Introduction and help request re: stocking

[Zante]

First of all the introduction.

Hi, my name is Andrea, I'm Italian and I live in London (UK).

I have been keeping FW fish for a couple of years now and I've decided to step into the big blue.

I currently have a 4' tank with discus, rummynose tetras and corys, a 30 litre shrimp tank bursting at the seams with red crystal shrimps, and a small 2' tank with a few otos and rasboras that will become a refugium for the discus soon.

I also have a 90 litre tank (plus 30 litre DIY sump) that used to be a nano reef. I started setting it up beginning of December and it was coming along very nicely. I was really proud of it, but a house move with VERY cold weather and it crashed. It now has live rock and sand, a skunk shrimp, two emerald crabs and a few snails, plus an anemone that is still fighting to stay alive, nothing else.
It is now just keeping these alive for my new tank.

The new tank is a beautiful 5' x 2' x 2' optiwhite tank, with a decent size sump (which will become refugium).

I was thinking of making a loose indo-pacific biotope but due to my lack of experience with marine I really need some help with the stocking. I tried in my usual forum, but it is mainly freshwater, and i got some really odd advice there, so I thought I'd better enter a marine community for this side of the hobby.

Here is my stocking plan:

Inverts
1 Condy anemone (condilactys gigantea) - If the one I have survives, otherwise a bubbletip
1 Carpet anemone (Stichodactylidae sp.)
1 Coral banded shrimp (stenopus hispidus) - If a pair can be sourced I'll get a pair
10 Cleaner shrimps (lysmata ambionensis)
1 Maxima clam (tridacna maxima) - will see if the aquarium can support more than 1 clam, not necessarily all maxima
20 Nassarius snails (nassarius sp.)
20 money/ring cowrie (cypraea moneta/annulus)
10 strombus grazers (strombus maculatus)
15 dwarf hermits (calcinus laevimanus)
1 tiger pistol shrimp (alpheus bellulus) - Maybe 2 if the tank is big enough
2 emerald crab (mithraculus sculptus) - Caribbean, but I have 2 and they are staying
2 margarita snails (margarites pupillus) - Mexican, but I have 2 and they're staying
1 cerith snail - Caribbean, but I have 1 and it's staying

Fish
2 Sixline wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia)
3 Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse (Paracheilinus carpenteri) - 1m 2f if possible
1 Coral beauty (Centropyge bispinosa)
1 Flame angel (Centropyge loricula)
1 Lawnmower blenny (Salarias fasciatus)
1 Copperbanded butterfly (Chelmon rostratus)
5 Banggai cardinals (Pterapogon kauderni)
2 Ocellaris clowns (Amphiprion ocellaris)
2 Pink skunk clowns (Amphiprion perideraion)
4 Firefish (Nemateleotris magnifica)
2 Yellow watchman (Cryptocentrus cinctus)
1 Purple tang (Zebrasoma xanthurus)

Lighting from 2 x Radion LEDs

Circulation from
2 x vortech MP40w
2 x koralia 3200 lph
2 x APS 6000 lph

The pairs of pumps will be alternating with each other, each pair on a different timer to create shifting current patterns.
I will look into adding a Carlson surge device, but don't hold your breath.

The tank will be scaped as two separate reefs, one on the left occupying the left part of the tank and one on the right occupying the right part of the tank. This will create a clear territory division. The clam would go between the two.

Obviously this will not be stocked with the same speed of a FW tank, but slowly over several months, but I like to have a clear plan before I even start, so I'm building this plan even before I've started filling the tank with water.

The above stock list is more of a wishlist, and to give an idea of what I'm looking for. I'm new to salt, and there might be the perfect fish for me, that I just don't know about. It is open to be ripped apart by more experienced reefers.

Thanks for the patience in reading all this

 

[SushiGirl]

Not sure how many gallons a 5x2x2 tank is, but 25 fish is a lot. I don't have access to a volume calculator while on my phone, but we have a 4x2x36" tank that is 140 gallons.
If you plan on keeping corals, be aware that angels usually eat them & possibly the butterfly will too.
Not sure if 4 clowns will work, they're usually quite territorial once paired. Same with the cardinals, they may kill off the other 3 if 2 pair up, though you may have enough room for 2 pairs to coexist. The 5th will be bullied if you end up with 2 pairs.
Someone here recently tried 5 firefish & ended up with one LOL.
I don't know much about anemones other than they like to move around and will not stay where you want them. Actually, that applies to pretty much everything in saltwater!

Typically in saltwater you cannot house as many fish as you can in freshwater because they often will kill each other off if they're competing for the same territory & food source (they don't understand that they don't need to compete because we're feeding them). You usually end up with less fish than you started with because they tend to balance their little ecosystem out into what it can handle. Even corals will do it. It's more about teritory than water volume in this hobby.

Welcome to the saltwater addiction, and I look forward to seeing your tank once it's set up!

 

[Zante]

If it's any help it's 150 US gallons.

The two separate reefs in the same tank is because I like the idea, but also to encourage territory separation (dwarf angels and the clowns in particular).

Re: the cardinals, they are the only SW fish I know that I like that shoal together that stay fairly small. If anyone has a better suggestion it is more than welcome.

Not necessarily indo-pacific, if I really like them I will go for a Caribbean, Red Sea or whatever.

 

[SushiGirl]

Yes, I finally got to the tank calculator LOL.
Unfortunately, there aren't many fish that will shoal in our tanks as they're just not a large enough environment. It's always said that chromis & cardinals will do it, but over time you end up only with one or two because the territory just isn't large enough for shoaling space or reasons. There are some tiny cardinals that will kind of shoal, such as red spots, but they are very small & hard to find for sale. Maybe orange-lined would work. We want only small fish in our 140, but I suspect we're going to have a hard time getting what we want!

I love the 2 areas idea, but generally things don't work as planned in a reef tank! I think it will work for the yellow watchmen & the pistols, as they don't wander much, but with clowns I've only heard of more than 2 in a tank working out in much larger tanks long-term. You might want to read around in the clown/anemone forum for more info. I've never kept either, but I've certainly seen the question on this forum a lot!

I've only ever kept one angel, so I'm of no help on that subject. Hopefully more people will chime in!

 

[wooden_reefer]

each cu feet is 7.48 US gals. (not the same as imperial gal in the UK).

The number 231 is good to remember. The cu inch divided by 231 is the US gal.

 

[SushiGirl]

I'll never remember numbers LOL, but good to know!

 

[Deinonych]

There is a sticky thread in this section to post your stock list for advice (snorvich moderates it). I've received some great advice from him. You might post your list there to see what he has to say.

 

[Zante]

There is a sticky thread in this section to post your stock list for advice (snorvich moderates it). I've received some great advice from him. You might post your list there to see what he has to say.

I did look for it, but I was looking for a section, not a thread! That must be why I missed it. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.