PLEASE check out your intended fish purchases here first!

[snorvich]

I just moved a 120 gallon tank into my place. I have never owned a goldfish in my life, but decided that it was time to own a fish or 4.. I have been as diligent as I can in doing all the research that I can. But I think it's time that I put my plan out there and get torn apart by the wolves. So..

120 gallon; 55 gallon sump; life reef (self claimed 250g) skimmer, seems to be working quite well though; 140lb live rock, about 70lb of which is in the sump; 2" coarse sand bed; 3 - 250w MH, with 2 actinics.

The tank is currently coming off a cycle caused by the tank move. Things are coming along nicely though. There are several mushrooms remaining in the tank, along with some frogspawn, 2 3" Phymanthus, 1 recovering sps, and the newest addition.. a small algae bloom(currently being worked on a by a meager clean up crew.

My fish wish list is as follows..

Bubble Tip Anemone Later, assuming you have good lights
Black and White Ocellaris Clownfish (pair)
Chevron Tang fine, I love this fish
Tomini Tang ok, but two tangs is max
Sailfin Tang not fine, three is a crowd in this sized tank
Mandarin Drogonette at least six months down the line
Randall's Pistol Shrimp
Black-Rayed Shrimp Goby (perhaps a pair, with there symbiotic pistol shrimp)
Coral Banded Shrimp no, they take fish
Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
Schooling Bannerfish (A small school) not in your sized tank, they are too large

Instead of the "school", think some some fish

I plan on doing mixed reef, soft, hard...anemone ...

I won't likely do all three Tang.. but I certainly like the chevron and tomini.

Go easy on me. Try to crush my dreams gently. Easy enough for you?

Thanks..

 

[joaovieira]

Please comment my intended pruchase fish list

Please comment my intended pruchase fish list

My reef tank (6 months age) has 187 gallons has skimmer; SUMP;Live rock and sand; 2 X 250 W HQI; 2 X T5; No Refuge.


Actual habitants:
4 cleaner shrimps
3 hemits (2 blue legs; 1 red leg)

Corals, mainly LPS one montpora

SO , here goes my WISHING LIST: My priorities while doing the list were. beauty, resistance to parasites and avoiding jumpy fishes since i dont have a cover.

1) 2 clown fishes
2) 2 out of these 3 Wrasses (red head fairy, carpenter, yellowfin flash are my favourite)
3) 1 Flame hawckfish or green mandarin ? (please help me deciding; i would prefer mandarim for its beauty but i guess its very time consuming, they need particular attention for feeding everyday, right?)
4) Schooling of lyretail anthias (6 females?) or green chromis (5?)
5) Schooling bannerfish (3 fishes?)
6) 1 Trigerfish (Pinktail /Niger /Sargassum/Blue chin)
7) Filefish
8) 1 Tang - A Japonicus
9) Blennies ? Gobies ? any suggestion ?

Do you think i still have bioload for 1 more tang ? If yes, please suggest me one.

Thank you very much. Please dont destroy that much my wishing list...

 

[snorvich]

My reef tank (6 months age) has 187 gallons has skimmer; SUMP;Live rock and sand; 2 X 250 W HQI; 2 X T5; No Refuge.


Actual habitants:
4 cleaner shrimps
3 hemits (2 blue legs; 1 red leg)

Corals, mainly LPS one montpora

SO , here goes my WISHING LIST: My priorities while doing the list were. beauty, resistance to parasites and avoiding jumpy fishes since i dont have a cover.

1) 2 clown fishes
2) 2 out of these 3 Wrasses (red head fairy, carpenter, yellowfin flash are my favourite) I would avoid C. solorensis as it can become aggressive towards other fairy/flasher wrasses
3) 1 Flame hawckfish Will eat your shrimp


or green mandarin ? (please help me deciding; i would prefer mandarim for its beauty but i guess its very time consuming, they need particular attention for feeding everyday, right?) With a refugium and a mature tank (six months) in your sized tank, you should be fine
4) Schooling of lyretail anthias (6 females?) or green chromis (5?) Chromis will reduce down to one or at most two
5) Schooling bannerfish (3 fishes?)
6) 1 Trigerfish (Pinktail /Niger /Sargassum/Blue chin) I would not put a trigger as it will eat your cleanup crew
7) Filefish
8) 1 Tang - A Japonicus
9) Blennies ? Gobies ? any suggestion ?

Do you think i still have bioload for 1 more tang ? If yes, please suggest me one. A chevron tang would go well

Thank you very much. Please dont destroy that much my wishing list...

 

[joaovieira]

Unfortunately i dont have a refuge so i am afraid mandarim may be a problem regarding feeding habits. Do you think is it still possible to have one (i was thinking buying one eating prepared food...) ?

Thanks for all help.

 

[Hands]

Thank you,
I still have some of my dreams intact.
But to revise and retry then:

Bubble Tip Anemone I am running 3 - 250w MH, I assume that is sufficient lighting over a 6' tank.
Black and White Ocellaris Clownfish (pair)
Chevron Tang
Tomini Tang
Mandarin Drogonette I have the opportunity to get one that was in this same tank previous to me buying and moving it .. It is also eating pellet food -- which I gather is a best case scenario
Randall's Pistol Shrimp
Black-Rayed Shrimp Goby (perhaps a pair, with there symbiotic pistol shrimp)
Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
Schooling Bannerfish Would 3 of these be suitable in 120g with the other fish already mentioned?

Thank you for the clarity.
Travis

 

[snorvich]

Unfortunately i dont have a refuge so i am afraid mandarim may be a problem regarding feeding habits. Do you think is it still possible to have one (i was thinking buying one eating prepared food...) ?

Thanks for all help.

I still think it would work. Just give it seven months. Eating prepared food is irrelevant as that would not sustain it.

 

[snorvich]

Thank you,
I still have some of my dreams intact.
But to revise and retry then:

Bubble Tip Anemone I am running 3 - 250w MH, I assume that is sufficient lighting over a 6' tank.

Should be fine

Black and White Ocellaris Clownfish (pair)
Chevron Tang
Tomini Tang
Mandarin Drogonette I have the opportunity to get one that was in this same tank previous to me buying and moving it .. It is also eating pellet food -- which I gather is a best case scenario

Eating pellet food is nice but not sufficient. A 120 gallon mature tank should be fine

Randall's Pistol Shrimp
Black-Rayed Shrimp Goby (perhaps a pair, with there symbiotic pistol shrimp)
Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
Schooling Bannerfish Would 3 of these be suitable in 120g with the other fish already mentioned?

Well, with your two tangs, that is five largish fish. The tank will look crowded

Thank you for the clarity.
Travis

 

[mcfa2403]

Ok so this will be my third tank but by far my largest (first was 75g and second was 28g). This will be mostly an lps/sps tank with 180g tank and 100g sump. I plan to take this tank slow and want to make sure this is well thought out. That said please weigh in on these fish. I am not afraid of criticism so let me know if its too many fish or wrong species for this tank.

Tangs: 1 orange shoulder, 1 powder blue tang (I am aware of the difficulty), 1 convict tang (or 1 more oarnge shoulder), 1 tomini tang
------the first three would be added together
Anthias: 3 squarespot anthias (1 male, 2 female)

Angels: 1 multicolor centropyge

Dragonet: 1 mandarin

Wrasse: 1 fairy wrasse (one of the smaller species reccomendations welcome)

Other fish considered: semilarvatus butterfly, 4 bangai cardinals

 

[Borchers]

Here I go.
120 gallon tank with a 40 gallon sump and slow flow Fuge.
140 lbs LR and 30 pounds rubble in Fuge. 110 pounds combined Sand in system
Euroreef CS-160 with Dolphin pump. Rated at 300 gallons
250 MH x2 minis, 110 watts VHOx2, 24 3 watt cree led. Royal blues.
ATO, MP40, 4#4's and a squid return system. ACJr. On all.

Tank is 2 months out and 2 weeks past cycle.


So much info on tank to show what I'm packing.
In the tank now
- Acanthurus bahianus......gift from a friend
1 chromi
1 unknown tang. Very beautiful. Looks.like a bristle tooth.


Wish list.
Purple Tang
2 fairy Wrasse possibly mated pair of Rhomboids
Pair ORA snowflakes
Blood Shrimp and skunk cleaner
1 blue spot jaw fish
Mandarin Goby.

 

[snorvich]

Ok so this will be my third tank but by far my largest (first was 75g and second was 28g). This will be mostly an lps/sps tank with 180g tank and 100g sump. I plan to take this tank slow and want to make sure this is well thought out. That said please weigh in on these fish. I am not afraid of criticism so let me know if its too many fish or wrong species for this tank.

Tangs: 1 orange shoulder, 1 powder blue tang (I am aware of the difficulty), 1 convict tang (or 1 more oarnge shoulder), 1 tomini tang
------the first three would be added together
Anthias: 3 squarespot anthias (1 male, 2 female)

Angels: 1 multicolor centropyge
A great fish, but NOT LPS safe
Dragonet: 1 mandarin If you wait six months yhou will be fine

Wrasse: 1 fairy wrasse (one of the smaller species reccomendations welcome)

Other fish considered: semilarvatus butterfly, 4 bangai cardinals

A semilarvatus is gorgeous but not reef safe; bangaii cardinals are limited to a bonded pair and four will become two

 

[snorvich]

Here I go.
120 gallon tank with a 40 gallon sump and slow flow Fuge.
140 lbs LR and 30 pounds rubble in Fuge. 110 pounds combined Sand in system
Euroreef CS-160 with Dolphin pump. Rated at 300 gallons
250 MH x2 minis, 110 watts VHOx2, 24 3 watt cree led. Royal blues.
ATO, MP40, 4#4's and a squid return system. ACJr. On all.

Tank is 2 months out and 2 weeks past cycle.


So much info on tank to show what I'm packing.
In the tank now
- Acanthurus bahianus......gift from a friend
1 chromi
1 unknown tang. Very beautiful. Looks.like a bristle tooth.


Wish list.
Purple Tang Very aggressive with other tangs especially in a smallish tank; I would recommend against a third tang
2 fairy Wrasse possibly mated pair of Rhomboids excellent choice
Pair ORA snowflakes
Blood Shrimp and skunk cleaner
1 blue spot jaw fish Must have sand and prefers a cooler temperature like 74/75; prolific jumper
Mandarin Goby.

 

[jamesbaur13]

Updated, AGAIN!

So far I have this in the display...

- 2 Ocellaris Clowns (juvenile 1-1.5")

- An Adolescent Chevron 3.5-4" long (I realize I added him early, couldn't pass him up... at the fish store he was friendly with tank mates, ate well, very active, disease free). At first he would occasionally charge at the clowns (clowns physically look perfect... no ripped fins or scales missing), but the frequency of him charging has dropped. I think he was being territorial about food and I think some of it is a dominance thing, but I think it's mostly that he doesn't like anyone getting too close and picking at his rocks. Love this fish BTW... TY for pointing Chevrons out to me.

In the QT...

- 3 Bartlett's Anthias at the moment (just got them today). They are eating mysis and pellets. All female and juvenile (1-1.5" long).

I am hoping to add the following...

- 3 Flasher Wrasses (thinking Blue)
- Blue Reef Chromis
- Royal Gramma Basslett

And here's where I'm thinking the potential conflicts come in...

- Starry Blenny
- Yellow Tang

Any idea if this would work and better yet how to go about doing it?

I'm thinking an adolescent Yellow Tang might be best due to the aggression issues that are seeming to be more probable due to the Chevron having an established territory. After 3 days the Chevron seemed to be at his height of aggression towards my clowns. At that time I placed a mirror along the side of the tank. Not sure if it co-incidence, but his aggression seemed to tone down after fighting himself in the mirror for a couple hrs. I'm thinking he will be confrontational to another tang, but I also think if the other tang can stand up to him they can co-exist.

I have no strategy for the Blenny.

Thanks Again.

 

[snorvich]

Updated, AGAIN!

So far I have this in the display...

- 2 Ocellaris Clowns (juvenile 1-1.5")

- An Adolescent Chevron 3.5-4" long (I realize I added him early, couldn't pass him up... at the fish store he was friendly with tank mates, ate well, very active, disease free). At first he would occasionally charge at the clowns (clowns physically look perfect... no ripped fins or scales missing), but the frequency of him charging has dropped. I think he was being territorial about food and I think some of it is a dominance thing, but I think it's mostly that he doesn't like anyone getting too close and picking at his rocks. Love this fish BTW... TY for pointing Chevrons out to me.

Yes, that is my absolute favorite tang; you did well to get him while he was available. Very personable fish

In the QT...

- 3 Bartlett's Anthias at the moment (just got them today). They are eating mysis and pellets. All female and juvenile (1-1.5" long).

I am hoping to add the following...

- 3 Flasher Wrasses (thinking Blue) I like all of them. Ideally a harem of MFF would be terrific. Blue is less common
- Blue Reef Chromis
- Royal Gramma Basslett

And here's where I'm thinking the potential conflicts come in...

- Starry Blenny A herbivore so I would wait a good while before adding
- Yellow Tang I would not as you have a tank that is ideal for one tang, marginal for two

Any idea if this would work and better yet how to go about doing it?

I'm thinking an adolescent Yellow Tang might be best due to the aggression issues that are seeming to be more probable due to the Chevron having an established territory. After 3 days the Chevron seemed to be at his height of aggression towards my clowns. At that time I placed a mirror along the side of the tank. Not sure if it co-incidence, but his aggression seemed to tone down after fighting himself in the mirror for a couple hrs. I'm thinking he will be confrontational to another tang, but I also think if the other tang can stand up to him they can co-exist.

Again, I would not. Why create an aggressive situation?

I have no strategy for the Blenny.

Thanks Again.

 

[mitsurs01]

Wish list for my new 125gal with 30 gal sump FOWLR alsmost ready for setup- waiting for just a bit of plumbing

Niger Trigger
Yellow Eye Kole Tang
Pair of Gold Stripe Maroon Clowns
Narrow Lined Puffer
3 Kaudern's Cardinals

 

[NinjaPirate]

I've got a 55G cycling right now, working out a fishlist for when it's ready to go. Prior to this tank I've only had aggressive fowlr's and small single-species tanks (Mantis shrimp) so my knowledge on reef fish is somewhat limited.

Tank is a 55G (no fuge, hob skimmer, 1-1.5" live sand heavy rockwork, 80+lb best estimate) coral will be mostly softies (zoa/shroom) and LPS. Tank is covered, so jumpers are okay.

Possibles:
1x dwarf angel, flame or Coral Beauty, not sure on the coral nippiness.
2x false percs (not sure I want to put up with the aggression)

Would Likes:
Flasher Wrasse, either single or group. Carpenter/McCosker's appeal to me.
1x Goby/pistol pair - Would like to keep a plate at some point, so I don't want a pair that's going to be constantly digging the whole tank up. Thinking a YWG maybe, just not sure on how active they are with the digging and whether or not I have enough sand.

Other fish that interest me:
Firefish
Neon Goby
Royal Gramma

So I guess the options I'm considering at the moment would be 1x dwarf, 2x clown, 1x wrasse, 1x Goby pair.

Or lose either the dwarf or clowns for other small reef fishes.

vs

3x (MFF) wrasse, 1x goby pair, + 1 or 2 unknown additional smaller fish such as firefish/RG.

Would these work?
Thanks.

 

[snorvich]

Wish list for my new 125gal with 30 gal sump FOWLR alsmost ready for setup- waiting for just a bit of plumbing

Niger Trigger
Yellow Eye Kole Tang
Pair of Gold Stripe Maroon Clowns
Narrow Lined Puffer
3 Kaudern's Cardinals

You have some very aggressive fish: GSM clowns, a trigger and a puffer that will reach one foot. I do not suggest those fish in a 125 gallon tank. Your three Kaudern's cardinals will become two at best

 

[snorvich]

I've got a 55G cycling right now, working out a fishlist for when it's ready to go. Prior to this tank I've only had aggressive fowlr's and small single-species tanks (Mantis shrimp) so my knowledge on reef fish is somewhat limited.

Tank is a 55G (no fuge, hob skimmer, 1-1.5" live sand heavy rockwork, 80+lb best estimate) coral will be mostly softies (zoa/shroom) and LPS. Tank is covered, so jumpers are okay.

Possibles:
1x dwarf angel, flame or Coral Beauty, not sure on the coral nippiness. These are not LPS safe
2x false percs (not sure I want to put up with the aggression) They will control 25-30 gallons once sexually mature and breeding

Would Likes:
Flasher Wrasse, either single or group. Carpenter/McCosker's appeal to me.

Excellent choice
1x Goby/pistol pair - Would like to keep a plate at some point, so I don't want a pair that's going to be constantly digging the whole tank up. Thinking a YWG maybe, just not sure on how active they are with the digging and whether or not I have enough sand.

It seems that all of these goby/shrimp combination are always digging

Other fish that interest me:
Firefish
Neon Goby
Royal Gramma
All three are excellent BUT the firefish will not be compatible with a flasher wrasse
So I guess the options I'm considering at the moment would be 1x dwarf, 2x clown, 1x wrasse, 1x Goby pair.

Or lose either the dwarf or clowns for other small reef fishes.

vs

3x (MFF) wrasse, 1x goby pair, + 1 or 2 unknown additional smaller fish such as firefish/RG.

Firefish and flasher wrasses will not work. Sorry

Would these work?
Thanks.

 

[J2T]

Ok, I have a compatibility question since I get differing opinions at the LFS

Current residents:
2 Occ Clowns
1 PJ Cardinal
1 Algae Blenny
2 blue/green chromis

Inverts: Cucumber, (2) pep shrimps, serpent star, ruby mithrax, hermits and various snails

I plan on getting a tiger pistol and either Yellow Watchman or Randal's goby pair (I go back and forth on which one seemingly on an hourly basis lol).

With that being said I would also like to add a sandsifting goby if possible. I have heard they should be ok since they sort of do different things but others have said differently. If its a touchy situation that could go either way I would rather not put any fish through unneeded stress. Any species that might be a bit tame as the diamond's I have seen at the LFS seem pretty spastic for lack of a better word.

thanks again for any advice.

 

[snorvich]

Ok, I have a compatibility question since I get differing opinions at the LFS

Current residents:
2 Occ Clowns
1 PJ Cardinal
1 Algae Blenny
2 blue/green chromis

Inverts: Cucumber, (2) pep shrimps, serpent star, ruby mithrax, hermits and various snails

I plan on getting a tiger pistol and either Yellow Watchman or Randal's goby pair (I go back and forth on which one seemingly on an hourly basis lol).

With that being said I would also like to add a sandsifting goby if possible. I have heard they should be ok since they sort of do different things but others have said differently. If its a touchy situation that could go either way I would rather not put any fish through unneeded stress. Any species that might be a bit tame as the diamond's I have seen at the LFS seem pretty spastic for lack of a better word.

thanks again for any advice.

I would not do both. If it were my choice, I would get a goby/pistol shrimp and NOT the sand sifting goby. First of all, sand sifters make a mess, secondly they deplete your sand bed of beneficial organisms.

 

[stings]

40 breeder

40 breeder

im setting up a 40 gallon breeder i got from petco. its going to be conected to my 40 gallon reefs sump, the sump is a 55. im going to have both tank using the same sump.

fish list:
2 Kaudern's Cardinal (Pterapogon kauderni)
2 Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
1 Jawfish, Yellowhead (Opistognathus aurifrons)
1 Lemonpeel Angelfish (Centropyge flavissima)

invertebrates list:
15 hermit crabs
1 Porcelain Anemone Crab (Neopetrolisthes ohshimai)
2 Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis)
2 Bulb Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor)