Figuring Out which fish I'd like to have and what will be a good setup!

[Coogzreef]

Hey everyone I made a list of all the fish/invertebrates that seemed awesome to have but I am very aware every option may not be a good one and I am aware that I cannot have all. I am looking for some opinions / personal experiences with some of the species I have posted and what will 100% not play nicely with one another. Any info / opinions anyone has would be great!

Current Fish:
Scopas tang
2 black and white Ocellaris Clowns

Fish in list:
Bi color Angel
Lemon peel Angel
Regal Angel
Sailfin Tang
Purple Tang
Blue Tang
Powder Blue or Powder Brown Tang
Convict Tang
File fish
Niger Trigger or Clown Trigger
Copperband Butterfly
Racoon Butterfly
Pakistan Butterfly
Royal Gramma
Orchid Dottyback
Puffer - Not sure on species
Leopard Wrasse or Blue Striped Tamarin Wrasse
Mandarin Goby
Banded Coral Shrimp
Cleaner Shrimp
Fire Shrimp
Camel Shrimp
Sand Sifting Star
Open to Opinions on Snails/Crabs etc.

Any other Options I have left out I'd be grateful to hear aswell!
I understand this may be a bit to ask and a long list but if you have the time that would be awesome! Thank you.

Tank Size: 6 feet wide 2 1/2 feet tall 18 inches deep

 

[dstockwell]

Welcome to the Reef

Fish are hard decision, your list is a bunch to sort through and research, I only have snails.

 

[Coogzreef]

Welcome to the Reef

Fish are hard decision, your list is a bunch to sort through and research, I only have snails.

What kind of snails do you have? I'm going to need a clean up crew soonish so looking into some options of snails as well.

 

[lulubap]

Hey everyone I made a list of all the fish/invertebrates that seemed awesome to have but I am very aware every option may not be a good one and I am aware that I cannot have all. I am looking for some opinions / personal experiences with some of the species I have posted and what will 100% not play nicely with one another. Any info / opinions anyone has would be great!

Current Fish:
Scopas tang
2 black and white Ocellaris Clowns

Fish in list:
Bi color Angel
Lemon peel Angel
Regal Angel
Sailfin Tang
Purple Tang
Blue Tang
Powder Blue or Powder Brown Tang
Convict Tang
File fish
Niger Trigger or Clown Trigger
Copperband Butterfly
Racoon Butterfly
Pakistan Butterfly
Royal Gramma
Orchid Dottyback
Puffer - Not sure on species
Leopard Wrasse or Blue Striped Tamarin Wrasse
Mandarin Goby
Banded Coral Shrimp
Cleaner Shrimp
Fire Shrimp
Camel Shrimp
Sand Sifting Star
Open to Opinions on Snails/Crabs etc.

Any other Options I have left out I'd be grateful to hear aswell!
I understand this may be a bit to ask and a long list but if you have the time that would be awesome! Thank you.

Tank Size: 6 feet wide 2 1/2 feet tall 18 inches deep

Triggers, files, and puffers are some aggressive fish. If you decide to go with a puffer, this list will probably be cut into a fraction of what it is. What kind of file fish are you looking into?

I'd suggest doing some research on your coral banded and cleaner shrimps, they can be annoying.

"
Sailfin Tang
Purple Tang
Blue Tang
Powder Blue or Powder Brown Tang
Convict Tang

"
A good rule of thumb for tang tanks is one per genus. This doesn't mean you absolutely have to do one per genus, but I'd recommend sticking with zebrasoma (sailfin and purple) and paracanthurus (hippo blue) more if you're going to place more than one of a genus.

Add acanthurus tangs last (convict, powder brown and blue). They're the likelier aggressors of tang genuses.

Powder blue tangs are often listed as some of the "worst" tangs to keep due to their frailness, added with the fact that tangs in general are already susceptible to falling ill to ich and HLLE.

"
Copperband Butterfly
Racoon Butterfly
Pakistan Butterfly
"

Butterflys are good for FOWLR tanks, but people tend to not want them for reef tanks due to their susceptibility to feeding on coral.

"
Bi color Angel
Lemon peel Angel
Regal Angel
"

You may have issues with the bi color and lemon peel. More than one dwarf angel will encourage aggression.

Depending on the angel, they're a "reef safe with caution" fish. However, the regal angel still holds a place in my heart.

"
Royal Gramma
Orchid Dottyback
"

If they're wild caught, you'll have issues with dottyback aggression. In my experience, dottybacks are much milder when captive bred.

Royal gramma is ok, I love them.

Some classic snail options are trochus, turbo, and nassarius. You could also go cerith. Crabs I'm less enthusiastic about since they're opportunistic, but if I had to list my favorite (opportunistic or not) I'd go with hermits and emeralds, from personal experience. Some people also like pom poms.

I'll add onto this later, this is all I can give you for now. Best of luck.

 

[dstockwell]

Top crown, and a conch.

 

[Coogzreef]

Triggers, files, and puffers are some aggressive fish. If you decide to go with a puffer, this list will probably be cut into a fraction of what it is. What kind of file fish are you looking into?

I'd suggest doing some research on your coral banded and cleaner shrimps, they can be annoying.

"
Sailfin Tang
Purple Tang
Blue Tang
Powder Blue or Powder Brown Tang
Convict Tang

"
A good rule of thumb for tang tanks is one per genus. This doesn't mean you absolutely have to do one per genus, but I'd recommend sticking with zebrasoma (sailfin and purple) and paracanthurus (hippo blue) more if you're going to place more than one of a genus.

Add acanthurus tangs last (convict, powder brown and blue). They're the likelier aggressors of tang genuses.

Powder blue tangs are often listed as some of the "worst" tangs to keep due to their frailness, added with the fact that tangs in general are already susceptible to falling ill to ich and HLLE.

"
Copperband Butterfly
Racoon Butterfly
Pakistan Butterfly
"

Butterflys are good for FOWLR tanks, but people tend to not want them for reef tanks due to their susceptibility to feeding on coral.

"
Bi color Angel
Lemon peel Angel
Regal Angel
"

You may have issues with the bi color and lemon peel. More than one dwarf angel will encourage aggression.

Depending on the angel, they're a "reef safe with caution" fish. However, the regal angel still holds a place in my heart.

"
Royal Gramma
Orchid Dottyback
"

If they're wild caught, you'll have issues with dottyback aggression. In my experience, dottybacks are much milder when captive bred.

Royal gramma is ok, I love them.

Some classic snail options are trochus, turbo, and nassarius. You could also go cerith. Crabs I'm less enthusiastic about since they're opportunistic, but if I had to list my favorite (opportunistic or not) I'd go with hermits and emeralds, from personal experience. Some people also like pom poms.

I'll add onto this later, this is all I can give you for now. Best of luck.

This was an awesome reply great feedback. Also super grateful for your time. Looking forward to the add on if you have time! I'll do some more research on the shrimp. If I had to pick within the aggressive category personally would go with a trigger over the puffer. I personally did not know filefish can be nasty I guess I must've been mistaken. I really haven't narrowed down as to which filefish yet just really like the way they look.

 

[lulubap]

This was an awesome reply great feedback. Also super grateful for your time. Looking forward to the add on if you have time! I'll do some more research on the shrimp. If I had to pick within the aggressive category personally would go with a trigger over the puffer. I personally did not know filefish can be nasty I guess I must've been mistaken. I really haven't narrowed down as to which filefish yet just really like the way they look.

I'm assuming you're considering filefish for aiptasia?

Wish I could edit my post, but it won't let me. Files are mild tempered depending on the one you get, I just mistakenly roped them in as aggressive. There's a good article by Jay Hemdal here on filefish, so I think you'd like it. If you're looking for aiptasia eating fish, then copperband butterflies and bristletail files are your best bet. Though, I've seen people have better luck with peppermint shrimp and berghia nudibranches (you can't have both, the former will typically eat the latter).

It seems like you have a lot of swimming space, but have you considered demersal fish to spread out the territory? Perhaps a shrimp goby/pistol shrimp pair would tickle your fancy.

Triggers and puffers are generally ok together, but they would have to be placed last in your tank and you'd have to research finding fish that would go with them (LARGE hawkfish, tangs, I've read some wrasse genuses as well) . You'd typically want fish that will be able to hold their own, so if you want perching fish I'd recommend swallowtail hawks, or any hawk for that matter. I just say swallowtail because I've personally seen ones big enough to withstand the aggression of puffers (puffers and triggers, as all fish in the reefkeeping hobby are, are case-by-case fishes. Personality matters when you're picking out fish!)

Which brings me to my next point: always ask about the fish and if they're eating, how they're doing with their tankmates, etc. A good LFS will roughly be able to tell you how they are.

If you're going to go trigger or puffer, I cannot stress this enough, personality truly does matter for more aggressive species. And, your list will need some amendments and omissions if you plan to go down that hole.

I have no opinions on fire or camel shrimp, as I've never had them at my work long enough to know how they are.

I almost forgot about mandarin gobies. They're infamous for being difficult to keep, but with your tank size I would be less concerned. Make sure the tank is mature + rich with copepods and that you haven't crossed to the aggressive fish yet. If you're willing to spend the extra cash, I'd recommend getting biota mandarins as they've been bred to eat pellets and prepared food. Having a stocking list beforehand is good, but ordering the fish is important. It's important to go from least aggressive first to most aggressive last. This is to sort out territory disputes.

Seeing as you now have ocellaris clowns, I have a feeling they'll think they own the tank lol.

Don't be alarmed with immediate aggression when introducing fish. Pecking orders have to be established and it's very likely the anger will settle down.

Also adding for CUC: seeing the size of your tank, you could probably go full blast with different snails. Lately, some questions about clean up crews have been posted, I think they'd serve you well.

Best of luck.

 

[jtf74]

Hey everyone I made a list of all the fish/invertebrates that seemed awesome to have but I am very aware every option may not be a good one and I am aware that I cannot have all. I am looking for some opinions / personal experiences with some of the species I have posted and what will 100% not play nicely with one another. Any info / opinions anyone has would be great!

Current Fish:
Scopas tang
2 black and white Ocellaris Clowns

Fish in list:
Bi color Angel
Lemon peel Angel
Regal Angel
Sailfin Tang
Purple Tang
Blue Tang
Powder Blue or Powder Brown Tang
Convict Tang
File fish
Niger Trigger or Clown Trigger
Copperband Butterfly
Racoon Butterfly
Pakistan Butterfly
Royal Gramma
Orchid Dottyback
Puffer - Not sure on species
Leopard Wrasse or Blue Striped Tamarin Wrasse
Mandarin Goby
Banded Coral Shrimp
Cleaner Shrimp
Fire Shrimp
Camel Shrimp
Sand Sifting Star
Open to Opinions on Snails/Crabs etc.

Any other Options I have left out I'd be grateful to hear aswell!
I understand this may be a bit to ask and a long list but if you have the time that would be awesome! Thank you.

Tank Size: 6 feet wide 2 1/2 feet tall 18 inches deep

For reference: 280 gallon - 3' 6 x 5' x 24"
My setup now-
copperband
hippo tang
maroon clown pair
bicolor angel
flame angel
peppermint goby
royal gramma
couple different damsels
about to add a flame hawk and longnose butterfly


Triggers are trouble. Limits alot of what you can do. Seen a niger trigger eat a guys entire tank of fish. Nasty.
Mixing any tangs can result in death of one even in large setups.
Powder brown tang less aggressive than powder blue. Hippo (blue?) one of the most docile towards non tangs.
Zebrosomas I'v seen so probably other tangs will sometimes attack butterflies , clowns, angels, etc if first established in too small a tank. Usually not fatal, and it works itself out, depending on the fish.
Copperband -favorite fish for personality and boldness- do your research- can be bullied by tangs and can starve in a system with aggressive eaters.
Royal gramma and dottyback may fight. Gramma is great community fish good with larger aggressive species tangs,angels. Mine is at least 9-10 yrs old.
Bicolor angel my #2 favorite after copperband for color, movement, interest. Great companions for tangs, butterflies. Ok with other angels in large enough system.
Mandarin goby- Awesome fish but need a live colony of pods for most to thrive. Well established tank with live rock.

Personally with your tank size from my experience I'd keep just the one tang, but I don't like conflict in my tank and catching to rehome is a pain in the ...

 

[Jekyl]

What kind of snails do you have? I'm going to need a clean up crew soonish so looking into some options of snails as well.

Get a package from reefcleaners.org

 

[Coogzreef]

I'm assuming you're considering filefish for aiptasia?

Wish I could edit my post, but it won't let me. Files are mild tempered depending on the one you get, I just mistakenly roped them in as aggressive. There's a good article by Jay Hemdal here on filefish, so I think you'd like it. If you're looking for aiptasia eating fish, then copperband butterflies and bristletail files are your best bet. Though, I've seen people have better luck with peppermint shrimp and berghia nudibranches (you can't have both, the former will typically eat the latter).

It seems like you have a lot of swimming space, but have you considered demersal fish to spread out the territory? Perhaps a shrimp goby/pistol shrimp pair would tickle your fancy.

Triggers and puffers are generally ok together, but they would have to be placed last in your tank and you'd have to research finding fish that would go with them (LARGE hawkfish, tangs, I've read some wrasse genuses as well) . You'd typically want fish that will be able to hold their own, so if you want perching fish I'd recommend swallowtail hawks, or any hawk for that matter. I just say swallowtail because I've personally seen ones big enough to withstand the aggression of puffers (puffers and triggers, as all fish in the reefkeeping hobby are, are case-by-case fishes. Personality matters when you're picking out fish!)

Which brings me to my next point: always ask about the fish and if they're eating, how they're doing with their tankmates, etc. A good LFS will roughly be able to tell you how they are.

If you're going to go trigger or puffer, I cannot stress this enough, personality truly does matter for more aggressive species. And, your list will need some amendments and omissions if you plan to go down that hole.

I have no opinions on fire or camel shrimp, as I've never had them at my work long enough to know how they are.

I almost forgot about mandarin gobies. They're infamous for being difficult to keep, but with your tank size I would be less concerned. Make sure the tank is mature + rich with copepods and that you haven't crossed to the aggressive fish yet. If you're willing to spend the extra cash, I'd recommend getting biota mandarins as they've been bred to eat pellets and prepared food. Having a stocking list beforehand is good, but ordering the fish is important. It's important to go from least aggressive first to most aggressive last. This is to sort out territory disputes.

Seeing as you now have ocellaris clowns, I have a feeling they'll think they own the tank lol.

Don't be alarmed with immediate aggression when introducing fish. Pecking orders have to be established and it's very likely the anger will settle down.

Also adding for CUC: seeing the size of your tank, you could probably go full blast with different snails. Lately, some questions about clean up crews have been posted, I think they'd serve you well.

Best of luck.

No aipstasia atm just honestly like the way they look kinda just an interesting fish to me. I'll check out the article about the filefish!
Its funny you say that about the clowns they definitely have a funny personality not being the biggest fish and being so bold they are cool fish all around although I had some maroons back then and they were a nightmare.
As much as I like the Niger Triggers the more research I do seems to be not a very good fit for what I want and same goes for the puffer. I really enjoy having shrimp in the tank and with research i've seen that its usually one or the other.
I really like the copperband butterflies but I am concerned about coral because I plan to have some later on when the tank has been established for awhile.
I'm thinking about trying my chances with the tangs a bit worried but if they are all added at once I will probably have more luck only concern I have currently is having the scopas tang in my tank already hopefully he's not a butthead when I try to put others in.

Cannot stress enough how thankful I am for your time.

 

[Coogzreef]

For reference: 280 gallon - 3' 6 x 5' x 24"
My setup now-
copperband
hippo tang
maroon clown pair
bicolor angel
flame angel
peppermint goby
royal gramma
couple different damsels
about to add a flame hawk and longnose butterfly


Triggers are trouble. Limits alot of what you can do. Seen a niger trigger eat a guys entire tank of fish. Nasty.
Mixing any tangs can result in death of one even in large setups.
Powder brown tang less aggressive than powder blue. Hippo (blue?) one of the most docile towards non tangs.
Zebrosomas I'v seen so probably other tangs will sometimes attack butterflies , clowns, angels, etc if first established in too small a tank. Usually not fatal, and it works itself out, depending on the fish.
Copperband -favorite fish for personality and boldness- do your research- can be bullied by tangs and can starve in a system with aggressive eaters.
Royal gramma and dottyback may fight. Gramma is great community fish good with larger aggressive species tangs,angels. Mine is at least 9-10 yrs old.
Bicolor angel my #2 favorite after copperband for color, movement, interest. Great companions for tangs, butterflies. Ok with other angels in large enough system.
Mandarin goby- Awesome fish but need a live colony of pods for most to thrive. Well established tank with live rock.

Personally with your tank size from my experience I'd keep just the one tang, but I don't like conflict in my tank and catching to rehome is a pain in the ...

What has happened in your experience with having more than one tang?

 

[jtf74]

What has happened in your experience with having more than one tang?

I lost a beautiful powder brown tang and my copperband got a nasty gash from a yellow tang I had to rehome. The pbt was even slightly larger than the yellow and I thought they had worked things out after four or five days but found it floating and sliced up.