125 Gallon Stock - thoughts?

[asingleton527]

Hi all,

Thought I'd get some input on stocking my 125 gallon reef. Here's my current stock:

FISH
-3 false percula clowns (I'm sure at some point 2 of them will pair off and we will have to either rehome or retank the 3rd wheel)
-3 green chromis (1 inch, they stick together like glue. LOVE to watch them!)
-Yellow Watchman Goby
-Yellow Tang
-Flame Fin Tomini Tang
-Blackline Blenny (this guy is hilarious and loves to "sandbomb" for entertainment!)
-Pearly Jawfish
-Scooter Blenny
-Blue Mandarin

I tried a purple dottyback and he was extremely aggressive-- he bit the fins off my 2nd pearly jawfish, which did not survive it- and he bit the tail off one of my chromis. We have since taken him to the LFS and received credit for him. And we will never own another dottyback, as he turned our peaceful tank into chaos. HAHA!

INVERTS
- 3 emerald crabs (my daughter said that was the only thing we HAD to have in the tank for her haha)
- Sandsifting Starfish
-30 to 40 hermits of all varieties
-10 turbo astrea snails
-15 narcissus snails
-2 zebra turbo snails
-Cleaner Shrimp
-Peppermint Shrimp

Coral: Xenia, Zoa, montipora, leather coral, galaxea, hammer (all frags)

Is this a comfortable stock list, or is there room for much more? I do think I'll be adding more snails (leaning towards trochus since I've read they easily reproduce in the home aquarium) I would LOVE to add some more color to the tank with fish but I don't want to overstock anything. I'd rather stick with what I've got and have healthy fish, than to add too many and stress them out. Any thoughts on expansion- ideas for what if it's safe to do?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Spare time]

Just get a second clown for the trio and have anemones on opposite sides. You have plenty of room for more fish and what not. However, DO NOT PUT XENIA IN THE TANK. In large tanks, where xenia can roll and spread to many places, it becomes extremely invasive and very difficult to remove once it is established. And make sure the galaxia has a large amount of room around it or is down stream so it doesn't sting everything. I would also consider some tuxedo or pincushion urchins.

 

[Spare time]

And I hate dottybacks. Those and pseudochromis are some of the most aggresive fish in this hobby and require tanks as big as their aggressive personalities since they terrorize smaller tanks.

 

[asingleton527]

My husband really wants a pincushion urchin but I keep reading that they can more or less bulldoze through coral, so I've been putting that off. We had read too that the xenia can dominate, so we've tried to isolate it to a single rock. I do think we will be doing plenty of fragging, as the one frag we got has doubled in size in the past month.

Any suggestions for some colorful or interesting fish that would get along with my others? We have plenty of yellow and orange colors but would love to see some blue, red or purple.

Glad to know I'm not the only one in the "anti-dottyback" club. That little guy was terror with fins!! Had to break down our entire rockscape to catch him as he outsmarted our traps! HAHA!

 

[burningstarIV]

I personally wouldn't have that many hermits. They'll all be hunting for the same food source. You're going to need larger spare shells for every single one of them to grow into. If they don't have those they'll kill your snails for their shell (they might do that anyway). I personally would suggest 10 or less, but I'm not a hermit expert either.

 

[nereefpat]

I tried a purple dottyback and he was extremely aggressive-- he bit the fins off my 2nd pearly jawfish, which did not survive it- and he bit the tail off one of my chromis. We have since taken him to the LFS and received credit for him. And we will never own another dottyback, as he turned our peaceful tank into chaos. HAHA!

Yep. You got the wrong dottyback. Orchid (fridmani) is the one you want. Purple or strawberry are famously nasty.

 

[nereefpat]

And I hate dottybacks. Those and pseudochromis are some of the most aggresive fish in this hobby and require tanks as big as their aggressive personalities since they terrorize smaller tanks.

Dottyback = Psuedochromis. Same thing. Psuedochromis is the genus.

Some are really nasty. Some are a little aggressive. And a couple are really good community fish, in my experience.