In what order should I buy my fish?

[cpotter291]

Hello, I have a large aquarium (Fish Only, Non Reef) that is fully cycled and I have already purchased my first few fish for it but I am now starting to stock it with more fish. I put together a list of fish that I want to get but I want to make sure that I get them in the right order so as to have the least amount of conflict with the fish. Could you let me know in what order I should get the below fish, which ones I should put in at the same time, or which ones would not be compatible.

I currently have

3 Blue Chromis
5 Clownfish
1 Raccoon Butterflyfish

The fish I have picked out for my tank that I would like to get are

Emperor Angel
Bi-Color Dwarf Angel
Flame Dwarf Angel
Royal Gramma Basslet
Auriga Butterflyfish
Yellow Longnose Butterflyfish
One Spot Foxface
Diamond Watchman Goby
Porcupine Puffer
Blue Tang
Naso Tang
Powder Blue Tang
Sailfin Tang
Yellow Tang
Banana Wrasse (Male)
Pinkface Wrasse


Thank you!

 

[ThRoewer]

Did you do proper quarantine with the fish you already put in there?

Also, how big is your tank? To my wife my new 100 gallon tank is huge - to me it's tiny.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

How big is your tank? You've got some fish there that will need at least a 220 preferably bigger will all that you are wanting to add.

But you always should add from least aggressive to most aggressive to have the least amount of problems.

 

[SaltyDoug]

5 clownfish is going to be a problem. Eventually one will become the female and one the male and will pick off the others as they will see them as a threat.

The golden rule is 2 clownfish per tank, I know others have had success with "harem" tanks but they require specific planning and care.

 

[3dees]

kind of hard to answer without knowing the size of your tank. if your wanting all those fish, you better have a very large tank. you might want to get rid of three clowns now before they do it for you.

 

[e048]

This is a Recipe for disaster. Like the other comments how big is "very big" honestly with that list unless your tank is 500+ gallons it wouldn't work and what kind of clowns are they I've seen skunk clowns in groups work well as well as groups of perculas and occelaris work well given that they each had they're own nems and these tanks were all on the 300+ gallon size

 

[ginpang]

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] I was scared of being the next nominee for the t**g police squad by asking if he had like a 1000 gallons!

On a lighter note +1 for the clownfish comments.
The raccoon butterfly should've been probably the last butterfly in.
Emperor angel should be very last.
Should cut down on tangs ... I saw a blonde naso last month who was like 14" [emoji33]... Powder blue last of tangs just before emperor angel.

The puffer may nip at smaller fish thinking they could be lunch...like the clownfish unless they live in an anemone... Gobies ... Pygmy Angels ...

But like they said other than general guidelines of most aggressive last it's kind of hard to say not knowing the size of the tank.

 

[cpotter291]

Thank you all for your posts, I have a 250 gallon tank (82"x24"x30"), the clowns are all from the same family and all bought at the same time. They are just regular tank raised ocellaris clownfish. I haven't had any issues at all (so far) with any of them bullying each other. I was told if you get 2 they will pair up, if you get 3, the other 2 will bully the third, but if you get 5 or more, the aggression isn't put all on 1 and therefore would be ok with 5 or more in 200+ gallon tanks.
And yes I do quarantine the fish before adding them, i put them in a 10 gallon tank for about a week before adding them to the main tank.

I was told that the raccoon butterfly was on the less aggressive side so I should get him next when getting him. Thats why I got the ones I have gotten so far because I was trying to go from least aggressive to most aggressive. But using the rule of thumb for 1/2" (full grown) per gallon of tank space. All these fish came out to be 130" in full grown inches so I figured it was enough space for all the fish, if needed, I can get rid of a couple of them but I would really like to try and keep as many of those as possible...Tangs are my personal favorite.

Here are a few pictures of my tank
http://1drv.ms/1IVI4ju

 

[DopeCantWin]

Thank you all for your posts, I have a 250 gallon tank (82"x24"x30"), the clowns are all from the same family and all bought at the same time. They are just regular tank raised ocellaris clownfish. I haven't had any issues at all (so far) with any of them bullying each other. I was told if you get 2 they will pair up, if you get 3, the other 2 will bully the third, but if you get 5 or more, the aggression isn't put all on 1 and therefore would be ok with 5 or more in 200+ gallon tanks.

And yes I do quarantine the fish before adding them, i put them in a 10 gallon tank for about a week before adding them to the main tank.

I was told that the raccoon butterfly was on the less aggressive side so I should get him next when getting him. Thats why I got the ones I have gotten so far because I was trying to go from least aggressive to most aggressive. But using the rule of thumb for 1/2" (full grown) per gallon of tank space. All these fish came out to be 130" in full grown inches so I figured it was enough space for all the fish, if needed, I can get rid of a couple of them but I would really like to try and keep as many of those as possible...Tangs are my personal favorite.

Here are a few pictures of my tank
http://1drv.ms/1IVI4ju

Everything I've heard about Clowns tells me you'll end up with 2. For the Chromis the odds are also against you, probably end up with one.

Your quarantine isn't really a quarantine procedure. What are you going to catch or prevent in a week?

 

[albano]

... But using the rule of thumb for 1/2" (full grown) per gallon of tank space. All these fish came out to be 130" in full grown inches so I figured it was enough space for all the fish, if needed, I can get rid of a couple of them ...

That "rule of thumb" is an "old wives' tale"...it can not be used to figure ANYTHING as far as size or # of fish.

 

[cpotter291]

ok I understand, my plan is to be getting about a 900 gallon in a few years as well so keep that in mind, I understand you all have your own opinions on my clowns and chromis but could you please let me know if I were to get those fish, what order I should get them in. I'd like to get another fish in a couple weeks and get maybe one every month or two but I want to make sure I am getting them in the correct order or getting some at the same time so there is the least amount of conflict.

 

[scooter31707]

IMO, I would only do 3 Tangs. The order I would do is as follows:
Goby
Basslet
Foxface
Dwarf Angels
Puffer
Tangs
Emperor Angel
Banana Wrasse
*The Emperor and Banana Wrasse can be flip-flopped based on the size. Also I would not do any of the other Butterflies especially with the Raccoon being established. It was best to put them in together. I don't recommend 5 tangs, you have some good size ones on the list.

 

[DopeCantWin]

ok I understand, my plan is to be getting about a 900 gallon in a few years as well so keep that in mind, I understand you all have your own opinions on my clowns and chromis but could you please let me know if I were to get those fish, what order I should get them in. I'd like to get another fish in a couple weeks and get maybe one every month or two but I want to make sure I am getting them in the correct order or getting some at the same time so there is the least amount of conflict.

Don't get fish for the setup you might have, get fish for the one you do.

 

[cpotter291]

IMO, I would only do 3 Tangs. The order I would do is as follows:
Goby
Basslet
Foxface
Dwarf Angels
Puffer
Tangs
Emperor Angel
Banana Wrasse
*The Emperor and Banana Wrasse can be flip-flopped based on the size. Also I would not do any of the other Butterflies especially with the Raccoon being established. It was best to put them in together. I don't recommend 5 tangs, you have some good size ones on the list.

Thank you Scooter! Especially since you were the only one to actually tell me what you think about my list and give me actual recommendations instead of criticizing me.

I really appreciate it!

 

[ginpang]

In what order should I buy my fish?

Thank you all for your posts, I have a 250 gallon tank (82"x24"x30"), the clowns are all from the same family and all bought at the same time. They are just regular tank raised ocellaris clownfish. I haven't had any issues at all (so far) with any of them bullying each other. I was told if you get 2 they will pair up, if you get 3, the other 2 will bully the third, but if you get 5 or more, the aggression isn't put all on 1 and therefore would be ok with 5 or more in 200+ gallon tanks.

And yes I do quarantine the fish before adding them, i put them in a 10 gallon tank for about a week before adding them to the main tank.

I was told that the raccoon butterfly was on the less aggressive side so I should get him next when getting him. Thats why I got the ones I have gotten so far because I was trying to go from least aggressive to most aggressive. But using the rule of thumb for 1/2" (full grown) per gallon of tank space. All these fish came out to be 130" in full grown inches so I figured it was enough space for all the fish, if needed, I can get rid of a couple of them but I would really like to try and keep as many of those as possible...Tangs are my personal favorite.

Here are a few pictures of my tank
http://1drv.ms/1IVI4ju

Raccoon medium aggressive, yes ! what you were told was true ... But in relation to the Auriga, and long nose who are pretty peaceful fish the raccoon is going to be the most annoying... At least from what I've experienced.

And for what you may take for "criticizing "... Well the people that do may be talking through their *** but also may be reminded of the (perhaps non educated / stupid ) things they might've done when they first got into the hobby and simply want to point out the facts in correlation to their own experiences in order to prevent someone from making a mistake.
No one likes to talk about their Faillures but I'm sure everyone on this forum has had some things they're not so proud of and would rather forget. Either it be because of thinking they knew better, because they thought they had the magic touch or simply because they weren't well enough educated on a fish / invert they bought.
So don't think our comments are flat out derogatory , they're just opinions. You'll also figure out for yourself whose opinions you value.

Sometimes weird things happen and whatever wasn't supposed to work because the law of average dictates ....could actually work ...
Good luck to you

 

[ThRoewer]

...And yes I do quarantine the fish before adding them, i put them in a 10 gallon tank for about a week before adding them to the main tank....

That's no quarantine at all - with just one week you may as well just put them straight into the main tank and roll the dice.

Two months would be optimal, one the bare minimum.

 

[scooter31707]

They are not criticizing, just being a little hard on you. We have seen a lot of hobbyist say they are getting fish for a future tank. Well things happen and they never see that future tank and they are stuck with all these big and stressed out fish. That's all we are saying, is buy what is suitable for your current tank and when the upgrade comes, you upgrade the fish.