orchid dottyback

Orchid dottyback is also very common fish for marine reef tanks. It's striking violet colour grabs attention and love of many aquarist. The fish have black stripe which run from lip to eye enhancing its beauty. Orchid dottybacks are hardy and easy to keep that's why suited for beginners. The fish is quite active, have good bright and beautiful colours. Fully grown dottyback is 3 inches long under superb care. Orchid dottyback have good lifespan of 5 years or more if good care is taken. The fish is good for community tank provided fish tank is not a nano tank. Orchid dottyback born as female but can turn themselves into males. If you have pair of females then larger one probably change herself into male and form pair. It is quite shy and keeps on hiding when newly added. But soon they will gain courage and start exploring new home. The fish is easily available but prices may vary depending upon need and supply.

Aquarium setup

The fish is peaceful but territorial. Orchid dottyback will claim territory in fish tank and defend it seriously. The fish tank must have lots of hiding spots such as caves, holes, rock structure etc. Hiding spots will make them feel secure and help in develop colours. The fish tank must have open swimming space with substrate. The requires less intensity light similar to their natural habitat. High intensity light will make them nervous and stressed. The temperature if aquarium must be kept 22-28 degrees Celsius.

Diet

Orchid dottyback are basically carnivorous. Give them meaty food basically such as brine shrimps, mysis shrimps, chopped krill. They can also accept vitamin enriched flake food and pellets. The food must be vitamin enriched and protein rich so they do not loose color. Diet should be mixer of both live as well as frozen food. Bristle worms and zooplankton are also on their food list.orchid dottyback

Tank mates

Dottyback show some aggression to similar species and for those who have same colour and shape. Damsels, clowns, angels,surgeon , triggers and some wrasses will be good tank mates. Keep them with species which have similar temperament and size. After housing them keep an eye on them for any disputes. Remember the larger is the tank, less is the chances of fight. Mild fishes will be harassed by orchid dottyback.

Care : Easy

Lifespan : 5 years or more

Size : 3 inches

Temperament : semi - aggressive

Aquarium size : 40 gallons

Temperature : 22-28 degrees Celsius

Diet : basically meaty food

yellow tailed damselfish

Yellow tailed damsel fish is marine water fish. The fish is quite attractive and popular because of bright blue colour and yellow patch on its tail. It is well suited for small coral and rock based fish tanks. It enhances the beauty of aquarium up to great level. The fish do not grow very large, their length limits at approx 3 inches. They do not demand large aquariums like other damsel. The fish is gorgeous, inexpensive, hardy, disease resistant and they accepts wide range of food. Due to these points, it is well suited for beginners. Yellow tail damsel have good lifespan of 5 years or more under good care. Breeding can be also done in home aquarium by providing appropriate environment. They are safe for reef tanks. Yellow tailed damsel can be aggressive at the time of feeding and while protecting territory. Put 3-4 damsel in aquarium, it will reduce their aggression.

Fish tank setup :

40 gallons tank will be enough to hold a pair of yellow tail damsel. For larger group you will need more tank space. The aquarium can have corals and lots of hiding spaces. The aquarium must have lot of horizontal swimming space too, since it is an active swimmer.

 Tank mates :

Yellow tail damsel are less aggressive then other damsel fishes. However, they are still territorial and can kill other tank mates while defending their area. Never add any passive tank mates, other wise they will be harassed to death. Larger fish tank will give them more space and territories to claim which in turn reduce aggression of tank mates. You can keep them with tangs, angelfish, trigger fish, hawk fish. But keep an eye on them, if any dispute occur try changing the aquarium setup or separate them from each other.

Diet :

Yellow tail damsel are active eaters and accepts almost anything. They can be fed on flakes, pellets, spirulina, mysis shrimps etc. Do not overfeed them even though they tend to hungry all the time. Give them protein and mineral rich food so they do not loose colour as they mature.

Fish tank size : 30 gallon for 1 damsel fish

Temperature : 23- 28 degrees Celsius

Temperament : semi aggressive ( territorial )

Size : 3 inches

Care : easy

Food : omnivores ( accepts mostly all food)

Lifespan : 5 years

harlequin bass

Harlequin bass are also know from other names such as harlequin basslet, tiger bass, tiger basslets. Harlequin basslets are small and impressive species which make it manageable with aquariums. The fish have beautiful patterns of black and white colour over its body. It's body shape is like a torpedo and have countless lines and black marks on its body. It is also available in other colours such as yellow and tan. Although it do not grow large, but still the fish are aggressive temperament. The fish is extremely hardy and beautiful, which make it good choice for novice aquarist. Under captivity they can grow as long as 5 inches. The fish should be assimilated more then 3 hours before realising to your tank. Harlequin bass are substrate digger, they will try to dig any substrate they found. The fish can prey on smaller fishes or other smaller tank mates. Lager tank mates are hardly bothered by it.

Tank Set up

Harlequin bass are good fish for nano Marine tanks of capacity 30 gallons. The tank must have low intensity light. The aquarium must also have sand substrate, since the fish loves digging. Lots of hiding spots, caves, rock structure, crevices must be present in tank. If you want to keep a group then you must have larger tank because of their territorial nature. The fish is not 100% reef compatible, caution must be taken.

Tank mates

Tank mates for harlequin bass must be choose wisely. The fish is quite aggressive for their own type except for pairing mate. The fish is quite territorial also, the aggression level increases if they are kept hungry. Tank mates must be larger and peaceful. Damsels, clownfish, boxfish, cromis, butterflies, gobies are generally compatible with basslets.

Diet  

Harlquin basslet's diet must consist of meaty food. They need protein rich diet to survive and show colours. Harlequin basslet requires diet consisting of chopped krill, crustacean, mysis shrimps, frozen shrimps, live fish, chopped squid, small carnivores pellets and flake food. Give them 2-3 times per day with the listed food. Varied diet will help them building immunity and colours.

Care : Easy

Temperament : aggressive

Tank size : 30 gallons

Diet : omnivorous

Life span : 5 years or more

Tank mates : peaceful and large

Temperature : 22-26 degrees Celsius

Size : 5 inches

Reef compatible : with caution

golden nugget pleco

Golden nugget pleco is freshwater fish of sucker mouth group. The fish have beautiful colouration and pattern. Most of them are dark brown in colour with yellow or golden spots on it. The fish is basically bottom dweller and keep on hiding most of the time. They can grow up to 8 inches under captivity, however their growth rate is very slow. They have very long life span, they can live up to 20 years or more under good care. Golden nugget pleco can feed on algae, it can also chew drift wood. These are peaceful but can become aggressive for hiding spots. So give them lots of shady areas to hide. Golden nugget pleco can even eat small fishes which can fit in their mouth. You can keep them with other community fishes which requires same water parameters. Breeding them in captivity is extremely tough. Nugget plecos breed and lay eggs in caves with water flowing across it.

Tank Setup

Minimum 40 gallon tank will be sufficient to hold 3-4 golden nugget pleco. Fish tank must have lots of hiding spots for every one other wise disputes may occur. It must have lots of caves, rocks, drift wood and plants for hiding. The tank substrate must be soft either of small gravels or sand. The light intensity should be low since pleco avoid high intensity light. The water quality must be high as possible with good water current and oxygen level.

Diet

Golden nugget generally eat left over food and algae, which make them good tank cleaner. They are not choosy about their food. You can give them algae wafer, cucumber, pea, prawn ,brine shrimps etc.

Tank mates

Tank mates must be peaceful and large enough to be get fit into their mouth. You can easily keep golden nugget pleco with other plecos, angelfish, tetras, discus, rasboras, danios, gouarmi, barbs, molly, guppy and many more.

Fish tank Size : 40 gallons or more

Nature : peaceful

Lifespan : 20 years or more under good care

Diet : omnivores

Temperature : 24-28 degrees Celsius

Size : 8 inches or more

silver dollar

Silver dollar fish is another popular tropical aquarium fish. The round body and silver colour is the reason for their  name " silver dollar". The fish is quite hardy and easily available in market. The fish is laterally compressed and have scale less body. The fish is peaceful and love to eat vegetable based food. It is well suited for community aquarium. However, the tank mates should be of similar size otherwise they will be treated as snacks. It is schooling fish and best to kept in group of 4 or more. They are generally sold at size of 1-2 inches at aquarium shop. The fish may grow up to 8 inches under good care, so take care while purchasing them. The fish spend its most of time at mid or upper level of water. Silver dollar fish have good lifespan of 10 years or more if care is taken properly.

Fish tank Setup

The fish tank must be properly recycled before adding silver dollar to it. The minimum capacity of tank must be more then 40 gallons. The tank should have normal lightning and medium water current. The plants for aquarium must be chosen wisely. The plants must be hard and able to grow faster, otherwise soon they will be destroyed or eaten. Fake plants, rocks, caves and other hiding spots will be advised to reduce stress of fishes. The fish tank must be covered with lid, since silver dollar tend to jump when scared.

Diet

Silver dollar fish  is basically herbivore, it mainly fed on vegetable based food. You can give them algae wafers, spinach, romaine lettuce, hard boiled pea (internal part), lettuce. You can still give them brine shrimps, blood worms, algae tablets and flake food. Do not give them same food again and again else it may lack in certain nutrient.

Tank mates 

The tank mates for silver dollar can be easily chosen. You can keep them with peaceful fishes of similar length. Small fishes having size of their mouth will be treat as meal. You can keep them with medium tetras, phantom, black skirt, giant danios, swordtail, plecos, catfish etc.

Size : 8 inches

Care : easy

Temperament : peaceful

Fish tank size : 40 gallons

Temperature : 24-28 degrees Celsius

Diet : mostly vegetable based food

Life span : 10 years or more