Upgrading to a much larger tank (475 gal)... help with stocking ideas?

[jkentfite]

Just ordered a 96 x 36 x 32 (~475 gal) from C2C aquariums. I'm super excited.

Current set up is a 200 gallon mixed reef with:
5 inch purple tang (the boss)
6.5 inch blue hippo tang (the pig)
4 inch foxface
5 inch copperband butterfly
2x Ocellaris clownfish (a fancy misbar and black snowflake)

Blotched anthia (maybe my fav fish)

other smaller fish:
royal gramma
leopard wrasse
yellow coris wrasse
redhead solon wrasse
yellow watchman goby

1 large longspine urchin
various snails/fighting conchs
a couple small hermits who i could give or take...


Here's what I am thinking of adding:

Naso/blonde naso tang
Group of yellow tangs
Achilles tang (maybe too aggressive I've heard)
Powder Brown Tang
Harlequin Tusk
Quoyi parrotfish
Emperor/Queen/Goldflake/Blueline angelfish?
Bellus angelfish (pair)
Potters and/or coral beauty
Yellow pyramid zoster butterfly (pair/few)
Crosshatch trigger (pair)
Squareback anthias (group 5-6)
Wrasses: Labouts, Melanarus, Christmas, other?
Any suggestions on reef safe puffer?
Dartfish?

I realize I would not be able to do ALL of the above list. Some like the tusk and the parrotfish I know are risky but I'm sure I want to try. I'm a little hesitant because I know how risky the large angels can be but gosh I think they're stunning and would love one...

Appreciate any advice or recs you all have. Thanks in advance. I'll try to start a build thread as soon as we make some progress. Going to be a lot of fun.

-Kent

(PS my last post didn't get much traction so this is a repost with a new title *shrug*)

 

[OrionN]

That was almost exactly my tank size before 96X32X32.
It sound big, but not that big as we add fish into it. I would rec against the genus Naso tangs. They do get too big, even with a 96 inches tank IMO/IME. Other tangs are OK, just take care in adding. That Purple will make it hard. You may have to keep that purple in your 200 gal tank until you get all your new tangs settle in the new tank, then add the Purple. Consider Regal Angels. If you decide to add a pair of Regal angels, add them first, then other fish.
Harlequin Tusk is a beautiful fish. Add him last, especially add al the smaller fishes and cleaner shrimp first. They need to settle in then add him. Keep him well fed and they will be fine.

 

[jkentfite]

That was almost exactly my tank size before 96X32X32.
It sound big, but not that big as we add fish into it. I would rec against the genus Naso tangs. They do get too big, even with a 96 inches tank IMO/IME. Other tangs are OK, just take care in adding. That Purple will make it hard. You may have to keep that purple in your 200 gal tank until you get all your new tangs settle in the new tank, then add the Purple. Consider Regal Angels. If you decide to add a pair of Regal angels, add them first, then other fish.
Harlequin Tusk is a beautiful fish. Add him last, especially add al the smaller fishes and cleaner shrimp first. They need to settle in then add him. Keep him well fed and they will be fine.

Thanks a bunch for the advice!

 

[ca1ore]

C2C make really nice tanks. I went with an acrylic tank in almost the same dimensions .... and I’ve got over 100 fish (though 60 are damsels). Had I gone glass, it would have been C2C. Minh is right, even an eight foot tank gets too small for Naso genus tanks surprisingly quickly .... same for the queen angel. I tend to prefer the Pacific/Indian Ocean angels anyhow. Quoyi is a really tough fish to keep beyond about six months unless you have a very calm tank. It simply does not compete well for food with aggressive eaters like tangs and angels. Pyramids/zoster are excellent choices .... I have a bunch in my tank.

 

[Squidward]

Please skip the group of yellow tangs. Too common lol. It would be cool if you did a group of different tangs instead.

 

[jkentfite]

C2C make really nice tanks. I went with an acrylic tank in almost the same dimensions .... and I’ve got over 100 fish (though 60 are damsels). Had I gone glass, it would have been C2C. Minh is right, even an eight foot tank gets too small for Naso genus tanks surprisingly quickly .... same for the queen angel. I tend to prefer the Pacific/Indian Ocean angels anyhow. Quoyi is a really tough fish to keep beyond about six months unless you have a very calm tank. It simply does not compete well for food with aggressive eaters like tangs and angels. Pyramids/zoster are excellent choices .... I have a bunch in my tank.

Thank you! And I’m glad to hear your C2C review as well. I’ve never seen one in person but I’ve heard they’re great tanks. I was going to get a quote from Felix at reef savvy but Tbh I know a friend who has been waiting over a year for his tank. And I probably didn’t want to spend that much

 

[jkentfite]

Please skip the group of yellow tangs. Too common lol. It would be cool if you did a group of different tangs instead.

Thanks! That’s a good thought. What other tangs fo well in groups like them I wonder?

 

[jkentfite]

That was almost exactly my tank size before 96X32X32.
It sound big, but not that big as we add fish into it. I would rec against the genus Naso tangs. They do get too big, even with a 96 inches tank IMO/IME. Other tangs are OK, just take care in adding. That Purple will make it hard. You may have to keep that purple in your 200 gal tank until you get all your new tangs settle in the new tank, then add the Purple. Consider Regal Angels. If you decide to add a pair of Regal angels, add them first, then other fish.
Harlequin Tusk is a beautiful fish. Add him last, especially add al the smaller fishes and cleaner shrimp first. They need to settle in then add him. Keep him well fed and they will be fine.

With the regal angels, do you find them as a mated pair or just get two juveniles and hope for the best?

 

[OrionN]

I always have good luck with getting two juveniles and get a pair (3 times). Other Regal Angel keepers feel that at least one of the two must be a Juveniles. Regal angels does not change sex once they reach certain age. I think this age is short of being mature. This information is something I have heard, but have not looking into. @ThRoewer have better information on this topic.

 

[ThRoewer]

My Sumatra Regal pair didn't work out because the larger one never really developed male features and at some point started attacking the smaller one who was certainly a female.

I just successfully paired my 4-year-old Maldives Regal male with a smaller female in who is well in transition from juvenile to adult and showed very clear female features. After a little scuffle, they paired up and are now hanging out together. After less than a month she doesn't even have to do much of the submission gestures anymore. I would think within a year they may start spawning.
I got the male as a less than 2-inch juvenile and in roughly 3 years in a 40B, he grew to 4 inches. When I added him to my 100-gallon tank he quickly matured and almost doubled in mass within a year (primarily on flake food and Mysis) and added another inch in length. He also developed clear male features: an elongated body and significantly enlarged opercular spines. So he was clearly a primary male.

Sex change in Regals has to my knowledge not yet been researched in-depth and I have not yet seen any reports of someone getting a pair by having put two certified females together and one of those changing sex. So it is safest to assume they do not change sex once mature.
But Pygoplites has a fairly well developed sexual dimorphism - opercular spine size and to a lesser part, body shape - which makes it fairly easy to sex mature adults.

At least one of the Holacanthus species, Holacanthus tricolor, has been confirmed to be a protogynous hermaphrodite (starting life as female and changing sex to male under certain conditions) while at least one Pomacanthus species - Pomacanthus sextriatus - has been confirmed to be gonochoric (going from asexual juvenile to either male or female and not change sex later in life). It is fairly safe to assume that the closely related P. navarchus and P. xanthometopon are equally gonochoric and much speaks for the rest of the Pomacanthus species to be gonochoric as well.

Pygoplites is basal to Holacanthus, pretty much belonging to their sub-clade, which could suggest that Regals are hermaphrodites. But gonochorism is believed to be the origin from which hermaphrodism developed as a strategy to find mates easier, so Pygoplites being basal to Holacanthus could also mean that they have not yet made the transition to hermaphrodism.

 

[jkentfite]

My Sumatra Regal pair didn't work out because the larger one never really developed male features and at some point started attacking the smaller one who was certainly a female.

I just successfully paired my 4-year-old Maldives Regal male with a smaller female in who is well in transition from juvenile to adult and showed very clear female features. After a little scuffle, they paired up and are now hanging out together. After less than a month she doesn't even have to do much of the submission gestures anymore. I would think within a year they may start spawning.
I got the male as a less than 2-inch juvenile and in roughly 3 years in a 40B, he grew to 4 inches. When I added him to my 100-gallon tank he quickly matured and almost doubled in mass within a year (primarily on flake food and Mysis) and added another inch in length. He also developed clear male features: an elongated body and significantly enlarged opercular spines. So he was clearly a primary male.

Sex change in Regals has to my knowledge not yet been researched in-depth and I have not yet seen any reports of someone getting a pair by having put two certified females together and one of those changing sex. So it is safest to assume they do not change sex once mature.
But Pygoplites has a fairly well developed sexual dimorphism - opercular spine size and to a lesser part, body shape - which makes it fairly easy to sex mature adults.

At least one of the Holacanthus species, Holacanthus tricolor, has been confirmed to be a protogynous hermaphrodite (starting life as female and changing sex to male under certain conditions) while at least one Pomacanthus species - Pomacanthus sextriatus - has been confirmed to be gonochoric (going from asexual juvenile to either male or female and not change sex later in life). It is fairly safe to assume that the closely related P. navarchus and P. xanthometopon are equally gonochoric and much speaks for the rest of the Pomacanthus species to be gonochoric as well.

Pygoplites is basal to Holacanthus, pretty much belonging to their sub-clade, which could suggest that Regals are hermaphrodites. But gonochorism is believed to be the origin from which hermaphrodism developed as a strategy to find mates easier, so Pygoplites being basal to Holacanthus could also mean that they have not yet made the transition to hermaphrodism.

Thank you for that in depth info. If I understand in summary, best to have at least one known phenotypic adult male and add a juvenile for best chances of successful paring for regal angels?
I’ve not heard of pairing other angels - are there many others that can be paired?
Is it a decent idea to mix large angels in a tank this size? I want to play it safe.

 

[offtropic]

Thanks! That’s a good thought. What other tangs fo well in groups like them I wonder?

While yellow tangs are certainly common I really enjoy the look of small school of them in a large tank because the yellow they bring isn't really replicated by any other fish or coral. Makes for a great contrast/pop.

 

[ThRoewer]

Thank you for that in depth info. If I understand in summary, best to have at least one known phenotypic adult male and add a juvenile for best chances of successful paring for regal angels?
I’ve not heard of pairing other angels - are there many others that can be paired?
Is it a decent idea to mix large angels in a tank this size? I want to play it safe.

Ideally, you start with small juveniles as @OrionN suggested. I found the tiny ones acclimate best to tank life and therefore have the best chances to live long in a tank.
You can also try pairing sexed adults or an adult male with a juvenile female. Both should work as well.

Pretty much all large angels that form pairs or harem groups in the wild can be paired in a tank as well. With Large angels, it is best to start with juveniles that still have their juvenile coloration. The smaller the individuals the better. Though everything said about regal angels is in general also true for other large angels (Pomacanthus, Chaetodontoplus, Holacanthus).
And Chaetodontoplus from Australia can often be found in stores as collected pairs.

The ones you might not be able to pair successfully in a home aquarium are the East-Pacific Holacanthus species (passer & clarionensis) because they rather form larger aggregations without attachments to a partner.

 

[OrionN]

My pair. Started out as a 1.5 inch fish. My absolute favorite angel, large or small.

 

[jkentfite]

Ideally, you start with small juveniles as @OrionN suggested. I found the tiny ones acclimate best to tank life and therefore have the best chances to live long in a tank.
You can also try pairing sexed adults or an adult male with a juvenile female. Both should work as well.

Pretty much all large angels that form pairs or harem groups in the wild can be paired in a tank as well. With Large angels, it is best to start with juveniles that still have their juvenile coloration. The smaller the individuals the better. Though everything said about regal angels is in general also true for other large angels (Pomacanthus, Chaetodontoplus, Holacanthus).
And Chaetodontoplus from Australia can often be found in stores as collected pairs.

The ones you might not be able to pair successfully in a home aquarium are the East-Pacific Holacanthus species (passer & clarionensis) because they rather form larger aggregations without attachments to a partner.

Awesome info. Thank you much! Say I try to get a pair of juvenile regal angelfish and a juvenile Holacanthus or Pomacanthus as well... in my new tank size, would that be ill advised, or have decent chance of success?

I have never owned an angelfish so I am a total noob. But want to have all the advice and knowledge can going into it.

 

[jkentfite]

My pair. Started out as a 1.5 inch fish. My absolute favorite angel, large or small.

WOW Those are very impressive. Beautiful! Thank you for sharing and making me drool haha. Those are perfect!

 

[OrionN]

WOW Those are very impressive. Beautiful! Thank you for sharing and making me drool haha. Those are perfect!

I am glad you like them. They are great fish for larger reef tank.

 

[lefkonj]

Regal angels are my favorite semi-reef safe angel. I have a blue spotted puffer in my tank, he is awesome. I love beautiful fish but I also love the '*****' fish: orange spotted rabbitfish, mystery wrasse, this puffer.

 

[ThRoewer]

Regal angels are my favorite semi-reef safe angel. I have a blue spotted puffer in my tank, he is awesome. I love beautiful fish but I also love the '*****' fish: orange spotted rabbitfish, mystery wrasse, this puffer.

I heard that blue-spotted puffers will eat vermetid snails. If that is the case then I need one ASAP.

 

[Squidward]

Thanks! That’s a good thought. What other tangs fo well in groups like them I wonder?

If possible a trio of Convict tangs or more would be sweet.(problem is they are harder to adapt to tank life than yellow tangs). I have a trio of Lavendar Tangs in my 300g.