Stock list constructive criticism

The_DuckTank

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I’m going to post my current stock plus what I’m currently looking to add to my 6ftx2ftx2ft approx 170 display. System is like 215gal.

This tank is mixed reef, LPS dominant. Please note there is a porcupine puffer on this list ( my wife’s must have fish ) I am well aware of the possible difficulties having this fish in a reef environment so no need to comment on that lol

Current stock:

- Convict tang
- Midas blenny
- Tuxedo damsel
- Yellow tail black blenny
- Purple fire fish
- Transparent cave goby
- Ocelaris clown
- Black pajama cardinal
- Pearly jaw fish
- Red scooter dragonet

Looking to add:

-purple tang ( as a baby at the end )
-yellow tang ( as a baby at the end )
-fire fine bristle tooth tomini ( as a baby at the end )
-Fiji fox face
-porcupine puffer
-yellow watchman / pistol
-lyretail anthias, school of 3
-bluestreak cleaner wrasse Purple lined


I know im getting close to larger fish cap for this tank. I’m more looking if any one has any recommendations for colorful open swimmers.

I was thinking about a spotbreast angel but idk too much about them yet
 

Gumbies R Us

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X-37B

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Swallowtail angel. I have one in my 150.
20260214_111649.jpg

I have a transparent cave goby in my 15. You dont see them in many reefers systems. Cool fish!
20251102_141003.jpg

Pics of your system? And start a build thread so we can follow.
 
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The_DuckTank

The_DuckTank

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Yoooo that’s so cool you have a cave goby too!!! I love it so much it really is a fun fish! And I think I have a build thread I just don’t know if I set it up in the right place?
 

tbrown

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I’m going to post my current stock plus what I’m currently looking to add to my 6ftx2ftx2ft approx 170 display. System is like 215gal.

This tank is mixed reef, LPS dominant. Please note there is a porcupine puffer on this list ( my wife’s must have fish ) I am well aware of the possible difficulties having this fish in a reef environment so no need to comment on that lol

Current stock:

- Convict tang
- Midas blenny
- Tuxedo damsel
- Yellow tail black blenny
- Purple fire fish
- Transparent cave goby
- Ocelaris clown
- Black pajama cardinal
- Pearly jaw fish
- Red scooter dragonet

Looking to add:

-purple tang ( as a baby at the end )
-yellow tang ( as a baby at the end )
-fire fine bristle tooth tomini ( as a baby at the end )
-Fiji fox face
-porcupine puffer
-yellow watchman / pistol
-lyretail anthias, school of 3
-bluestreak cleaner wrasse Purple lined


I know im getting close to larger fish cap for this tank. I’m more looking if any one has any recommendations for colorful open swimmers.

I was thinking about a spotbreast angel but idk too much about them yet
I always love wrasses. Halichoeres leucoxanthus, Halichoeres garnoti, Halichoeres Chrysus, Halichoeres melanurus. Any of those would be a good addition. Active swimmers, require sand for sleeping, great for pest control.
 

X-37B

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I always love wrasses. Halichoeres leucoxanthus, Halichoeres garnoti, Halichoeres Chrysus, Halichoeres melanurus. Any of those would be a good addition. Active swimmers, require sand for sleeping, great for pest control.
My cleaner wrasse is always in the open. Most active fish in my 150.
 
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The_DuckTank

The_DuckTank

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I’m going to post my current stock plus what I’m currently looking to add to my 6ftx2ftx2ft approx 170 display. System is like 215gal.

This tank is mixed reef, LPS dominant. Please note there is a porcupine puffer on this list ( my wife’s must have fish ) I am well aware of the possible difficulties having this fish in a reef environment so no need to comment on that lol

Current stock:

- Convict tang
- Midas blenny
- Tuxedo damsel
- Yellow tail black blenny
- Purple fire fish
- Transparent cave goby
- Ocelaris clown
- Black pajama cardinal
- Pearly jaw fish
- Red scooter dragonet

Looking to add:

-purple tang ( as a baby at the end )
-yellow tang ( as a baby at the end )
-fire fine bristle tooth tomini ( as a baby at the end )
-Fiji fox face
-porcupine puffer
-yellow watchman / pistol
-lyretail anthias, school of 3
-bluestreak cleaner wrasse Purple lined


I know im getting close to larger fish cap for this tank. I’m more looking if any one has any recommendations for colorful open swimmers.

I was thinking about a spotbreast angel but idk too much about them yet
I always love wrasses. Halichoeres leucoxanthus, Halichoeres garnoti, Halichoeres Chrysus, Halichoeres melanurus. Any of those would be a good addition. Active swimmers, require sand for sleeping, great for pest control.
Awesome I will take a look into some!
 

ScottF

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I would add that tomini earlier than the other tangs. In my experience, tomini tangs are some of the least aggressive tangs out there and I've had yellow tangs bully them when first introduced in the past.
 

redfishbluefish

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ScottF

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Swallowtail angel. I have one in my 150.
20260214_111649.jpg

I have a transparent cave goby in my 15. You dont see them in many reefers systems. Cool fish!
20251102_141003.jpg

Pics of your system? And start a build thread so we can follow.

I love my swallowtail. It's super peaceful, reef safe, and I think they look better IRL than they do in pics. One of these days I'm going to get a male to go with my female.

A great addition to any tank big enough to comfortably house one.
 

X-37B

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I love my swallowtail. It's super peaceful, reef safe, and I think they look better IRL than they do in pics. One of these days I'm going to get a male to go with my female.

A great addition to any tank big enough to comfortably house one.
Cool. I put 2 females in and had to remove the smaller one due to aggression. They were fine together for 10 months then the change.
Cleaner and Swallowtail.
20260421_161421.jpg
 
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The_DuckTank

The_DuckTank

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I would add that tomini earlier than the other tangs. In my experience, tomini tangs are some of the least aggressive tangs out there and I've had yellow tangs bully them when first introduced in the past.
Heard that, I was thinking along those lines anyway so that’s definitely what I’ll do
 

Rocks reef

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I always love wrasses. Halichoeres leucoxanthus, Halichoeres garnoti, Halichoeres Chrysus, Halichoeres melanurus. Any of those would be a good addition. Active swimmers, require sand for sleeping, great for pest control.
I agree on a wrasse. Always a great utilitarian fish to add.
 

Boehmtown

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Skip the tangs IMO. The convict is plenty with the fox face and other blenny. All these fish are going to grow. You're gonna have a real problem with space, aggression, nutrients etc with the extra tangs.
 

jeep and goose

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I’m going to post my current stock plus what I’m currently looking to add to my 6ftx2ftx2ft approx 170 display. System is like 215gal.

This tank is mixed reef, LPS dominant. Please note there is a porcupine puffer on this list ( my wife’s must have fish ) I am well aware of the possible difficulties having this fish in a reef environment so no need to comment on that lol

Current stock:

- Convict tang
- Midas blenny
- Tuxedo damsel
- Yellow tail black blenny
- Purple fire fish
- Transparent cave goby
- Ocelaris clown
- Black pajama cardinal
- Pearly jaw fish
- Red scooter dragonet

Looking to add:

-purple tang ( as a baby at the end )
-yellow tang ( as a baby at the end )
-fire fine bristle tooth tomini ( as a baby at the end )
-Fiji fox face
-porcupine puffer
-yellow watchman / pistol
-lyretail anthias, school of 3
-bluestreak cleaner wrasse Purple lined


I know im getting close to larger fish cap for this tank. I’m more looking if any one has any recommendations for colorful open swimmers.

I was thinking about a spotbreast angel but idk too much about them yet
Throw some more cardinals in also try the sunburst anthias. Some cool picks are maybe mandarins when your tanks mature, sunburst anthias, blue jaw trigger, I love mine to death, the fusi cave gobies are super cool I have one currently I’m going to move it to my 100 gallon I think idk, how often do you see yours? The general amount of fish seems fine, my stocking philosophy is moreso I add fish until territory gets scarce because i like seeing a lot of little fish darting around my tank, i definitely keep less of the bigger guys because those arent really cryptic reef dwellers. The other reason id stop is if I have to do constant water changes to keep nutrients in control which is another problem if there’s too many fish however it isnt exactly a limiting factor depending how insane someone is you can do daily water changes if the need for nutrient export is that bad
 
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The_DuckTank

The_DuckTank

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I’m going to post my current stock plus what I’m currently looking to add to my 6ftx2ftx2ft approx 170 display. System is like 215gal.

This tank is mixed reef, LPS dominant. Please note there is a porcupine puffer on this list ( my wife’s must have fish ) I am well aware of the possible difficulties having this fish in a reef environment so no need to comment on that lol

Current stock:

- Convict tang
- Midas blenny
- Tuxedo damsel
- Yellow tail black blenny
- Purple fire fish
- Transparent cave goby
- Ocelaris clown
- Black pajama cardinal
- Pearly jaw fish
- Red scooter dragonet

Looking to add:

-purple tang ( as a baby at the end )
-yellow tang ( as a baby at the end )
-fire fine bristle tooth tomini ( as a baby at the end )
-Fiji fox face
-porcupine puffer
-yellow watchman / pistol
-lyretail anthias, school of 3
-bluestreak cleaner wrasse Purple lined


I know im getting close to larger fish cap for this tank. I’m more looking if any one has any recommendations for colorful open swimmers.

I was thinking about a spotbreast angel but idk too much about them yet
Throw some more cardinals in also try the sunburst anthias. Some cool picks are maybe mandarins when your tanks mature, sunburst anthias, blue jaw trigger, I love mine to death, the fusi cave gobies are super cool I have one currently I’m going to move it to my 100 gallon I think idk, how often do you see yours? The general amount of fish seems fine, my stocking philosophy is moreso I add fish until territory gets scarce because i like seeing a lot of little fish darting around my tank, i definitely keep less of the bigger guys because those arent really cryptic reef dwellers. The other reason id stop is if I have to do constant water changes to keep nutrients in control which is another problem if there’s too many fish however it isnt exactly a limiting factor depending how insane someone is you can do daily water changes if the need for nutrient export is that bad
Thanks man!
 

ScottF

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Throw some more cardinals in also try the sunburst anthias. Some cool picks are maybe mandarins when your tanks mature, sunburst anthias, blue jaw trigger, I love mine to death, the fusi cave gobies are super cool I have one currently I’m going to move it to my 100 gallon I think idk, how often do you see yours? The general amount of fish seems fine, my stocking philosophy is moreso I add fish until territory gets scarce because i like seeing a lot of little fish darting around my tank, i definitely keep less of the bigger guys because those arent really cryptic reef dwellers. The other reason id stop is if I have to do constant water changes to keep nutrients in control which is another problem if there’s too many fish however it isnt exactly a limiting factor depending how insane someone is you can do daily water changes if the need for nutrient export is that bad


I love my blue jaws as well. They are super cool fish, but it seems like almost every trigger that I had, no matter if it's blue jaw or Niger, tend to become more aggressive as they get older. Start out as sweet little community fish and end up chomping on your shrimp and biting small fish in half.

I haven't seen my current pair of blue jaws murder anything yet, but the female is getting more aggressive. She attacks my cleaning magnet when I clean the glass and my Tunze grabber. She spends all day picking up snail/crab shells and dropping them on my monti caps.
 

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