What size tank do i need??

[danrs20]

Hi guys and girls,
So I'm in a situation where ill be able to upgrade my current reef tank, the thing is I don't know what the limitations are as we have yet to find the correct house. I have been looking into the fish that I would like to have in the new tank but unsure the actual size of tank that would be required to handle all of them. The list is;
1 x Sailfin tang (Zebrasoma desjardini)
1 x Clown tang (Acanthurus lineatus)
3 x Yellow tang (Zebrasoma flavescens)
1 x Coral beauty (Centropyge bispinosa
1 x Leopard wrasse (Macropharyngodon bipartitus)
1 x Cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus)
1 x Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus solorensis)
2 x Ocellaris clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
2 x Pajama cardinalfish (Sphaeramia nematoptera)
1 x Blue damselfish (Chrysiptera cyanea)
5 x Lyretail anthias (Pseudanthias squamipinnis)
5 x Chromis (Chromis viridis)
1 x Yellow prawn goby (Cryptocentrus cinctus)
1 x Orange stripe prawn goby (Amblyeleotris randalli)

The clown tang, the 3 x yellow tangs i feel would add quite a lot of life to the tank but aren't essential.

Now the tank will be a mixed reef with two islands on the centre line of the aquarium so that the fish have the maximum amount of swimming space, also the islands will be just over half the height of the tank. I was looking at tank sizes and 180cm (L) x 60cm (W) x 80cm (H) looks like it produces a lot of swimming space and has a good shape.

I'm not sure whether the fish list is even possible with a tank of this size i have just listed what would fill the urge to have a reef tank full of various life. :bounce1::bounce1::bounce1:

 

[CrayolaViolence]

The sailfin is the one who will demand a lot of room (apparently they get huge). Also, I'm not sure that combination of fish is very compatible. Fish like Leopard wrasse are slow eaters, easily intimidated, and don't do well in a high stress tank. Same with the cleaner wrasse. They tend to be slower eaters and without huge fish to clean and get most of their food from they will need to learn to eat.

I have both tangs and a leopard wrasse, but in different tanks, in totally different set ups. I could not see my leopard wrasse surviving long in a tank with something like clown fish who gobble up all the food rapid fire.

Clown tangs, from what I understand, are also very aggressive powerful swimmers. Another high stress fish. And the chromis will most likely murder each other. I know some people have had luck keeping them, I've never been able to keep more than one, no matter how many I start with. They eventually kill each other for no discernible reason.

 

[CrayolaViolence]

P.s. I would not get anything smaller than a 220 for that number of fish. Or I'd do two 180's on the same sump and separate out fish that would not be compatible with each other.

 

[nereefpat]

Unfortunately the clown tang (along with its cousin sohal) is about the meanest son of a gun you could choose. The two sailfin species tangs get quite large.

Here is a tank size for tangs recommendation link.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1946079

Some good points from Crayola about compatibility.

Most folks (me included) will find it difficult to have a good idea about the tank size needed, because of the two problem tangs, and because of the combination of fish.

You could switch some of the fish out to make it much easier. For example:
Kole for the sailfin.
Powder brown for the clown tang.
One yellow.
Melanurus wrasse for leopard.

Now we are looking at a more manageable stocklist for a large, standard tank in the 180-220 range. Sometimes these threads get a little heated. Don't take it personable, and good luck.

Edit: personal

 

[danrs20]

Thanks for the input CrayolaViolence,
I had heard that they can get pretty big but never to a monstrous size. As always the end game is to keep the fish as long as possible which means with time they will continue to grow (granted that the growth slows down as they get older) , so will have to accommodate for that. Also with the clown tang, i can see what you mean with high stress.Hmm I will rethink on that.
I do own a leopard wrasse and a cleaner wrasse at the moment though and they are competing very well for the food i feed them, plus there are quite a lot of copepods for the leopard. Do you think there personality could change if bigger fish are added? The biggest fish they have to compete with is a 6 inch yellow tang.

 

[CrayolaViolence]

Thanks for the input CrayolaViolence,
I had heard that they can get pretty big but never to a monstrous size. As always the end game is to keep the fish as long as possible which means with time they will continue to grow (granted that the growth slows down as they get older) , so will have to accommodate for that. Also with the clown tang, i can see what you mean with high stress.Hmm I will rethink on that.
I do own a leopard wrasse and a cleaner wrasse at the moment though and they are competing very well for the food i feed them, plus there are quite a lot of copepods for the leopard. Do you think there personality could change if bigger fish are added? The biggest fish they have to compete with is a 6 inch yellow tang.

I think if you put a clown tang and some of the other more aggressive fish in there (don't have your list right at the moment) they may get bullied out of food and territory. That would be my worry.

 

[danrs20]

Hi nereefpat, the last thing i want to do is cause arguments, im merely looking for options on the fish list. The fish that i listed had been personal favourites which is why there is a compatibility issue clearly the heart was talking not the brain. Thankyou for the suggestions on the replacement fish, i will have a look into them. The idea for the tank is to try (as everyone does) to replicate the reef crest as much as possible, with the variety of small to larger fish all with in one working community. Do you think a 220 gallon has the space to create such a thing? or are we left dreaming about the 600 gallon systems that can only create this? i have seen a lot of tanks on here that get very close but never quite get there due to various issues.

 

[jda]

300G that is 8 feet long. Something like 8x3x2 ish.

 

[nereefpat]

You can definitely have a variety of small and large fish in a 220. Lots of options there, including some of the common large fish we see in the hobby:. Tangs, triggers, angels, etc.

Ida, how do you feel about clown tangs? Should he look for something else? I've seen one go absolutely postal in a 180, but an 8 footer may be just enough.

 

[lionfish300]

300G that is 8 feet long. Something like 8x3x2 ish.[/QUOTE That what I have and would suggest it is a 375 gallons]

 

[MMacro]

300G that is 8 feet long. Something like 8x3x2 ish.

+1
I wouldn't do anything under 300

 

[scooter31707]

my 8ft 240 still looks small with 4 average size Tangs.

 

[steallife904]

ya your talking about needing a large tank... 300+ I would think for sure and as others have said 8ft would be best. You may also have problems with the sailfin and yellow tangs, they will fight.

 

[danrs20]

Thanks for the input guys, I'm getting the feeling that the sailfin and the clown tang would be on another level to what I will be looking at. The size limitations may not be present but the maintaince cost will be, running through some figures of cost of KWh and consumables of the tank ( salt, dosing chemicals ) I probably won't be looking at going over 220 gallons. Do you think that if I remove the sailfin and clown plus the group of chromis, that the rest would be compatible ( if there is a good amount of Copepoda for the leopard )??

 

[CrayolaViolence]

Thanks for the input guys, I'm getting the feeling that the sailfin and the clown tang would be on another level to what I will be looking at. The size limitations may not be present but the maintaince cost will be, running through some figures of cost of KWh and consumables of the tank ( salt, dosing chemicals ) I probably won't be looking at going over 220 gallons. Do you think that if I remove the sailfin and clown plus the group of chromis, that the rest would be compatible ( if there is a good amount of Copepoda for the leopard )??

You want to make sure that leopard is eating frozen before you get it. I can't imagine them surviving on copepods alone. Mine eats really well although she has to examine ten pieces of food before she decides on one. Lucky for her the seahorses clean up well.

As for maintenance cost. Honestly, except for lights, in my experience there really isn't much difference in maintenance between a 180 gallon and a 300 gallon. Initial cost is a whole other beast. But the monthly stuff...not much. If you do LED lights I would dare say it's probably cheaper on the electric bill than T5 over a 180. However the overall cost of the lights is crazy high. I've personally not had good success with LED lights, black box, to AI, to Kessils, they just didn't do well for me and I lost a lot of corals. Went with T5 (local fish store said they could not sustain acropora) and now I have very good growth and more acros than I have rocks.

 

[steallife904]

if you put the 3 yellow tangs in at the same time you might be ok specially in a 220 gal but do know that usually tangs of the same species will kill each other... So if you are going with 3 yellow tang (zebrasoma) they may fight. the key would be all 3 in at same time.