Yeah I think my LFS has them mislabeled because they have a 20 polyp colony for 40 bucks...they are beautiful none the less...I know these are very nice/expensive corals, but after spending what I did to set the equipment up, it makes no sense to just fill it with mushrooms and star polyps, I will probably just get a head or two of the LPS corals, something like 30 bucks at the LFS. I already own the maroon clowns, I had this tank set up for 2 months but made a ton of mistakes, for more info see my build thread that I linked. Sam - thats wild about you having the same situation as I do! What is your sump setup if you have one? And I'm well aware of the requirements of the mandarin, I just wanted to post the list to see if the fish on the list would "play nice". Thank you both for your comments. On a separate, very positive note, my RO/DI from Air, Water & Ice comes tomorrow!!! SO EXCITED TO FILL THE TANK AND GET IT GOING! I intend to run the RO/DI till the system is full, then run the return pump/powerheads etc to make sure the plumbing doesnt leak and everything checks out, the dump the salt in and let it mix overnight with a powerhead or two. I have 60lbs of the Ocean Direct Live Sand, can I dump it in a few hours after I put the salt in so it can settle while the salt fully mixes in? Anybody see issues? EDIT: I just looked online, and the true "Purple People Eaters" are NOT what my LFS has in stock, the coral I am thinking of has a dark blue rim with a purple mouth and the "plate" for lack of a better term is dark blue as well. My mistake
For ruling out a helfrinci fire fish you sure are looking at fairly expensive coral. The purple people eaters are anywhere from $30-$50 a polyp. The rest of the coral are fairly expensive also. As far as the six line goes i you don't plan on putting any other wrasses in the tank later it will be fine but they do get aggressive with other wrasse. I also agree with that the tank needs to be fairly well established before you put a mandarin in unless you get an Ora one.
Hey, I have a 55g tank and I'm 16, crazy Be careful with the maroons, they are very aggressive. I would add them after you add the other fish. I tried a mandrin in my 1 year old 55g with fuge, it didn't make it 2 months. If you do try one wait for your tank to mature for at least 6 months.