Stock List help for my 265

[dempsey6]

I would like to add the following fish to my 265, but am not sure the popular order to add the fish in.

Panther Grouper - last to introduce
Harlequin Tusk
Picasso Triggerfish
Blue face Triggerfish
Queen Angelfish
Emperor Angelfish
Snowflake Eel - last to introduce along with panther grouper and sohal tang
Zebra Eel - already in the tank
Porcupine Puffer or Spotted Dog Face Puffer
Banana Wrasse
Sohal Tang - last to introduce

and maybe a marble cat shark, but probably not as i know they are extremely incompatible with the angels and triggers.

In particular im curious as to what should go in first out of the triggers, angels, puffer and harlequin tusk?
I know this is not an exact science, but I am trying to give these fish the best chance.

Any other comments would be GREATLY appreciated..thanks a lot

 

[natebedwell06]

whats the dimensions on the tank?

 

[dempsey6]

84x24x30

 

[anbosu]

Is the tank already established with good live rock?

I'm not sure if the Harlequin Tusk is going to stand up to its more aggressive tankmates.

 

[natebedwell06]

just my opinion, hope others chime in also, thats a pretty big tank, but also you have a lot of fish that get really really large, and are really really aggressive, the panther grouper is going to outgrow that tank as will imo the sohal tang, queen angel and emporer angel, not that the tank doesnt have a lot of room but a lot of those fish get 15+ inches in length and there will be a lot of large fish being cramped long term at adult size, if your not wanting to keep these fish their entire life then i say go for it, but your going to need a lot of filtration on the tank, id lose some of the livestock or redo your list and put what fish you absolutely cant live without

 

[sandwi54]

just my opinion, hope others chime in also, thats a pretty big tank, but also you have a lot of fish that get really really large, and are really really aggressive, the panther grouper is going to outgrow that tank as will imo the sohal tang, queen angel and emporer angel, not that the tank doesnt have a lot of room but a lot of those fish get 15+ inches in length and there will be a lot of large fish being cramped long term at adult size, if your not wanting to keep these fish their entire life then i say go for it, but your going to need a lot of filtration on the tank, id lose some of the livestock or redo your list and put what fish you absolutely cant live without

+1. a 265g tank is big but really not that big. all of those fish will get very large and not only make your tank look really small, but will be very aggressive due to lack of space. I'd say to properly house all those fish, you really need a 400+ gallon tank. even then, i still wouldn't recommend keeping an emperor and queen angel together. they are both alpha angelfish and will likely fight to death when they mature. read the "mixing aggressive species rule that i broke ending in disaster" sticky on this forum. It talks specifically about mixing emperor and queen angels.

Keep in mind that a 265 gallon is the recommend minimum sized tank for some of the larger fish on your list. This does not mean you can stuff 5 of those large fish in a 265. That is the tank size for maybe 2-3 of the large fish only. If you want to put more in, the tank has to be bigger. Not to mention I really think larger angels like emperor or queen should be in 8-foot+ tanks.

Also, a panther grouper is not suitable for most home aquariums. It gets over two feet long and should really belong to public aquariums. Sohal tangs also get very aggressive in anything less than a 8-foot, 300g tank. actually, it's aggressive no matter what...

 

[xpertrifle]

I think the harlaquin will be fine. I'd stay away from the triggers, my Picasso killed a porcupine puffer. My Niger trigger was picking on my zebra eel. Both triggers went to the sump for rehoming. Multiple angels will probably killed each other. Also my harlaquin killed a yellow tail coris wrasse once he got over 6 in.

 

[epaulette13]

i think the only thing that will truly outgrow your aquarium very quickly is the panther grouper they get big fast. i know a few of my friends got them because they liked there patterns. they keep the pattern they just get huge. everything else on your stocklist is fine. if you wanted to put a small shark like a bamboo in there for a little bit with angels i wouldnt reccomend it. but aside from the panther grouper sounds like a cool tank.

 

[dempsey6]

thanks guys..

after further thinking i decided to exclude the panther grouper, sohal tang, and shark.
I am probably gonna try and get a queen angel with another smaller angel, and just see how it goes. I figured a queen and an emperor are both dominant.

I am up in the air about getting a picasso triggerfish..are they aggressive fish? I am probably going to introduce a couple of puffers. Would a picasso thus be a bad idea? Would getting it under 4 or 5 inches make it drastically better?

 

[anbosu]

Picassos are pretty aggressive, but stay smaller than some of the other triggers that will really wreak havoc. Maybe lose the Picasso and get a pair of the blue face triggers?

I would do something like this:

Harlequin Tusk (Aussie)
Blue face Triggerfish (pair)
Blue Face Angelfish - slightly smaller than the queen and not quite as aggressive
Snowflake Eel - (get a relatively small one and stick feed)
Zebra Eel - already in the tank
Spotted Dog Face Puffer
Banana Wrasse (you may have trouble with this fish and your tusk - the tusk will likely not win)
Pacific Blue Tang (Paracanthurus Hepatus (spelling))

This is still a heavy fish load, but all of these fish can live in your tank for life, which is nice.

 

[dempsey6]

Picassos are pretty aggressive, but stay smaller than some of the other triggers that will really wreak havoc. Maybe lose the Picasso and get a pair of the blue face triggers?

I would do something like this:

Harlequin Tusk (Aussie)
Blue face Triggerfish (pair)
Blue Face Angelfish - slightly smaller than the queen and not quite as aggressive
Snowflake Eel - (get a relatively small one and stick feed)
Zebra Eel - already in the tank
Spotted Dog Face Puffer
Banana Wrasse (you may have trouble with this fish and your tusk - the tusk will likely not win)
Pacific Blue Tang (Paracanthurus Hepatus (spelling))

This is still a heavy fish load, but all of these fish can live in your tank for life, which is nice.

thanks for the post!

i am leaning towards a niger and blueface like u said..staying away from the picasso.

Re: Would it help to maybe get a larger Harlequin like 6-7 inches and a banana wrasse of about 4 inches?

finally as far as the snowflake goes, would a small one become dinner for my zebra? i know the zebra is docile but he is between 24-28 inches.

 

[anbosu]

thanks for the post!

i am leaning towards a niger and blueface like u said..staying away from the picasso.

Re: Would it help to maybe get a larger Harlequin like 6-7 inches and a banana wrasse of about 4 inches?

finally as far as the snowflake goes, would a small one become dinner for my zebra? i know the zebra is docile but he is between 24-28 inches.

Not unless you starve the zebra. I added a 2' zebra to a tank with a 12" snowflake with no issues - the snowflake was the aggressor when they were initially put together. The wholesaler where I bought the zebra had it living in a tank with a snowflake for months - they would hang out under the same rock. The reason I suggested getting a smaller snowflake is they can become pretty aggressive when they get bigger, and if you get a smaller one it will take time to grow there and by then most of your fish will be too big for it to take down.

It might help, but Harlequin Tusks are generally pretty passive fish unless they it is with a fish it can eat.

I love Thalassoma wrasses but they are usually hyper aggressive.

 

[xpertrifle]

My snowflake eel and zebra hide together. The zebra is a good 3ft and the snowflake is tiny. No worries, there. You can try adding the wrasses together, that way one does not become territorial.
If you get the blue face trigger keep us updated, I am getting rid of my niger and picasso because they are killing things. I like the triggers and wish I had one that would play nice.

Instead of the panther grouper get a Miniatus grouper. Look at anbosu's avitar pic, I have one too and he is really bright and pretty. Or maybe a blue line grouper, also pretty.

 

[dempsey6]

thanks for the advice again!

im probably gonna move away from any of the groupers just bc of the size they become and because they apparently grow very fast..would not mind having one in there for a year or 2. But i think it'll be closer to 6 months so i'll pass.

im gonna try and mix the banana with the harlequin however. I will buy the harlequin about 7 inches hopefully and the wrasse about 3 maybe 4 tops and just hope for the best.

Gonna get the snowflake eel as well later on now that I know it goes well with the zebra.

finally, now also looking to introduce a coral hogfish..anyone have experience with these?

 

[dempsey6]

If you get the blue face trigger keep us updated, I am getting rid of my niger and picasso because they are killing things. I like the triggers and wish I had one that would play nice.

will definitely do so once i get started..i'll let everyone know how this thread turned out:beer::beer:

 

[geaux xman]

i had to look that up. the more common name is blue throat or blue jaw trigger.

blue throat triggers are generally very peaceful and easy to care for fish.

blueface is usually reserve for the blueface angelfish.

 

[dempsey6]

update..
took the risk and added an Emperor and a Blue Face angel..been about a week and both are doing great. Dont seem to be fighting at all yet. Also added a dogface puffer and a spiny box puffer that has been in there for about 10 days.

The spiny doesn't seem to be eating, but he's still alive. Not expecting him to survive to be quite honest. Don't know what to think.

Finally got my zebra eel to eat financially friendly food in mussels. Was feeding him emerald crabs for a couple weeks x_x. Apparently does not like to eat shrimp.


I have a question for the gurus on here, can i mix a dwarf angel like a flame with large angelfish like the ones i have?

 

[Cliff]

I had a flame with emperor before and didn't have much problem. The flame just had to get out of the way of the emperor so it doesn't get nipped.