150 gallon stocking

[caffeinebuzz04]

Hi, I have a 150 gallon mixed reef with low nitrates(1.6ppm) and pretty heavy feeding( one flakes and one turning tank into a snow globe with reefroids/rods food, and run nori pretty often). I figured fish would be a pretty way to bring that up and add movement to the tank.
Current stock list is foxface and tomini tang which have been in there for about 8 years. Also there are two clowns. A 95 g is attached to the same system with a baby tomini tang and two bangai cardinals. I figured this can be used to store fish if there is any aggression when adding things.

Fish i'd like to add
midas blenny from another system i currently have
2 tangs? some thoughts are (powder brown or powder blue, lavender, or maybe a yellow/scopus tang)
and then would like to add as many wrasses as reasonably possible was thinking 1-2 flashers and fairy wrasses of the peaceful variety from the wrasse guys chart as well, but am worrysome of foxface in the main tank.

was wondering how well these guys will get along, and if adding all of these at the same time would be good or too much for the system.\

Also would be buying from dr reefs quarantined fish

any input is appreciated and if you have other suggestions let me know, open to most things
edit: feeding changes

 

[fishywishy]

I would pass on the powder brown and blue because of aggression with other tangs, and they are also notorious for having ich.

Wrasse will probably be fine with the fox face.

Everything else is fine.

I think a flame angelfish or a coral beauty angelfish would fit nicely in there.

Your tank will be able to handle the bioload just fine.

 

[caffeinebuzz04]

I would pass on the powder brown and blue because of aggression with other tangs, and they are also notorious for having ich.

Wrasse will probably be fine with the fox face.

Everything else is fine.

I think a flame angelfish or a coral beauty angelfish would fit nicely in there.

Your tank will be able to handle the bioload just fine.

Thanks for response and helpful info on the powder brown/blue.
Would it be best to add for example midas blenny, lavender tang, scopus tang, at same time as wrasses to spread out aggression or let first three settle and add in acclimation boxes later on. Also for wrasses was thinking for flashers mccoskers wrasse and then for fairies, exquisite, lubbocks, hooded fairy wrasse, and dusky. all are from different subgroups but last three are close groups. Also temperament on all from reading is peaceful except for lubbocks which shows as semi aggressive and isn't really a must have fish if its not a great idea.

Love flame angels but worry was with having a decent amount of scolymia, goniopora, and torch garden in the tank. I figured it wouldnt bother sps much.

 

[fishywishy]

I would add all the tangs at the same time and at same size if you can for the best results.

You can add the wrasses at any time. Most of the species you mentioned aren’t particularly aggressive, and even if they were, your tank is large enough to prevent any significant territorial issues. The only one that i would reconsider is the dusky because they are known to eat inverts and are pretty territorial, but again your tank is pretty big, so it will probably be fine with other wrasse. but if you want a invert heavy tank, Thats something to keep in mind.

You can add the Midas blenny at any time, nothing will bother it.

It’s a risk, but flames are just too pretty to not have in one of my tanks.

 

[caffeinebuzz04]

I would add all the tangs at the same time and at same size if you can for the best results.

You can add the wrasses at any time. Most of the species you mentioned aren’t particularly aggressive, and even if they were, your tank is large enough to prevent any significant territorial issues. The only one that i would reconsider is the dusky because they are known to eat inverts and are pretty territorial, but again your tank is pretty big, so it will probably be fine with other wrasse. but if you want a invert heavy tank, Thats something to keep in mind.

You can add the Midas blenny at any time, nothing will bother it.

It’s a risk, but flames are just too pretty to not have in one of my tanks.

thank you for info and may get a flame i love them and have had them in the past and they never nipped at anything but just scary cause you never know when youll get a crazy one

 

[Zionas]

You can add another small-to-medium Tang IMO. The smaller Zebrasoma (Yellow and Purple available as captive bred, Yellow from Biota and Purple from QM Labs or Bali Aquarich, also the Gem or Scopas, Gem being more expensive), smaller Acanthurus such as the Lemonpeel Mimic, Lavender, Powder Brown (Japonicus), or a Convict (IF you can find a healthy one, many seem to struggle with these).

I love Angelfish and I am biased towards them, I wouldn’t do a large Angel in a 150 but depending on how much you’re willing to stock you could do one of the medium ones like a Chaetodontoplus (Blue Line), Apolemichthys (Goldflake), or a pair of Genicanthus (Spotbreast, Bellus, Watanabei), of which the Genicanthus are an obligatory “keep in pairs” fish for me the same as Clownfish. The sexual dimorphism is too much to miss out on by just keeping a single specimen IMO. If you really want a Pomacanthus Angel your only choice is a Majestic, get it small and I would cut back on a Tang if you choose to get the Majestic. I would say you have room for 3-4 larger or medium-large fish in your 150. My gut tells me if you go for Apolemichthys / Chaetodontoplus / the Majestic you should have it and your existing Tang and Foxface as your 3 larger fish, but some combination of the rest should give you room for 4. Just my intuition.

If you don’t want any large Angels, consider a pair of Centropyge (dwarf angels). An easy route would be 2 Biota Coral Beauties. Get them at the same time, or get them without too long of a gap.

A Yellow Pyramid Butterfly would also be a choice.

You can definitely do a few Wrasses except the ones that get pretty large. I’m not a Wrasse expert.

Chrysiptera damsels add a bit of color and movement. The Azure and Talbot’s are good choices in terms of availability and price. Also look into Gramma, Liopropoma and Assessor Basslets. Your easiest route would again be from Biota in the form of CB Royal Grammas.

And depending on how much you love your shrimp and inverts, a Hawk would make an interesting addition IMO. The Flame Hawks seem to have a better longevity record than the Longnose Hawks if we are talking about the # of people keeping them for over a decade, at least from what I gathered although Hawks overall aren’t known for being difficult in terms of maintenance. They also pair up easily if you get 2 small ones in the 1-1.5” range and a 150 is plenty big enough.

The rest of your list looks fine.

You seem like more of a Tang person, however, so here’s what I’d do:

(1) Tomini Tang (Ctenochaetus)
(1) Foxface
(1) Yellow / Purple / Scopas Tang (Zebrasoma- reminder Yellow and Purple are available as CB)
(1) Lemonpeel Mimic / Powder Brown (Japonicus) / Lavender / Convict Tang (Acanthurus)

(2) Ocellaris Clownfish (Captive Bred)

(1) Royal Gramma (CB) / other Basslet of your choice

(1) Midas Blenny

(1) Azure / Talbot’s Damselfish

OR (1) Centropyge angelfish (sorry can’t help but want to recommend an Angel, personal preference)

OR (1-2) Flame Hawkfish

And 3, maybe 4 Wrasses. 1 Fairy, 1 Flasher, 1 Halichoeres (I recommend Canary / Yellow “Coris”, Silver-Belly, Red-Lined, or Claudia). If you get a 4th Wrasse and you are willing to put a bit more effort into taking care of a potentially more difficult type of Wrasse, I’d get a Leopard Wrasse as the 4th. The Meleagris (Black-Spotted) seems to be the easiest of the bunch, but I’m not 100% certain.

Your main sources of bioload will be from your Tangs, Foxface, and Wrasses, and a Centropyge if you choose to get a dwarf Angel. The rest of your fish (Clowns, Basslet, Midas Blenny) are either smaller or don’t swim that much.

 

[caffeinebuzz04]

You can add another small-to-medium Tang IMO. The smaller Zebrasoma (Yellow and Purple available as captive bred, Yellow from Biota and Purple from QM Labs or Bali Aquarich, also the Gem or Scopas, Gem being more expensive), smaller Acanthurus such as the Lemonpeel Mimic, Lavender, Powder Brown (Japonicus), or a Convict (IF you can find a healthy one, many seem to struggle with these).

I love Angelfish and I am biased towards them, I wouldn’t do a large Angel in a 150 but depending on how much you’re willing to stock you could do one of the medium ones like a Chaetodontoplus (Blue Line), Apolemichthys (Goldflake), or a pair of Genicanthus (Spotbreast, Bellus, Watanabei), of which the Genicanthus are an obligatory “keep in pairs” fish for me the same as Clownfish. The sexual dimorphism is too much to miss out on by just keeping a single specimen IMO. If you really want a Pomacanthus Angel your only choice is a Majestic, get it small and I would cut back on a Tang if you choose to get the Majestic. I would say you have room for 3-4 larger or medium-large fish in your 150. My gut tells me if you go for Apolemichthys / Chaetodontoplus / the Majestic you should have it and your existing Tang and Foxface as your 3 larger fish, but some combination of the rest should give you room for 4. Just my intuition.

If you don’t want any large Angels, consider a pair of Centropyge (dwarf angels). An easy route would be 2 Biota Coral Beauties. Get them at the same time, or get them without too long of a gap.

A Yellow Pyramid Butterfly would also be a choice.

You can definitely do a few Wrasses except the ones that get pretty large. I’m not a Wrasse expert.

Chrysiptera damsels add a bit of color and movement. The Azure and Talbot’s are good choices in terms of availability and price. Also look into Gramma, Liopropoma and Assessor Basslets. Your easiest route would again be from Biota in the form of CB Royal Grammas.

And depending on how much you love your shrimp and inverts, a Hawk would make an interesting addition IMO. The Flame Hawks seem to have a better longevity record than the Longnose Hawks if we are talking about the # of people keeping them for over a decade, at least from what I gathered although Hawks overall aren’t known for being difficult in terms of maintenance. They also pair up easily if you get 2 small ones in the 1-1.5” range and a 150 is plenty big enough.

The rest of your list looks fine.

You seem like more of a Tang person, however, so here’s what I’d do:

(1) Tomini Tang (Ctenochaetus)
(1) Foxface
(1) Yellow / Purple / Scopas Tang (Zebrasoma- reminder Yellow and Purple are available as CB)
(1) Lemonpeel Mimic / Powder Brown (Japonicus) / Lavender / Convict Tang (Acanthurus)

(2) Ocellaris Clownfish (Captive Bred)

(1) Royal Gramma (CB) / other Basslet of your choice

(1) Midas Blenny

(1) Azure / Talbot’s Damselfish

OR (1) Centropyge angelfish (sorry can’t help but want to recommend an Angel, personal preference)

OR (1-2) Flame Hawkfish

And 3, maybe 4 Wrasses. 1 Fairy, 1 Flasher, 1 Halichoeres (I recommend Canary / Yellow “Coris”, Silver-Belly, Red-Lined, or Claudia). If you get a 4th Wrasse and you are willing to put a bit more effort into taking care of a potentially more difficult type of Wrasse, I’d get a Leopard Wrasse as the 4th. The Meleagris (Black-Spotted) seems to be the easiest of the bunch, but I’m not 100% certain.

Your main sources of bioload will be from your Tangs, Foxface, and Wrasses, and a Centropyge if you choose to get a dwarf Angel. The rest of your fish (Clowns, Basslet, Midas Blenny) are either smaller or don’t swim that much.

Added the Midas blenny on the 8th and haven’t seen him since about an hour after adding him. Tang nipped at him once but figured that just the once wasn’t a big deal. He was a healthy fish in old tank so don’t know if he’s just got a hole I can’t see him from or what. Also I love angels and think they’re beautiful, just with a decent bit of money in scolys and meat corals in the tank I’m terrified of them eating them one night. Also thanks for input definitely need more bioload I’m basically dosing 3 large amounts of reef roids just to keep po4 detectable