Which fish?

[cromwell]

Just upgraded my system to a 400L tank and looking to add more fish livestock. It currently contains 2 clowns, 1 yellow tang, 1 blue cheeked goby, 1 purple dottback and 3 chromis, all of whom have been living togethor in perfect harmony for at least a year without problem.
I don't want to 'upset the applecart' by choosing the wrong fish so was looking to see if anyone could share their experiences with keeping any of the following, bearing in mind I have just have soft corals at the moment but want to move on to hard corals in future-
- Fish that I think I could add without problem are a royal gramma, a leopard wrasse and firefish.
- Fish i have wondered about are Cowfish, Mandarinfish (supposedly hard to keep), Cube Boxfish and Picasso Trigger (violent towards tankmates? Not coral friendly?).
I would particularly love to keep a Picasso Triggerfish as it is my favourite fish but am worried about it's aggressive nature.
Any advice much appreciated!
Thanks.
James

[Tangman]

Hi James stay away from triggers unless its a blue throat or pink tail as the rest can destroy your tank. The best fish i would go for is someting like a nice Angel something like a Flagfin or Indian Yellow tail or a Vermiculitated Angel and also a Majestic Angel as they are nice peaceful fish. Tangs can get very scrappy when you get mre than one in a tank i know i have 6 of them. HTH Eric:D

[cromwell]

Tanks for the adice tangman. Unfortunately i'm not a fan of Angelfish!

[Tetley]

Hi James,

As Tangman has said the Picasso Triggerfish will attack/kill all your current stock (maybe not immediatly, but it will only be a matter of time).

Cow fish, well I have seen this kept in a mixed reef tank, but they do grow large, so your tank IMO might be a little small for him in the long term.

Box Fish, nice, but don't think I would run the risk (if they get stressed out and die, they can release toxins in to the tank - goodbye fish)

A gramma - excellent choice IMO, as is wrasse. The filefish may jump.

A mandarin would need a well matured tank, with lots of live rock, as this fisg will mainly/only eat pods, it is vital that your tank has a plenty (loads) of these.

HTH

[mousehunter22]

How about blenny's bi colour or midas? they have loads of caracter and are interesting to watch.......Lee

[cromwell]

Yeah tetley- agree with everything you've said- might have to stick with 'easier fish!

[jonie]

You sure you couldnt be tempted wth a GORGEOUS flameball angelfish? would look great in a reef :D:D

[chinapattern]

I have a bicolor blenny, a fairy wrasse and a royal gramma and I can recommend all or any of them.

I personally wouldn't add a firefish at this stage. The poor thing would probably get harassed by your other inhabitants.

Jenny

[Tom2006]

Royal gramma all the way. In fact why not get a trio? That is what I did, and they get along fine with each other and the rest of the tank. Superb fish in every way :D

[cromwell]

Trio of Royal Grammas sounds cool- would I have to buy them all at the same time??

[mousehunter22]

Trio of Royal Grammas sounds cool- would I have to buy them all at the same time??

As with most marine fish i suspect if you didnt introduce them all at once they would scrap to the death for teratory,when i introduced my orange shoulder tang my bi clour angel ragged his fins to bits!!!! just because he's a juvenile and still yellow!!!! fortunatly once it got its bearings it started to stick up for itself and now they are fine.

[moorish]

firefish can be a bit flighty and can jump if startled,some of the fairy wrasses are very colourful.if you like triggers as eric sugests pinktailed triggers look really nice especially if you keep a pair of them.derek