GSP compatibility?

[badangelfish]

Long story short, we got a 70-ish gal tank for free, it already had an overflow box built into it so we decided to try SW for the first time. After lots of reading and Qs for the lfs owner, we got everything set up and running, and finally put my green spotted puffer in there to help it cycle. We already had a bunch of extra fish crap laying around, so we were able to add a 20gal sump (holds about 12-15gals), and a 10gal (holds about 6-7gals) refugium without spending more money LOL. Our original plan was to pull him back out of the new SW tank when it was fully cycled and ready for other fish. The problem is, he seems to really LOVE having all the space! He has pretty much always seemed happy, but now his colors are brighter and he has alot of stuff to do in the big new tank, so i feel really bad for wanting to take him out and put him back in a smaller tank once its fully cycled. hes really cute and personable

So i guess my Q is, are there any fish that are aggressive enough to live with him, and at the same time wont eat or kill him? I have not found much information about this. I know the pretty shrimps and snails are automatically out of the question cause he sure does love to munch on the ones i feed him. I used to have him in a lower-end brackish tank with some mollies, which he eventually ate all of them except for 3. What about corals? We are planning on building an LED system when we buy the parts. I'm sure he will try to eat soft corals, but what about the harder ones?

If it comes down to it, i could move him back into the 30gal after i upgrade the livebearer tank, not sure how long that will take though. I'm hoping to find another great deal on a tank LOL Nice ones seem to be pretty easy to come by cheaply in our area I was just hoping maybe i could build the new SW tank around him and have a few other fish or corals or whatever in there. Thanks for any info!

 

[FLESHY]

I dont think that he will eat hard corals, although he might nip at LPS polyps.

I think that he will be better suited to a 30g...it is hard to get something that will leave this fish alone, but at the same time be mean enough to survive with it.

I would look into semi-peaceful fast fish. Wrasses might just be the trick.

 

[badangelfish]

Thanks for the input. I have actually been looking at the wrasse. They seem more aggressive, but not too aggressive, and most of them dont get too huge either, plus they are gorgeous and dont seem shy What do you think about some of the damsels?

 

[jworth]

Thanks for the input. I have actually been looking at the wrasse. They seem more aggressive, but not too aggressive, and most of them dont get too huge either, plus they are gorgeous and dont seem shy What do you think about some of the damsels?

Damsels are monsters. They are very aggressive (generally speaking) some wrasses can be quite mean as well, a 6 line for example. Just do some research and good luck!

 

[FLESHY]

I think you would be okay with a six line, their aggression is mainly towards competitors for their specific habitat.

They also arent as big as your puffer.

Damsels I would stay away from.

 

[kay-bee]

I've kept GSP and a flame hawkfish together for years with zero issues.

About a year ago circumstances forced me to relocate those fish into one of my other SW tanks which contains a bicolor angel, and two blue devil damsels.

There's been no interaction from or toward the bicolor angel at all.

The damsels, however, displayed varying degrees of hostility toward the flame hawkfish and GSP for maybe the first two weeks of introduction.

While the flame hawk barely recognized the damsels aggression (and remained unscathed), the GSP suffered a minor nipped caudal fin (damsels being the probable culprits). The GSP seemed to have turned the tables because shortly after that both damsels subsequently suffered significant nips to their caudal fins (the GSP being the likely culprit) and they granted it wide berth after that.

All of this occured within the first couple of weeks but in the year or so after that there's been mutual respect among them.

 

[badangelfish]

thanks for all the input! idk any people who keep gsp's so its hard to find out more about them.

i was just about to ask about the bicolor angels and other smaller angels. we saw a bicolor angel at the lfs a few weeks ago and i thought it was absolutely gorgeous

 

[agreeive?fish]

things i have or have had with GSP(i have multiple tanks) although your tank is not big enough for most things i have listed

tangs(several different types), large angels(asfur), drawf angels(several different types), clown fish(several different types), scat, larger sw puffers(porc and stars/stripes/dogface), foxface. red tooth trigger

 

[skatality]

As long as you keep your GSP with fish that are moderately aggressive, you should be cool. I keep mine with a convict, 5 clown loaches, 5 glass catfish, a peacock eel, and an ex-feeder comet (resilience factor: > 9000). The convict will hold it's ground at all times, so the puffer knows not to mess with her. I feel that Vjosa's (convict) attitude keeps the puffer from being a jerk. If any other fish get too close, GSP becomes wary, but not defensive, and will usually just bolt away. My GSP loves swimming up and down against the glass, and watching him eat snails is hilarious (grabs it with his beak and sucks the entire thing down), much like the loaches, who pick the snails up and bury their faces in until they get what they're looking for!

Sorry for the NOT-SO-CONCISE post!

TL;DR: African cichlids!