I'm New and Need a Little Help

B

blackbeard88

New member
Hi, my name is Cameron and I'm new to the whole marine hobby. I haven't bought anything yet, I'm only in the research phase. I was thinking of doing an FOWLR for my tank, with around 70lbs of live rock and a SSB. I'm also thinking of doing a refugium to keep the pH from spiking in the night. I can't really decide on what fish to put in either. Here is a list of three different combinations...
 
#1
Ocellaris Clownfish 2
Kole Tang 1
Neon Goby 2
Midas Blenny 1
Yellowtail Bluedamsel 2

#2
Ocellaris Clownfish 2
Tomini Tang 1
Neon Goby 2
Blue/Green Chromis 3 or 4
Purple Firefish 1

#3
Ocellaris Clownfish 2
Yellow Tang 1
Neon Goby 2
Pinkstreaked Wrasse 1
Yellowtail damselfish 2
 
Just my opinion the tank is to small for a tang. If you do get one make sure it is a small one. It will out grow the tank. 3 or 4 Chromis will get down to one. I don't no why but all the times I have had more than one with in a year I was down to just one. I still have the one now. CUC I use snails.
 
All types of snails are good and hermits. I have hermits, 2 emerald crabs, a sally lightfoot crab, lawnmower blennies are nice for eating algae on the rock, I have astrias, turbos, margaritas, Ceriths, nerites,and nassarius. Nassarius are great sand sifters. Nerites often go on the glass which is nice. I don't recommend those tangs. A small yellow tang, or sailfin tang would be a better choice until they grow out. Other tangs get much larger. Like blonde naso, powder blue, and blue tangs... they need very large tanks. Only keep 1 tang in a 75 gallon if you decide to get one. Two and they become territorial. Gobies and blennies are similar in shape so they are territorial toward each other. I would put 1 goby and 1 blenny and that's it. Fire fish are very very shy and a lot of times they go to the bottom of your tank and hide and die. They should be the very first fish you add to the tank and they should be put in groups of 2 or 4, not only one. I would hold off on the chromosomes and tangs until later and start with the firefish and clownfish until they have been in there for a few weeks to establish their territory if you want to keep firefish or dart fish. Damselfish are mean. They will pick on the other fish and sometimes kill them so I recommend against yellowtail damsels all together unless you are keeping a chromis and damsel tank without the other fish. Ive heard wrasses are kind of mean and a lot of them aren't reef safe if you ever plan to change your system to have coral but I have never had one. I hope this helps
 
The Tomini Tang gets to be around 6 inches in size. Wouldn't that be ok with the size of the other fish I've selected? They don't have to be those specific combinations, I just chose the fish that were pretty hardy and caught my attention.
 
I just looked up the specific tang you are referring to and it actually is smaller than a yellow tang at full size. I would say that would be fine in a 75 gallon! All of those fish are hardy when properly introduced and with the right tankmates. I would put any of them together in my tank except the damsels and chromis. Chromis might be better than damsels- but putting a bunch of chromis together might or might not work. You would definitely have to put chromis in all at the same time and monitor their behavior. Then also like I said put the shy fish in first before any other fish so they can establish their territory and put more than 1 of the exact same type of shy fish in. So a regular fire fish and purple firefish will not associate like two regular fire fish or two purple firefish do. Definitely recommend clownfish. They are hardy and very friendly. Also Tangs require a varied diet as any other fish does but they also need seaweed. I feed Julian Sprung's sea veggies and I also have seaweed extreme pellets. But my tang tends to like nipping off the algae for the few hours I put it in there.
 
I'd go with #2 as well but I'd only get one Chromis. You'll end up at the end with one anyway.

Also, what is the rest of the equipment you're considering.
 
I haven't really decided on the specifics of the equipment. I just got down to the basics of what I would need. I plan on going to my LFS sometime this weekend and get some information on what would be better to use.
 
blackbeard88 said:
I haven't really decided on the specifics of the equipment. I just got down to the basics of what I would need. I plan on going to my LFS sometime this weekend and get some information on what would be better to use.
Click to expand...

This is just a friendly suggestion since I don't know anything about your local reef store, but in many (maybe most) situations, the reef store is interested in selling you the lines they carry. Most experienced people in reef keeping use online sites like Marine Depot, Bulk Reef Supply, Premium Aquatics, etc. for their equipment purchases. Read all of the stickies at the top of this forum and then make a list of the things you will need...

Here's a good starter list:
1. Drilled tank. Overflow and return. If it isn't already drilled, you'll wish you had.
2. Sump
3. Skimmer
4. Lighting
5. Heater
6. Return Pump
7. Powerheads for flow in tank
8. Autotopoff system

As many reefers tend to upgrade in the future, you're better off slightly overbuying than under. You can dial back pumps and lighting but you can't make them stronger. Also, think about how you want to position all of your stuff in your stand and think about footprints (very important). Think about wire management (my own very personal Lucifer).

Finally, in reef keeping, you often get what you pay for. Most manufacturers are small operations that operate on fairly narrow margins. So, that Chinese knock off has a great price but...

Some solid manufacturers to consider (they aren't the cheapest but very well respected with great customer service):

Neptune for all things controlled (the Apex can literally run the entire tank)
Tunze for most types of powerheads and autotopoff
Trigger for sumps. Also consider Lifereef and MyReef. This is one area where you can build your own and save a ton of money.
Lot's of really good skimmer options from several respected manufacturers (Reef Octopus, Bubble King, Deltec, etc.)
Consider a DC return pump. Again, lots of good options here.
 
You can add a lawnmower blenny in there. If you plan to keep the gobies as well make sure to add the gobies and blenny together so that they establish their territory at the same time and are less likely to be as territorial since they have similar body shapes and size. I agree with Stolireef. I bought everything from bulk reef supply and the brands he suggested are great. Good LEDs are ecotech radion G4's. I have that light on my tank and there is a huge difference in my Corals versus under 2 T5's. Another type of powerhead to consider would be Ecotech as they create good water movement and take up less space. Definitely get a sump and plumb the tank. Bulk reef supply has 52 weeks of reefing videos on YouTube and their website under BRS TV which is great for beginners as they went through the entire process of setting up a 160 gallon reef tank and they give a lot of good information. I would definitely start there over a local fish store.
 
All your fish lists are fine. Just take out the yellow tang. It would be a little bit stretchy for one in 75. Tomini and kole should be fine. Just make sure you have enough algae growth on the lr for them to nip at.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk
 
scooter31707 said:
IME, I have had problems keeping a lawnmower blenny with Kole and Tomini Tangs.
Click to expand...

My Kole has bullied both a lawnmower blenny (small) and a diamondback goby (Fully grown and in the tank for over a year before the tang was introduced) to death. I would recommend you stay away from any tangs in a 48X18 tank (I have a 90). There are plenty of stories of the same. If you do a tank than skip the Yellow and stay with a bristle tooth.

Neon Gobies have fairly poor records in captivity. I do not fully know what the issues are surrounding that so I would research beforehand.

I have been successful with three Chromis in my tank but I credit that to having three distinct rock structures in my tank. They each sleep in separate sections of the tank (This is anecdotal, many have reported them killing each other off till there is one)

My 2¢
 
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