My 125 gallon build

[Parker7]

Im about to start adding fish to my 125 gallon and i wanted to throw my idea out there to see if I have over looked anything or if there would be any problems that I havent fore seen but some one else might?
In this list I inclued all the fish I would like in this one tank
so if anything is a lil off kilter plz tell me

purple fire goby
binji Cardnal X4
Red Fire Gobys X4
Cromis X9
Leopard Wrasse
Hovens wrasse
Bicolor Goatfish
Finger blenny
Blue mandrin
Queen Angel
coral beauty x3
racoon face butterfly x3
Pearlscale Butterfly
Heniochus Black & White Butterflyfish x 3
Lawn mower blenny
Blue tang then a naso tang
Sailfin Tang
Yellow Kole Eye Tang
Long Nose Hawk Fish
Gold stripe Maroon clown fish X2
blue spot puffer
Marine betta
Harlequin tusk
dwarf lion fish x2

 

[dzfish17]

A little "off kilter". Youve got 47 fish on that list. I dont even have half that many in my 600g tank. Youll really need to cut the numbers... alot. You also have alot of fish that get big so keep that in mind when you re-do the list. I suggest you research the full grown size of each fish. If you decide to have some of those "big" fish it will greatly reduce the number of fish you can keep.

 

[sandwi54]

That's a crazy list! I counted 15 medium-to-large fish. There is no way the biological filter can support that many fish. Plus fish like naso and salfin tangs need over twice the tank size. I'd say remove all of the large fish from your list and divide the number of fish by 5, and then you're good to go.

 

[TriggersAmuck]

Here is what I have in my 125g:

Large
Green Corris Wrasse (5")
Queen Angel (6") (will get enormous)
Yellow Tang (4")
Powder Blue Tang (5")

Medium
Lg Maroon Clown
Small Maroon Clown
Pajama Cardinal
Leopard Wrasse
Yellow Coris Wrasse
Royal Gramma
2 Coral Banded Shrimp
Red Coris Wrasse (will get very large)
African Flameback Angel

Small
Flame Hawk
Yellow Clown Goby
Green Clown Goby
Oposum Wrasse
Cryptic Wrasse
Yellow Neon Goby
7 Red Firefish
Purple Firefish

I'm sure 99% of the people here on RC would have no problem saying that my tank is HEAVILY stocked, but I also take measures knowing this is the case. Also, I am well aware that I may have to find accommodations for a few fish as they grow out (Queen Angel, Red Coris Wrasse, perhaps the Tangs).

I list my livestock here, since I gather you are more a fish lover than a coral lover and would like a tropical mixture of species rather than a few big ones.... Take a look at my medium and small list, and you will see a huge number of fish which, provided you don't put large fish in, would do just fine in a 125g.

A few more notes: Butterflies can be demanding of water quality (and can stress from aggression), and so if you are going to have a heavily stocked tank you probably won't be able to keep the Nitrates down to a level which they would thrive at. Also, if your Queen angel is anything like mine, it will probably not take to any "angel like" shaped fish in the tank, which butterflies certainly qualify as.

Tangs are also quite territorial once established, and the naso you mention will get gigantinormous (as will the Queen Angel, albeit slowly). Best to stick with only one or two tangs, the Kole definitely having a better disposition for a mixture of species.

Your dwarf lion will eat the firefish and smaller clown (Maroon). Ask me how I know. Also, you may get lucky with a mated pair of Maroons like I did in terms of aggression but in other cases they may decide to kick all other lodgers out of their tank.

So I recommend you pick your battle carefully. You can put in a LOT of smaller reef fishes, but you can not do the same with all of the tangs/angels/butterflies you speak of. If you have a very favorite species that you can't live without, shape your population around that one. (In my case it was the Queen Angel, which I acquired as a juvenile less than one inch long). If you are going to put a lot of fish in, I recommend smaller specimens in almost all cases so that they adapt to being around all of the others before sprouting their wings. Funny enough, my big territorial fish don't mind when I add really tiny fish in even after they are well established.

 

[TriggersAmuck]

I have to add one more qualification to my previous post, and that is that I really do not want to encourage folks who don't have a lot of experience into thinking that the bio load I have in my list is something to be aimed for. One should plan their livestock for the worst case scenario, which might be a power failure for multiple days with little circulation to the tank. (I experienced such an event here in Florida due to a hurricane, and it cost me some livestock for not having back up power sources to keep circulation going adequately. I now do). Needless to say, a smaller load will fare better in a power outage. Also, a smaller, well planned list will be less likely to see aggression issues arise as fish get bigger and start staking their claim on the tank (especially with regards to Tangs, as I have found). If you plan only one type of each species (e.g. one Angel - smaller at that, one Tang - not one of the giant ones, one or two clowns, etc.) you will more than likely not deal with the new fish addition stress with the whole tank beating the snot out of the newcomer. (I always recommend introducing new fish near nightfall so lights can be out and also have some plastic egg / lighting crating from Home Depot on hand to be able to cordon off an entire section of the tank). Aggressive species will generally adapt a lot better if they are introduced as small juveniles with all the other fish established so that they get used to being around others.

 

[TriggersAmuck]

Here is a "safe" list with a mixture of large to small fish:

Yellow Kole Eye Tang
Heniochus Black & White Butterflyfish x 1!
coral beauty x 1!
***Gold stripe Maroon clown fish X2 - beware agression
Lawn mower blenny
purple fire goby
binji Cardnal X4
Red Fire Gobys X4
Finger blenny
Long Nose Hawk Fish

Leopard wrasses are great once established, but not for a beginner in terms of getting them to feed. Green Chromis are cool when they school, but a large school can get hectic for smaller reef fish (e.g. firefish), and don't be fooled, if you ever add a "new" chromis after the others are established they can very well beat the snot out of the new guy to the death. (Yes, experienced this unfortunately).

 

[Parker7]

Thank you to every one I KNOW that the list is majorly every overloaded, and im completely panning on cutting the list down. I put almost everything I could ever want on the list just so I can see what people would say.
I also forgot to mention
I have a 55 gallon sump with a skimmer, refugeum, lots of carbon and filter floss in it on top of that my tank is cycled about 10 times an hour and I have a method so that only about 600 gallons an hour goes through my fuge. I also have had tigger pods, reef pods and Reefcleaners.org's bag of Pods in the tank for almost a month with nothing else in the tank.


binji Cardnal X4
Red Fire Gobys X4
Leopard Wrasse
Hovens wrasse
Bicolor Goatfish
Finger blenny
Blue mandrin
Queen Angel
Pearlscale Butterfly
Heniochus Black & White Butterflyfish
Blue Hippo Tang
Yellow Kole Eye Tang
Long Nose Hawk Fish
blue spot puffer

The main points of the tank that I was looking for was to be able to have the Queen angel, the Kole eye, a Hippo tang, the Butterflys, and the schooling fish
Another major question I have but forgot to say earlier was I really want to get a shark into this tank some how, if it was possable at all I was planning on staring with a shark egg and as soon as the shark is too big give him to my school that has a 300 gallon tank.
Thing is Im unsure if this tank build is already too large for him or not, and how many fish would be in direct danger. is this a pure bad idea? or could it work?