375 gallon fish selection - last few?

kangadrew · May 10, 2018

Hi all,

You might have seen my recent thread asking for people's favorite Centropyge angels, looking for stocking ideas. Now, I am wondering what last few fish people would add to the tank (8x30x30, 375 gallon, ~550 gallon system).

Definites are about 25-30 wrasses (mostly flasher and fairy, with a few leopard and eventually pencil wrasses), a trio of Genicanthus, a regal angel, and a pair of Centropyge angels (probably coral beauties, maybe Shepardi), some kind of clownfish pair too (designer ocell. or percs).

What are people's most personable tangs? I am looking to add one or two of them for algae help. Maybe a rabbitfish of some sort.
Anyone have experience with Ctenochaetus flavicauda, or Ctenochaetus truncatus? I wouldn't mind adding both.
Would a midas blenny be okay?

Anyone have other suggestions? I don't want to max this tank out too much, with the Genicanthus and all the wrasses there should be plenty of activity.

Thanks,
Drew

HairyGary · May 10, 2018

kangadrew said:
Hi all,

You might have seen my recent thread asking for people's favorite Centropyge angels, looking for stocking ideas. Now, I am wondering what last few fish people would add to the tank (8x30x30, 375 gallon, ~550 gallon system).

Definites are about 25-30 wrasses (mostly flasher and fairy, with a few leopard and eventually pencil wrasses), a trio of Genicanthus, a regal angel, and a pair of Centropyge angels (probably coral beauties, maybe Shepardi), some kind of clownfish pair too (designer ocell. or percs).

What are people's most personable tangs? I am looking to add one or two of them for algae help. Maybe a rabbitfish of some sort.
Anyone have experience with Ctenochaetus flavicauda, or Ctenochaetus truncatus? I wouldn't mind adding both.
Would a midas blenny be okay?

Anyone have other suggestions? I don't want to max this tank out too much, with the Genicanthus and all the wrasses there should be plenty of activity.

Thanks,
Drew

Looking forward to seeing this up and going! I had a Ctenochaetus flavicauda and is probably my favorite tang. Almost a purple hue to it. Worked all day long. Granted he was in 93 cube and only tang with about 7 wrasse. The first week I had him he put some of my wrasse in line but no nipping and nothing alarming. Then settled in with no issues. I would add any tang toward the end if you can. I've seen some midas blennies take over a portion of smaller tanks but given the size it probably is fine. A blue lined rabbit would be nice in there. Good algae grazer.

You may have issue with the regal picking LPS and softies like most angels.

You have your wrasse list yet?

kangadrew · May 10, 2018

HairyGary said:
Looking forward to seeing this up and going! I had a Ctenochaetus flavicauda and is probably my favorite tang. Almost a purple hue to it. Worked all day long. Granted he was in 93 cube and only tang with about 7 wrasse. The first week I had him he put some of my wrasse in line but no nipping and nothing alarming. Then settled in with no issues. I would add any tang toward the end if you can. I've seen some midas blennies take over a portion of smaller tanks but given the size it probably is fine. A blue lined rabbit would be nice in there. Good algae grazer.

You may have issue with the regal picking LPS and softies like most angels.

You have your wrasse list yet?

Flavicauda is a likely choice for me then. They look beautiful.
I love the faces of Midas blennies, and that beautiful Golden hue.

Love that rabbitfish - how do they compare to a majestic foxface?

I'm not too worried about the regal because I've decided I'd rather have that fish and some nice sps than nice softies and lps. That's always another reason for another new tank

Wrasse wishlist is:
Flasher Wrasses: McCosker's, Carpenter's, Yellowfin, Filamented, Eightline, Bell’s, Royal, Attenuatus, Red Tail
Fairy Wrasses: Red Velvet, Lineatus, Rhomboid, Earl’s, Hooded, Dwarf Pintail, Johnson’s, Jordan’s, Rose-Band
Pencil Wrasses: Small Tail, Royal, Blue Nose
Leopard Wrasses: Blue Star, Choati, Kuiter’s

Drew

HairyGary · May 10, 2018

kangadrew said:
Flavicauda is a likely choice for me then. They look beautiful.
I love the faces of Midas blennies, and that beautiful Golden hue.

Love that rabbitfish - how do they compare to a majestic foxface?

I'm not too worried about the regal because I've decided I'd rather have that fish and some nice sps than nice softies and lps. That's always another reason for another new tank

Wrasse wishlist is:
Flasher Wrasses: McCosker's, Carpenter's, Yellowfin, Filamented, Eightline, Bell’s, Royal, Attenuatus, Red Tail
Fairy Wrasses: Red Velvet, Lineatus, Rhomboid, Earl’s, Hooded, Dwarf Pintail, Johnson’s, Jordan’s, Rose-Band
Pencil Wrasses: Small Tail, Royal, Blue Nose
Leopard Wrasses: Blue Star, Choati, Kuiter’s

Drew

I have not had any experience with either but have wanted to the blue line.

Nice list! The red velvet may be the most aggressive out of that list but great list. Pretty similar to my list and what I have for the Fairies. Do you have a build thread?

jda · May 10, 2018

Skip the third Genicanthus... they seem to always wind up as pairs to me. However, I can keep multiple pairs of different kinds.

I like Chocolate Mimic Tang as a non-aggressive species that stays small enough to live it's whole life in that tank.

Leopards, fairies and flashers are great fish... the fairies and flashers will jump, so plan on a lid.

Do not underestimate the reef-safe triggers. They are great reef fish.

ArowanaLover1902 · May 10, 2018

Just a crazy suggestion here, though one that is certainly worth it, about 20 mexican barnacle blennies. They are small, communal, and active fish that are super fun to feed and cause exactly zero problems.

kangadrew · May 11, 2018

HairyGary said:
I have not had any experience with either but have wanted to the blue line.

Nice list! The red velvet may be the most aggressive out of that list but great list. Pretty similar to my list and what I have for the Fairies. Do you have a build thread?

Yeah, I am prepared with that red velvet. If I need to try a new one after getting the first due to aggression, I can do that - otherwise I can nix it. Certainly a beautiful fish but far from my favorite on that list.
I like the more expensive ($1000+) Wrasses, but for a fish that may live a year or less, that's so small, and being mixed in with everything els, I'm not sure I could justify it. Besides, the fish that are a few hundred at most are still beautiful, many even more so.
My tank is still in the planning stages, no build thread yet.

jda said:
Skip the third Genicanthus... they seem to always wind up as pairs to me. However, I can keep multiple pairs of different kinds.

I like Chocolate Mimic Tang as a non-aggressive species that stays small enough to live it's whole life in that tank.

Leopards, fairies and flashers are great fish... the fairies and flashers will jump, so plan on a lid.

Do not underestimate the reef-safe triggers. They are great reef fish.

Interesting, I've seena few examples of trios working out. My understanding is they're sort of like anthias. I think I'll try my luck with three and I can always remove one if aggression against it is an issue. Going to try Semifasciatus.
That mimic Tang is a cool fish, I'll definitely consider one.
Definitely a mesh lid on the tank for those Wrasses, the tank is pretty much designed around them.
Interesting idea, I'll for sure have to look into some reef safe triggers, some of them can be beautiful fish.

ArowanaLover1902 said:
Just a crazy suggestion here, though one that is certainly worth it, about 20 mexican barnacle blennies. They are small, communal, and active fish that are super fun to feed and cause exactly zero problems.

Interesting idea - I'll have to check it out!

kangadrew · May 23, 2018

Bumping this thread for some more ideas. Do y'all think I'm maxed out with this list, or could/should I add anything more?

Plan so far is about 25-30 reef-safe wrasses (list is above, mostly Flasher and Fairies with a few leopard and pencils), a trio of Japanese swallowtail angels, a regal angel, and a pair of coral beauties.
I want something for algae control (and of course as a cool fish) - a Ctenochaetus truncatus, Ctenochaetus flavicauda, Zebrasoma desjardini, or potentially a rabbitfish. Then past that, I might consider adding either another tang, or a pair of the cooler reef-safe triggers. Thoughts on these additions?

Any thoughts past that? I think the wrasses and angels will be plenty to make the tank interesting, but a tang or two wouldn't exactly hurt.
Maybe do the desjardini, and a pair of crosshatch triggers? Or some other combination of fish.

Let me know what you think. Thanks-
Drew

ca1ore · May 23, 2018

My tank is a bit bigger (36" front to back) and I'm at close to 100 fish. OK, a third of those are damsels, but still ..... I'm a big fan of tangs, and have 7 in my tank. Couldn't imagine a big tank without them. I also really like pesudoanthias, as long as you can feed them enough.

kangadrew · May 23, 2018

ca1ore said:
My tank is a bit bigger (36" front to back) and I'm at close to 100 fish. OK, a third of those are damsels, but still ..... I'm a big fan of tangs, and have 7 in my tank. Couldn't imagine a big tank without them. I also really like pesudoanthias, as long as you can feed them enough.

I love tangs too, but I don't know about having 7 in my tank! Definitely going to focus on the wrasses and angels, shoot I could get by fine with just that. I agree though, they add lots of activity to bigger tanks.
I love lyretail anthias, and some of the rarer deepwater Pseudanthias - that being said, I don't know how well they would do with the wrasses. Perhaps it would be too much activity - I don't know about that though.
Thanks for your comments!

Aside from the angels and wrasses and such, I think I could fit in another 3-4 medium-sized fish. One of these will likely be a desjardini tang, they look to have a gentle giant type of attitude and are stunning.
Now to decide for the other 3 spots - what to keep? If this were your tank, what would you do? We could go more tangs, we could change it up a bit, what would you go with?

Take care,
Drew

ca1ore · May 23, 2018

Wrasses are nice, though I prefer the fairies and leopards. I'm gradually building up my population, Lapillus, Bipartitus and Meleagris leopards; ruby, diamond tail, orange back, Sailfin and lubbocks fairies. Probably will add a labouts, excusite and maybe a naoko.

ArowanaLover1902 · May 24, 2018

A sailfin blenny would be cool, good for algae control and an awesome fish

Carterfish · May 24, 2018

Naso tangs are very personal I️ find. And for me act like gentle giants. I️ would also look at sailfin or clown tangs are also cool. For algae control I️ would go with kole tang or lawnmower blenny(they both eat algae all day long) As always Can’t wait to see this tank up and running. Hope you’ve got a large skimmer for all your fish

kangadrew · May 24, 2018

ca1ore said:
Wrasses are nice, though I prefer the fairies and leopards. I'm gradually building up my population, Lapillus, Bipartitus and Meleagris leopards; ruby, diamond tail, orange back, Sailfin and lubbocks fairies. Probably will add a labouts, excusite and maybe a naoko.

Awesome wrasse list! Those leopards are pretty sweet - the Kuiter's is my favorite by far. Great fairy wrasses too. I'd watch the naoko - I had asked Hunter (evolved) about adding a naoko to that list, and he warned heavily against it - even in a large tank, it wouldn't likely go over very well.

ArowanaLover1902 said:
A sailfin blenny would be cool, good for algae control and an awesome fish

Awesome-looking little fish - definitely will consider one for algae control

Carterfish said:
Naso tangs are very personal I️ find. And for me act like gentle giants. I️ would also look at sailfin or clown tangs are also cool. For algae control I️ would go with kole tang or lawnmower blenny(they both eat algae all day long) As always Can’t wait to see this tank up and running. Hope you’ve got a large skimmer for all your fish

A naso or blonde naso is an idea, instead of a desjardini. I am pretty sure I want one larger tang in here - I love vlamingi tangs but I'd never keep one in my tank size. I wouldn't do anything less than a 15 foot tank for one, personally; so ~750 gallons or so.
Would you go with a naso over the desjardini? From the bit of research I've done on their personality, they seem wonderful.

Definites are the angels, wrasses, clown pair, and a large tang (naso, desjardini, etc). Some smaller fish will likely go in too - mandarins, midas blennies, lawnmower blennies, etc. Still thinking about those.
As far as larger fish - how do you think a pair/trio of Hemitaurichthys polylepis (pyramid butterflyfish) would look with this tank? They're the only other larger fish I would want, really - I think the activity of a bunch of tangs would distract from the wrasses, and I've got pretty much all the angels I want (well...... maybe a majestic).

Take care,
Drew

ca1ore · May 24, 2018

kangadrew said:
A naso or blonde naso is an idea, instead of a desjardini. I am pretty sure I want one larger tang in here - I love vlamingi tangs but I'd never keep one in my tank size.

The Vlmingi is a naso, along with the various unicorns and the 'naso'. LOL. N. Lituratus does stay a bit smaller; but only a bit.

kangadrew · May 24, 2018

ca1ore said:
The Vlmingi is a naso, along with the various unicorns and the 'naso'. LOL. N. Lituratus does stay a bit smaller; but only a bit.

Apologies - I knew that the vlamingi is of the genus Naso - when I said Naso, I was referring to the lituratus - apologies for any confusion.

Coronus · May 24, 2018

I would go more than a few tangs in that tank. At least 4-5 for algae control. I would actually do 3 yellow tangs, 1 Kole Tang, 1Convict.

Angel_Anthias lover · May 24, 2018

A large group of royal grammas could look nice or even black cap grammas.
A pair of jawfish would be interesting. Maybe a marine betta too as a medium sized interesting fish . Sunburst or blotched anthias would look nice without clashing much with the activity of the wrasse . Vampire tangs are rather personable and not the meanest of tangs . Hope this helps

ca1ore · May 25, 2018

kangadrew said:
I'd watch the naoko - I had asked Hunter (evolved) about adding a naoko to that list, and he warned heavily against it - even in a large tank, it wouldn't likely go over very well.

Probably good advice - stunning fish though