Stocking a 120

[KJones90s]

Just got my tank up and running last night and now I’m starting to think about some stocking. Looking for some suggestions, I don’t have much that I know for sure that I want in the tank for sure. It will be a Mixed reef tank, thanks in advance for the help guys

For sure I would like:
Foxface
Tail spot blenny
Darwin clownfish and another cool looking clown.
Shrimp and goby pair

Maybe:
Braid stripe goby
Carpenters flasher wrasse
Small group of cardinals

I’m totally open to suggestions, nothing is set in stone!
Please feel free to chime in.

 

[KJones90s]

C’mon guys, I’m sure someone has some interesting suggestions!
Tank is a 4x2x2

 

[KJones90s]

Bump

 

[YoungReefer00]

I have a 120g also and i really enjoy my royal gramma and sand sifting goby.

Royal Gramma is a beautiful looking fish, it might be small but adds alot of color to your tank. They are easy to take care of and are fun to watch swimming between your rockwork. He is easy to take care of and is not aggressive at all.

Sand Sifting Goby is in my opinion also a great addition. Mine is not scared of anyone at all, he will sit right in front of you whilst doing his thing. He keeps my entire sandbed perfectly clean and he has some good looking blue and yellow spots all over his body. I do however recommend putting ALL your rocks on the glass and have no rocks on top of the sand since he will dig underneath every rock that you have.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

You don’t absolutely have to have the same clowns but pairing them will be much easier if they’re the same breed.

 

[KJones90s]

You don’t absolutely have to have the same clowns but pairing them will be much easier if they’re the same breed.

Really? I was under the impression that if they’re both ocellaris clowns they wouldn’t have any problems pairing up.
that’s a blow.

 

[KJones90s]

I have a 120g also and i really enjoy my royal gramma and sand sifting goby.

Royal Gramma is a beautiful looking fish, it might be small but adds alot of color to your tank. They are easy to take care of and are fun to watch swimming between your rockwork. He is easy to take care of and is not aggressive at all.

Sand Sifting Goby is in my opinion also a great addition. Mine is not scared of anyone at all, he will sit right in front of you whilst doing his thing. He keeps my entire sandbed perfectly clean and he has some good looking blue and yellow spots all over his body. I do however recommend putting ALL your rocks on the glass and have no rocks on top of the sand since he will dig underneath every rock that you have.

What do you mean all the rocks on the glass?
I had a sleeper banded goby and he dumped sand all over my rock work and coral. Does your goby sump sand everywhere?

 

[X-37B]

It is such a personel choice for everyone.
I would not put a foxface in a 120 they get to big imo.
In my 120 I have 11 fish:
6 blue green chromis
1 pajama cardinal
1 lawnmower blenny
1 clown
1 tomini tang
1 convict tang

The one thing, that many dont realize, is the size of your fish when they are full grown.

My tank is bare bottom.

My frag/lagoon has a diamond goby who likes to make sand castles.

Also what kind of scape you have may limit the number of fish.

I have minimal and their is lots of open area for them to swim.

 

[KJones90s]

It is such a personel choice for everyone.
I would not put a foxface in a 120 they get to big imo.
In my 120 I have 11 fish:
6 blue green chromis
1 pajama cardinal
1 lawnmower blenny
1 clown
1 tomini tang
1 convict tang

The one thing, that many dont realize, is the size of your fish when they are full grown.

My tank is bare bottom.

My frag/lagoon has a diamond goby who likes to make sand castles.

Also what kind of scape you have may limit the number of fish.

I have minimal and their is lots of open area for them to swim.

There’s plenty of swimming room in the tank that I’m setting up.
I went and looked at the max size of a convict tang and according to liveaquaria it’s the same max size as a foxface, are you planning to rehome or is there a difference in the behaviors of the tang and Foxface that makes a difference?

 

[X-37B]

Lfs has a 500 gal and the foxface is huge. They grow very fast and can get to 15".
Convict 8".
Most convicts in captivity dont get over 5-6".
I have seen many foxface over 12".
Yes I am working on a new tank 3x the size of my 120 but its a couple years out as I piece it together.

 

[KJones90s]

Lfs has a 500 gal and the foxface is huge. They grow very fast and can get to 15".
Convict 8".
Most convicts in captivity dont get over 5-6".
I have seen many foxface over 12".
Yes I am working on a new tank 3x the size of my 120 but its a couple years out as I piece it together.

Oh wow, I didn’t know they got that big it’s listed at a max of 8” on liveaquaria, I really had my mind set on a Foxface for a pop of color...that sucks. Might have to consider other options.

 

[X-37B]

Oh wow, I didn’t know they got that big it’s listed at a max of 8” on liveaquaria, I really had my mind set on a Foxface for a pop of color...that sucks. Might have to consider other options.

If you have sand a yellow coris wrasse gives a nice yellow pop.

 

[YoungReefer00]

What do you mean all the rocks on the glass?
I had a sleeper banded goby and he dumped sand all over my rock work and coral. Does your goby sump sand everywhere?

Yep mine does too he likes to make big piles of sand everywhere. By all the rocks on the glass i meant: Make sure that you place your rock in your tank first and then put the sand in so that the rocks are touching the glass on the bottom, if your rocks are supported by the sand instead of the glass the gobies will dig under the rocks and remove the sand underneath the rocks which will result in the rock formation collapsing, possibly killing fish. I hope this explains it a bit better.

 

[YoungReefer00]

Lfs has a 500 gal and the foxface is huge. They grow very fast and can get to 15".
Convict 8".
Most convicts in captivity dont get over 5-6".
I have seen many foxface over 12".
Yes I am working on a new tank 3x the size of my 120 but its a couple years out as I piece it together.

From what i know the average foxface does not exceed 10" and if they did it would be pretty rare. I'd say a foxface is suitable for a 120g tank.

 

[KJones90s]

If you have sand a yellow coris wrasse gives a nice yellow pop.

You can keep multiple wrasses together can’t you? Just need a good top for the tank.
right now mine is open water.

 

[KJones90s]

Yep mine does too he likes to make big piles of sand everywhere. By all the rocks on the glass i meant: Make sure that you place your rock in your tank first and then put the sand in so that the rocks are touching the glass on the bottom, if your rocks are supported by the sand instead of the glass the gobies will dig under the rocks and remove the sand underneath the rocks which will result in the rock formation collapsing, possibly killing fish. I hope this explains it a bit better.

Ahhhh, I gotcha.
I’m a step ahead of the game on that one.
I watched my sleeper handed topple all of my rock work in my last tank and vowed not to make the same mistake again lol

 

[KJones90s]

From what i know the average foxface does not exceed 10" and if they did it would be pretty rare. I'd say a foxface is suitable for a 120g tank.

Have you ever kept one yourself?

 

[KJones90s]

Yep mine does too he likes to make big piles of sand everywhere. By all the rocks on the glass i meant: Make sure that you place your rock in your tank first and then put the sand in so that the rocks are touching the glass on the bottom, if your rocks are supported by the sand instead of the glass the gobies will dig under the rocks and remove the sand underneath the rocks which will result in the rock formation collapsing, possibly killing fish. I hope this explains it a bit better.

I heard that royal grammas can get pretty nasty as they age, have you had any aggression issues out of yours?

 

[KJones90s]

Bump

 

[Bam327]

In my 120 I have:
2 chromis
Swallowtail Angel (my favorite)
2 occ clowns
Midas Blenny
Longnose Hawkfish

I will be adding a Sringeri Damsel
A mandarin when my tank is ready
Possibly an orchid dottyback
And possibly a tang

I regret adding the chromis. They are just a boring fish IMO and not that all attractive

The only thing in my tank currently that will get big is the swallowtail but it should be able to live out its life happily in my 120

I think if you keep it to 10-12 fish or less with one or two big ones you should be fine.

My tank is bare bottom so I’m limited to what I can stock but if you have a sand bed there are some cool fish that you could get that I couldn’t.

Lastly I’ll tell you that at least for me, when I made my stocking list it kinda went out the window as I went along.