Stocking list for my 180 (a work in progress)

Tylermacdonald15 said:

Is this a list of the amount of fish you think you want or a list to choose the fish you want from. IMO the amount of fish on the list is way to many for a 180. I would personally only pick three of those tangs, and make sure they are ones that will get along. I would either go with one or all three of the zebrasoma tangs. I made the mistake of thinking a purple and yellow tang would do fine in my 210, they pick at each other all the time. I will probably either end up with another yellow tang to break up the fighting or taking out the yellow and leaving the purple. And I would only do one kind of anthias. All the other small fish should be fine, it's just a matter of how many water changes you want to be doing. I have 5 small fish, 3 tangs and am going to have two triggers in my 210. My upkeep is barley nothing. I'm looking at your list and all I can think about is how hard it will be to keep the nitrates down, just my opinion. If your ready for it, then go for it. I would just recommend fewer tangs and only one species of anthias. I really like the bartletts anthias, I would just do like 6 of those instead of mixing the species. And also I would look for captive raised mandarins, otherwise it will be a constant battle to keep them fed on pods.

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Marshall O said:

For wrasses, I would scratch off the Solon (C. solorensis), Scott's (C. scottorum) and Mystery (P. ocellatus). None of them play well with other Fairy/Flasher Wrasses. In fact, stay away from the Pseudocheilinus genus all together. Otherwise the remaining listed should be fine. Plenty of others to chose from as well. However I would be wary of doing pairs or trios. It seems when you have a pair or trio in with a group of other Fairy/Flasher Wrasses, almost always all of the females will turn male. It could be because the terminal male is distracted by the other wrasses to keep the females in check (and therefore keep them female!). Then once they turn, there is no guarantee the terminal male will work it out with the new males or not. I would suggest just doing one from each species for this reason.

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evolved said:

This should help you on the wrasse front: All About Reef Safe Wrasses - 3reef Reef Aquarium Forum

Be careful using common names, too. "Christmas wrasse" doesn't mean the same thing to everyone, and the various species which sometimes get that common name are far from created equal.

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evolved said:

This should help you on the wrasse front: All About Reef Safe Wrasses - 3reef Reef Aquarium Forum

Be careful using common names, too. "Christmas wrasse" doesn't mean the same thing to everyone, and the various species which sometimes get that common name are far from created equal.

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mdbannister said:

Here is an editted list...looking for more thoughts...

Possible fish for 180:

Tangs:
· Blue Tang
· Blonde Naso Tang
· Purple Tang
· Yellow Tang
· Sailfin Tang
· Orangeshoulder Tang
· Powder Brown Tang
Wrasses:
· Christmas wrasse (pair)
· Orange Back Fairy Wrasse
· Leopard Wrasse (not sure if I should get the blue star leopard wrasse or just the normal one)
· Carpenter’s Flasher Wrasse
· McCosker’s Flasher wrasse
....would like to add more wrasses to this list...suggestions?
Butterflies:
· Copperband
· Kleins
Clowns:
· Pair of Blue Ice Clowns or Picasso Clowns
· Pair of Phantom Clowns
Anthias:
· Squareback Anthias
· Bartlett’s Anthias
Others:
· Pair of red mandarin gobies
· Algae Blenny
· Blue Reef Chromis (trio)
· Firefish (trio)
· Rainford’s Goby

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mdbannister said:

Thanks for the thoughts! Why skip the anthias?

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-Logzor said:

If you're going with Anthias I would only get Lyretail, they have a much higher success rate in my experience. Less expensive, too. Not to say that the other won't work, it's a matter of how much you want to risk. But that would be my general recommendation.

I'm not certain a 180 will be enough for a naso tang.

I would add a midas blenny, awesome fish.

I would consider adding some more working fish, such as melanurus wrasse, yellow wrasse, etc.

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Saltgator said:

High amount of feeding. Most stories of success I've heard are housing them with auto feeders. Not too bad of a idea, but could be a potential issue (excess nutrient buildup). Btw, great job on thinking long term on your stock. Most never do and regret down the road.

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mdbannister said:

Okay...I'm trying to plan out a master stock list for my 180. Please understand that I am about to post up a list of possible tank inhabitants. This is not by any means a finalized list. I'm looking for opinions as to what would work with what. I'm also trying decide on an order for acquiring these guys...basically, I am trying to start out with an end in mind rather than just going in and looking at different stores and buying off of impulse. Opinions are very welcome.

Here's the list of possible candidates.

Possible fish for 180:

Tangs:
· Blue Tang
· Blonde Naso Tang
· Purple Tang
· Yellow Tang
· Sailfin Tang
· Orangeshoulder Tang
· Powder Brown Tang
Wrasses:
· Christmas wrasse (pair)
· Red Head Solon fairy wrasse (Pair)
· Oramge Back Fairy Wrasse
· Scott’s Fairy Wrasse
· Leopard Wrasse (not sure if I should get the blue star leopard wrasse or just the normal one)
· Carpenter’s Flasher Wrasse (trio)
· McCosker’s Flasher wrasse (trio)
· Mystery Wrasse
Butterflies:
· Copperband
· Kleins
Clowns:
· Pair of Blue Ice Clowns or Picasso Clowns
· Pair of Phantom Clowns
Anthias:
· Squareback Anthias
· Fathead Sunburst Anthias
· Bartlett’s Anthias
Others:
· Pair of red mandarin gobies
· Algae Blenny
· Blue Reef Chromis (trio)
· Firefish (trio)
· Rainford’s Goby

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mdbannister said:

Thanks! What I gather from this write up is that an inexperienced wrasse keeper like myself should probably stick to "fairy" and "flasher" wrasses. I understand your concern about using common names, but I am not good with scientific names bc I can't pronounce them... I think my "Christmas wrasses" are melanrus wrasses...but I honestly don't know bc they were sold to me as "Christmas wrasses" the male has yellow around his gill areas and is larger than the female. If you give me scientific names for some I should look up, I can check them out.

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H. claudia “Christmas Wrasse”: Often available, inexpensive. Usually very peaceful and do not often pick on inverts at all. Usually peaceful with other Halichoeres wrasses.

H. ornatissimus "Ornate Wrasse": Common available and inexpensive. This one is also commonly (and incorrectly, IMO) labeled as a "Christmas Wrasse", but this species is VERY different from H. claudia. This one gets much larger (7"), and typically gets somewhat mean once mature. Also LOVES motile inverts. Avoid this one for a peaceful reef.

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mdbannister said:

I have a malanurus pair already (Christmas wrasses they were called when I bought them). What jobs do they do? Is a yellow wrasse a fairy wrasse? Not familiar with them. What do they do?

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