Stocking my neew 180 gal

M

MrsBugmaster

New member
Just recently purchased a use complete 180 gal set up. I am going to do a FOWLR. I am planning on Butterflyfish, Angels, and Tangs and need some help with stocking list.

This is my first big tank and fowlr. In the past have always had smaller (50 to 34 gal) reef set ups.

Please advise on fish selection and the order in which to add them. I will be using 30 gal QT tank for 4 to 6 weeks. My plan is to buy all butterfly's at same time and adding them first. Then buying all Angels at one time and then the tangs last. Is this the right order in which to add them? Not sure on how many I can put in this tank either. Here is my plan for stocking: the stared ones are my fist preference /or must have's

Butterflyfish (Was thinking 4 total or maybe 5,)
* 1 Pearlscale
* 1 Pakistan
* 1 Raccoon
1 of the following: Auriga, or Vegabond, or Double saddle, or Tear Drop, or Latticed

Large Angels (was thinking 4 total from this list)
* 1 Singapore
1 Blue line
1 Annularis
1 Blueface
1 Majestic
Pair of Wantanabei

Dwarf Angels (One or maybe two of the following pairs)
* Pair of Potters
Pair of Black Nox
Pair of Flame Angel
Pair of Coral Beauty
Pair of Lemon Peel

Tangs ( 2 or 3 of these)
* 1 Kole or Chevron
* 1 Blue Tang(Regal Tang)
1 of the following: Powder brown, or White Check, or Powder Blue, or Orange Shoulder

As I said this size tank is all new territory for me. Not sure if my list is moderately stocked, or over stocked. Please give advise as to best fit for this tank. Tank will have 40 gal sump and external skimmer(MCR2) powered by an Iwaki RLT55 pump. Thanks.
 
Cant speak on Butterflies, I'll leave that to someone else.

Large angels: The annularis, BF, and majestic will all outgrow your tank. I got rid of my BF when he hit 7" as he started getting VERY agressive and was always active. A 10" fish in a 6' tank looks cramped, so be prepared for an upgrade or indefinite exit plan. Most users will tell you just not to do it, but theres no reason why you couldnt keep a 4" fish for a couple years.

For the dwarfs, I wouldnt do two pairs. Have you considered a trio? Flames really "pop" under the right light, and probably my favorite out of the dwarfs.

Tangs are another very active fish. Excluding the kole or chevron, same thing as stated above. A full grown specimen will just look cramped....
 
From my researchI thought all of these fish were rated for a 180 gal tank. My mistake, I see now some are rated t 220 gal.
 
Last edited:
On the Angels, I would go with a Blue Line over the Annularis as they don't get as big but have a similar color pattern. An Annularis really needs a 220 minimum, as does a Blue Face. A Blue Face will get 1'3" long, making him a little longer than 1/5 of the tank length. Especially with all of the other fish, it would be really crammed in a six footer.

Goldflakes and Flagfins are two other large, pretty angels that don't get as big.

I LOVE the latticed butterfly.

On the Chevron - make sure you like the way they look as adults. They are gorgeous juveniles but not later, IMO. That's of course very subjective.
 
MrsBugmaster said:
Just recently purchased a use complete 180 gal set up. I am going to do a FOWLR. I am planning on Butterflyfish, Angels, and Tangs and need some help with stocking list.

This is my first big tank and fowlr. In the past have always had smaller (50 to 34 gal) reef set ups.

Please advise on fish selection and the order in which to add them. I will be using 30 gal QT tank for 4 to 6 weeks. My plan is to buy all butterfly's at same time and adding them first. Then buying all Angels at one time and then the tangs last. Is this the right order in which to add them? Not sure on how many I can put in this tank either. Here is my plan for stocking: the stared ones are my fist preference /or must have's

Butterflyfish (Was thinking 4 total or maybe 5,)
* 1 Pearlscale
* 1 Pakistan
* 1 Raccoon
1 of the following: Auriga, or Vegabond, or Double saddle, or Tear Drop, or Latticed

Large Angels (was thinking 4 total from this list)
* 1 Singapore
1 Blue line
1 Annularis
1 Blueface
1 Majestic
Pair of Wantanabei

Dwarf Angels (One or maybe two of the following pairs)
* Pair of Potters
Pair of Black Nox
Pair of Flame Angel
Pair of Coral Beauty
Pair of Lemon Peel

Tangs ( 2 or 3 of these)
* 1 Kole or Chevron
* 1 Blue Tang(Regal Tang)
1 of the following: Powder brown, or White Check, or Powder Blue, or Orange Shoulder

As I said this size tank is all new territory for me. Not sure if my list is moderately stocked, or over stocked. Please give advise as to best fit for this tank. Tank will have 40 gal sump and external skimmer(MCR2) powered by an Iwaki RLT55 pump. Thanks.
Click to expand...

First of all congratz on diving into a bigger tank :) I have a 4ft 75 gal FOWLR at the moment but am upgrading to a 6ft 150 gal soon so am almost in the same boat as you :D its pretty exciting planning right?

Okay about the stocking list, think 4 total on some of the larger fishes isn't the best idea, so maybe this would be better? Heres what I would stock from your list;

. 2 butterfly fishes max - IMO I think the raccoon and pearlscale would look nice together
. 1-2 large angelfish - like the guys above said, a 12 inch+ fish in a 6ft tank wouldn't look right. I would go for the blue lined and majestic at a push, but blue lined by itself would be a better option IMO
. A trio of the dwarf angels - flames in a trio would look amazing based on what I have seen, can be done aswell :)
. 1-2 tangs - In my 6ft I'm either going for the powder blue or kole tang to go with my yellow tang. Also years ago had a sailfin tang in my 4ft that I gave to my LFS's 10ft tank. IMO a fully grown powder blue should be okay for a long time if not for life in a 6ft tank based on the fully grown ones I have seen recently.

Also if you want to you can take a look at my stocking list that I am planning for my 6ft if you would like any other ideas, think my one should be okay now in terms of compatibility and size requirements so I don't mind if you want to get a few ideas from there.
Here it is :)
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2343814

Hope everything go's okay for you and good luck!
 
Even the ones "rated for 180g" are just not meant for a 6' tank. I've seen 10" fish in a 6' tank and it just doesnt work, even a standard 220 is still 6'. It's a matter of opinion, but thats just mine. You'll want to add angels last, btw.

Themoraykeeper - if youre tank is 72x18x24 its a standard 125. A 6' 150 is typically 72"x18"x26"...
 
hkarmy25 said:
Even the ones "rated for 180g" are just not meant for a 6' tank. I've seen 10" fish in a 6' tank and it just doesnt work, even a standard 220 is still 6'. It's a matter of opinion, but thats just mine. You'll want to add angels last, btw.

Themoraykeeper - if youre tank is 72x18x24 its a standard 125. A 6' 150 is typically 72"x18"x26"...
Click to expand...

hmm you sure? I know my 150 was wrong now but when calculated it comes up as 135 gal :/ kinda need to know what the actual volume is lol
I put the measurements in here
http://www.ifocas.org/calculator.htm
 
themoraykeeper said:
hmm you sure? I know my 150 was wrong now but when calculated it comes up as 135 gal :/ kinda need to know what the actual volume is lol
I put the measurements in here
http://www.ifocas.org/calculator.htm
Click to expand...

Lol yeah that would sure help. When I put it in it was 135. So you were right about your second estimate, Standard 125 I think is 22" high not 24"

Easier/quicker way to do it: LxWxH/231 (length times width times height divided by 231)
 
hkarmy25 said:
Lol yeah that would sure help. When I put it in it was 135. So you were right about your second estimate, Standard 125 I think is 22" high not 24"

Easier/quicker way to do it: LxWxH/231 (length times width times height divided by 231)
Click to expand...

Ah okay, cheers! glad I know the actual volume of the new tank now lol
 
For that size tank I'd pick 1 larger angel, and 1 tang.
Then get smaller fish to fill the space.
Auriga can be very aggressive so I'd stay away from that one.
Any plans for wrasses?
 
wow, I have heard and read so many people keeping many of these same fish together in similar size tank. Now I have to rethink everything.
Thanks for all the help and advise.
 
You will see people with lots of different opinions on stocking fish, but as hkarmy25 says large fish in a 6' tank doesn't look very natural and can cause aggression. It is much more enjoyable IMO to watch a group of small/medium sized fish in a properly sized tank vs a group of large fish in a cramped environment.
In my old 150 I kept mostly butterfly fish and was very happy. Since you are interested I would go with: Pearlscale, Pakistan, Raccoon, Latticed, Double saddle and add a yellow longnose if you like the fish. The auriga I tried was very aggressive. The teardrop I tried was fairly aggressive but may be worth a try if you really like it (add it last). If you are going to keep BFs you will want to QT every fish and prophylactically medicate with prazipro and cupramine because they do not handle disease very well.
 
I'd pass on the auriga, blueface, and annularis. I have no idea how genicanthus angels do in FO systems (I wouldn't try it though). I'd only get 2 pairs of centropyge angels (small ones like flame and coral beauty). I'd only get 2 tangs (pass on the too big orange shoulder and blue hippo) though they can be mean to butterflies, so be prepared to remove if it doesn't work out.
 
My revised list: I know I need to cut out a couple more fish though

Butterflyfish (Was thinking 2 to 4)
* 1 Pearlscale
* 1 Pakistan
1 of the following: Double saddle, or Latticed
1 Raccoon

Large Angels
* 1 Singapore
1 Blue line or Pair of Wantanabei


Dwarf Angels
1 Potters
Pair of Flame Angel
OR
trio of Flame Angels only, no potters

Tangs ( 1 or 2 of these)
* 1 Kole or Chevron
1 of the following: Powder brown, , or Powder Blue

Does this look more realistic?

Forgot to mention tank came with yellow watchman and pink spotted goby
 
I think you can add more tangs......

Yellow/purple or other zebrasoma tang works well in smaller tanks due to not being as active swimmers.

Also consider a blue hep tang. Like the powder blue they can be ich magnets something to consider...........

My powder blue was cramped in my 220g. I think it really boils down the the actual specimens personality. One can be a whimp vs a terror..... This can be said with most fish though. I added a bunch of tangs and angels to my tank at the same time due to worrying about my Sohal being to much of a A$$. Turned out he was fine with the addition of 5 acanthurus tangs..... My yellow eye kole tang wasn't so happy.

I would also consider a trigger. Sargassum or bluejaw would work and are whimpy......
 
Been a while since I posted an update. A lot has happened in the past 11 months. I'll try to give the short story. My used tank started leaking, luckily before I started adding fish. Could not replace it for about 6 or 7 months cause our walk out basement retaining wall was failing and had to be replaced. After many delays winter hit half way through the work and that project was put on hold till June. No steps to basement meant no way to get new tank in house. Very frustrating! Got new tank n place a few months ago. Then all old pumps and skimmer was replaced due to too being too noisy for my husband to watch tv. So now tank is up and running with a Red Dragon 80 watt return pump (extremely silent) ,although it took 7 weeks to wait for this pump to be shipped, and a Reef Octopus Elite 200 skimmer w/ dc pump (also very silent). Now I just hear the water sound. Original tank came with a pink spot goby and a yellow watchman goby. They are now in the 180 each with a tiger pistol shrimp. I now have in QT a Pakistan and a Latticed Buterfly's. Had a Pearlscale and a Double Saddle also but both of them did not make it past 5 days. The other two are on week 3 in QT. Came down with ich so treating tank with cupermine. Both are eating well and doing great so far. And that will bring me up to date.
 
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