New tank stocking list

A

Aqua Amator

New member
Hello all. I am setting up my first tank after being away from the hobby for more than 15 years. I have bought:

60 gal 24" cube from Deep Blue Professional
20" cube sump with refugium from Trigger Systems
Reef octopus 110SSS skimmer
60 lbs of reef savor rock
1x1x8" block of marine pure filter media (in fuge)
40 lbs caribe live sand
Aqua mag model 7 return pump
Finnex 300 w titanium digital heater
AI Hydra 26 light
All water from RO system

I set everything up last weekend (February 7) and started false feedings to cycle the tank. I have a test kit on order, so don't know levels except salinity is good per refractometer.

I would appreciate suggestions on stocking. I would like to do lps and I would like some color. Seems recommendations for tangs are larger tanks.

I would like to have some sand sifter blenny/gobie. I think I want a pistol shrimp. I really like the look of the large colorful clams. I would like some smaller fish to use all the hides-holes in the rock. Would a lemon peel be a good substitute for a yellow tang? I like the clown fish, too.

Clean up crew? 40 dwarf ceriths, 13 nassarius, 18 Florida cerith, 16 nerites, 1 chaeto.

Comments appreciated.
 

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Welcome to Reef central! The Lemon Peal is likely to get too aggressive in your tank, they really do better in a larger tank. A coris wrasse might be a better choice for a yellow fish. I would scale down on the clean up crew until the need arises for more, something like 5-10 cerith (I don't like the dwarfs, they get into powerheads and other pumps), 4 nassarius, 5 nerites and 5 astraea snails would be a good start. One or two Clown fish would be fine, perhaps a carpenter or other flasher wrasse.
 
thegrun said:
Welcome to Reef central! The Lemon Peal is likely to get too aggressive in your tank, they really do better in a larger tank. A coris wrasse might be a better choice for a yellow fish. I would scale down on the clean up crew until the need arises for more, something like 5-10 cerith (I don't like the dwarfs, they get into powerheads and other pumps), 4 nassarius, 5 nerites and 5 astraea snails would be a good start. One or two Clown fish would be fine, perhaps a carpenter or other flasher wrasse.
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Thanks for the suggestions. Your comment on the cleanup crew is very helpful. I emailed a place and specifically asked for more of a startup CuC because of reading that the stock packages are too big.

I would like to have one "star" fish in my tank, but everyone tells me that tangs need 75-100 gallons, and I don't have space for that. The wrasse are cool. Do any of them get larger or more showy... Think blue or yellow tang.
 
Ok, what about these items in this order:

1. Cleanup crew 5-10 cerith, 4 nassarius, 5 nerites and 5 astraea snails
2. Pink Spot Watchman Gobie paired with Peppermint Pistol Shrimp
3. Ocellaris clown pair
4. Carpenter' Flasher Wrasse
5. Smallest blue tang I can find (criticism accepted)
6. Orchid Dottyback

See any compatibility issues? Thanks for the help
 
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Aqua Amator said:
Ok, what about this:

Ocellaris clown pair
Smallest blue tang I can find (criticism accepted)
Pink Spot Watchman Gobie
Peppermint pistol shrimp
Orchid Dottyback
Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse

See any compatibility issues? Thanks for the help
Click to expand...

Tangs need 90 gal tanks or more I think. Everything looks fine. The pistol and goby will pair up and its very very amusing to watch.

Just don't get the devil damsels although I've heard that some we're model citizens.

Have you tried thinking about firefish? Its a very very beautiful fish IMHO
 
HammerLover said:
Tangs need 90 gal tanks or more I think.
Have you tried thinking about firefish? Its a very very beautiful fish IMHO
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I do like the firefish, but I think this is enough fish for the tank. There are so many cool fish to choose from. But I will have to be content to see the others in the ocean.
 
Aqua Amator said:
Ok, what about these items in this order:

1. Cleanup crew 5-10 cerith, 4 nassarius, 5 nerites and 5 astraea snails I personally stopped buying nerites as opposed to ceriths and astreas. But it's a good crew.
2. Pink Spot Watchman Gobie paired with Peppermint Pistol Shrimp Good stuff. Careful with peppermints stealing your corals, give them some broken shells and such to use in their burrow. Also, take a look at a Yasha Goby, one of my personal favorites.
3. Ocellaris clown pair Nothing wrong with that.
4. Carpenter' Flasher Wrasse Jumpers, get a screen top. Also they tend to take up room when they "flash", so you may not see much of that activity in your cube.
5. Smallest blue tang I can find (criticism accepted) Don't do it.
6. Orchid Dottyback Shrimp killers. But rather benign compared to other dottybacks. Also a jumper, make sure you have a screen top.

See any compatibility issues? Thanks for the help
Click to expand...
 
Sorry there really isn't a tang that can go in that tank especially a blue tang. Think 3 times the size (minimum) for those powder blues etc.
 
I bow to the collective wisdom of the forum. No tangs. I just picked up first residents for the tank. LFS has a paired Yellow Watchman Gobey and Tiger Pistol Shrimp. They went in Friday night and appear to be acclimating well. They have established a borrow and YWG is spending plenty of time outside the hole. And I got a chuckle last night when the shrimp pulled in sand and almost completely closed the entrance as the lights went through their sense cycle.

So back to the question at hand. My reason for wanting the tang was to have some sort of "star" for the tank.

i would really appreciate some suggestions that go along with the other fish I am considering. I suppose the clown pair could end up being the stars of the show if I get ones with good personality.
 
It might not qualify as a "star" fish, but a Pacific Red Stripe Hogfish might be something you are interested in. There are a lot of beautiful flasher wrasses that would be appropriate for your tank. Your tank is just a little to small for what I would think of as "star" status fish.
 
Agreed with tangs are off limits.

Have you considered getting a pair of designer clowns?

They have some seriously cool combos now, that would very ealisy be the eye catcher of the tank.
 
leviburns89 said:
Agreed with tangs are off limits.

Have you considered getting a pair of designer clowns?

They have some seriously cool combos now, that would very ealisy be the eye catcher of the tank.
Click to expand...

Thanks, yes. I guess I am getting used to the clowns as the stars. They are cool, and I like the ones that have imperfect stripes, too.
 
JMorris271 said:
You may as well just hack the blue tangs head off. Sorry but that's the truth.
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Ok, well I already said no tangs. But let me ask you this. I've been going to a LFS for about six months as I've worked to spec out hardware and such. And they have a blue tang in an eight inch cube with a single rock. The poor thing hides underneath the rock most of the time and has a scar (fight?). So I doubt anyone will ever adopt it. So you think it might be just a little bit happier in my 24" cube, or should I buy it and hack its head off?
 
Temeraire said:
If you're in to LPS, definitely get a torch or hammer coral. They're colourful and really cool to watch. GL
Click to expand...

Both of those are great ideas. I will put them on the list of corals. I want to wait a while and make sure I have a nice stable tank before I jump into corals.
 
thegrun said:
It might not qualify as a "star" fish, but a Pacific Red Stripe Hogfish might be something you are interested in. There are a lot of beautiful flasher wrasses that would be appropriate for your tank. Your tank is just a little to small for what I would think of as "star" status fish.
Click to expand...

Wow. It has great colors. Thanks for the suggestion. I was also thinking of the carpenters flasher wrasse from another posted suggestion. I will read more about the hogfish.
 
New tank stocking list

Aqua Amator said:
Wow. It has great colors. Thanks for the suggestion. I was also thinking of the carpenters flasher wrasse from another posted suggestion. I will read more about the hogfish.
Click to expand...


I would skip the carpenters and look into a more colorful fairy or flasher wrasse. They just arent as bold as other wrasses. A mccoskers is much more colorful for a flasher. Or you could try a leopard wrasse
 
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