Saltwater fish question...?

Question

I dont have a saltwater tank, nor do I plan to have one any time soon. I just had a question for the people that know a lot about them.

All the fish that are in the fish tank in the movie Finding Nemo, would they all get along together in an aquarium? Or is this unrealistic? I couldn't tell you the names of the fish because I dont know a thing about saltwater fish.

Just curious if they could be in a community together, or if some were too agressive.

ok, so the tang fish is dori, the moorish idol is the angel looking fish.

i found out some of their names but cant find if they live well together. one was a starfish.

Answer 1

I currently have 3 saltwater tanks, and the movie is a bit unrealistic in what they put together in the tank in the dentist's office.

The first fish I would say that should be excluded is the puffer (bloat) - these fish can be aggressive to tankmates and should be kept in a tank of their own. I've seen a few instances of them being kept with other large or aggressive fish, but the tank was larger than what most people would be able to keep in their homes.

Gil (the Moorish Idol) should also be eliminated, just due to the difficulty of keeping them alive/feeding them. But there is a species (Heniochus: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=242 ) that looks almost identical and is much easier to keep.

Other than that, you could keep the rest together if you had a tank large enough (around 70 gallons for the fish in the dentist's office only, 125 if you want to include "Dory").

If you want to know the names of the types of fish in the movie, see this link:
http://home.iprimus.com.au/ttguy/finding_nemo.htm

You can find info about these fish in these links: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/categ.cfm?pCatId=15
http://www.tropicalfishoutlet.com/
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/

If you would ever consider keeping a saltwater tank, see these links for information:
http://www.peteducation.com/index.cfm?cls=16
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/

Answer 2

Tangs are very territorial and Bubbles (the yellow tang) would need more space and likely fight with other fish. Same with Dora, though she wasn't in the tank anyway. Gill, the Moorish Idol, is a fish that needs a much bigger tank then that one was and can grow nearly two feet long. Bloat, the porcupine, requires a specific diet and so would need to be kept by somebody more interested in the fish as fish and not a dentist room showpiece. They will also often try to eat small fish like, say, Deb, the little Damsel.

It was a great movie, but not realistic - just fiction, even though the species were all real. Somebody looking at that tank as an example of fishkeeping should classify it as an amateur attempt doomed to failure.

Answer 3

well the clown fish is friendly, i think that one of the fish i dont know its name is a tang, maybe dory, i think tangs are friendly. I dont think there were any agressive fish that were made to look nice

Answer 4

the best thing to do would be to go to a pet store like petsmart or petco, they'll have the fish you're looking for and they'll have little descriptions about each type of fish including their names. and just ask someone that works there about the compatability of the fish and you should be good to go.

Answer 5

I wasn't there so I don't know what kind of saltwater fish you encountered but, I was visiting in Fort Myers Florida this summer and my sister had a screened in pool with a plastic- battery-operated fish named NEMO which was yellow and black stripped, and would go around and around there pool, and we all got in with it and surprisingly enough we all got along just fine...One of the males was following my wife just a little too much tho...

Answer 6

they can live together, but it would have to be a large tank.

Moorish idols will be fine with a nemo(false percula clownfish) a puffer fish....anthian...angelfish i belive. cleaner shrimp.. starfish..

All of those are compatible. And it would have to be a large tank.