So it's come to my attention that some of my freshwater tanks downstairs are nearing the end of their lifespans and could use replacing or upgrading. Then I had the idea that instead of upgrading to a larger freshwater system, I could upgrade to a 6 foot reef system.
Here's the stock list I've come up with so far. Let me know what you guys think. Tank will be a mixed reef leaning towards SPS, probably something like 60% SPS 30% LPS 10% zoa/palys.
TANGS: 1 tomini, 1 yellow-eye kole, 1 white tail bristletooth, 1 yellow OR purple --- 4 tangs total
WRASSES: 1 yellow coris, 1 melanurus, 1 radiant, 1 red lined (H. biocellatus) ----- 4 wrasses total, all Halichoeres. I will have a sand bed around 1.5-2 inches. From what I can tell yellow coris + melanurus wrasses are a pretty common combo and do fine together, so I figured 1 more shouldn't be an issue, but 4 might be pushing it? Any experience here?
BLENNIES: 1 starry, 1 lawnmower, 1 midas, 1 bi-colour
GOBIES: 1 diamond sandsifter, 1 golden head sandsifter, 1 purple firefish
ANTHIAS: thinking 5 lyretail anthias, all females to start, eventually ending with 1m4f. Is this too many for a 150/180? I would like a trio at least
BASSLET: 1 black cap. I don't foresee any issues here.
ANGELS: trio of Genicanthus, leaning towards bellus angels; 1m2f or 3f which should hopefully turn into 1m2f. Thoughts on this? I picked G. bellus on purpose because they apparently don't get as large as some of the others (~7" max size)
BUTTERFLYFISH: 1 copperband, maybe 1 yellow pyramid? I assume a trio of them would be too much for this tank size in addition to the angels? I'd be ok with cutting the CBB and a tang to accomodate the trio. Could also cut the lyretails to a trio as well.
DAMSELS: 1 talbot's, 1 black cap, 1 azure, 1 yellow tail, 1 green chromis. Still not sure on the chromis tbh. Probably add one as part of the initial introduction if I can find healthy ones (no uronema) and see what happens. I've seen plenty of people mix 2-3 Chrysiptera species with no issues. Wonder if 4 is pushing it, but I figure it's worth a shot?
Now for the order of introduction. This is where I'm not as certain. Took a look around my LFS and also what's available online. Plan is to add fish every 2-3 weeks, assuming nothing goes wrong (hey let me dream).
First introductions after tank cycles: midas blenny, bi-colour blenny, purple firefish, maybe green chromis
second round: yellow coris wrasse, melanurus wrasse, diamond goby, golden head goby, lawnmower blenny
round 3: lyretail anthias group
round 4: black cap basslet, radiant wrasse, red lined wrasse ---- ideally I'd like to add all 4 wrasses at once but these 2 aren't as common and I'll likely have to special order them
round 5: tomini tang, yellow eye kole tang, white tail bristletooth tang
round 6: bellus angelfish trio
round 7: yellow pyramid butterfly trio. If not, then CBB + damsels. Also, I heard yellow pyramids can be shy, especially with more boisterous fish like tangs. Would adding these early on be a good idea? From what I've read/heard, they're not as delicate as other butterflyfish, but they are still butterflyfish.
Final round (if pyramid butterfly): damsels, purple OR yellow tang - may skip these if the butterfly trio is added.
Thoughts on this order? I'd like to add the wrasses fairly early on just in case anything sneaks pass my coral dips. I can probably delay the tangs as long as I don't run into a massive algae outbreak. They're likely the most aggressive fish on this list, especially the purple tang if I go with that, so I'm fine with adding them last if need be. I'm also not certain on when to the add lyretails. I've seen some people mention that they can be aggressive, but it seems like only males are aggressive, and most of it is towards the females. They also seem to be fairly slow to change sex, so I figure if I add a group of all females I should have a good number of months before any issues could pop up.
Here's the stock list I've come up with so far. Let me know what you guys think. Tank will be a mixed reef leaning towards SPS, probably something like 60% SPS 30% LPS 10% zoa/palys.
TANGS: 1 tomini, 1 yellow-eye kole, 1 white tail bristletooth, 1 yellow OR purple --- 4 tangs total
WRASSES: 1 yellow coris, 1 melanurus, 1 radiant, 1 red lined (H. biocellatus) ----- 4 wrasses total, all Halichoeres. I will have a sand bed around 1.5-2 inches. From what I can tell yellow coris + melanurus wrasses are a pretty common combo and do fine together, so I figured 1 more shouldn't be an issue, but 4 might be pushing it? Any experience here?
BLENNIES: 1 starry, 1 lawnmower, 1 midas, 1 bi-colour
GOBIES: 1 diamond sandsifter, 1 golden head sandsifter, 1 purple firefish
ANTHIAS: thinking 5 lyretail anthias, all females to start, eventually ending with 1m4f. Is this too many for a 150/180? I would like a trio at least
BASSLET: 1 black cap. I don't foresee any issues here.
ANGELS: trio of Genicanthus, leaning towards bellus angels; 1m2f or 3f which should hopefully turn into 1m2f. Thoughts on this? I picked G. bellus on purpose because they apparently don't get as large as some of the others (~7" max size)
BUTTERFLYFISH: 1 copperband, maybe 1 yellow pyramid? I assume a trio of them would be too much for this tank size in addition to the angels? I'd be ok with cutting the CBB and a tang to accomodate the trio. Could also cut the lyretails to a trio as well.
DAMSELS: 1 talbot's, 1 black cap, 1 azure, 1 yellow tail, 1 green chromis. Still not sure on the chromis tbh. Probably add one as part of the initial introduction if I can find healthy ones (no uronema) and see what happens. I've seen plenty of people mix 2-3 Chrysiptera species with no issues. Wonder if 4 is pushing it, but I figure it's worth a shot?
Now for the order of introduction. This is where I'm not as certain. Took a look around my LFS and also what's available online. Plan is to add fish every 2-3 weeks, assuming nothing goes wrong (hey let me dream).
First introductions after tank cycles: midas blenny, bi-colour blenny, purple firefish, maybe green chromis
second round: yellow coris wrasse, melanurus wrasse, diamond goby, golden head goby, lawnmower blenny
round 3: lyretail anthias group
round 4: black cap basslet, radiant wrasse, red lined wrasse ---- ideally I'd like to add all 4 wrasses at once but these 2 aren't as common and I'll likely have to special order them
round 5: tomini tang, yellow eye kole tang, white tail bristletooth tang
round 6: bellus angelfish trio
round 7: yellow pyramid butterfly trio. If not, then CBB + damsels. Also, I heard yellow pyramids can be shy, especially with more boisterous fish like tangs. Would adding these early on be a good idea? From what I've read/heard, they're not as delicate as other butterflyfish, but they are still butterflyfish.
Final round (if pyramid butterfly): damsels, purple OR yellow tang - may skip these if the butterfly trio is added.
Thoughts on this order? I'd like to add the wrasses fairly early on just in case anything sneaks pass my coral dips. I can probably delay the tangs as long as I don't run into a massive algae outbreak. They're likely the most aggressive fish on this list, especially the purple tang if I go with that, so I'm fine with adding them last if need be. I'm also not certain on when to the add lyretails. I've seen some people mention that they can be aggressive, but it seems like only males are aggressive, and most of it is towards the females. They also seem to be fairly slow to change sex, so I figure if I add a group of all females I should have a good number of months before any issues could pop up.