24x24x30 Stocking Suggestions

[rishma]

Well, I see so many of these "please help me stock my tank" threads. Hope you dont mind helping another one out.

tank dimensions are posted in title. including refugium and sump, I have ~95 gallons. I have a large high end skimmer, I run carbon and gfo, feed heavily and keep the nutrient levels very low.

The tank is bare bottom with lots of flow.

I currently have:
pair of orchid (fridmanii) dottybacks
pair of ocillaris clowns
pair of green clown gobies
pair of Bengaii dottybacks


I am considering the following:
Red Velvet Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus rubrisquamis)
Coral Beauty
Longnose butterfly

I also like Pseudanthias squamipinnis, kole tangs, allen's damsels. Allen's are hard to find, the tank may be too small for the Kole, and squamis may be to aggressive for the other mentioned.

Any other suggested favorites or criticisms are welcome. thanks for the help.

cheers

 

[rishma]

bump for fishheads

 

[nikon187]

No tangs in a 2 foot tank. How about a small wrasse.

 

[rishma]

can the kole swim in a large circle?....kidding. But really, I have never bought into the the length of tank concept. I think a tank would be happier in a 4ftx4ft than a 5ftx 2 ft. but yes, I agree 75 gallons is a bit small.

I am considering these
Red Velvet Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus rubrisquamis) which is a pretty small wrasse.
Coral Beauty (maybe a pair)
Longnose butterfly

Can a small group of anthias be kept in this tank long term? I previously kept 7 squamipinnis in a 200, but they were pretty aggressive and seemed to pick off the weaker ones.

thanks for the help.

 

[Chihuahua6]

I think the Wrasse or Angel would be much better choices than the Butterfly (they get failly large) and the Anthias. A group of Anthias is a bit much in a small tank.

You mentioned Allen's Damsels. The Starki Damsel is another good choice and available on Live Aquaria at the moment. Another less aggressive and very affordable Damsel is the Yellow Tail Damsel. I would only put one Damsel in a tank of this size due to their aggression amongst themselves.

 

[rishma]

I typically abide by Scott Michael's minimum tank size recommendations. It seems around here that most favor a larger minimum size. Is it the fact that my tank is semi cube? if it was 4 feet long would a butterfly or small anthias group be considered okay?

Just wondering. It seems the semi-cube dimensions make the tank seem smaller.

Allan's damsels are not very aggressive. I hear mixed reviews about starki, azure, and yellow tale (all beautiful, btw). i really prefer groups/pairs whenever possible, but I dont want to invite violence. A friend of mine has had 5 Allens in a 60 gallon for quite a while, no aggression problems.

Thanks very much for your input. I think I'll get a wrasse and angel as you say, but feel like there is still some room in the tank. I'd like to plan the rest of the fish so I can be sure to purchase them in order to limit aggression. everyone I have now are not aggressive to new comers but I think a pigmy angel may be once established.

 

[adtravels]

I believe strong flow can negate a shorter tank it acts a bit like a treadmill, the fishes can always swimmas far and as long as they want if you have flow for them.

 

[Chihuahua6]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13011127#post13011127 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rishma
I typically abide by Scott Michael's minimum tank size recommendations. It seems around here that most favor a larger minimum size. Is it the fact that my tank is semi cube? if it was 4 feet long would a butterfly or small anthias group be considered okay?

Just wondering. It seems the semi-cube dimensions make the tank seem smaller.

Large + active fish need swim space. The larger the fish and more active it is the more space it needs. Everyone will draw the line at some point as to what length each fish needs. So the answer to your question is yes it would be better for a Butterfly or Anthias to be in a tank that was at least four feet long. That's just my opinion though.

I have three 4" Pyramid Butterflies in a 30 gal cube for quarantine purposes. The tank has massive flow for them to swim against. They are healthy, seem happy and eat like pigs. I still wouldn't keep them in there for an extended period of time though. Once they grow to 6" I feel a four foot tank would even be too small.

I think it's easier to make an assessment once you own a particular species of fish and see it in action. I had no idea just how active my Butterflies were not to mention how much they eat. They'll be happy soon enough in my 280 gal though.

 

[rishma]

good point about flow, I agree that plays a role.

It is interesting that tank length seems to be considered more important than volume. I think a 4 ft long 60 gallon might look bigger to a person than my 30" long 75 gallon.....but I wonder what would make the fish happier. Most seem to focus on length of the tank but the correlation to volume is more obvious to me.

I kept a longnose butterfly for years in a larger tank. he was not a vigorous swimmer like a tang but I dont know how that compares to a pyramid.

I'd be interested on other opinions on the butterfly. I do not want to cramp my fish.

 

[twon8]

it's more footprint than volume or lenth.

 

[Chihuahua6]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13014564#post13014564 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rishma
good point about flow, I agree that plays a role.

I kept a longnose butterfly for years in a larger tank. he was not a vigorous swimmer like a tang but I dont know how that compares to a pyramid.

I'd be interested on other opinions on the butterfly. I do not want to cramp my fish.

From what I have observed with Longnose Butterflies in others' tanks is they are fairly active, not as active as the Pyramids though. Again I have never owned one of my own.

My Pyramids are comparable to Tangs in their energy levels. They're not rock pickers when it comes to eating. They're open water planktivores. I typically feed mine four times per day, and rather large portions. The large amounts of food they consume add significantly to the bioload.

 

[rishma]

it's more footprint than volume or lenth

now that actually makes some sense, but most dont think this way. most would perceive a 4 ft by 1 ft as bigger and more acceptable for swimming fish than a 2ft by 2ft. I think it just looks bigger when longer.