "gobies" are easy to keep and IMO the use of the word "goby" with "Mandarin" suggests they are easy to keep. Just a quirk of mine, perhaps. Under NO circumstances would I put one in a 40 - EVER (and I realize the original question was not about Mandarins, but since the suggestion was made to "wait 6 months" before trying one, I'd like to mention for anybody reading that it is not a good idea. I recently took one in that was badly emaciated, from a 200+ gallon tank, and it died in my care. I have one that I move between 3, 110 g tanks, which are all plumbed to a refugium, and I move her when I stop seeing an abundance of pods in the tank she's in. I've had her nearly a year now. I don't stock them because too many people buy them on impulse only for them to starve to death a month later

I haven't tried 2 species of hawks together - I did accidentally tank a long nosed in with a pixie one day, and the pixie started to give chase, so I moved the longnose. So on that one I'd give a thumbs down.

The 3 gobies should be fine. Firefish, neon and watchman. Watch larger watchman gobies and shrimp - they can be as voracious as hawks. Some watchman gobies get rather large too, so consider the long-term.

Wrasses - personally I have kept a red fairy wrasse (C. rubripinnis) with a 6 lined, the fairy was well established. I have seen 6 lineds get aggressive with newcomers after the fact, so bear that in mind. Leopard wrasses are tricky - they don't travel well and they are difficult to initiate feeding - and they need pods too (more reason not to suggest a Mandarin). They are gorgeous, and potentially a good choice if you're willing to take on the risk and feeding challenges. Make sure it's eating at the LFS before you take it home - I wouldn't order this one online, because they do not ship well at all.

JMHO as always,

Jenn

[latazyo]

yeah, there won't be any mandarins, and the leopard I turned down because of the expert warning on the site

I would like to hear about any wrasses that may cause trouble to the shrimp or other fish

and unfortunately both hawks have been voted off the island due to ntolerance of shrimp :'(