From wishes to fishes, a final list

F

Fredfish

New member
I think I have a handle on how the potential fish for my tank might interact. Now its time to pare down to a reasonable list.

The Tank: 120 Gallons, 48" x 30" x 20"

I know, not so big as might have been implied by the wish list.

I really want an Angel in this tank. Originally I thought that all Dwarf angels were out because they were aggressive and ate corals. That led me to Angels like Lamark's and the Bellus. I looked at longer larger tanks, but they just do not fit into my living situation.

Fortunately I came across some posts by OrionN that convinced me I should take a second look at the Flame Angel. So, the Bellus is out.

I also really, really want a Pyramid Butterfly. Same issue as above. Sadly, probably not a good idea. Sigh...

The Mandarin Goby is another fish I have really wanted to keep ever since I saw one in a shallow reef display in Stockholm. I'm was not aware that the Flame Angel is a pod hog. I do plan to have an area of coarse rubble in the tank and the sump is rather large. I will run skimmerless, so the sump can be dedicated as a refuge. This one is a maybe.

The rest of the list stands, but I don't know what the carrying capacity of a 120 is.

Gobies Yasha/Highfin/similar. Would like to keep several, possibly with an appropriate shrimp(s)
Flasher Wrase, probably two.
Mandarin
Flame Angel
Orchid Dottyback (pair?)
matted/Spotted Pygmy Filefish (because they're cool!)
Tomani Tank/Foxface Rabbit (could give up both of these)
Yellowstriped Cardinal (group of 3/4)
Yellow clown goby
Starry Blenny
Striped Blenny
CLownfish and anemone

Help me turn this into a reasonable list. :)
 
some of those gobies can get territorial. you'll need a lot of rock work where they can burrow holes and not see each other.

mandarin is no problem in your sized tank. seed it with pods right after cycle and wait a few months for it to build up.

flame angel is not always SPS/Clam safe. Mine ate all my SPS and clams. soo it's a gamble

Filefish also might pick on your coral and anemone.

One Spotted Foxfish is smaller and fits 120 better. less chance of eating corals imo.

you can put in a yellow tang or something to help with algae issue.
 
Possible swap of black cap basslets for the orchid dottybacks?
Not kept either pair, just from reading and others suggestions in orher posts.

At least 1 or 2 neon blue cleaner goby or neon gold cleaner goby.
Pretty, small, always out and useful.


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M0nkey. Stonogobiops are generally peaceful and will coexist with other species in its genus. The Yasha Haze can be kept in small groups.

I should be able to provide plenty of rockwork at ground level with a 48x30 footprint.

From what I understand, Flame Angels will not go after coral if they are not properly fed (lots of algae).

Norfolk. I have considered the Blackcap Basslet, but I really like the behavior of the Orchid Dottyback.

I did not know Neon Gobies were cleaners. I like small fish. Will put them on the list to consider. Thanks! :)

I just noticed that I have accidentally dropped the Anthias from my list. They are still at the top and I am looking at a group of 5.

What I really want to know now is what the capacity of my tank is. I'm pretty sure I have an over ambitious list.
 
You should consider a harem of Royal Gramma. Their swimming habits are beautiful. Why swimming and hugs the rocks. In caves they often swim upside down.
 
OrionN said:
You should consider a harem of Royal Gramma. Their swimming habits are beautiful. Why swimming and hugs the rocks. In caves they often swim upside down.
Click to expand...
I did look at them. Recommendations on this fish are mixed. Some say they are quite aggressive towards their own species, some say you can keep them in groups. I'm also not sure I have room given all the other fish, 24 in all.


5 Anthias
3 Gobies Yasha/Highfin/similar.
2 Flasher Wrase, probably two.
1 Mandarin
1 Flame Angel
2 Orchid Dottyback (pair?)
1 matted/Spotted Pygmy Filefish (because they're cool!)
1 Tomani Tank/Foxface Rabbit (could give up both of these)
4 Yellowstriped Cardinal (group of 3/4)
1 Yellow clown goby
1 Starry Blenny
1 Striped Blenny
1 CLownfish and anemone
 
Bump. I missed posting the primary question for my last post. Any comments on the number of fish in my list?

If I get the full list, it seems like a few too many fish to me, but I don't have a good handle on how many fish a 120 can handle.
 
Looks fine for a 120, mostly small fish. Probably best to stay away from the larger anthias though.
 
Most of your fish are swimmers. (As opposed to perchers like hawkfish and cleaner gobies) That helps with the number of fish and "personal space".

We have 6 perching fish, 4 'posters' (2 clown fish and 2 Banghais) and 5 swimmers in a 75 gallon.
I have noticed that all of our perching fish kind of move around all day. Reminds me a little of cichlids that are overcrowded and never get to set up territories.

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Thanks for the replies gents

ca1ore said:
Looks fine for a 120, mostly small fish. Probably best to stay away from the larger anthias though.
Click to expand...
Yup. I was planning to go with one of the smaller species like Ignatus, Dispar, or Randall's.

I'm still pining for a reef safe(ish) Butterfly. The Tinker's I saw today was a stunner, but a little spendy for me. :( I could afford his less colouful cousin, the Burgess' Butterfly.
 
norfolkgarden said:
Most of your fish are swimmers. (As opposed to perchers like hawkfish and cleaner gobies) That helps with the number of fish and "personal space".

We have 6 perching fish, 4 'posters' (2 clown fish and 2 Banghais) and 5 swimmers in a 75 gallon.
I have noticed that all of our perching fish kind of move around all day. Reminds me a little of cichlids that are overcrowded and never get to set up territories.

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Click to expand...
I've tried to pick fish that will fill different niches both to maximize the use of available space and to get a diversity of behaviors.

Hmm, gobies. The neon cleaner gobies are missing from my list.
 
I must say that I'm quite happy to hear I can keep so many fish. One of the things that really struck me when I did dives on the GBR is how active the reef was. There were always fish appearing and disappearing. There were hovering fish, cruising fish, darting fish, fish tucked into recesses...

I've seen a few tanks that somewhat capture this, so that's what I am looking for.
 
Looking forward to seeing your tank when it is full!

I think you have a great list.

Our cleaner gobies surprised me.
We go to Massachusetts for Christmas and there is a great LFS nearby.
Coral Reef America.
Always something to bring home in a double cooler for the 12 hour drive.

2 Christmas's ago we already had 3 neon blue cleaner gobies in the tank. They were in for a month before we left and they just cruised around the tank not really settling anywhere.
When we returned from Massachusetts, they had settled out to 3 individual rock perches spread out throughout the 4 foot tank and seemed happy to stay there. It was several hours before the newly purchased neon gold cleaner gobies went into the tank. The 3 blue neon cleaner gobies never moved off their individual rocks in those hours.

Of course adding the 3 new gold cleaner gobies started territorial squabbling all over again.
It hasn't really settled out to everyone having their own 100% home rock since then.
We now have 2 of each and it is still not as it was for those few hours after we had been gone for a week.
Still don't know if those few hours were a blip or if I messed up adding the 3 new inch and a half sized fish in a four foot long tank.

The flame hawkfish and long nose hawkfish are both under 3 inches and kind of move around each other, even at feeding time. No direct animosity but no snuggling either.


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I'm not sure if you're interested in feeding live black worms every day, or dealing with a CBB eating your mandarin's pods, but the copperband butterfly fish is pretty and mostly reef safe.
I waited 5 years to get one and finally found one small enough and that I thought I could finally care for properly.
Very cool fish, just a lot of work to get started eating reliably.

Another possibility that I have no personal experience with is a blue striped butterfly fish.
Saw one at LFS and almost drooled. [emoji17]

It doesn't work in our tank but might in yours.

f7da5b4120d1b1b9a68035e0c78bd51f.jpg


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Norfolk. I'm not up to the challenge of a Copperband and they do get rather large.

I did a quick search on the blue striped Butterfly and they appear to be difficult to get feeding.

Ca1ore. I keep reading that Cranberryi are more difficult to get through quarantine and feeding. Is that not the case?
 
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