Paracheilinus filamentosus

[Dargason]

Dr. Ron,

I'm struggling with a stocking plan for my new 200 g reef, and I'm thinking about adding a group of 3-4 P. Filamentosus. Unfortunately, they are a bit unusual and I'm having trouble finding much information about them.

The tank currently contains:
1 juvenile tank-raised percula
1 bicolor blenny
1 Shrimp Goby (Amblyeleotris randalli)
1 Coral Beauty

Other candidates for addition are:
1 Hippo tang
2 Bangaii Cardinal (pair)
1 or 2 other reasonably non-agressive tangs
1 4-spot wrasse (H. chrysus) (See note below)
Maybe a firefish or purple firefirefish

I'm looking for a small group of fish that will be active in front of the rocks and show some personality, and hopefully draw the more reclusive species out more. What do you know about the behavior of P. Filamentosus? Is it active, or does it just hang out in the water column the way bangaii cardinals do? Do you think there will be any compatibility issues with the fish I've listed?

I already have H. chrysus in a 20g tank. He's a beautiful fish that is active and shows lots of personality, but I worry about putting him in the 200g because of a comment here and there in my books that they can "get destructive with age." I also worry that he may disturb my DSB too much because he sleeps under the stand. Can you comment on these concerns?

Thanks!! Your advice is invaluable and I appreciate your time!

Mike

[rshimek]

Hi Mike,

I know very little about these fish.

I am moving the thread to the fish forum for more and better advice than I can give.

:D

[hcs3]

What do you know about the behavior of P. Filamentosus? Is it active, or does it just hang out in the water column the way bangaii cardinals do? Do you think there will be any compatibility issues with the fish I've listed?

flasher wrasses are extremely docile. they make great additions to any non-aggressive tank. adding 2 or 3 should not be a problem. once comfortable with their surroundings, they will spend a good deal of time both hanging in the water column and searching your rockwork and algea fields for a live morsal. the only copatability issue i can possibly see would be the "1 or 2 other tangs." aggressive fish can keep them hiding the majority of the time.

I already have H. chrysus in a 20g tank. He's a beautiful fish that is active and shows lots of personality, but I worry about putting him in the 200g because of a comment here and there in my books that they can "get destructive with age." I also worry that he may disturb my DSB too much because he sleeps under the stand. Can you comment on these concerns?

the golden wrasse is the majority of the time a great addition to non-aggressive tanks. they rarely bother anybody and leave smaller docile fish alone. the sleeping under the sandbed is not a worry. they will find one particular spot and after awhile will call it home. they will only bury in that spot. they will, however, eat a good deal of life from your sandbed. worms of most any sort will be *taste-tested* and a good majority of the will be found to satisfy it's hunger. if an active DSB is your objective, i would not add this fish to the tank.

I'm looking for a small group of fish that will be active in front of the rocks and show some personality, and hopefully draw the more reclusive species out more.

this group of small fish you've accumulated looks like they will do just that. but once again i'm concerned about the tangs. their active swimming tends to keep smaller fish in the rockwork. their aggressive feeding makes it tough to get food to fish such as your firefish and your shrimp goby. the hippo tang is a good choice. they are fairly docile as tangs go. adding 1 or 2 more tangs will most likely defeat your stocking ideals. FWIW, all tangs are considered to be aggressive. some much more than others.

HTH

henry

[Dargason]

Thanks! Finally some answers!

The reason I was thinking about tangs is because they are a larger, active fish. Can you recommend an alternative? Should I go with 2 or 3 hippos instead? Or perhaps just give up on larger fish and instead get more small ones, like fairy wrasses?

I grew up in Shampoo-Banana and went to UIUC. Go Illini!

Thanks,
Mike

[BrianD]

Hi Dargason

I would stick to one tank-raised hepatus. They are very shy fish, and while agressive at feeding time they won't prevent other fish from getting their share. I have the following in my 180:

c. scottorum (Scott's fairy wrasse)
m. melegris (leopard wrasse)
c. bicolor (bicolor angel)
bicolor blennie
2 ocellaris clowns
2 percula clowns
copperband butterfly
hepatuas tang
p. fridmani (orchid dottyback)
4 small yellow clown gobies

As you can see, I have a couple of larger fish (the hepatus and the copperband), and the rest of my fish are fairly small. Due to their shy nature, neither the hepatus or the copperband keep the other fish in hiding. All the smaller fish swim actively, and there is plenty of color and flash in my tank.

So, to answer your question, I don't know that adding the hepatus should limit your other choices very much. I am very conservative with stocking levels, so I wouldn't add another tang to the tank. I see no reason to create conflict. I echo Henry's comments about wrasses impacting your sand bed. I have two 180 gallon tanks side by side, one has all the wrasses and the other only has a purple tang and a pair of maroon clowns. The tank with the wrasses has a little activity in the sand bed, but the one without the wrasses is absolutely crawling with worms and life.

However, I love wrasses so I am willing to accept the impact on my sand bed :)

Brian

[hcs3]

a small harem of hippos is a possibilty. they will grow quickly, though, so you may have to thin them back to just 1 or 2 in a year or two.

fairy wrasses are great choices as they rarely bother others and generally stay out in the open. they will predate upon your microfauna, however. you may wish to opt for either the flasher wrasses or fairy wrasses. they should get along just fine, but i would be concerned about the amount of predation upon the microfauna if both were kept in multiple numbers.

HTH

henry

[Dargason]

Thanks! You guys are full of good information!

What is a reasonable limit for wrasses in a 200g tank? How would it change if I mention I'd like to get a mandarin at some point?

Also, one of the reasons I was looking at tangs was to control the algae growth. I guess this isn't a problem?

Thanks again... I've been looking for help on a stocking list for my tank, and it seems it's hard to find good information on fish other than the "standard" ones.

Brian,

Do you have pics of your tank?

Thanks,
Mike

[BrianD]

Thanks! You guys are full of good information!

Well, we've been told we are full of something :)

What is a reasonable limit for wrasses in a 200g tank?

Mike, at one time I had 2 leopard wrasses, 3 fairy wrasses, and a christmas wrasse (h. ornatissimus, I think is the spelling) in a 180 gallon tank. I am living proof that if you don't adequately cover your tank, eventually you will lose your wrasses. I lost 5-6 from jumping, even after I thought I had my tank sufficiently covered. Anyway, I think you could have at least the 5-6 I had without a problem. I have had NO problem mixing different species of fairy wrasses. The only wrasse I had problems with was the christmas wrasse. It is a bully, and I wouldn't add one again.

How would it change if I mention I'd like to get a mandarin at some point?

Much depends on your set-up. Wrasses will feed off the pods in the tank, but you can reduce their impact by feeding the tank more. They will accept about any meaty food you add to the tank, and I don't think a well-fed wrasse will forage as much. If you have a tank with a lot of mature live rock and good algae growth, you should be able to easily sustain a mandarin. I had an extremely fat mandarin in my 180 with all the wrasses, so I speak from some experience. One big thing you can do to increase your mandarins chance, is to allow algael growth in your tank. Believe it or not, there are few things better for pod growth than a good stand of hair algae. Of course you want to keep in under control, but pods will multiply incredibly in patches of algae, and it will be like a feeding station to a mandarin.


Also, one of the reasons I was looking at tangs was to control the algae growth. I guess this isn't a problem?

Well, as I said before, some algae growth is a good thing for the fish you are contemplating. If you want to keep a dwarf angel (like my bicolor), good algae growth helps tremendously. What type of algae do you have? Caluerpa or a nuisance algae? The hepatus tang is not known as a grazer. They (almost unique among tangs) are a planktivore (sp?), which means the main part of their diet is not vegetative, but meaty foods. They will graze (and need some algae in their diet), but it is not their primary food source in the wild. A sailfin tang is probably the best tang for control of caluerpa, but it would be more "Tank King" than the hepatus.

Thanks again... I've been looking for help on a stocking list for my tank, and it seems it's hard to find good information on fish other than the "standard" ones.

No problem :) I know what it is like to try to pick out the right fish. My philosophy has been to color my tank with smaller species, and add a couple of larger fish. So far, so good.

Brian,

Do you have pics of your tank?

Yes, let me dig one out and I will post it.

Brian

[Dargason]

Brian,

Thanks again. I have about 250# of rock, and a 35g refugium also, so I think I will be ok. The refugium doesn't have nearly the life in it yet that the main tank does.

I had some pink "cotton candy" algae that my recently introduced snails decimated. I noticed that there seemed to be a lot of pods taking refuge in it.

I don't have any hair algae, but I have various types of macroalgae, mostly halimeda. There was a guy on reef.org that describe what he called a "pod pile" made out of calcerous tubes piled up against the glass. He said it made a great in-tank refuge for pods. Maybe I'll try something like that.

Mike