A fish for my wife?

[ghoti1976]

Thanks to everyone on this board, my new tank is coming along great. I have learned more here in the past 6 months than I could have learned in 10 years without RC.

I am not going to rush things by adding corals yet, but my wife thinks our tank is boring. I need to get her interested in the hobby. I need to get her a fish that she can take care of and learn about.

Nothing would make me more happy than for her to get sucked into this wonderful hobby.

What I need is one real fine fish. Something that is colorfull, active, hardy, interesting...

Any ideas will be greatly apreciated.

Tank:
7 months old
70 gal
Live rock
Snails
Crabs
Will start adding corals when my lighting is finaly upgraded

[ghoti1976]

Also
Are fish that eat feeder fish (lion fish, grouper...) o.k. for a reef tank?

[discented]

as far as i know i wouldent see what they would eat on ur reef...but dont quote me....but i believe u would need a bigger tank if u were to get a lionfish..just my opinion....cause some can get over 12 inches big with the fins and all...and alsoif u got one u wouldent be able to get the small kewl fish like the clowns, etc........unless u were thinking differentlythen i'm not sure...hopefully someonewill reply to either tell mei'mwrongor agree....but i think u shoould get a pair of clownfish...there so awsome...wellgood luck on whatever descision u make...keepme updatedi wanna hear what u do .......discented

[olgakurt]

IMO, I would suggest a clownfish as your first fish. Most will coexist with future tank inhabitants rather nicely and are hardy fish.

I had the same experience with the wife. "Those are awful expensive rocks you have in there dear." All my relatives in Russia thought I flipped my lid-half a months salary on 10 lbs of rocks. We have a false perc in the tank which got her interested in the hobby albeit much to my surprise. See
http://archive.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=12309

If you add large aggressive fish, you may not be able to add additional fish later and could be dealing with nutrient problems stemming from large feedings.

Good Luck

[Q-ball]

Hiya, I'd recommend against the lion or grouper...Don't get me wrong, I love lionfish, and in fact plan on commiting a tank (not sure how big yet) to a single pair of them when we get a house with more room. Problem is, you wouldn't be able to keep any small fish in that reef with them as they will eat ANY fish that will fit in their mouth. They look slow, but they can really move! Any shrimp would also be in danger of being dinner as well. The above post about them being too big for a 70g is pretty much correct, unless you got a dwarf lionfish which gets to about 6-8" I think. How about a pair of clowns? Pretty, colorful, always moving, and it's interesting to watch them interact with each other. Besides, every reeftank should have a pair of clowns!:D HTH

Q!!!

[RCraw45425]

Couple of my new favorites taht I just introduced into my 80 are the gorgeous purple firefish and the six line wrasse. Both are reef safe and colorful. Have to agree with Q about the lion. I added a tiny volitan into my 80 a few years ago. Within 6 months and about $100 worth of reef fish, (not to mention about as much in feeders), Simba was about 8 inches long with a fan out of about 8 inches. Beautiful fish, he's on my webpage. Unfortunately he got just too big for that tank. Robin

[CAT]

My vote is also with the clowns. I have a pair of false perculas which I put in the tank first - great colors, they get along fine with the other fish, aren't easily bullied by larger fish (the Hippo tries but gives up 'cause they won't run), and are on the move all the time. Definitely my favourite in the tank.

CAT

[Agu]

ghoti,

You're asking about one fish when you need to be thinking "community".

Make a list of all fish and inverts you may want in your tank.
Eliminate all non reef safe fish.
Eliminate all fish with poor survivability records.
Eliminate all fish that that shouldn't be imported because their collection has a negative impact on the environment.
Eliminate any fish that will eat inverts you may want to keep.

From this list pick one or two key species that you "have to have".
Eliminate any fish that are incompatible with your key species.

Now start picking fish for your tank. Remember, every choice will eliminate other fish due to compatibility, territory, diet, etc. Now you should be narrowing down the list to a community appropriate to your tank size.

List the fish according to aggression and territoriality.
Start adding fish, the least aggressive first. The last fish should be the most aggressive of your community.

This may sound like a pita, but it will save you a lot of problems and money in the long run.

jmo.
Agu

[discented]

hey whats goin on? i would wait on the 6 line wrasse though...although they are a really stunning fish i believe they are territorial....so if u would want one that should be a last fish i believe...well good luck...discented

[blistexluv]

i'm not too sure about this as i'm certainly no expert, but why don't you look into yellow headed jawfish? they are really fun to watch. or some gobies are really cool too. they are interesting little fish that will actually interact with you. i "played" with one for 15 minutes last night (i was outside the tank, he was inside). and i think you may be able to find captive raised ones, which is always a bonus.

[hughem]

Lion fish huh? Depends on how you feel about your wife. :)
If you want to bump her off, a sea snake might be faster!

Clown fish are cute and hard to kill. Scooter Blennies are cute also and I have had good luck with them. Both are very accepting of other fish.

[billsreef]

Try dragging her to the LFS and see what catches her eye ;) and going from there. Alternatively get her looking her over your shoulder while looking at fish pictures and see what makes say "Honey can you get one of those?" It will definately get her intersted if she gets to pick something :D