[luciafam]

Hello,

I just received two new fish and wondered if anyone knew something about their character. The first is a Fridmani Pseudochromis. It has stayed at the back of my tank since receiving it yesterday. It is usually visable when I look from the sides, but it does not want to leave the back spot where it has been since arrival. I see it eating copepods off the back and looking around for food. It did not come out for feeding time, but I did squirt some food to the back for it and it did eat some. We bought this one because our 3 year old wanted a "pink" fish and we narrowed it down to this one. It was said to be the most social and best suited for a peaceful reef. It is a beautiful fish and I would love to see if swimming out front.

My other new arrival is a Banded Longfin Basslett. It is fairly small, maybe about and inch and a half. During acclimation, it hid in the drip bucket under a piece of coral I had also bought. When I added it to the tank, it went into a hole, and then down to a corner under a rock. Yesterday we could see its head peek out occassionally. As of last night, it is MIA. I have no idea where it is. This is new for us because the other fish that we have all have been visable from day one. Either they are large enough to not hide completely, or are active and our front right away. We fear we will never see the Basslet again. It was the choice of my oldest, who has waited patiently as his 6 siblings have chosen their fish. He was not sure what to choose, but wanted something different and something that would get big. This Basslet has some long whisker type things coming from mouth area. Is black with deep red and some white. It is suppose to reach up to 4". From the very little I saw it move, it seemed to have a very graceful back tail fin that went from one side to the other in a slow motion...very cool. I feel bad because my son (he's 18) waited so long to get his fish and it arrived when he was not home and he has not even caught a glimpse of it.

Finally, my mandarin. It has been here for about 3 weeks now. It has done great. I thought we ran out of copepods and panicked and order some very expensive ones online. The day that they were to arrive, I woke up to see my tank covered in them! Oh well, live and learn. He happily feasts on them. The question has to do with his color. He came very bright and beautiful. Recently, his head area has faded in color. I just wondered why this may be happening. He did take an expected fall right into an anemone...head first! Could this have caused the fading? It was shortly after that that he faded. He seemed fine afterwards and is very active around the tank. Will his color come back over time?

If anyone has experience with any of the above or has some input, it would be appreciated. I don't want to give up on the Basslet, but am wondering if we should let our son pick another fish in the meantime. Any suggestions? We have a peaceful 60 gal reef with the following: 1 blue tang, 1 true clown, 1 fox face, 5 blue chromis, 1 scissor tale goby and the three mentioned above. Is there a fish out there that would be "cool" to a teenager, very social and out front and of large size? Thanks!

Bev

[chappy]

i think red hawk fish are the greatest fish for pesonality

[Lucky Star]

I have a dottyback too, and like you said he didnt' come out much when I very first put him in my tank. It took a while, and even now he just either stalks his way around the rock and coral, or darts out at food when ever something edible is floating.
Give it some time, they are pretty fish to have and peaceful enough to keep.

I like the black and white clowns, too.

Lucky Star

[c-c]

Bev,
It sounds like fish keeping is a family affair. That is super!
I have 4 children. (oldest is 21) but did not start the hobby until a few years ago (because of extensive traveling in Europe over 18 years.)

So, only my youngest, now 11 years old has a love for the hobby. He may even be an aspiring marine biologist. He has a 55 gal. fish only tank. Main interest is to watch fish attack their food at feeding time. It's fun and entertaining. He has 3 that will all grow to 7-9 inches. The lionfish will swim to the tank wall as soon as he sees us peering in, and waits like a puppy with his whole body wagging until we lower the food, then snatches the fish whole. The spotted grouper peers out with big greenish-blue big eyes from a cave we made for him. But is very visable inside the very open structure. He rushes up, snatches and whips back into his cave. The freckled hawk, a perching fish, will swoop up and grab at anything we throw in. They can eat up to 15 silversides between them each day(If we let them) Guests love to see his tank when they come to our house.

You would not want his fish in your tank, as they have aggressive personalities. It seems like a peaceful, relaxing tank is what you have. We have that kind in our family fireplace room. I love my 3 PJ Cardinals who seem suspended in mid to upper tank level and just look interesting with their spotted pajama pants on. They are not territorial. Is your blue tang, clown, or foxface territorial? Do you still have your dottyback and basslet? :confused: I think nothing is worse for a relaxing, peaceful tank, than to see a territorial, aggressive fish bullying everyone around. The hawkfish, even though he has a great personality would probably chase others for the same food source.

If you have been able to maintain a delicate balance of compatiblity, be thankful and cautious in what else you introduce as it could wreck havoc on your tank. Rule of accomodation 1 inch of fish for every 2 gallons of water. In the opinion of one book, it's better to err on the side of too few fish than too many. That is why we have 5 tanks in our house, 2 salt and 3 fresh, to accomodate all the types of fish we like (including, giant oscar cichlids & pirrhana) Continue to closely observe your dear little manderine, as faded colors and discoloration are classic signs of stress. Hopefully if he was injured from the anemone, he'll bounce back quickly from feasting on all those copepods.
Love those fishies,
c-c