Another 180g Stocking Thread

[Albertan22]

Hi everybody,

I'm about to upgrade from a 4' 120 gallon reef to a 6' 180 gallon tank and have been researching my stocking list. The tank will be a mixed sps/lps reef that is more heavy to the sps side of the spectrum and will have at least 1 clam (requirement of my wife). Total water volume for the system will be between 220-230 gallons. The sump will have an 18 gallon refugium.

I haven't done much with my 120 gallon over the past two years and right now only have 4 fish in there consisting of a pair of ocellaris clowns (orange), a foxface lo, and a scopas tang that are all several years old. I've kept a real low bioload in the 120 gallon for the past 5 years (was much more before) and would like to reverse that and keep more fish in the 180 gallon. That said, I've come up with a stocking list that is probably too heavy. Here is the list, any input is appreciated:

1 Foxface (existing)
1 Scopas tang (existing)
1 Yellow Tang
1 Purple Tang (priority fish and a main reason for upgrading)
1 Blue Tang (wife requirement)
1 Powder Brown Tang (priority fish for me)
1 Tomini Tang OR Kole Tang (on the fence, could delete these guys but like their work ethic)
2 Orange ocellaris clowns (existing)
2 Black ocellaris clowns (wife request but not requirement)
3 Lyretail anthias
6 Chromis (not set on these but they are here as filler fish that will swim in the water column. I've kept them before and aware they reduce down over time)
2 Banggai cardinals (on the fence with these guys, could delete)
1 Royal gramma
1 Neon goby (on the fence, could delete)
1 Yellow Watchman Goby (will pair a pistol shrimp with him)
1 Midas blenny (kept these before, one of my favorite fish!)
1 Mandarin (added in a year or so)
1 Ruby red dragonet (added in a year or so)
2 Yellow clown gobies
1 Melanarus wrasse
1 Carpenter's flasher wrasse (on the fence, could delete)
1 Whip fin fairy wrasse (on the fence, could delete)

I'm pretty sure this is too heavy of a stocking list. I'm a bit worried about the number of large fish but getting more tangs is one of the reasons that my wife suggested the upgraded. Yes you heard that right, it was my wife's idea so I'm trying to do everything I can to facilitate her goals for the upgrade. I'm not willing to part with the foxface and scopas tang as they've been with me for over 5 years, but if I was starting completely from scratch I probably wouldn't have them in there. Also I've always wanted a purple tang but never had the tank for one, and I figured if I was going to have more than one Zebrasoma tang that I should have at least 3 to spread out aggression so added the yellow into the mix.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Hey

Going from the 4’ to 6’ will open up swimming room. The stocking list does seem a bit heavy though.

I like the scopas and foxface. The combo of the yellow, purple and brown could be a problem. Running 5 tangs may not spread the aggression as much as provoke it when everyone tries to establish territory. I would do the scopas you have, the blue, the tomini, and either a yellow-purple-or brown.

I like the cardinals. I have 2 pajama, they are so chill. The chromis are weird. I got 6 a year or so ago. I have 4 now. Never knew what happened to the other 2 but I like them.

Lyretail are cool, but they do need care on feeding schedule. A wrasse would be good, not sure if another pair of clowns would be good.

I always try to think territorial. Last thing you want is a turf war.

 

[Jmas4]

It is on the heavy bioload side, but every tank is different. Your tank might be able to handle it. For the tangs @4FordFamily. What I would do is scopas, purple, powder, hippo, and kole or tomini. I highly recommend adding all the tangs at once because if you add them one at a time, the new one will be bullied hard.
I would skip having 2 pairs of clowns. Some people were successful but for me I failed. It was a 6' tank as well.
I would ditch the chromis as well. You have so much fish already that these filler fish wont do much and they will slowly kill each other.
Anthias require multiple feedings.
Clown gobies host/kill sps.
That's my advice.

Good luck and happy Reefing

 

[Radman73]

I'd consider ditching the chromis and adding more lyretail anthias. I have 6 in a 220 and 3-4 are always out and about, sometimes all 6, and they've not picked any of each other off in the ~1 year I've had them. I do feed the anthias ~3 times per day.

Mandarin may or may not do well with a melanarus competing for pods. I only see pods in my 220 when I move rubble around, so I know they're there, but the wrasse does a very good job of hunting them down.

I only have 1 tang, a yellow eye kole, and don't plan on adding more so can't help you there other than to say, that sounds like a lot.

Good luck!

 

[4FordFamily]

It is on the heavy bioload side, but every tank is different. Your tank might be able to handle it. For the tangs @4FordFamily. What I would do is scopas, purple, powder, hippo, and kole or tomini. I highly recommend adding all the tangs at once because if you add them one at a time, the new one will be bullied hard.
I would skip having 2 pairs of clowns. Some people were successful but for me I failed. It was a 6' tank as well.
I would ditch the chromis as well. You have so much fish already that these filler fish wont do much and they will slowly kill each other.
Anthias require multiple feedings.
Clown gobies host/kill sps.
That's my advice.

Good luck and happy Reefing

I tend to agree with this. Adding a purple to a resident zebrasoma tang such as a scopas may not work well. The scopas may fixate and badger it to death. On the other hand, added with other tangs it could work out just fine. A yellow added to the mix or another smaller zebrasoma (not a sailfin or desjardini sailfin) may help with the odds but adds to the already high bioload.

Anthias haven't been worth the difficulty for me over the years with the feeding frequency they require so I've avoided them but many hobbyists love them.

 

[Albertan22]

It is on the heavy bioload side, but every tank is different. Your tank might be able to handle it. For the tangs @4FordFamily. What I would do is scopas, purple, powder, hippo, and kole or tomini. I highly recommend adding all the tangs at once because if you add them one at a time, the new one will be bullied hard.
I would skip having 2 pairs of clowns. Some people were successful but for me I failed. It was a 6' tank as well.
I would ditch the chromis as well. You have so much fish already that these filler fish wont do much and they will slowly kill each other.
Anthias require multiple feedings.
Clown gobies host/kill sps.
That's my advice.

Good luck and happy Reefing

Thanks for the advice, I was wondering about the second pair of clowns but figured 6 feet of tank might make it possible.

 

[Albertan22]

I'd consider ditching the chromis and adding more lyretail anthias. I have 6 in a 220 and 3-4 are always out and about, sometimes all 6, and they've not picked any of each other off in the ~1 year I've had them. I do feed the anthias ~3 times per day.

Mandarin may or may not do well with a melanarus competing for pods. I only see pods in my 220 when I move rubble around, so I know they're there, but the wrasse does a very good job of hunting them down.

I only have 1 tang, a yellow eye kole, and don't plan on adding more so can't help you there other than to say, that sounds like a lot.

Good luck!

Will your anthias eat pellets? I typically feed pellets via an auto feeder then frozen in the evening already.

 

[Radman73]

Will your anthias eat pellets? I typically feed pellets via an auto feeder then frozen in the evening already.

No, but to be fair, I've never tried acclimating them to pellets either. I work from home so feeding has never been an issue.