75 Gallons Stocking Feedback

[smspring]

Hey all, I'm putting up a new 75 gallon. This is not my first saltwater, but my schedule is light enough now where I can spend the time. Please give me feedback on the following:

Pearlscale Butterfly
Ocellaris Clown with Anemone
Flame Hawkfish
Dragonet (looking for advice on a more hardy one)
Royal Gramma Basslet
Valentini Puffer
Yellow Watchman Goby paired with Pistol Shrimp
Coral Beauty
Wrasse (either a male Hoeven's or Vrolik's)
Cleaner shrimp and CUC (going to try my luck with the puffer, which I will add last with the Coral Beauty)

I will have a 20 gallon sump, with a refuge/cheato/pods/live feeder shrimp.

Also, has anyone tried out the refugium starter kit at liveaquaria:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=2190+3177&pcatid=3177

Looking forward to your thoughts...

-Scott

 

[Maritimer]

I bought chaeto at a LFS, got bristle worms, copepods and isopods along with it. I know he's got mysis in his chaeto as well - but I don't think I wound up with any of those.

~Bruce

 

[smspring]

Any thoughts on the stocking selection? Honest feedback is appreciated...

 

[ClownFishGuy6]

Don't add a puffer. And add 2 clowns instead of one

 

[garyinco]

Pearlscale Butterfly Not going to be reef friendly, will munch on corals
Ocellaris Clown with Anemone Not a fan of clowns, I think an anemone would be very difficult in a new tank
Flame Hawkfish Can be jumpers, hope you'll have a cover that maximizes the chance of jumping falling back into the tank
Dragonet (looking for advice on a more hardy one) Another that would be difficult in a new tank
Royal Gramma Basslet Nice fish, not hard to keep
Valentini Puffer Not likely reef friendly, could munch on corals and inverts
Yellow Watchman Goby paired with Pistol Shrimp Goby is a nice hardy fish, shrimp have their disadvantages
Coral Beauty Not likely reef friendly, will munch on corals
Wrasse (either a male Hoeven's or Vrolik's) Jumpers, hope you'll have a cover that maximizes the chance of jumping falling back into the tank
Cleaner shrimp and CUC (going to try my luck with the puffer, which I will add last with the Coral Beauty) Shrimp can have some disadvantages, try to get an understanding of those.

Some possible candidates:
Cardinal fish Very peaceful, hardy, unique in shape, and cheap!
Foxface Maybe the ideal reef fish in my opinion. Pretty, reasonable in cost, omnivore, easy to keep and feed, not agressive
Blenny's and gobies - Easier to keep, not picky eaters, resaonable in cost, usually hardy
Anthias Pretty neat, but can dwindle down to just one. Can be jumpers
Clowns are neat fish But I have had too many that draw blood when my hand goes in the the tank. Can be vicious little buggers.

Chromis Some people like them, some don't. Hardy and inexpensive
Firefish Resonable in cost, pretty, peaceful. Like any torpedo shaped fish, they can jump.
Serpent Stars Good tank cleaners, neat looking

On the fuge starter kit, I like LA but that doesn't sound like much to me. You can probably buy a clump of chaeto for $10 at a local shop or get some free from local fellow reefers. Gracilaria is a pretty macro and my herbivores love it. I have to harvest and dispose of it routinely. Think it'd be hard to sustain in a brand new tank/fuge. My pods hang out in my ulva but the fish don't eat it for some reason. 2 ozs of these macros doesn't sound like much at all.

On the amphipods/copepods the quantities are so low they would last maybe ten minutes in my tank before they were consumed. Amphipods are expensive and hard to come by if you don't get them as hitchhikers on healthy, established live rock. 200 Tisbe's might fit on the head of a pin. A Dragonet would eat those in a day or less. I'm lucky in that a staff member in a hi quality coral shop is culturing copepods and selling them for $14 for thousands. Algae Barn is also a good source if you can justify a good size bag of them. I'm sure I've bought 100,000+ over the last 6 months. I love pods and phytoplankton (many benefits to both).

Are you planning on adding your stocklist at once, in a few, or many purchases?

 

[chimmike]

flame hawk is a shrimp eater too.

That's a lot of fish for a 75, IMO, especially those fish.

 

[TimeConsumer]

I had a fat mandarin in my 75g with a 15g fuge. Plenty for him to eat as long as you have enough rock in your display and a decent sized fuge. I didn't see him very often though. However I waited until 6 months in to add him to ensure success.

 

[davehead86]

I have Coral beauty and have frogspawn, GSP, and an anemone. The CB hasent touched them, and from what I have read on here dont really care much about Sofites and are only problematic on SPS. If youre not planning on SPS and having softies then a Coral Beauty IMHO wouldnt be a problem.

 

[smspring]

Wow, thanks for all the feedback. Very useful information. Based on your input, during further research, and visiting a LFS, here is my updated list. I will be adding them in order, spread out over 6 months:

1st few weeks after setup and cycle:
Royal Gramma Basslet
Firefish
Foxface

After a month:
Begin adding CUC (cleaner shrimp, snails, stars, crabs)
Leopard Wrasse
Ocellaris Clown with Anemone (don't want the aggression that can come with 2)
Flame Hawkfish

Starting the 5th month:
Small tang (most likely a Kole)
Mandarin (Dragonet)
Pygmy Angel

Over time I will add soft, LPS, polyps corals and maybe some mushrooms

How's it looking?

 

[TimeConsumer]

A leopard wrasse is not a beginner fish. Among other things it will compete with your mandarin for pods, and a 75g probably can't support both. If you absolutely must have one ensure it eats frozen food before you buy it. Also it needs to be added into an established tank.

And foxfaces can easily grow 6-8" and be cramped in a 75g. I'd skip the foxface and stick with the small tang for a grazer. Consider a mimic lemon peel tang if you want the bright yellow.