Critique my 300G SPS Fish selection

[zachtos]

Hello, I would like advice on my stocking list for the below tank. I have had a 240G system for 7 years in the past with many large tangs and an emperor angel. I want to change it up a bit with the 300G and go much heavier on fish load and really challenge my SPS keeping abilities (come on ATS!)



300G tank - will be SPS dominant, high flow, high light, wave makers


40G QT tank (planning formalin bath, then copper and prazipro treatment 3 weeks, metro bacterial if needed at end)


Algae turf scrubber rated 15 cube/day (LED fixture pending)


skimmer (hydro5000 and reefoctopus rated 500G)

• REGAL angel x 1
• Achilles Tang x 1
• Hippo Tang x 1
• powder blue tang x 1
• convict tang x 1
• blue caribbean tang x 1
• kole tang x 1
• yellow tang x 1
• Magnificient foxface x 1
• copperband or pyramid butterfly x 1
• Lyratail Anthias x 5
• Dispar Anthias x 5
• Green Chromis x 6
• Fairy Wrasse x 4 equisitte, scotts, red head solon, fine spotted
• Flasher Wrasse x 2 mccoskers flasher, linespot
• Perculla Clown x 2
• Clown Goby x 1
• Mandarin Dragonette x 1
• blue streak cleaner wrasse x 1
• coral beauty dwarf x 2

 

[ksicard]

I don't believe you will be able to keep a Scott's Wrasse if you want to keep other wrasses. Scott's are known to be rather nasty towards other wrasses.

 

[Moort82]

I'd do achilles or powder blue. Both together has been done but they both have the potential to be very aggressive towards each other and your other fish.
I would also personally take out some of the tangs and swap for more smaller species upping the number of lyretail anthias and probably the coral beauties. This would make the tank look more natural.

 

[scooter31707]

Agree about the Tangs and also I would not do 2 coral beauties. I would maybe do a Flame or Potters.

 

[BigBlueTang]

What they said!!

Also, just a side note, I hope you aren't planning on treating your QT with copper with rock in it. The LR will soak up some and then leach it out, even after you want copper out! Plus the rock will make you add more copper than you might need, which may cause an overdose.

 

[microlady]

Too many tangs IMO. You might have WWIII on your hands. I'd go for more small bottom dwellers and mix it up a bit. With a 300 gallon I'd ditch the coral and keep large Angels!

Nice setup.

 

[zachtos]

I was hoping for 6-10 fish (8-12" range) and 25-35 fish (3-5" range).

I'll drop the powder blue. This is bare bottom reef by the way.

How about this list for the 300G?

• REGAL angel x 1
• Achilles Tang (Acanthurus) x 1
• Hippo Tang x 1
• blue caribbean tang or convict tang (Acanthurus) x 1 (are either OK w/ Achilles?)
• kole/Bristletooth/GoldRing tang (Ctenochaetus) x 1
• yellow tang (Zebramosa) x 1
• Magnificient foxface (RabitFish) x 1
• copperband or pyramid (Butterfly) x 1
• Coral Beauty Dwarf Angel x 1
• Flame Dwarf Angel x 1
• Potter's Dwarf Angel x 1
• Cherub/Pygmy Dwarf Angel x 1
• red head solon Fairy Wrasse x 1
• Fine Spotted Fairly Wrasse x 1
• McCoskers Flasher Wrasse x 1
• LineSpot Flasher Wrasse x 1
• blue streak cleaner wrasse x 1
• Lyratail Anthias x 5
• Dispar Anthias x 5
• Bartlet or Carberryi Anthias x 5 (can I even do multi groups of different anthias?)
• Green Chromis x 6
• Perculla Clown x 2
• Clown Goby x 1
• Mandarin Dragonette x 1

 

[zachtos]

What they said!!

Also, just a side note, I hope you aren't planning on treating your QT with copper with rock in it. The LR will soak up some and then leach it out, even after you want copper out! Plus the rock will make you add more copper than you might need, which may cause an overdose.

I was wondering about this. I was hoping it would help keep the tank more stable, but maybe I just need for bio foam filters instead in that case?

 

[brett559]

No big angel?

 

[zachtos]

No big angel?

I have a regal angel and 4 dwarfs on the list. I would gladly drop a few tangs if that means I'm OK with having an emperor angel and/or blue face angel. I've had an emperor in the past 240G but only like 5 tangs and few small fish, never tried regal angel.

 

[BigBlueTang]

I was wondering about this. I was hoping it would help keep the tank more stable, but maybe I just need for bio foam filters instead in that case?

I would only use LR in an observation tank. Not a tank I was planning to treat with copper.
What you could do, is set up some 20 longs for treating a fish, and TTM, and then use the 40 as an observation, that would be a great QT system.

 

[TerrapinStation]

Dwarf angels can be kept in pairs and are actually pretty social. I'd switch out the flame (most aggressive) and go for a pair of potters or coral beauties or both.

 

[zachtos]

Dwarf angels can be kept in pairs and are actually pretty social. I'd switch out the flame (most aggressive) and go for a pair of potters or coral beauties or both.

you mean 2 dwarf angels total, or 2 of each? I have no attachment to flame angel, had one before, want to try wrasses for red colors.

 

[ThRoewer]

• REGAL angel x 1
  I would make that a pair - see in my videos: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=24723265#post24723265
  -
• Achilles Tang (Acanthurus) x 1
• Hippo Tang x 1
• blue caribbean tang or convict tang (Acanthurus) x 1
• kole/Bristletooth/GoldRing tang (Ctenochaetus) x 1
• yellow tang (Zebramosa) x 1
  Too many tangs IMO
  -
• Magnificient foxface (RabitFish) x 1
  live in pairs in the wild - see articles in this thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2544537
• copperband or pyramid (Butterfly) x 1
  CBB live in pairs in the wild
  -
• Coral Beauty Dwarf Angel x 1
• Flame Dwarf Angel x 1
• Potter's Dwarf Angel x 1
  Dwarfs are likely to nip on corals, especially bored singles. If you want to take a chance, pick one species and keep them as a pair or in a harem group as that may reduce their idle time they otherwise use to harass corals. The pair and spawning behavior is also quite rewarding.
  -
• Cherub/Pygmy Dwarf Angel x 1
  Cherubs should not be kept alone - all I tried went coo coo crazy.
  -
• red head solon Fairy Wrasse x 1
• Fine Spotted Fairly Wrasse x 1
• McCoskers Flasher Wrasse x 1
• LineSpot Flasher Wrasse x 1
  -
• blue streak cleaner wrasse x 1
  I would be cautious with this
  -
• Lyratail Anthias x 5
• Dispar Anthias x 5
• Bartlet or Carberryi Anthias x 5
• Green Chromis x 6
  -
• Perculla Clown x 2
  Do you plan on adding an anemone?
  -
• Clown Goby x 1
  Get a pair = 2
• Mandarin Dragonette x 1
  Get a pair

 

[OrionN]

I think I have very heavy fish load for a 320. See my fish list in my sig line. I also recommend having breeding units of fish when possible. I plan to add an other flame and 6 Royal gramma.

Avoid too many big fish. I want to remove 2 larger fish from my tank but to attached to all my current fish and cannot make up my mind

 

[Moort82]

I'd probably pick a single species of anthias and go with them. Lyretail would be my choice for colour and ease but bartletts would work as well.
I'd also swap some of the tangs for genicanthus angels which are biggish active show fish but can be kept in harems and won't hurt your corals. A group of pyramids butterflies would do the same job.

 

[OrionN]

you mean 2 dwarf angels total, or 2 of each? I have no attachment to flame angel, had one before, want to try wrasses for red colors.

I never have luck with Coral Beauty. They always end up picking on corals in my tank. I feed heavy. Always have luck with Flame angel and Cherub, Flame back harems (not all at the same time). They always perfect community citizens in my tank and spawned a lot. I often pick a species and go for 3+ to form a harem.

 

[zachtos]

OK, how about this, less tangs, more angels, less small fish that die off (chromis anthias). This still fits my budget, and nothing too big or aggressive. I am OK w/ having only SPS coral, maybe mushroom/GSP on bottom, similar to Copps tank.

• REGAL angel x 2 (hope for a mating pair)
• powder blue tang or achilles x 1 (leaning powder blue for cost/availability)
• Hippo Tang (or yellow belly hippo) x 1
• pyramid butterfly x 4
• coral beauty dwarf x 6 (unsure here, hope for a harem)
• Lyratail Anthias x 6
• royal grammas x 6 (unsure here)
• Harlequin Tusk Wrasse x 1 (bye bye snails?)
• Exquisitte Fairy Wrasse x 1
• Red Head Solomon Fairy Wrasse x 1
• Fine Spotted Fairy Wrasse x 1
• Pink Margin Wrasse x 1
• Blue Head Wrasse x 1
• Perculla Clown x 2 (I own 2 of these now with 9 RBTA)
• Clown Goby x 2 (in a year)
• Mandarin Dragonette x 2 (in a year)
• cleaner goby x 2 (in 6 months)

I count 8 bigger fish, 12 medium, 20 small
-maybe +2 convict tangs or +2 genicanthus angels if all is well.
-willing to drop the lyretails for grammas instead if too crowded, and maybe -2 wrasse, no attachment to clown goby or clownfishes, would like a handful of dwarf angels however works best.


Unknown if I will try to keep the anemones in the display with SPS and angels.

 

[BigBlueTang]

OK, how about this, less tangs, more angels, less small fish that die off (chromis anthias). This still fits my budget, and nothing too big or aggressive. I am OK w/ having only SPS coral, maybe mushroom/GSP on bottom, similar to Copps tank.

• REGAL angel x 2 (hope for a mating pair)
• powder blue tang or achilles x 1 (leaning powder blue for cost/availability)
• Hippo Tang (or yellow belly hippo) x 1
• pyramid butterfly x 4
• coral beauty dwarf x 6 (unsure here, hope for a harem)
• Lyratail Anthias x 6
• royal grammas x 6 (unsure here)
• Harlequin Tusk Wrasse x 1 (bye bye snails?)
• Exquisitte Fairy Wrasse x 1
• Red Head Solomon Fairy Wrasse x 1
• Fine Spotted Fairy Wrasse x 1
• Pink Margin Wrasse x 1
• Blue Head Wrasse x 1
• Perculla Clown x 2 (I own 2 of these now with 9 RBTA)
• Clown Goby x 2 (in a year)
• Mandarin Dragonette x 2 (in a year)
• cleaner goby x 2 (in 6 months)

I count 8 bigger fish, 12 medium, 20 small
-maybe +2 convict tangs or +2 genicanthus angels if all is well.
-willing to drop the lyretails for grammas instead if too crowded, and maybe -2 wrasse, no attachment to clown goby or clownfishes, would like a handful of dwarf angels however works best.


Unknown if I will try to keep the anemones in the display with SPS and angels.

I would lop off three grammas and three Coral beauties. Even though your tank will be massive, three CB's seem's excessive, and many people on this forum don't have much luck with multiple RG's...
I don't like dwarf angels all that much so maybe I'm biased

 

[ThRoewer]

I kind of agree on the Coral Beauties, get a pair or a harem with one male and 2 or 3 females. More females could cause trouble. The safest bet is to go with a pair.
The only dwarf I ever attempted to keep in a harem was a C. argi, and that was with just 2 females due to tank size restrictions.

As for the Gramma, I feel many people fail because they try to try to get them into a larger tank too early. I kept my trio in a 10 gallon quarantine tank for almost a year. And I had a bunch of other fish with them. After that they went into my 40B sump tank and only recently I moved them up to the 100 gal.
I feel if you give them too much space before the roles are clear and solidified things can get ugly.

As for the anemone - if you design it right you could add a gigantea. IME they are among the least likely to roam around if you design the right space for them (this kinda goes for all anemone species, but I had far less luck with others, and some just like to take a stroll).
The only fish I ever lost to a gig was a High-Fin goby who was foolish enough to set up shop right below the gig.
It should also be possible to convince BTAs to stay in one place - again, knowledge of what they like is required to design the ideal spot. The biggest issue with BTAs is the splitting - that may lead to overpopulation.
The anemone that is probably easiest to control and keep away from corals is a magnifica. It's one of the natural hosts to percula, but be prepared that they may lose much of their black.
If you ditch the anemone you will have to provide your clowns a suitable surrogate. Clay flowerpots worked every time for me, but are not really a nice sight in a reef tank.