I need some assistance in my stocking list

[bsap]

Hi all, I just had a Cyanobacteria outbreak that really killed most of my corals. Now that the tank is looking beautiful once again, it’s about time to add more fish and corals back into my tank which is a Waterbox 50.3 AIO.

Currently in the tank, I have a 2 Ocellaris Clowns and a Purple Dottyback.

Since space is limited (it’s a 3ft long tank), my hope is to get a lot of movement in the tank that will go well with my LPS and softies that I plan to add to the tank.

Here’s what I have as my stocking on top of the three fish listed above.

3x Chalk Bass
2-3x Pajama Cardinalfish
1x Goby (Watchman or Diamond)
1x Tailspot or Midas Blenny

I was considering chromis but given their nature to feed more than twice a day and form hierarchies that ultimately lead to their deaths, I’m staying away from those. I figured the bass and Cardinalfish might supply me the movement I’m looking for. I’d love a dwarf angel but know that’s not as likely given their reef safe with caution and could nip at some corals. Any suggestions and critiques appreciated!

I should add that I’m running a skimmer with Microbacter Bio Cubes for filtration as well as plenty of established rock as the tank is now about a year old

 

[jaghorireefs&mma]

I think you should be good with a captive bred coral beauty, never nipped at any of my corals. Beautiful fish and on the smaller side too, I would also say to get a captive bred mandarin over the tailspot or midas, maybe im biased but we have been seeing a lot of blenny aggression recently in the shop. Plus mandarins are much more pretty and active. As for the schooling fish I would say Bangaii Cardinals are much more hardy then Pajamas, just from my experience the colors also look much better. As for the chalk bass great choice! but you did mention you have a purple dottyback and there is a chance of aggression in that area, chromis aren't as bad some people assume. We feed ours a healthy mix of marine cusine once a day and they do great. The chances of aggression with small green chromis are very little, in compare to blue reef chromis or damsels. So I would say replace the blennies for a mandarin, the goby for a coral beauty, the pajamas for bangaiis, and the basses replace with chromis.

Hope this helps!
Slade

 

[bsap]

I think you should be good with a captive bred coral beauty, never nipped at any of my corals. Beautiful fish and on the smaller side too, I would also say to get a captive bred mandarin over the tailspot or midas, maybe im biased but we have been seeing a lot of blenny aggression recently in the shop. Plus mandarins are much more pretty and active. As for the schooling fish I would say Bangaii Cardinals are much more hardy then Pajamas, just from my experience the colors also look much better. As for the chalk bass great choice! but you did mention you have a purple dottyback and there is a chance of aggression in that area, chromis aren't as bad some people assume. We feed ours a healthy mix of marine cusine once a day and they do great. The chances of aggression with small green chromis are very little, in compare to blue reef chromis or damsels. So I would say replace the blennies for a mandarin, the goby for a coral beauty, the pajamas for bangaiis, and the basses replace with chromis.

Hope this helps!
Slade

Didn’t know that about the Chalk Bass and the Dottyback! Good to know. I’m worried about a mandarin because I don’t think my tank is that populated with pods at the moment. Guess that’s something I can add at some point. I already feed frozen to the tank. Sadly, since I’m ordering off LiveAquaria, there’s no cardinals in stock only pajamas. But I can hopefully just wait and see. How many chromis would you recommend?

 

[bsap]

Didn’t know that about the Chalk Bass and the Dottyback! Good to know. I’m worried about a mandarin because I don’t think my tank is that populated with pods at the moment. Guess that’s something I can add at some point. I already feed frozen to the tank. Sadly, since I’m ordering off LiveAquaria, there’s no cardinals in stock only pajamas. But I can hopefully just wait and see. How many chromis would you recommend?

I also should correct myself. I have an orchid Dottyback not a purple one!

 

[jaghorireefs&mma]

Hi, please do not order from liveaquaria. If you do your research they are a horrible website, the quality has plummeted since petco bought them out. All the fish our clients have ordered from them have arrived dead or sick, and your order takes weeks to ship. I suggest reefbeauties or harrys marine life 10x the quality and even more cheaper. Where are you based out of? You can put an order in with us as well and I can go in the shop and personally pack your order. I suggest 3-4 small chromis, A lot of mandarins nowdays are trained onto frozen food and all ours eat frozen even the wild caught ones have been leaned on. A tailspot blenny would also work in place of the mandarin.



Regards,
Slade

 

[bsap]

Hi, please do not order from liveaquaria. If you do your research they are a horrible website, the quality has plummeted since petco bought them out. All the fish our clients have ordered from them have arrived dead or sick, and your order takes weeks to ship. I suggest reefbeauties or harrys marine life 10x the quality and even more cheaper. Where are you based out of? You can put an order in with us as well and I can go in the shop and personally pack your order. I suggest 3-4 small chromis, A lot of mandarins nowdays are trained onto frozen food and all ours eat frozen even the wild caught ones have been leaned on. A tailspot blenny would also work in place of the mandarin.



Regards,
Slade

I’m based out of NYC. I see a lot of sites don’t have my stocking list in stock or at all and sadly there are hardly any LFS in the area anymore

 

[bsap]

Hi, please do not order from liveaquaria. If you do your research they are a horrible website, the quality has plummeted since petco bought them out. All the fish our clients have ordered from them have arrived dead or sick, and your order takes weeks to ship. I suggest reefbeauties or harrys marine life 10x the quality and even more cheaper. Where are you based out of? You can put an order in with us as well and I can go in the shop and personally pack your order. I suggest 3-4 small chromis, A lot of mandarins nowdays are trained onto frozen food and all ours eat frozen even the wild caught ones have been leaned on. A tailspot blenny would also work in place of the mandarin.



Regards,
Slade

What’s the name of your shop?

 

[jaghorireefs&mma]

What’s the name of your shop?

Crystal Clear Aquariums in Virginia, I usually handle the service side. Our sister shop that handles fish for our clients is Aquatic Creations (the one in my background).

 

[jaghorireefs&mma]

I’m based out of NYC. I see a lot of sites don’t have my stocking list in stock or at all and sadly there are hardly any LFS in the area anymore

Your stock list is really easy to get in, its nothing crazy.

 

[jaghorireefs&mma]

Your stock list is really easy to get in, its nothing crazy.

Just checked, we have everything in the store we should have a tailspot in too he's just probably hiding in the rockwork. I also checked reefbeauties and they have all those fish as well.

 

[Maize & Blue]

Flame Hawk. Awesome personality and doesn’t need much swimming area.

 

[Reef Breeder 2013]

Hi all, I just had a Cyanobacteria outbreak that really killed most of my corals. Now that the tank is looking beautiful once again, it’s about time to add more fish and corals back into my tank which is a Waterbox 50.3 AIO.

Currently in the tank, I have a 2 Ocellaris Clowns and a Purple Dottyback.

Since space is limited (it’s a 3ft long tank), my hope is to get a lot of movement in the tank that will go well with my LPS and softies that I plan to add to the tank.

Here’s what I have as my stocking on top of the three fish listed above.

3x Chalk Bass
2-3x Pajama Cardinalfish
1x Goby (Watchman or Diamond)
1x Tailspot or Midas Blenny

I was considering chromis but given their nature to feed more than twice a day and form hierarchies that ultimately lead to their deaths, I’m staying away from those. I figured the bass and Cardinalfish might supply me the movement I’m looking for. I’d love a dwarf angel but know that’s not as likely given their reef safe with caution and could nip at some corals. Any suggestions and critiques appreciated!

I should add that I’m running a skimmer with Microbacter Bio Cubes for filtration as well as plenty of established rock as the tank is now about a year old

I love mandarin fish, so I think you could try one of them, just make sure you choose a fat one.