I always wanted a predator tank. Unfortunately, my other half did not see the point of having a nice big tank with only one or two fish in it. So, I settled for a FOWLR tank instead.
Someday, I may get my clown trigger, or my lionfish, or my porcupine puffer. For today, I guess I will have to settle with my emperor angel, naso tang, purple tang, and longnose butterfly. Even these four fish are too much for a 135g. I am well aware of this fact. However, the emperor and the naso will definitely be moving into my 300g eventually.
My purple tang and longnose butterfly were the first 2 fish in this tank. I added the naso tang several months later, and there was a bit of tension the first couple of days between my naso and my purple. The purple wanted to make sure the naso knew who was boss. But they settled down after the first couple of days with no major problems, and have been fine since.
The emperor, on the other hand, was a bit of a different story. When I added him, the purple and the naso both seemed to gang up on him, but the purple was viscious! He seemed much more brutal with the emperor than he was with the naso.
My emperor ended up with 2 punctures from the purple's tail. One just behind his left eye, and one in the middle of the right side of his body. I was very worried that he would end up with an infection, and worse, that it was not going to work out. But after the 3rd day, things settled down. The punctures healed over (you wouldn't know he was ever punctured). The 4 fish now live in harmony... UPDATE: this naso has since gone to fishie heaven from unknown causes... found gasping at bottom of tank, and dead within the hour.
Current fish as of Aug '05 - my original purple tang and longnose butterfly, emperor angel, naso (replacement purchased May '05), 3 banner fish, yellow watchman goby/tiger pistol shrimp pair (that unfortunately are very rarely seen as they live in their burrow and don't come out much), 6 chromis, and a maroon clown (that will eventually go to my 72g FOWLR tank). There's also 2 blood shrimp, a general starfish, 2 serpant starfish, 1 huge red brittle starfish, a fighting conch, a longspine urchin, several asst hermits (most are blue legs), and a whole lot of astrea/turbo snails.
[90g Reef] [72g FOWLR] [300g ???] [Aqua Home]