Will these fish work in a 125 gal tank? Or is this too much?

[Cambria]

I have a 125 gallon tank with mostly sps (some soft and lps). There are no fish in it currently.

I have a list of the type of fish I want, but I'm not sure if this is overboard and how exactly I should put them in the tank in a specific order (because I know some can be shy and not eat and should probably go in first). Let me know your thoughts please.

Here's the list and how many of each:

Yellow Tang (1)
Snowflake clownfish (2)
Green Mandarin (1)
Orange striped prawn goby (1)
Six-line wrasse (1)
McCoskers Flasher Wrasse (1)
Blue/green chromis (6)
Lyretail anthia (1)
Ignitus anthias (4)

 

[scooter31707]

Yellow Tang- yes, introduce last
Clownfish- yes, first to middle (once pair/bonded can become aggressive)
Mandarin- iffy, requires a big pod population, also the other listed livestock will compete for pods also.
Goby-yes, first to middle
6-Line Wrasse- yes (last--I don't like them ask they are jerks)
Flasher Wrasse- yes, definitely before the 6-Line
Crhomis- 1st to middle (be aware they are known to kill each other off, leaving 1 in the tank)
Anthias- yes, 1st (also do not mix anthias species, either go with the Lyretail or the Ignitus species.

 

[Cambria]

Yellow Tang- yes, introduce last
Clownfish- yes, first to middle (once pair/bonded can become aggressive)
Mandarin- iffy, requires a big pod population, also the other listed livestock will compete for pods also.
Goby-yes, first to middle
6-Line Wrasse- yes (last--I don't like them ask they are jerks)
Flasher Wrasse- yes, definitely before the 6-Line
Crhomis- 1st to middle (be aware they are known to kill each other off, leaving 1 in the tank)
Anthias- yes, 1st (also do not mix anthias species, either go with the Lyretail or the Ignitus species.

Thanks for the input. It's interesting you say not to mix anthias. A lot of pictures I see people have different kinds of anthias together. I can kind of see it maybe because of aggression from the male or something. I thought though the ignitus would be more peaceful and it would be okay just to have 1 lyretail with them.

 

[hotdogoramer]

You can mix anthias. Different species ignore each other. I used to have 7 bimac, 2 lyretail, and 1 male square all in the same tank. Never had any interspecies aggression.

 

[brad]

I wouldn't try a sixline with a mandarin, I just can't see that working. Both eat the same things and you have a super aggressive eater with one that slowly picks.

 

[anbosu]

I wouldn't try a sixline with a mandarin, I just can't see that working. Both eat the same things and you have a super aggressive eater with one that slowly picks.

It might be ok since it's a 125, but 6 line wrasses are kind of a pain anyway - I would go with a different fish, personally. Everything else looks good.

 

[scooter31707]

Thanks for the input. It's interesting you say not to mix anthias. A lot of pictures I see people have different kinds of anthias together. I can kind of see it maybe because of aggression from the male or something. I thought though the ignitus would be more peaceful and it would be okay just to have 1 lyretail with them.

I ask you can see some no and some say yes. I was told on several occasions not to mix the species sure enough I didn't have a great experience with it. I guess in this hobby you have to experiment and see what works as every tank is different in some way.

 

[MondoBongo]

i wouldn't risk a six line on its own, let along with a mandy.

even if the six line doesn't out compete the mandarin directly for food, i would expect there to be aggression/harassment issues there. that will spell death for the mandy.

conversely, the flasher wrasse will be a great addition, although i would strongly advise you get a tight fitting screen top. i had a flasher wrasse i absolutely adored (he had a personality 100 times his size) but he sadly jumped out through a whole in my screen top that i thought was far too small for any fish to wriggle through.

i would probably drop the chromis from the list, or drop the anthias. as noted by other posters the chromis will likely cull their own numbers down to 1, and i think anthias are far more interesting, so i would ditch the chromis.

 

[brad]

Chromis and anthias mix in the wild and I think work better together in tanks. I'd keep both.

You will lose the weakest member of either group until you only have one fish of each species. But that might take years.

 

[MondoBongo]

to clarify my previous statement, i'm not worried about them mixing from a temperament perspective, just an over all bioload.

with all of those fish you're at about 18 inhabitants. to some extent personal preference factors in, but for a 125 i think that would make for a very "busy" tank.

 

[sdbc]

That's about a third more bioload than I'm looking at for my 125, albeit different species. I have 6 small fish now (2" - 4") and it seems pretty sparse. Planning on adding another 6 this year and then go from there.

 

[scobeyra]

I wouldn't try a sixline with a mandarin, I just can't see that working. Both eat the same things and you have a super aggressive eater with one that slowly picks.

Agreed. I had both and eventually my mandarin lost the battle.

 

[Cambria]

to clarify my previous statement, i'm not worried about them mixing from a temperament perspective, just an over all bioload.

with all of those fish you're at about 18 inhabitants. to some extent personal preference factors in, but for a 125 i think that would make for a very "busy" tank.

Ya I was afraid it might be too much with bioload. Maybe I'll just stick with the anthias and not the chromis.

I was going to get the DYI screen top on bulk reef supply so I don't have any fish ending up on the floor.

I didn't know that six line wrasse could be that aggressive. I have a 180 gallon that has a six line and green mandarin in there for about 3 years without any issues. Both are fat and healthy. That's why I thought it would be fine in my 125 gallon. This is definitely a heads up.

Thanks everyone! This is very helpful!