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

[jkentfite]

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.

That puffer is beautiful!
My LFS just notified me of a brown spotted rabbit fish available from a rehome! Outgrew previous tank. He says it’s a super healthy and chill specimen. I’m assuming it’s same as orange spot. I’m seriously considering adding it!

 

[jkentfite]

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

My copper band decimated my vermatid snails and tube worm infestation in a matter of just a few days. Took down quite a few aiptasia too. Now he only really likes to eat black worms but I don’t mind, as long as he keeps those pests away.

 

[jkentfite]

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.

That would be pretty sweet... Good recommendation. I’ll have to consider that.

 

[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.

I’d love to see some pics of your pyramid/zoster group! And thanks for that info on the quoyi. I think I’ll pass on that for now.

 

[lefkonj]

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

Not sure about that mine will pick at the CUC but so is life.

 

[jkentfite]

Update: I ended up adding a huge orange spot rabbitfish. So far so good.

 

[jkentfite]

 

[lefkonj]

Love that fish. Mine is about 12" and loves to sift sand in his gills. Really great fish.

 

[Eva Rose]

@jkentfite - yellow coris wrasse are vibrant, but have you considered a Vlorik’s wrasse instead? I love their coloration & pattern. Also a single Blotchy Anthias is striking & stands out in a tank. Mine got more & more beautiful as it matured.


@ThRoewer I looked up your Regal Angel primer on another forum. Since I’m not a member I couldn’t view the male / female photos. Could you please use these pics to identify if this Regal is male or female?

 

[jkentfite]

@jkentfite - yellow coris wrasse are vibrant, but have you considered a Vlorik’s wrasse instead? I love their coloration & pattern. Also a single Blotchy Anthias is striking & stands out in a tank. Mine got more & more beautiful as it matured.


@ThRoewer I looked up your Regal Angel primer on another forum. Since I’m not a member I couldn’t view the male / female photos. Could you please use these pics to identify if this Regal is male or female?

I hadn't thought of those - I'll have to look into them! I already have the yellow coris. Very cool fish, I love to catch them burrow in the sand at night.

 

[Eva Rose]

I hadn't thought of those - I'll have to look into them! I already have the yellow coris. Very cool fish, I love to catch them burrow in the sand at night.

I should have read more carefully that you already had yellow coris. The Vloriks would not be compatible with the coris. I'm not surprised your Blotchy Anthias is your favorite-they are so unique!

 

[jkentfite]

I should have read more carefully that you already had yellow coris. The Vloriks would not be compatible with the coris. I'm not surprised your Blotchy Anthias is your favorite-they are so unique!

Do you know if a mystery or Melanarus would be? I seem to recall seeing a very in depth wrasse comparability chart somewhere but can’t seem to find it.

 

[Eva Rose]

I had a small female Melanarus & male Vloriks that got along. Lost male Vloriks to a spinal injury. But I'm pretty sure I read that evolved (wrasse expert) not to put Vloriks with Melanarus.
Mystery wrasse are beautiful but aggressive.

Evolved has great fairy wrasse compatability chart.
Do this:
Put together wish list of wrasses you are interested in along with any you have. Then tag for help from evolved or eatbreakfast . They can tell you of possible compatability issues & could make suggestions.

 

[Eva Rose]

See above for experts that could help you.
Here is the fairy wrasse chart:

Cirrhilabrus Complexes: Inferiority Need Not Apply (1st Revision)

Can I add an ornate leopard wrasse to a tank with the following wrasses? - Flame Wrasse pair - Labouti Wrasse - Lineatus Fairy Wrasse I was looking at the chart, but I couldn’t find it. Or I may be blind. :) Agree with Gary, should be fine. On another note keep an eye on your Flame "pair"...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Ro Bow]

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*)

harlquein tusk + clownfish = dead clownfish

 

[OrionN]

harlquein tusk + clownfish = dead clownfish

Not true. I always have clowns and Harlequin Tusk. My HT never eat any small fish unless I drop the fish in disoriented right in front of him.
Adding small fish and shrimp using acclimation box result in no problem. I release them as the light go down and the HT went to sleep behind the rocks

 

[OrionN]

Should consider
Diamond Tail Flasher

Regal angel

Black leopard

vrolik wrass

Eightline flasher

Blue throat fairy

Naoko fairy

radiant wrass

Leopard wrasse male

china

PBT. Much better in large tank like yiur’s

male China wrasse

Of course CBB