Need help deciding on whether or not a fish is right for your tank? Post here and we'll help!

cycled123 · Nov 13, 2017

Starting a 180g mixed reef tank in January. Here is our planned stocking list and loose order. Thoughts? (Planning to cycle with a few pieces of live rock and lots of dry rock currently curing in tote)
3 Bartlett's Anthias
Copper Band Butterfly
Add Occelarius Clown fish, Six line wrasse, Royal Gramma, Sapphire Damsel and Lawnmower blenny from current 37g along with all the rock and corals from this tank
Magnificent Fox Face
Yellow Tang
Powder blue Tang (should these tangs go in together?)
Exquisite Fairy Wrasse or Leopard wrasse (Haven't decided yet-- would both be an option?)
Green Mandarin after a year

Other Fish looking at: (At least one of these red fish)
Firefish pair (Red)
Flame Hawkfish (Red) this is my favorite but live aquaria says caution with blennies. Will this be ok with Lawnmower blenny?
Pacific Red Hogfish (Red)
Bangaii Cardinal pair
Gobies? Any suggestions?

Sandroni · Nov 13, 2017

cycled123 said:
Starting a 180g mixed reef tank in January. Here is our planned stocking list and loose order. Thoughts? (Planning to cycle with a few pieces of live rock and lots of dry rock currently curing in tote)
3 Bartlett's Anthias
Copper Band Butterfly
Add Occelarius Clown fish, Six line wrasse, Royal Gramma, Sapphire Damsel and Lawnmower blenny from current 37g along with all the rock and corals from this tank
Magnificent Fox Face
Yellow Tang
Powder blue Tang (should these tangs go in together?)
Exquisite Fairy Wrasse or Leopard wrasse (Haven't decided yet-- would both be an option?)
Green Mandarin after a year

Other Fish looking at: (At least one of these red fish)
Firefish pair (Red)
Flame Hawkfish (Red) this is my favorite but live aquaria says caution with blennies. Will this be ok with Lawnmower blenny?
Pacific Red Hogfish (Red)
Bangaii Cardinal pair
Gobies? Any suggestions?

Flame hawk is a great addition, but they are semi-aggressive so adding them last would be a good option or steer clear of adding young fish, clean up crew, or bottom dwellers. My flame hawk is fairly peaceful with all her tank mates but she is still getting used to my young wrasses. Since your tank is large you might have a better success with these guys.

eatbreakfast · Nov 13, 2017

cycled123 said:
Starting a 180g mixed reef tank in January. Here is our planned stocking list and loose order. Thoughts? (Planning to cycle with a few pieces of live rock and lots of dry rock currently curing in tote)
3 Bartlett's Anthias
Copper Band Butterfly
Add Occelarius Clown fish, Six line wrasse, Royal Gramma, Sapphire Damsel and Lawnmower blenny from current 37g along with all the rock and corals from this tank
Magnificent Fox Face
Yellow Tang
Powder blue Tang (should these tangs go in together?)
Exquisite Fairy Wrasse or Leopard wrasse (Haven't decided yet-- would both be an option?)
Green Mandarin after a year

Other Fish looking at: (At least one of these red fish)
Firefish pair (Red)
Flame Hawkfish (Red) this is my favorite but live aquaria says caution with blennies. Will this be ok with Lawnmower blenny?
Pacific Red Hogfish (Red)
Bangaii Cardinal pair
Gobies? Any suggestions?

Sixline wrasses are not good tankmates with mandarins. Sixlines are also aggressive to peaceful wrasses, like the exquisite and leopard.

Red hogfish are aggressive as they mature.

The tangs will be fine together, but get the copperband in the tank first.

I have found algae and starry blennies are aggressive to flame hawks, not vice versa.

cycled123 · Nov 14, 2017

Sixline wrasses are not good tankmates with mandarins. Sixlines are also aggressive to peaceful wrasses, like the exquisite and leopard.

Red hogfish are aggressive as they mature.

The tangs will be fine together, but get the copperband in the tank first.

I have found algae and starry blennies are aggressive to flame hawks, not vice versa.[/QUOTE]

Should I add the tangs at the same time? Of our 5 fish the sixline is the least aggressive so I may still consider another wrasse as long as it is larger.

eatbreakfast · Nov 14, 2017

cycled123 said:
Sixline wrasses are not good tankmates with mandarins. Sixlines are also aggressive to peaceful wrasses, like the exquisite and leopard.

Red hogfish are aggressive as they mature.

The tangs will be fine together, but get the copperband in the tank first.

I have found algae and starry blennies are aggressive to flame hawks, not vice versa.

Should I add the tangs at the same time? Of our 5 fish the sixline is the least aggressive so I may still consider another wrasse as long as it is larger.[/QUOTE]
Adding tangs simultaneously is best, but if you can't, add the yellow before the powder blue.

Sixlines can still be aggressive to peaceful wrasses, even if the peaceful wrasses are significantly bigger.

pdisner · Nov 16, 2017

pluikens said:
Need some advice on the order of fish to add to my 40G DT with 20G sump. I am interested in keeping these fish with various soft corals and LPS (acans/lords).

Currently have in DT:
2x Percula Clownfish
3x Pajama Cardinalfish

I want to add:
Flame Hawkfish
Orange Stripe Prawn Goby
Melanurus Wrasse
Bartlett's Anthias

Does anyone see an issue with adding the four fish listed above to the existing 5? I know this will be a heavy bioload but I'm wondering if it can be done with the right equipment (besides a larger tank or oversized sump). Can the fish be added in the order they're listed in or would a different order be better? Keep in mind that these wouldn't all be added at the same time but rather one at a time with weeks apart. Thanks!

Looks cool to me. But you don’t have a CB Butyerfly

pdisner · Nov 16, 2017

Perchlet?

Jmas4 · Nov 16, 2017

pluikens said:
I'm setting up a 150 gallon (72x18X28) as a (mostly) FOWLR tank to keep fish I'm interested in that either won't fit or wouldn't do well in my 40 gallon reef tank. I don't believe I will be able to keep all fish in the below list together but I'd like your thoughts on which fish from the list should not be put together so I can start deciding which to remove from the list. If you could also tell me which fish from the list should for sure be added together, that would be great too!

3x Bangaii Cardinals Pterapogon kauderni
5-7x Blue/Green Chromis Chromis viridis
One Spot Foxface Siganus unimaculatus
Blue Spotted Puffer Canthigaster solandri
Harlequin Tusk Choerodon fasciatus
Rectangle Triggerfish Rhinecanthus rectangulus
Blue Throat Triggerfish Xanthichthys auromarginatus
Powder Blue Tang Acanthurus leucosternon (Could I keep a couple yellow tangs with this guy?)
Six Line Wrasse Pseudocheilinus hexataenia
Eibli Angelfish Centropyge eibli
Bicolor Angelfish Centropyge bicolor

Thanks in advance!

I think you will be overstocked. I have a 125 fowlr only 25 gallons less then yours but I only have a Niger trigger, Picasso trigger, Powder blue, blue hippo, and a yellowtang, and 1 damsel and my stocking is at max. You have almost double the stocking I have.

All the fish you mentioned can all fit in a 150 without too many problems. Yellow tangs and PBT can live together though I recommend adding them at the same time. Probably what you need to do is take some of the larger fish of the list.

eatbreakfast · Nov 16, 2017

Bioloads, feeding routines, maintenance routines, filtration equipment, all vary greatly from tank to tank. What may be the limit for one system may not for another.

cycled123 · Nov 16, 2017

eatbreakfast said:
Should I add the tangs at the same time? Of our 5 fish the sixline is the least aggressive so I may still consider another wrasse as long as it is larger.

Adding tangs simultaneously is best, but if you can't, add the yellow before the powder blue.

Sixlines can still be aggressive to peaceful wrasses, even if the peaceful wrasses are significantly bigger.[/QUOTE]

Is there another wrasse I can put with the sixline?

pluikens · Nov 16, 2017

Jmas4 said:
I think you will be overstocked. I have a 125 fowlr only 25 gallons less then yours but I only have a Niger trigger, Picasso trigger, Powder blue, blue hippo, and a yellowtang, and 1 damsel and my stocking is at max. You have almost double the stocking I have.

Thank you for the insight! I will definitely be adding fish gradually as I suspect once the tank is at capacity I will be looking for a larger or another tank and I want this one to take longer than my 40 gallon. As for filtration, this will be in my basement plumbed to a stock tank refugium and a sump with a skimmer like the Reef Octopus Regal 200EXT with VarioS.

@Jmas4 What filtration do you have on your tank that puts your fish load at what you're currently stocking?

Jmas4 · Nov 16, 2017

I have a about 40 gallon sump with a two little fishies 150 gfo reactor, simplicity 240 protien skimmer, and 10-20 gallon refugium with calpura nd cheato. With this my nitrates at 10 and phosphate is at 0.06

eatbreakfast · Nov 16, 2017

cycled123 said:
Adding tangs simultaneously is best, but if you can't, add the yellow before the powder blue.

Sixlines can still be aggressive to peaceful wrasses, even if the peaceful wrasses are significantly bigger.

Is there another wrasse I can put with the sixline?
Larger, more assertive species, such as hogfish, tuskfish, and the genus Coris, but those species eat inverts and knock corals over.

Mombo · Nov 16, 2017

Making some plans for a 120g - My wife wants a mandarin and I would like either an orange spot or diamond goby. How would these two get along? Is 120 large enough to keep them both fed? Pods are the main food source for these right? Would 1 of each work? What about 2 mandarins and 1 goby? No go?

I will have a fuge to hopefully help keep the pod population growing....

MiguelCS71 · Nov 16, 2017

Together they will be fine. Neither one has a temperment problem...especially in a well furnished 120g with plenty of live rock. Food is your concern. The mandarin....I would reseach ALOT about his care! Pods are mandarins main source for food, tho some have been taught to take small pellets but again research it a lot and see Youtube videos on this topic. As for the goby, provide him plenty of fine sand to sift out the algae and plenty of hiding places within the live rock. Remember, these two fish are peaceful fish, so be careful with what tankmates you put in with them.

MiguelCS71 · Nov 17, 2017

And a refugium, filled with chaeto growing lots of pods is a great thing to have. But FYI, it is best to get a mandarin ONLY once the tank is very well-established.

Mombo · Nov 17, 2017

Ya the plan is to do the mandarin after a year. I was wondering if the goby would compete with the mandarin for pods.

pdisner · Nov 17, 2017

Listen I raise pods. You’re better off, if you have mandarins, to culture out your own nursery, then get yourself a 50 micron sieve, and strain out the copepods to concentrate. Then target feed them to the mandarin.