300g captive bred reef - stocking order etc

[Claus84]

Hi all,

I have just placed an order for a 300g 96x24x30 system with 70x18x18 sump and could do with some advice on stocking order. I mostly buy captive bred stock and currently have the following spread between a 90 reef, 55 Fowlr and 20g QT/grow out:

• CB mandarin (1)
  
• CB banggai x 2 (1)
  
• CB common clown x 2 (2)
  
• CB azure damsel x 3 (2)
  
• CB orchid dottyback (2)
• CB majestic angel 1" (3)
• CB Chinese blueline angel<1" (3)
• CB coral beauty 4" (4)
  
• CB flame angel 3" (4)
  
• WC yellow-eye kole (5)

I am pre-cylcing 160lb of dry rock to get the tank started. My QT protocol has been a bit hit and miss over the years so I will be running all fish through CP and prazi before adding to the new tank. My reef and fowlr will then sit fallow for 76days at which point I will move all of my established rock (140lb) and corals into the 300g also.

I have added my proposed stocking order to the stock list above in brackets. My current plan is to seed the new tank with pods and add the mandarin first (I feed BBS everyday using @Paul B 's feeder design so I'm not worried about it going hungry in the new tank).
My main concern is the size of the majestic and blueline compared to my dwarf angels, they are both tiny at the moment so i'm thinking it would be best to add these before the dwarfs in this instance but i'm open to suggestions.

Thanks

Nick

 

[JaimeAdams]

Looks ok. I would put the dotty back and the damsels in last though. The damsels may pick on the tiny angels and dotty backs have a reputation of being jerks. What type of pod count are you planning to use to seed the tank?

 

[eatbreakfast]

I would get the majestic and blueline in before the damsels and dottyback. Add the Centropyge last. With a few Centropyge going in simultaneously, they will focus on each other rather than the blueline and majestic.

 

[d-man]

Why are you going to QT captive bred fish?

The Kole I understand but the others I would not

 

[eatbreakfast]

Why are you going to QT captive bred fish?

The Kole I understand but the others I would not

If they have spent anytime in a system with non captive fish its a good idea.

 

[d-man]

If they have spent anytime in a system with non ca0tive fish its a good idea.

Yes if they have. But if they are all kept in CB only tanks then I wouldn’t bother

 

[Claus84]

Hi all, thanks for the responses, apologies i'm pretty late coming back to this thread, been offline for a couple of weeks..

Looks ok. I would put the dotty back and the damsels in last though. The damsels may pick on the tiny angels and dotty backs have a reputation of being jerks. What type of pod count are you planning to use to seed the tank?

Noted thanks, the damsels are CB and still pretty small but i'll add them later to be safe. The dotty is currently sharing half of a 20g QT with the majestic and its been pretty chilled so far but i'll add later than the angels in case territory becomes an issue in the DT. I'll add as many pods as it takes to keep a population going, the mandarin does well eating baby brine from a couple of feeders and frozen/pellets so it should be okay.

I would get the majestic and blueline in before the damsels and dottyback. Add the Centropyge last. With a few Centropyge going in simultaneously, they will focus on each other rather than the blueline and majestic.

Thanks, will do, sounds like a good call putting the dwarfs in later.

Why are you going to QT captive bred fish?

The Kole I understand but the others I would not

Just good practice and its rare you can buy a CB fish straight from the breeder (in the UK anyway), they have almost always been imported via who knows how many wholesalers. Plus I have had flare-ups of whitespot in my FOWLR which I have since treated and run fallow but I want to start with a blank slate for the new tank.

Cheers

Nick

 

[Claus84]

So my new stocking order looks something like this:

• CB mandarin (1)
  
• CB banggai x 2 (1)
  
• CB majestic angel 1" (2)
• CB Chinese blueline angel<1" (2)
• CB common clown x 2 (3)
  
• CB azure damsel x 3 (3)
  
• CB orchid dottyback (3)
• CB coral beauty 4" (4)
  
• CB flame angel 3" (4)
  
• WC yellow-eye kole (5)

Thanks

Nick

 

[lisha]

Where are you getting a cb mandarin from?

 

[Pbh-reef]

By the way live aquaria seems to have CB yellow tangs on offer in the somewhat near future

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp-BAYnnJAm/?hl=en

 

[Claus84]

Where are you getting a cb mandarin from?

It's from Biota, a shipment made it over to the UK in 2016, had him since then. Hoping they will ship over here again as I want to get a female too

 

[Claus84]

By the way live aquaria seems to have CB yellow tangs on offer in the somewhat near future

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp-BAYnnJAm/?hl=en

Awesome, I know Biota have just produced some, maybe these are the ones. Really hoping they make it to the UK!

 

[Claus84]

I would get the majestic and blueline in before the damsels and dottyback. Add the Centropyge last. With a few Centropyge going in simultaneously, they will focus on each other rather than the blueline and majestic.

Just to complicate things I have also just purchased a tiny 4month old CB flame which I am planning to pair up with my existing flame in QT before adding to the DT. Just curious if this would alter my stocking order at all or if I would still be okay to add my coral beauty and both flames (assuming pairing goes well in QT) after the juvenile blueline and majestic still?

• CB mandarin (1)
  
• CB banggai x 2 (1)
  
• CB majestic angel 1.5" (2)
• CB Chinese blueline angel 2" (2)
• CB common clown x 2 (3)
  
• CB azure damsel x 3 (3)
  
• CB orchid dottyback (3)
• CB coral beauty 4" (4)
  
• CB flame angel x 2 3" & 1" (4)
  
• WC yellow-eye kole (5)

Thanks

Nick

 

[eatbreakfast]

As long as the flames don't kill each other in qt you should be fine.

 

[Claus84]

As long as the flames don't kill each other in qt you should be fine.

So I got my second flame the other day, it is absolutely tiny (3/4") so it will be a while before I can introduce it to my male. This means the flames will be in a QT for a few months and I will probably add these and my coral beauty at the same time down the line.

Question is can I add my kole before the dwarfs or would it be asking for trouble? It bickered occasionally with the flame in my 90 but i'm hoping it won't be as aggro in the much larger new tank. I don't really want to keep the poor tang cooped in QT too for a few months while the flame grows if I can help it.

Thanks

Nick

 

[Claus84]

Hi all, quick update and hoping for a bit more advice, so far i've added the following fish in order with current sizes:

• CB mandarin
  
• CB banggai
  
• CB majestic angel 2"
  
• CB Chinese blueline angel 2.5"
• CB common clown x 2
  
• CB Orchid dottyback
  
• Yellow eye kole 4"

Planned to put the kole in last of all but jumped the gun in the end as it was going to end up stuck in a 20g QT for a few more months otherwise which didn't seem fair. So far so good, some bickering between the kole and blueline but the angel is growing at a crazy rate and can hold its own, the majestic just keeps to itself more or less in the rockwork.

I now have one QT with my 2 flames in (3.5" and 1.25" w/ divider, haven't tried pairing them yet) and one with my 4" coral beauty and 3 azure damsels. Plan was to add all of these remaining fish at the same time once I had paired the flames but the little flame is growing so slow that it will be a few months yet before I dare to try and pair them, this means my coral beauty will also be stuck in QT for the same length of time. I'm now wondering if its worth adding the coral beauty to the DT ahead of the flames, or is this just asking for trouble even in an 8ft tank? I could add more rockwork and have a re-arrange prior to adding the flames if it would help.

Thoughts appreciated

Cheers

Nick

 

[Pbh-reef]

Hi all, quick update and hoping for a bit more advice, so far i've added the following fish in order with current sizes:

• CB mandarin
  
• CB banggai
  
• CB majestic angel 2"
  
• CB Chinese blueline angel 2.5"
• CB common clown x 2
  
• CB Orchid dottyback
  
• Yellow eye kole 4"

Planned to put the kole in last of all but jumped the gun in the end as it was going to end up stuck in a 20g QT for a few more months otherwise which didn't seem fair. So far so good, some bickering between the kole and blueline but the angel is growing at a crazy rate and can hold its own, the majestic just keeps to itself more or less in the rockwork.

I now have one QT with my 2 flames in (3.5" and 1.25" w/ divider, haven't tried pairing them yet) and one with my 4" coral beauty and 3 azure damsels. Plan was to add all of these remaining fish at the same time once I had paired the flames but the little flame is growing so slow that it will be a few months yet before I dare to try and pair them, this means my coral beauty will also be stuck in QT for the same length of time. I'm now wondering if its worth adding the coral beauty to the DT ahead of the flames, or is this just asking for trouble even in an 8ft tank? I could add more rockwork and have a re-arrange prior to adding the flames if it would help.

Thoughts appreciated

Cheers

Nick

I’d love to see a photo of the tank! Sounds like some amazing fish in it

 

[Claus84]

I’d love to see a photo of the tank! Sounds like some amazing fish in it

It's still pretty new so is a bit of a diatom/algae mess at the moment (which the angels and tang love) but i'll definitely post some or maybe a quick vid when I can

 

[norfolkgarden]

Hi all, quick update and hoping for a bit more advice, so far i've added the following fish in order with current sizes:

• CB mandarin
  
• CB banggai
  
• CB majestic angel 2"
  
• CB Chinese blueline angel 2.5"
• CB common clown x 2
  
• CB Orchid dottyback
  
• Yellow eye kole 4"

Planned to put the kole in last of all but jumped the gun in the end as it was going to end up stuck in a 20g QT for a few more months otherwise which didn't seem fair. So far so good, some bickering between the kole and blueline but the angel is growing at a crazy rate and can hold its own, the majestic just keeps to itself more or less in the rockwork.

I now have one QT with my 2 flames in (3.5" and 1.25" w/ divider, haven't tried pairing them yet) and one with my 4" coral beauty and 3 azure damsels. Plan was to add all of these remaining fish at the same time once I had paired the flames but the little flame is growing so slow that it will be a few months yet before I dare to try and pair them, this means my coral beauty will also be stuck in QT for the same length of time. I'm now wondering if its worth adding the coral beauty to the DT ahead of the flames, or is this just asking for trouble even in an 8ft tank? I could add more rockwork and have a re-arrange prior to adding the flames if it would help.

Thoughts appreciated

Cheers

Nick

@4fordfamily ?

8' tank, some beautiful fish.

Thank you sir! [emoji846]