Help with 90 gallon stock list

[maxone]

My list so far of fish I would like to keep are listed below And yes I know I wont be able to keep most of them in the 90 gallon so My second question is how big of a tank would I need to house all of those fish adult size.

1. Mocha storm
2. Picasso clownfish
3. Leopard wrasse
4. Mandarin dragonet
5. lawn mower blenny
6. Harp tail blenny
7. Bristol tooth blenny
8. Evansi Anthias
9. Ignitus Anthias
10. Indian Ocean Lyretail Anthias
11. Bimaculatus Anthias
12. Exquisite Firefish
13. Gold spotted rabbitfish
14. Foxface lo
15. Longnose hawkfish
16. Powder blue tang
17. Blue tang
18. Naso tang
19. Gem tang
20. Sailfin tang
21. Achilles Tang
22. Purple tang
23. Chevron Tang
24. Yellow tang
25. Blue Caribbean tang
26. Two Spot BristleTooth Tang
27. Harlequin tusk australia
28. Melanurus wrasse
29. Yellowtail wrasse
30. Mystery wrasse
31. Six line wrasse
32. Dusky wrasse

 

[Soren]

My list so far of fish I would like to keep are listed below And yes I know I wont be able to keep most of them in the 90 gallon so My second question is how big of a tank would I need to house all of those fish adult size.

1. Mocha storm
2. Picasso clownfish
3. Leopard wrasse
4. Mandarin dragonet
5. lawn mower blenny
6. Harp tail blenny
7. Bristol tooth blenny
8. Evansi Anthias
9. Ignitus Anthias
10. Indian Ocean Lyretail Anthias
11. Bimaculatus Anthias
12. Exquisite Firefish
13. Gold spotted rabbitfish
14. Foxface lo
15. Longnose hawkfish
16. Powder blue tang
17. Blue tang
18. Naso tang
19. Gem tang
20. Sailfin tang
21. Achilles Tang
22. Purple tang
23. Chevron Tang
24. Yellow tang
25. Blue Caribbean tang
26. Two Spot BristleTooth Tang
27. Harlequin tusk australia
28. Melanurus wrasse
29. Yellowtail wrasse
30. Mystery wrasse
31. Six line wrasse
32. Dusky wrasse

Woah, that is quite a list! I assume these are just your preferences and that you do not plan to have all of these fish in one tank?

@Jay Hemdal wrote an excellent article on estimating tank needs for fish, linked here: Estimating the Need for Swimming Space for Aquarium Fishes

Also check out online fish vendors for minimum tank size recommendations for the fish you prefer. Most, such as LiveAquaria.com or SaltWaterFish.com, seem to be pretty good for minimum tank requirement guidelines.

Most of the fish on your list will be too large for a 90-gallon, even before they reach full adult size.

If you truly want to keep all of those fish up to adult size all together, you will probably need a tank over thousands gallons, if all of those fish will even get along in a tank that large (still relatively small compared to the ocean...).

I could narrow down recommendations for your list as you narrow down your considerations, especially since I was planning a 90-gallon build for a while before acquiring two 125-gallon tanks, but you will need to do your own research and narrow down the options and number of fish in the plan for your 90-gallon before I can make specific recommendations.

 

[Dave1993]

500+ gallons to house all them

 

[maxone]

What if i take out 25,26,15,32,5,13,19,28

 

[nereefpat]

My second question is how big of a tank would I need to house all of those fish adult size.

Bigger than you can find for an off-the-shelf tank. Like a standard 180-240 wouldn't come close to cutting it.
The biggest issues, in my opinion, would be:
Which Naso? The species that aren't the lipstick and the blonde get huge.
The sailfin.
The Achilles, powder blue, and the Atlantic blue & how well they all get along.
The total number of tangs/rabbits
Believe it or not, the 6 line and mystery wrasse tolerating another wrasse long-term.

It's hard for me to say for sure, but think public aquarium display size.

That being said, if you gave me a 8x2x2 240 gallon, I could come up with a list that houses most of that with a few exceptions.

My list so far of fish I would like to keep are listed below And yes I know I wont be able to keep most of them in the 90 gallon

For a 90 gallon, from those list of fish you like, I would do something like:
Clown pair
Leopard wrasse
Dragonet
Small group of Ignitus
Long-nose hawk
Melanurus wrasse
2-spot tang

 

[maxone]

Like this

 

[ApoIsland]

If you were an experienced reefer you could do a good portion of that list in a 240g tank (8ft x 2ft x 2ft).

Without years of experience you probably need 1000 gallons keep everything on that list.

For a 90g tank you could fairly easily do 3 smaller tangs, couple wrasses, couple clowns, and 5 or 6 other smaller fish.

My 90 is stocked as follows:

Yellow tang
Blue tang
Naso tang
Copper banded butterfly
Potters wrasse
Long nose hawkfish
Royal gramma
Marine beta
Banggai cardinal
Canary blenny
Firefish
Lawnmower blenny

 

[maxone]

Ok so For the Naso tang It would be the lipstick tang with streamers Also the sailfin tang will be taken out of the list and so will the Achilles tang I already have the lepoard wrasse the one on the list that is number 4

 

[maxone]

Here let me post the list without all of the fish I just eliminated to make it easier and yeah seems like I'm going to need a 500 gallon in the future

 

[maxone]

Is this better for the list or do I still need to eliminate some things? Also please keep in mind that the top four fish I already have.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Not even considering tank space, but rather, the ability of certain species to thrive in mixed species tanks, relative hardiness, etc. here is the list I would start with:

Mocha storm
Picasso clownfish
Leopard wrasse
Mandarin dragonet
lawn mower blenny
Harp tail blenny
Bristol tooth blenny
Evansi Anthias
Ignitus Anthias
Indian Ocean Lyretail Anthias
Bimaculatus Anthias
Exquisite Firefish
Gold spotted rabbitfish
Foxface lo
Longnose hawkfish
Powder blue tang
Blue tang
Naso tang
Gem tang
Sailfin tang
Achilles Tang
Purple tang
Chevron Tang
Yellow tang
Blue Caribbean tang
Two Spot BristleTooth Tang
Harlequin tusk australia
Melanurus wrasse
Yellowtail wrasse
Mystery wrasse
Six line wrasse
Dusky wrasse

 

[Soren]

Is this better for the list or do I still need to eliminate some things? Also please keep in mind that the top four fish I already have.

That list is a bit better, but there will still very likely be issues with this stock list for a 90-gallon tank. If you plan to upgrade in the future, I think it is best to have the upgrade already or at least specific plans and time-frame before getting fish requiring it at adult size.

My thoughts on your list, assuming the tank is 90-gallon with the same footprint as standard 75-gallon (48"X18"):
1-4: you already have them and all should be fine in a 90g.
5,6: Both probably fine for a heavily-stocked 90g.
7-10: Possible, but anthias are typically somewhat difficult to care for, especially in a heavily-stocked tank, since frequent feedings are likely to cause troubles in a heavily-stocked tank and anthias require frequent feedings.
11: acceptable addition.
12: May get too large for a 90g, especially if you do not have a lot of empty swimming space (which limits the rockwork needed for heavy stock and limits the surface for algae growth for foxface food), possible inclusion for a 90g stock list.
13-17: Pick only 1-2 tangs for a 90g, and they should be smaller tangs such as those from the genus Ctenochaetus (Bristletooth tangs), maybe a yellow tang, possibly a purple tang but not recommended, others on your list will probably get too large for and not do well in a 90g tank.
18: Not great for a 90g, will probably get too large and will limit clean-up crew options.
19: Not recommended for a 90g for same reasons as 18. Harlequin Tusk.
20,21: Both would work for a 90g and may both work together, though both could cause trouble for each other and/or other fish.

These are my own thoughts from doing research on stocking a similarly-sized tank. The list I ended up considering for a 90-gallon (tied to a 75-gallon sump) was as follows:
1x Orangespotted Shrimp Goby
1x Rainford's Goby
2x Ocellaris Clownfish
1x Bristletooth Tomini Tang
2x Cleaner Goby (genus Elcatinus)
3x smaller cardinalfish (3" adult size)
1x engineer goby/convict blenny
1x Melanurus Wrasse
2x Scissortail Dartfish
1x Bicolor Foxface
1x Purple Tang

A few notes about my list:
A) This would be a heavily-stocked 90g list since the system would have been attached to a 75-gallon tank on the side as well as a 75-gallon sump, so total water volume would have been more like 220 gallons. Compartments in the sump and in the side tank would have included macroalgae and other methods of nutrient export to deal with the heavy nutrient load. A simple 90-gallon system cannot support this list of fish.
B) The bicolor foxface is my favorite fish, so I wanted one but really questioned the inclusion in a 90-gallon, since it would ultimately grow too large to be comfortable in anything less than a 125-gallon tank. This applies to nearly all rabbitfish/foxfaces, except possibly the one-spot foxface (Siganus unimaculatus). This is also why I immediately rerouted plans when I acquired the 125-gallon tanks.
C) The purple tang was a fish I already had and I wanted to include, but I again questioned it, since a 125-gallon seemed to me the best minimum tank size to consider for a purple tang. The upgrade to 125's alleviated this, but the tang ended up dying during stresses and lack of maintenance while I tore down my original 75-gallon FOWLR that I acquired from a co-worker.
D) A significant issue that was never personally proven for me is that aggression would have been very likely with this stock-list due to limited space for so many different fish, even though I chose fish with different function/food/living areas. You will need to account for possibilities of aggression if you attempt a heavily-stocked mixed-community tank.

Just some more thoughts to take into consideration...

 

[ApoIsland]

19: Not recommended for a 90g for same reasons as 18. Harlequin Tusk.

All great points and good advice. #19 needs clarification from the OP though.

If OP is referring to a yellowtail tamarin wrasse, it is small and no problem at all.

If the OP is trying to name the yellow tail CORIS (which is my favorite fish) then yes, it would eventually be a disaster in a 90 at even half grown adult size.

 

[nereefpat]

Is this better for the list or do I still need to eliminate some things? Also please keep in mind that the top four fish I already have.

What tank size are we talking? Most of the problems I mentioned above are still there.

 

[Soren]

What tank size are we talking? Most of the problems I mentioned above are still there.

The title of the thread specifies 90-gallon, though there seems to be indication of ideas toward a future upgrade from how I read the first post.

 

[BanjoBandito]

That’s a lot of tangs….I have an 80 gallon and I’m not sure I can even get a tomini tang in there. Lol.

 

[maxone]

Would this be better and yes It is going to be for a 90 gallon tank I will upgrade to something around 500 gallons but not soon enough to put into thought.

 

[Soren]

Would this be better and yes It is going to be for a 90 gallon tank I will upgrade to something around 500 gallons but not soon enough to put into thought.

For a 90-gallon tank, I like this list better but I'd still probably only include number 8. for the anthias per Jay's recommendation above (maybe a few of the same type) or skip the anthias altogether due to frequent feedings.
Also, for the tangs, I'd say keep the yellow tang but skip the other two for this tank size and maybe add a Ctenochaetus bristletooth tang instead.

We'll see what others recommend as well.

 

[maxone]

do the powder blue tangs get too big? for a 90 gallon

 

[Soren]

do the powder blue tangs get too big? for a 90 gallon

From what I've read, the minimum recommended tank size is 125 gallons while many people recommend more space for tangs than minimum due to their active swimming and potential for aggression. In addition, they can be more difficult to care for than some tangs due to susceptibility to ich/velvet.

This is only based on my research and not personal experience.