Stocking List question

[Neoz]

Hello all, We had a 180 for a few years that was a reef setup. Had a Powder blue, CBB, clowns, sunburst anthias along with others.

Now my wife and I are thinking of setting up a large tank for Fish only. We would like to see colors and activity. So we are starting our research into what fish can and or will co-exist together.

We of course are interested in the Blue face and or Emperor along with some tangs. Is there a list or sticky of good combinations for this?

Side note our tank we are planning is a 300 deep dimension if that helps. Thanks for any help...

 

[kirkaz]

Sounds like a great plan.....Can't go wrong with Blueface or Emperor, I would say Emperor is a more bold Angel in most cases. Tangs can be tricky, I really like Desjardini Sailfins, a Yellow Tang can add a lot of color, I would always do something from the Acanthurus genus, but I would add them last as many members of that genus are very territorial (Sohal, Clown, Powder Blue and Achilles notably). Genus Ctenochaetus offer some smaller and in most cases less aggressive Tangs. Some would say a Naso Tang will eventually need a larger tank, I personally think they would be fine in a 300, they are fairly peaceful and impressive.

You might also consider a couple of Dwarf Angels in the mix, nothing more striking than a Flame Angel IMO, also Coral Beauty, Eibili, Lemonpeel, Bicolor and so on. A Butterfly or 2 would fit in well too.

 

[sandwi54]

If I understand correctly, your tank is the marineland 300DD with dimensions of 72x36x27. I personally think the larger species of the pomacanthus angels should be in a 96" tank long-term. 72" is a bit tiny and the an emperor or blueface may feel somewhat cramped when they grow up.

However, given that it's a 36" wide tank, it may be ok. Also, I would pick either the emperor or blueface, but not both. 300G is not big enough to mix angels with issues, especially when one of them is emperor who is an alpha angel and very aggressive. Both of my emperors harassed the heck out of my other angels in the past, so I am not keeping one anymore. If you have to have an emperor angel, make sure it's the only pomacanthus/holacanthus angel in the tank.

A 300DD will also be a nice home for most Arothron puffers except for the largest stellatus. A dog face puffer will be a nice addition to the tank and have great personality.

For tangs, pick ones that don't grow larger than 10". There are many choices including the powder blue that you already have. I personally like the mimic tangs and lieutenant and orange shoulder.

Dwarf angels will go very nicely with large angels, and you can even do a pair of them in your tank.

Wrasses from the Halichoeres family will also be good additions to a large tank. They are fast swimmer and will spend most of their day cruising around the tank and zipping in and out of rockworks, which brings activities to the tank. You may also grow pods inside your tank and observe them hunting for pods all day long.

 

[Neoz]

Thanks for the suggestions. The tank we will be going with is the Marineland 300. We just want something different for a change.

We are leaning more towards a blueface as our main fish. We won't be doing both after doing some research and reading.

Next question and I know this is a general question, how many tangs "could" or would be a fit for this size tank? We plan on going with a high end overkill skimmer to help with the bio-load but realize this isn't the end all solution. Just looking for a rough number.

We would also like some butterfly's but not sure which ones as we are in the very early stages of our stocking list. Oh and sandwi54 we looked at pics for the dog face puffer... yeah I lost that battle with the wife... her answer was a HELL no, she wasn't into that. And I'm not to proud to say that this is mainly her tank. Mine is a reef tank. LOL

In closing we are looking for a very active tank with tons of colorful fish that we could never have in our reef tanks.

 

[kirkaz]

Thanks for the suggestions. The tank we will be going with is the Marineland 300. We just want something different for a change.

We are leaning more towards a blueface as our main fish. We won't be doing both after doing some research and reading.

Next question and I know this is a general question, how many tangs "could" or would be a fit for this size tank? We plan on going with a high end overkill skimmer to help with the bio-load but realize this isn't the end all solution. Just looking for a rough number.

We would also like some butterfly's but not sure which ones as we are in the very early stages of our stocking list. Oh and sandwi54 we looked at pics for the dog face puffer... yeah I lost that battle with the wife... her answer was a HELL no, she wasn't into that. And I'm not to proud to say that this is mainly her tank. Mine is a reef tank. LOL

In closing we are looking for a very active tank with tons of colorful fish that we could never have in our reef tanks.

My wife vetoed the Dogface Puffer too!! What gives!

I think 6x3 are great dimensions, it will give so much flexibility with rockwork. It will limit you on the "big swimming Tangs", like Naso genus, Sohal, Clown, and the really big guys like Dussimier, Barriene, Fowleri and so on. I really like the Mimic Tang (i.e. Chocolate Tang), I find less aggressive and more hardy than Powder Blue, but I think either (or Achilles) would be fine in there, though I would add last. You might consider a school of 3 Yellows, lots of color and active. I still think Dejardini Sailfin is fine, big, but not as big a swimmer.

I like Threadfin and Saddleback for Butterflies as they are beautiful and hardy.

You might consider a Thallasoma genus wrasse....SUPER active and amazing color on most. I would avoid the horribly aggressive Lunare, I love my Sunset Wrasse, first fish in my tank, 8 inches now and gorgeous and not the least big aggressive.