Fish Selection Advice For My 125G, 50G & 32G

Lionardo_056 · Sep 10, 2023

I need help making a decision on what fish I can actually keep adding to my reef. I am a big fish lover as same as for corals (Soft Corals and LPS). My tank is fairly new and all the fish in this list are in their small stage. Please advice me on what you think of my list of livestock and wish list. The Naso Tang is something I really want same as for the Foxface and convict tang. I am willing to add a bigger tank in 2-5years if the fish grow too big for it. The pictures are from when the tanks where first set. Only had one coral death. No Fish death everyone is really healthy and happy. The media from the tanks came from a friends establish tank that has being running for 5 years. Please recommend me some good but not too expensive reef lights for the 125g and anything else you think I should get. Such as fish, corals & equipment.

Tanks being running for 3 month. 10% water change every week. Salt Instant Ocean (Reef Crystal)

125 Gallon (DISPLAY TANK)
Equipment

20G Sump
Eshopp protein skimmer s-120
Bio Rings
2 300W heater
2 Nero 5 running at 80% Random Flow
UV- Coming Soon
Chaeto Refugium- Coming Soon
Temporary blue lights (Not sure the brand)
PF-300 HOB OVERFLOW
8 layer Filter Media

Fish

1 Royal Gramma
2 clownfish
1 Orange Diamond Goby
1 orchid dottyback
2 peppermint shrimp
1 cleaner Shrimp
1 lawn mower blenny
4 Red Legged Hermit Crab
1 Nassarius Snail
3 blue legged hermit crab
1 Powder Blue
1 Scopas Tang
1 blue Tang

Coral

1 hammer coral
2 Orange Florida Ricordea Mushroom
2 green star polyps
6 zoanthids
1 Candy Cane Coral (4head)
2 Torch Coral
3 Green mushroom
1 Goniopora
1 Alveopora
1 Purple-Green Trumpet (2head)
1 blastomussa
2 rainbow bubble tip

Wish List

Foxface rabbitfish
Firefish
Cleaner Wrass
Naso Tang
Convict tang

Water test
Temp 78
Salinity 35 ppm
High range ph 8.0 ppm
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrate no3 10ppm
Nitrate no2 0ppm

50 Gallon Tank
Equipment

Cascade 1500
1 300 watt heater
Protein Skimmer for a 50Gallon
2 cheap ac wave maker

Fish

1 yellow watchman goby
1 pistol shrimp
2 flurry ocellaris clownfish
2 peppermint shrimp
6 blue legged hermit crab
1 Powder Brown Tang

Wish List

1 lawn mower blenny
1 Orange Diamond Goby

32 bio cube (empty)
Wish List

1 lawn mower blenny
1 Orange Diamond Goby

I still haven’t decided on what to use to test for alk, calcium and the other stuff. But all the corals look good for now.

Rtaylor · Sep 11, 2023

I like your rockscapes!
For starters, you’ll need a much bigger cuc for all tanks. Typically 1-3 crabs/snails per gallon. Checkout reefcleaners.org
4 tangs in a 125 might be an issue even if they are small. Maybe consider some wrasses instead. Wrasses also help with pest control.

It might be a good idea to focus on 1 tank for 6-12 months as you may change your mind about what you want with more experience. For example, after having a reef tank for 8-9 months, I became obsessed with anemones and setup 2 tanks focused on anemones. You might decide you love SPS or leather corals or zoas, etc and want to plan your tanks around them.

I’d also recommend looking at macro algae and gorgonians as options. They can really add something to a tank. Here’s a great supplier for them if you want to look into it.

Macro Algae: Your Source For Quality Marine Plants and Macroalgae | Gulf Coast Ecosystems

We specialize in saltwater Macroalgae and Seagrass | GCE has the largest selection of Macroalgae online, offering over 35 different species

www.live-plants.com

Lionardo_056 · Sep 14, 2023

Rtaylor said:
I like your rockscapes!
For starters, you’ll need a much bigger cuc for all tanks. Typically 1-3 crabs/snails per gallon. Checkout reefcleaners.org
4 tangs in a 125 might be an issue even if they are small. Maybe consider some wrasses instead. Wrasses also help with pest control.

It might be a good idea to focus on 1 tank for 6-12 months as you may change your mind about what you want with more experience. For example, after having a reef tank for 8-9 months, I became obsessed with anemones and setup 2 tanks focused on anemones. You might decide you love SPS or leather corals or zoas, etc and want to plan your tanks around them.

I’d also recommend looking at macro algae and gorgonians as options. They can really add something to a tank. Here’s a great supplier for them if you want to look into it.

Macro Algae: Your Source For Quality Marine Plants and Macroalgae | Gulf Coast Ecosystems

We specialize in saltwater Macroalgae and Seagrass | GCE has the largest selection of Macroalgae online, offering over 35 different species

www.live-plants.com

Thank you so much I am going to take your advice on it. I will focus on the big one first and the other later down the road.