I just added a percula clown 36 hours ago in a new aquarium. This is the only fish. The fish hasn't eaten pellet food yet. Is it normal behavior to stay in one spot on top of tank "bobbing" around?

Staying in one place and bobbing up and down is noraml behavior for a clownfish, though if that is all it's doing, then the fish is stressed. You should be feeding frozen food and you should also have the tank well-decorated, which we suspect is not the case.

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What do I feed my Lionfish?

Feed frozen silversides, krill, and once it has adapted to those, vary the diet with whole clam, mussel, squid and shrimp. You should only feed commercially-prepared fish foods, not grocery-bought food, or you run the risk of giving your fish parasites.

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Just wondering what you folks think of the squirt and dump method for adding fish to our tanks.

The ONLY proper methods for acclimating fish involve first feeding the existing fish in the tank, and turning off the tank lights, then keeping the new fish in a dark quiet container while they are very gradually adjusted to both temperature and water quality parameters of their new home over a period of about one hour before being released. Small quantities of the new water should be added to either their bag, a specimen container or a bucket kept dark in intervals of about every ten minutes for about an hour. The fish should then be gently released into a dark aquarium and the lights should be left off for the rest of the day. There are many methods described that accomplish the same thing, and folks have dreamed up plenty of names for their "pet" techniques. We do not know what the "squirt and dump" method is, but if this technique meets ALL of the above criteria, than it is an acceptable method.

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I've just purchased a black and yellow Seahorse. I'd like to know more information, such as what to feed them, what kind of a habitat should they live in, and so forth.

Seahorses are quite difficult to keep. If you are serious about keeping them, you should buy a book on their care, written specifically about Seahorses. You should also join our forums. We have two moderators that have been very successful with them and are quite knowledgeable about their needs. We'll give you the basics here, and the rest is up to you. Seahorses need a quiet, very peaceful tank, and most of the fish sold for the marine aquarium hobby ARE NOT compatible. The tank should have some live rock, and also some branched decorative coral or other branch-structured decorations onto which the Seahorse can attach itself by its tail. Specific gravity should be about 1.023, and the tank should be well-filtered, but without lots of water current. The tank water should be kept quite clean as Seahorses are sensitive to high nitrates and phosphates. Seahorses usually will only eat live foods, and a diet of just live brine shrimp is not enough. The diet can be varied with baby guppies, and ghost shrimp. If you are patient, you may eventually get your Seahorse to take frozen Mysis shrimp, brine shrimp and plankton. You can also try offering preserved plankton, Daphnia and some of the other preserved plankton diets on the market. If you offer these foods mixed with live foods, the Seahorse may acclimate to taking these other foods.

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I have a Huma Huma Trigger alone. What fish would be compatible with it?

You didn't say how big the tank is or how large the Trigger is, but generally, any of the more aggressive fish will work. You will also need to make sure that any fish you add is larger than the Trigger. Make sure the tank is very well decorated with lots of territories, caves and plenty of cover for the other fish, as the Trigger will initially attack anything that you add until territories are re-established. Some suggestions might be: Lunare Wrasse, Green Bird Wrasse, Twin-Spot Wrasse, Miniatus Grouper, Yellow Tang, Sohal Tang, Passer Angelfish, Blue Angel, Freckled Hawkfish, Large Maroon Clownfish, Large Tomato Clownfish, and there are many more, but we don't have enough space to list them all. Consulting a good fish book will help.

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Do moray eels go well with Yellow Tangs, or what fish do they go well with?

Moray eels are generally compatible with any fish that will not fit into their mouths or is small enough for them to bite in half. There are some exceptions here, such as the Green Moray or the Dragon Moray, both of which grow very large and will not hesitate to simply slice up a larger fish then eat the pieces. The best Morays are the Snowflake Moray, the Zebra Moray and the Comet Moray. There are some other great species too.

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I bought a dragon wrasse a couple of weeks ago and until 2 days ago it was absolutely fine. After I first got it, it was attacking its reflection on the bottom of the tank (I have a bare-bottom set-up). Since then, it has taken to lying upside down or on its side breathing heavily. It is still feeding but returns to the stressed position once feeding is completed. Should I treat with copper?

We have no idea why anyone in this hobby ever suggested a bare-bottom tank to anybody. In trying to keep aquatic animals, the number one key to success is to try to duplicate the natural environment as much as possible. You won't find glass bottoms in the ocean! Dragon Wrasses (Novaculichthys taeniourus), and many other laterally-compressed ("flat-bodied") Wrasses can somtimes be difficult to keep. They require at least a two inch deep gravel of finer coral sand or crushed-coral substrate into which they will burrow for part of the day, usually late in the afternoon where they remain until morning. Without this requirement, they will eventually get quite stressed, and usually die within a few weeks. They also require a wide varied diet of meaty foods such as frozen krill, clam, mussel, or meat-based frozen mixture diets.

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What kind of environment do you need to have a small Stingray and what should you feed them?

Since you entered this question in the Marine fish category, I'll assume you mean a saltwater Stingray. Stingrays need a very large aquarium. I would recommend no smaller than a 200 gallon tank for one or two smaller species, and I highly recommend dedicating a tank to Rays, and not keeping them in a community tank. Many fish, even smaller species will pick on them. You cannot keep any aggressive fish or fish that tend to nip fins with Stingrays. Triggers, many Angelfish and some Wrasse species will not work. You need plenty of open water, so few decorations should be used. The substrate should be a fine gravel or sand that the Ray can partially burrow into whenever it feels the need. Rays should be fed defrosted frozen whole fish foods such as silverside minnows, whole shrimp, squid, clam and mussel.

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I have a yellow Cubicus Boxfish and a Porcupine Puffer. What are their weaknesses and how can I keep them happy? Do they get along?

Boxfish usually do not do well in captivity including Cubicus Boxfish, so do not be surprised if it does not fare well. Just an FYI, but you should also know that most boxfish if threatened, can release a powerful poison into the water. In the wild, this simply keeps predators at a safe distance. In the closed confines of an aquarium, it can be deadly to the whole tank. It rarely happens, but is possible. Feed the boxfish frozen plankton, chopped krill, mussel and clam. The Porcupine puffer will also apprecite these foods. The Puffer can grow quite large, and will eventually need at least a 100 gallon tank to remain in good condition. Those two species should get along fine.

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I have just restarted a 55 gallon saltwater tank. I have bought 30 pounds of live rock so far. What would you suggest would be a good couple of fish.

We have an article on good hardy saltwater "starter" fish at http://aquariumpros.com/articles.

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Frequent Aquarium Questions