Livestock choices

[LeonardTheWrasse]

Hey all, I set up my first marine tank recently, and would really appreciate any help or advice you guys may have to offer. I have a Waterbox 100.3, which is a 3 foot by 2 foot 70 gallon display with a 30 gallon sump, I currently have a pair of ocellaris clownfish and a scarlet pinstripe wrasse. I am planning on keeping mainly soft corals, I'm not too keen on trying my hand at stony corals just yet. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to quarantine new additions, I live in a really small space and there just isn't much extra room that isn't being used, and I don't want to keep livestock in the laundry near chemicals. However, I get all my livestock from a reliable store that quarantines all fish, and I do trust them.
This is my fish list, in this order, with each fish added at least 3 weeks between each other.
1. Ocellaris clown pair (currently in tank)
2. Scarlet pinstripe wrasse (currently in tank)
3. Citron coral goby
4. Longfin fairy wrasse
5. Blue flasher wrasse
6. Striped fang blenny
7. Longnose hawkfish
8. Neon dottyback
I'm unsure about what cleanup crew to add, I have a sand sifting starfish currently, but it seems to be more ornamental than useful at this point. I have some algae, but nothing crazy, and it is clearing up a tiny bit.
I am open to any advice or critisism about the stocking, whether the tank looks over stocked, or any fish compatability issues, and would really appreciate any tips or advice as a newbie, before I make too many mistakes!
Thanks

 

[Stephen8169301]

@SaltyT

 

[1112-425XL]

Age of tank, parameters, and pics if you can. And...

 

[LeonardTheWrasse]

The tank is about 2-3 months old, I'm not certain on the dates though.
I'm not able to get any pics of the tank right now, but it has a 1.5 inch sand bed and multiple rock structures. I'm using a Kessil A80 Tuna Blue light ATM and I hope to get another one to get better light coverage.
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 5ppm
Ammonia - 0ppm
pH - 8.2
Phosphate - 0.7

 

[1112-425XL]

I'm not sure about the Wrasse compatibility, but the stocking list doesn't seem like an overload. You could start with a couple Turbo snails and some Nassarius snails. You will most likely experience an ugly stage with algae so don't get frustrated. It will pass in time.

 

[LeonardTheWrasse]

Thanks, that's really helpful, I wasn't sure about clean up crew, but that sounds good, thanks.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Look up long nose halkfish before you get one.

 

[LeonardTheWrasse]

Look up long nose halkfish before you get one.

Thanks for the advice, I've done a fair amount of research on them, and the only issue I could see with them is that they can be territorial, is there anything specific about them that you think I should research more or be worried about?

 

[1112-425XL]

They are predatory, could eat shrimp, cuc and small fish.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

They can cause issues with other fish in a smaller tank. There territory can be quiet large. I have a 90 with a falco hawk he bullies any new fish for a short while, from what I understand and could be wrong, the long nose can be a bigger problem. Maybe some one will correct me

 

[LeonardTheWrasse]

Thanks for that info, I didn't know that. I'll take that off the fish list, because I would rather keep fish that aggressive/territorial out of my tank.

 

[littlefoxx]

Hey all, I set up my first marine tank recently, and would really appreciate any help or advice you guys may have to offer. I have a Waterbox 100.3, which is a 3 foot by 2 foot 70 gallon display with a 30 gallon sump, I currently have a pair of ocellaris clownfish and a scarlet pinstripe wrasse. I am planning on keeping mainly soft corals, I'm not too keen on trying my hand at stony corals just yet. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to quarantine new additions, I live in a really small space and there just isn't much extra room that isn't being used, and I don't want to keep livestock in the laundry near chemicals. However, I get all my livestock from a reliable store that quarantines all fish, and I do trust them.
This is my fish list, in this order, with each fish added at least 3 weeks between each other.
1. Ocellaris clown pair (currently in tank)
2. Scarlet pinstripe wrasse (currently in tank)
3. Citron coral goby
4. Longfin fairy wrasse
5. Blue flasher wrasse
6. Striped fang blenny
7. Longnose hawkfish
8. Neon dottyback
I'm unsure about what cleanup crew to add, I have a sand sifting starfish currently, but it seems to be more ornamental than useful at this point. I have some algae, but nothing crazy, and it is clearing up a tiny bit.
I am open to any advice or critisism about the stocking, whether the tank looks over stocked, or any fish compatability issues, and would really appreciate any tips or advice as a newbie, before I make too many mistakes!
Thanks

Hawkfish have been known to hunt inverts and damage corals just so you know! Its the reason I havnt tried one

 

[Roatan Reef]

Hawkfish have been known to hunt inverts and damage corals just so you know! Its the reason I havnt tried one

Yes, they love Shrimp for a meal...any Shrimp like your $40 cleaner, Peppermint, All Shrimp actually. They also love to find flipped over snail and pick his carcass clean, they are also very territorial and can be aggressive to new fish.

I had a Falco...he was great, until he wasn't.

 

[LeonardTheWrasse]

Would there be any other perching fish that could work in the tank? I had a flame hawkfish for a week, great personality, but unfortunately it died very suddenly, and given the feedback on hawkfish now, I think I'll leave those out. I wanted a green clown goby, but there are some semi-aggressive fish on my list and I didn't want to risk it. I do have the citron goby on the list, and all being well I should be picking it up this weekend.
Do you have any ideas or suggestions for other fish, because I want something else, I just don't really know what it is yet.
Thanks

 

[Tcook]

I would start with about 10 dime to nickel sized nassarius snails and maybe a fighting conch. That will keep your sand churned over.

Exactly how does your lfs “QT” the fish? 30 days in copper? No other fish get placed in the tank? Many lfs do keep low level copper in their non-coral tanks but not therapeutic levels. I would suggest you get a 10 gallon starter tank for QT/observation. Will save yourself quite a few headaches.

 

[LeonardTheWrasse]

I would start with about 10 dime to nickel sized nassarius snails and maybe a fighting conch. That will keep your sand churned over.

Exactly how does your lfs “QT” the fish? 30 days in copper? No other fish get placed in the tank? Many lfs do keep low level copper in their non-coral tanks but not therapeutic levels. I would suggest you get a 10 gallon starter tank for QT/observation. Will save yourself quite a few headaches.

My lfs quarantines for 20-30 days in tanks dosed with copper, prazipro and formalin. There are tanks dedicated to new arrivals, and any fish out of quarantine that displays symptoms of anything has to restart the process. While I understand that this is in no way foolproof, and I'm sure that there are fish that are diseased, right now I don't have a QT tank, but I will set one up for my future additions. Thanks a bunch (seriously) for the advice, and I'll be sure to set up a quarantine tank soon.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Would there be any other perching fish that could work in the tank? I had a flame hawkfish for a week, great personality, but unfortunately it died very suddenly, and given the feedback on hawkfish now, I think I'll leave those out. I wanted a green clown goby, but there are some semi-aggressive fish on my list and I didn't want to risk it. I do have the citron goby on the list, and all being well I should be picking it up this weekend.
Do you have any ideas or suggestions for other fish, because I want something else, I just don't really know what it is yet.
Thanks

Algae Blenny

 

[SaltyT]

I recommend omitting the fairy and flasher wrasse from the list. The scarlet pinstripe wrasse doesn't get along well with other wrasses so I don't recommend adding additional wrasses in with it. The neon dottyback would also be a problem with fairy and flasher wrasses. The rest of your stocking list looks good.

 

[LeonardTheWrasse]

I recommend omitting the fairy and flasher wrasse from the list. The scarlet pinstripe wrasse doesn't get along well with other wrasses so I don't recommend adding additional wrasses in with it. The neon dottyback would also be a problem with fairy and flasher wrasses. The rest of your stocking list looks good.

Thanks, I didn't know about that. Yeah, I don't want to have my fish constantly fighting, I struggle to watch my clownfish's pairing aggression! Those 2 are off the fish list now, thanks.

 

[littlefoxx]

Would there be any other perching fish that could work in the tank? I had a flame hawkfish for a week, great personality, but unfortunately it died very suddenly, and given the feedback on hawkfish now, I think I'll leave those out. I wanted a green clown goby, but there are some semi-aggressive fish on my list and I didn't want to risk it. I do have the citron goby on the list, and all being well I should be picking it up this weekend.
Do you have any ideas or suggestions for other fish, because I want something else, I just don't really know what it is yet.
Thanks

Blennies are amazing perching fish!