stocking questions!

[bteagle93]

hello everyone, i recently setup my first tanked and im ADDICTED! we are re-doing our basment mid-november and i would LOVE to put a 90 FOWLR down there....i was thinking of a couple stocking options/plans and i need some help.....

1) yellow tang & either hippo tang or powder blue tang...and im not sure on what else to have with them. I know i want more than two fish in it but im not sure what else to do...lol...any suggestions?

2) i am not sure how many small angfels could be put in a 90 however, i was thinking maybe 3 with a few other little fish...
many-banded angel, fire pygmy, bi-color pygmy

3)threadfin butterfly, Pearlscale Butterfly, Longfin Bannerfish, and Red Sea Raccoon Butterfly ( I am not sure how many butterflies will be okay in a 90 together, and maybe this is way to many, not sure)

With the three options my favorite woudl be number 1. However any other suggestions or comments woudl be great. I am used to nanos so going 90 is a BRAND new thing!
thanks,
Brett

 

[mattsilvester]

Ok Brett - you say you have recently set up your first tank, so I am assuming you have very little experience.

An excellent book to get is Bob Fenners Conscientious Marine Aquarist - before you buy, set up, or stock your tank I would recommend reading that cover to cover!

Ok - for a 90 gal tank, I would only put 1 tang in there. Not just because two will fight, but because I can only think of one tang that is really suitable for a 90 gal long term - that is a yellow tang.

Pygmy (dwarf) angels - again, I would only put one angel in there, unless you can get a pair - which might be possible. You are probably best to go with just one, and hence I would nominate te flame angel for size and colour.

Butterflyfishes - lots to choose from, varying in hardiness and size. The big ones, such as semilarvatus, bannerfish, saddleback, raccon are a bit too big in my opinion for a 90. I would be inclined to go for a couple of the smalelr ones. Pearlscales, Auriga, yellow long nose to name but few.

Going from a 10 gal to a 90 gal might seem big to you at this stage, but really a 90 gal tank is not big by marine standards......

There are lots of really nice fish that you can choose from - seeing as you are going for a "FO" type set up, you might want to consider the smalelr lionfish - they are nice.

Wrasse are nice - lots to choose from also.

A good starting place is to look at the online retailers - they have good "catalogues" to browse through popular fish species. Their "hardniness" ratings are pretty good, but the recommended tank sizes should be doubled.

HTH

Matt

 

[bteagle93]

matt thanks a lot! great information. does anyone have insight or expierence with mixing tangs, angels, and butterflys? could this be an option?

 

[TheSaltwaterGuy]

Mixing tangs isn't as hard as most people think. As long as you pick species that don't look alike and aren't very aggressive (Sohal, Clown, Purple, and sometimes Powder Blues) you should be fine.

For a 90, I would limit to only 2 tangs. You could go with a Kole, Tomini, or a Yellow. If you plan on upgrading later on, you could get tangs that get larger, as long as you get them small.

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[bteagle93]

okay thanks. everyone amkes such a big deal about tangs, and tank sizes and etc. I was thinking a yellow tang, and either a powder blue or a hippo...not sure. Also, what else coudl i have with two tangs in the tank? small school of chrmois, anthias, or something small...?

 

[bteagle93]

or some banggaii cardinals even..?

 

[mattsilvester]

You could go with pretty much any fish that stays at 2-3 inches (that is generalyl speaking).

Hawkfish & gobies are great fish.....

Chromis - I do not know anyone EVER that has managed to maintain a school of chromise.... you'll start with 10 and end up with 2 or 3....... over time they contonuously kill off the weakest member of the pack.

Anthias - I have 5 lyretails in my 240 - great fish..... I would think you would be ok with 5 in your 90 - but that limits the amount of other fish you can have, purely on a bioload basis.

Two tangs - I still think it is dodgy - I dunno if a kole and yellow would get along - maybe if the kole went in first or was a little bigger - I;ve enver kept a kole. I wouldn't put a regal (hippo) tang in a 90 - these guys get really big - 6" minimum if fed properly, and they are very active, open water swimmers - not head down grazers like teh zebrasoma's et al. Powder blue is also a monster - 6" minimum and a really bad attitude. I understand the urge, thats what I am plannign as my next addition to my 240 (8x2x2).

If it were my tank.......

Yellow tang
Long nose hawkfish
flame angel
Dwarf fuzzy lion
Red back butterflyfish or Auriga or pearlscale
Pair of Gobies (bigger ones, like suplhur gobies)
Something blue..... maybe a wrasse, or hamlet????

HTH

Matt