PLEASE check out your intended fish purchases here first!

[Peedub20]

Of the remainder, I think seven would be ok without the mated pair of clowns. The clownfish complicate matters

Thanks for the quick response.

Would the Bicolor, firefish, and Randall's Goby all be ok in the same tank together?

 

[Castaign]

Revised stocking list

Revised stocking list

Steve,

I've been tuning up my stocking list as I gain more knowledge, and I wanted to run my most current plans by you to see what you thought.

The tank is a 150 gallon, 48" long, 24" wide, 30" deep. It is a mixed reef, with a combination of softies, SPS and LPS. The tank has a 24 gallon sump with producing 'fuge and has about 160 pound of live rock (fairly open placement with a lot of bridges, arches and hiding places and plenty of open water and open sand) and 100 pounds of sand. The system is now a little over four months old. I've replaced the glass canopy with homemade 1/4" nylon mesh since several of my desired fish are jumpers.

The following is my projected fish list:

2x Green Mandarins (mated pair - waiting several more months for the tank to mature further)
Scopas Tang
Yellow Assessor
Shrimp Goby (Wheeler's, Randall's or Yasha White)
3x Pearly Jawfish
3x Blue Flasher Wrasse (MFF)

I have several stocking questions:

1) The mandarins, shrimp goby and mandarins are all bottom dwelling fish - Do you foresee any issues with territory or space?

2) Are two Yellow Assessors a feasible possibility?

3) Given tank size and projected occupants, do I have the capacity and proper setup for a trio of chalk bass in addition to what I listed above?

Thanks as always for the info and expertise!

C

 

[snorvich]

Steve,

I was curious if you could provide some more information on where the cut off for this is (not specifically for my tank - after reviewing this thread for the last several months I've decided that clowns are not a good fit for my tank - but just for some more overall info from the experts). How big does a tank have to be before two pairs of clowns are feasible?

I have a friend with a 500 gallon tank that had to remove one pair. I cannot say for sure when it would work.

I know I've heard that clowns want to control around 25-30 gallons of volume per pair upon reaching maturity, but I'm not sure what that means in practical application. Obviously a 50-60 gallon is insufficient for two pairs, but what would be required, assuming that there were no other fish in the tank?

You would need to create a situation where each clown pair had an anemone which hosted them AND where they would not see the other pair. It could be done, however.

C

 

[snorvich]

Thanks for the quick response.

Would the Bicolor, firefish, and Randall's Goby all be ok in the same tank together?

I cannot say for sure. Firefish are easily intimidated and it is not always possible to determine if a fish will perceive them as a conspecific that impacts their ecological niche. Firefish are planktivores that normally "hang out" in their "territory."

 

[snorvich]

Steve,

I've been tuning up my stocking list as I gain more knowledge, and I wanted to run my most current plans by you to see what you thought.

The tank is a 150 gallon, 48" long, 24" wide, 30" deep. It is a mixed reef, with a combination of softies, SPS and LPS. The tank has a 24 gallon sump with producing 'fuge and has about 160 pound of live rock (fairly open placement with a lot of bridges, arches and hiding places and plenty of open water and open sand) and 100 pounds of sand. The system is now a little over four months old. I've replaced the glass canopy with homemade 1/4" nylon mesh since several of my desired fish are jumpers.

The following is my projected fish list:

2x Green Mandarins (mated pair - waiting several more months for the tank to mature further)
Scopas Tang
Yellow Assessor
Shrimp Goby (Wheeler's, Randall's or Yasha White)
3x Pearly Jawfish
3x Blue Flasher Wrasse (MFF)

Looks good.

I have several stocking questions:

1) The mandarins, shrimp goby and mandarins are all bottom dwelling fish - Do you foresee any issues with territory or space?

Not at all. Mandarins go all over not just the bottom and are copepod eaters whereas the shrimp goby is a carnivore and will stay around home

2) Are two Yellow Assessors a feasible possibility?

Yes, and blue and yellow work too

3) Given tank size and projected occupants, do I have the capacity and proper setup for a trio of chalk bass in addition to what I listed above?

Yes.

Thanks as always for the info and expertise!

My pleasure

C

 

[mdr11]

8 gallon tank with LR/LS. wish list: 1 Ocellaris, 1 emerald crabs, 2 porcelains crabs, 2 scarlet hermits, 3-4 peppermint shrimps, 1 banded coral shrimp, 4-5 snails. too much?

 

[snorvich]

8 gallon tank with LR/LS. wish list: 1 Ocellaris, 1 emerald crabs, 2 porcelains crabs, 2 scarlet hermits, 3-4 peppermint shrimps, 1 banded coral shrimp, 4-5 snails. too much?

Not too much but banded coral shrimp and emerald crabs can take fish.

 

[mdr11]

ok thanks for the info. will they also eat the peppermints?

 

[snorvich]

ok thanks for the info. will they also eat the peppermints?

Potentially

 

[bundybear1981]

Hey guys,
I'm in the process of getting back into my salt water tanks again and was thinking of stocking the tank with :-

1 pair of false perculas
1 flame angel
2 bicolor cleaner wrasse
1 mandarin dragonette (in about 6 months)

1 bubble anemone
1 ritteri anemone
1 mushroom coral

a few sea snails

Refuge stocked with live rock, live sand (shallow bed) with some plant life

Tank Details---
Display tank - 48" x 18" x 20" (70 gallon)
Sump tank - 48" x 16" x 18" (approx 40 gallon) including 20 gallon refugeium
Live rock and sand (shallow sand beds)
Aqua One Proskim G224 skimmer

Lighting---
4 x T8 fittings,
(planning on fitting with
-1 marine glo
-2 power glo
-1 coralife
Would you change that lighting balance?)

Any feedback on stocking / set up would be greatly appricated

thanks,
Jason

 

[snorvich]

Hey guys,
I'm in the process of getting back into my salt water tanks again and was thinking of stocking the tank with :-

1 pair of false perculas
1 flame angel
2 bicolor cleaner wrasse Why. Two will not get along, and clownfish will not allow cleaning
1 mandarin dragonette (in about 6 months)

1 bubble anemone
1 ritteri anemone
1 mushroom coral

a few sea snails

Refuge stocked with live rock, live sand (shallow bed) with some plant life

Tank Details---
Display tank - 48" x 18" x 20" (70 gallon)
Sump tank - 48" x 16" x 18" (approx 40 gallon) including 20 gallon refugeium
Live rock and sand (shallow sand beds)
Aqua One Proskim G224 skimmer

Lighting---
4 x T8 fittings,
(planning on fitting with
-1 marine glo
-2 power glo
-1 coralife
Would you change that lighting balance?)

Any feedback on stocking / set up would be greatly appricated

thanks,
Jason

 

[A_Z]

I have a question about keeping anthias. I was wondering for a 75g tank could I keep a trio of Bicolor? Or maybe 4 female Lyretail (and maybe one will go male)?

if not can dissimilar anthias be kept in that tank for example a bicolor, lyretail and squareback?

also I have heard blue streak African cleaner wrasses are often kept successfully on a diet of prepared foods, is this even true? (not that I am going to keep one just curious)

 

[snorvich]

I have a question about keeping anthias. I was wondering for a 75g tank could I keep a trio of Bicolor? Or maybe 4 female Lyretail (and maybe one will go male)?

Well for a group of anthias you really need a larger tank as they are swimmers

if not can dissimilar anthias be kept in that tank for example a bicolor, lyretail and squareback?

Same issue but you can mix some anthias.

also I have heard blue streak African cleaner wrasses are often kept successfully on a diet of prepared foods, is this even true? (not that I am going to keep one just curious)

I have one in each tank. But I do not think it is a good idea and would not do it again

 

[schoi]

Tank details: 75g standard 20gL sump, skimmer, 2 power heads.

2 Ocellaris Clownfish / Amphiprion ocellaris
2 Firefish / Nemateleotris magnifica
1 Reef Chromis / Chromis viridis
1 Bartlett's Anthias / Pseudanthias bartlettorum
1 Kole Yellow Eye Tang / Ctenochaetus strigosus
1 Exquisite Fairy Wrasse / Cirrhilabrus exquisitus
2 Blood Red Fire Shrimp / Lysmata debelius

Thanks!

 

[Reefguy28]

Tank: 56g 30x18x24

Current fish
2 Clarkii clowns
bicolor dottyback

Wanted to know what would be best to add out of the following fish
blue green chromi
McCosker's Flasher Wrasse
Red Velvet Fairy Wrasse
Red Head Solon Fairy Wrasse
Diamond Watchman Goby

 

[snorvich]

Tank details: 75g standard 20gL sump, skimmer, 2 power heads.

2 Ocellaris Clownfish / Amphiprion ocellaris
2 Firefish / Nemateleotris magnifica Firefish, unless bonded, usually only do well as a single
1 Reef Chromis / Chromis viridis
1 Bartlett's Anthias / Pseudanthias bartlettorum
1 Kole Yellow Eye Tang / Ctenochaetus strigosus
1 Exquisite Fairy Wrasse / Cirrhilabrus exquisitus
2 Blood Red Fire Shrimp / Lysmata debelius

Thanks!

 

[snorvich]

Tank: 56g 30x18x24

Current fish
2 Clarkii clowns
bicolor dottyback Will not allow fairy or flasher wrasses so the goby becomes the "best"

Wanted to know what would be best to add out of the following fish
blue green chromi
McCosker's Flasher Wrasse
Red Velvet Fairy Wrasse
Red Head Solon Fairy Wrasse
Diamond Watchman Goby

 

[rich_one]

Okay... I've read and I've read. I've discussed and I've discussed. Time to try to put it to some kind of substance. The following is my first proposed stocking list and "can this work" question. Info about the setup first:

75g tank
Overflow box, u tube and w/d that sits in a 10g sump
Aqua sea remora hang on back protein skimmer
2 small powerheads
Heater
Live sand and approx 75-85 lbs of liverock

And now, proposed livestock:

Royal Gramma Basslet
5 Spotted Cardinalfish
5 Green Chromis
1 tankbred Ocellaris Clownfish
1 Purple Dottyback

Some sort of blenny or goby (which would you recommend)?

Group of 5 Peppermint shrimp

Some kind of snails... still researching this.

What other inverts can you recommend with this setup? Specifically, crabs other than arrow or hermit? What about starfish... looks like most might eat my peppermint shrimp? At the very least, I do plan to try mushrooms at some point, or some other very easy softie.

This is just a first draft... I'm not completely sold on this mix yet, even if it would work. Just feels like something is missing. Like it doesn't really have that "standout" fish in it. But this is the start, anyway.

Of course, I will not be adding all of these fish at once. Feedback and opinions? Thanks!

-Rich

 

[snorvich]

Okay... I've read and I've read. I've discussed and I've discussed. Time to try to put it to some kind of substance. The following is my first proposed stocking list and "can this work" question. Info about the setup first:

75g tank
Overflow box, u tube and w/d that sits in a 10g sump Sounds a bit minimalistic for that sized tank and I do not like overflows which are siphon powered as they are risky.
Aqua sea remora hang on back protein skimmer
2 small powerheads
Heater Ideally on a controller as when they break, they almost always break in the on position
Live sand and approx 75-85 lbs of liverock

And now, proposed livestock:

Royal Gramma Basslet
5 Spotted Cardinalfish
5 Green Chromis will winnow themselves down to two or even just one
1 tankbred Ocellaris Clownfish
1 Purple Dottyback dottybacks, except P. fridmani are aggressive and will preclude other less aggressive choices

Some sort of blenny or goby (which would you recommend)?

Group of 5 Peppermint shrimp I recommend cleaners

Some kind of snails... still researching this.

What other inverts can you recommend with this setup? Specifically, crabs other than arrow or hermit?

I do not recommend crabs. Best to have a variety of snails
What about starfish... looks like most might eat my peppermint shrimp? At the very least, I do plan to try mushrooms at some point, or some other very easy softie.

Mini brittle stars. Mushrooms will take over your tank, be cautious unless you are certain you like mushrooms

This is just a first draft... I'm not completely sold on this mix yet, even if it would work. Just feels like something is missing. Like it doesn't really have that "standout" fish in it. But this is the start, anyway.

Of course, I will not be adding all of these fish at once. Feedback and opinions? Thanks!

-Rich

 

[rich_one]

Thanks, snorvich... a few questions:

1. What type of filtration would you then recommend? Canister? Sump? I'll have to start with this, but maybe can upgrade it before I add fish.

2. 4 green chromis actually come with the tank already... so maybe I won't add the 5th, and I'll just see what happens with the 4 that are coming with the setup. Should I only school the cardinals, or can I school something else (suggestion)?

3. I am getting the peppermint shrimp primarily because I already know that the tank has a population of aips. After doing the research, I decided the peppermint shrimp were my preferred way of dealing with, and controlling them. Can I get both cleaner shrimp and peppermint shrimp?

4. Mini brittle stars it is. I do not want the mushrooms to take over the tank... some kinda polyp... button... better choice, iyo?

And finally...

5. Is there maybe another very showy fish I can add, that maybe I'm not thinking of, that you could point towards checking out?

Thanks for the great advice. I do really appreciate it.

-Rich