Stocking Questions

[ridetolive]

Hey I'm setting up a 220 gal. corner overflows with a 65 gal. sump. Footprint of tank is 72x24x30. It'll have 220 lbs. live rock in it and a deep sand bed. Going with snails for a cuc. I'm wanting to stock it first and then add in mostly sps corals. I just want some input on what you think of my stocking list and if they will work in a sps reef. I would appreciate it if you would list any concerns you have and any experiences you have had with these fish in a reef setting. Thanks guys.

1. bicolor angel (Centropyge bicolor)
2. flame angel (Centropyge loricula)
3. potters angel (Centropyge potteri)
4. blueface angel (Pomacanthus xanthometopon)
5. cream angel (Apolemichthys xanthurus)
6. blue tang (Paracanthurus hepatus)
7. yellow tang (Zebrasoma flavescens)
8. powder brown tang (Acanthurus japonicus)
9. yellow eye kole tang (Ctenochaetus strigosus)
10. flame hawkfish (Neocirrhitus armatus)
11. red lined wrasse (Halichoeres biocellatus)
12. christmas wrasse (Halichoeres Claudia)
13. adorned wrasse (Halichoeres cosmetus)
14. radiant wrasse (Halichoeres iridis)
15. chiseltooth wrasse (Pseudodax moluccanus)

 

[DopeCantWin]

I feel your list is very heavy, especially with the Angels in an SPS tank.

 

[ridetolive]

I'm going to be running a Aquamaxx ConeS co3 skimmer, so I'm hoping that will help with the heavy bio load.

 

[Politiceaux]

The Blue Tang will likely cause some problems in a six foot tank.

 

[Dmorty217]

Pick either the blue tang and no others or nix the blue and get the others. I would also eliminate a angel from the list, bicolor would be my suggestion and/or potters

 

[ilikefish34]

1. Angels - Any of these are going to be hit and miss as far as Coral Grazing goes. I'm a huge fan of the the Flame but would probably just get the one Centropyge species to avoid fighting. As beautiful as the Blue Face is, they do get huge and perhaps a Regal Angel could take this spot. I am unfamiliar with the Cream and will let others chime in on that one. Heavy, but not over, feeding will be important to keep any of them satisfied so they don't snack on your corals. Also, growing out most of your corals before adding any angel will give you an advantage as well. A large colony can get nipped on and survive whereas a frag may not be as fortunate.

2. Tangs - This is where I respectively disagree with the others. I like your mix very well as I had a Yellow, Kole, Blue Hippo/Regal, Powder Blue and Purple Tang in a 6' 175 gallon for about 6 years before breaking the tank down when moving. My Blue Hippo/Regal was purchased at 3" and ended up no more than 6" all of those years later. If it had gotten much larger, then I would have found it a new home earlier then I did. The Purple was much larger than the Yellow and the Powder Blue was tiny when added. The size of these fish, I believe suppressed any possible aggression but we all have different experiences and sometimes we have experiences with the same species... My Kole was an angel where another's is a terror. I would add the Kole and Yellow at the same time, the Blue (3-4") at any time before or after the other two (just be picky and get a good specimen) and then add the more ich prone Powder Brown last.

3. Misc. - Flame Hawk. One of my favorite little fish out there. Great personality, very hardy, colorful and a good change of pace from the other fish that are only in the water column.

4. Wrasse - I've seen the Chiseltooth and would assume that it behaves much like the others but that is just a guess. I do believe that you are a bit heavy in the Halichoeres genus. The females become males and the males have different levels of tolerance of one another. An acclimation box is a must and good luck. Personally, I would look at the Fairy and Flasher wrasses. They could be added before the others and take the place of some of your other choices. Do some homework though, the Fairies are as easy to mix as most of the Flashers are. Some members here have had very successful aquariums while having many more wrasse species than your list, but that is not my experience. I only tried a couple of times. First was a Melanurus wrasse that was killed by my Christmas. Before that it was a Radiant that killed a new Christmas. I must confess, this was before I ever used an acclimation box... now it is used on every fish every time.

Whatever you choose to do, I wish you luck!
Mike

 

[ridetolive]

Thanks for the info guys. Sounds like I'll need to nix one of the dwarf angels then and I'll replace a couple of the Halichoeres wrasses with a different genus of wrasse. From my research it seems like the Halichoeres wrasses can be hit and miss with each other. Most seem to have luck with a couple of them in the same tank as long as they look different, but of course there's always those certain individual fish that just don't cooperate. Any more feedback would be great. It'll be a couple months before the tank is cycled and ready for fish so I'm wanting to make sure my stocking list is good to go before then.

 

[DopeCantWin]

I'm going to be running a Aquamaxx ConeS co3 skimmer, so I'm hoping that will help with the heavy bio load.

I think that Skimmer is vastly overrated, it would be better suited for a medium to lightly stocked 120 SPS tank based on the airflow and volume.

 

[DopeCantWin]

I think that Skimmer is vastly overrated, it would be better suited for a medium to lightly stocked 120 SPS tank based on the airflow and volume.

On my 210 with a light load I'm using an SWC 230. It pulls, by my calculations, 1840 l/hr of air compared to the 1020 l/hr on the Aquacone. It also has more volume for contact. It's rated for a 200-400 gallon tank and I feel it is a little undersized for my tank.

 

[ridetolive]

I agree the skimmer is over rated as most skimmers are but it should be able to handle this sized tank based on the research I've done. It may not be the best choice but there seems to be a decent amount of people using them on tanks of this size and having success with it. Also I'm going to remove the bicolor angel, red lined wrasse, and adorned wrasse from my list. I was thinking about adding an orchid dottyback and a single anthia to replace them. I'm thinking a Bartlett, lyretail, or squareback for the anthia.

 

[Rollins4Miles]

You definitely have a lot of fish on that list. Luckily the majority of them are fairly small. We have the same tank, roughly the same sump, and I also run an Aquamaxx ConeS CO-3 skimmer. I find that it works extremely well on my setup and I have no complaints - especially considering the price. The biggest variations in our setups is the volume of rock, substrate, and number of fish. I have about 120lbs of rock to your 220lbs; bare bottom to your DSB; and ten fish to your 15. I'm not sure for certain but these factors could play a large role in the overall efficiency of your skimmer being able to take care of that tank.

As for the fish - I've had Flame Angels before and they picked at my SPS a lot. I love the color of the fish but I love my SPS more and never got another one of these angels. I agree with the others in that the blue tang will be a lot in your tank. You will be able to house it for a while but it will eventually outgrow your setup. You should have some place lined up that can take the fish in once it's too big. If you have Mike's luck and your Blue Hippo stays small then you're ahead of the game and we'll all be jealous. Otherwise I think you're good to go - only one way to find out, right?

Best of luck with the build!

 

[ca1ore]

Let's see .... I'm running a 265, essentially 12 inches longer than your proposed tank. I have Hippo, Yellow, Purple and Dejardini Tangs together with no major problems (though took almost a month before the Yellow and Purple stopped mixing it up). I am planning to still add an Achilles and either a Kole or a Chevron. I also have a Flame and Potters and they get along fine. I also have a large Dusky Wrasse (Halichoeres Annularis), but it is the only one from that genus.

Personally I stay away from any of the bigger angels as my experience in a reef tank has been mixed - plus they just get too big. Powder Brown I have never bothered with as it is just as much of a pain to acclimate as either the PB of the AT, but not as attractive.

I'd think you would also want some smaller 'dither' fish - say a few Bartletts or Chalk Bass.

Lastly, I guess I'm in the minority in not thinking that you are proposing too many fish. I have 21 in my 265, another 7 in QT and plans for about 10 more still