Wish/Stocking list

[Fredfish]

I will have a tank in hand in about 3 weeks. I've been kicking around a list of fish I would love to keep, so now its time to sort through that list to work out a stocking plan.

Stage 1, Compatibility.

I want to make sure my inhabitants stand a reasonable chance of getting along. This will be an sps/lps tank.

Here's the wish list (somewhat in order of preference)
Anthias, probably Ignatus or Randall's
Gobies Yasha/Highfin/similar. Would like to keep several, possibly with an appropriate shrimp(s)
Flasher/Fairy Wrase, probably two.
Mandarin
matted/Spotted Pygmy Filefish (because they're cool!)
Tomani Tank/Foxface Rabbit
Yellowstriped Cardinal (group of 3/4)
Yellow clown goby
Starry Blenny
Striped Blenny
Orchid Dottyback (my favourite fish in my last reef tank but...)
Piramid Butterfly
Bellus Angel
Flame Angel
CLownfish and anemone

Again, this is just the wish list and I want to fully understand compatibility before moving on to a final stocking list. For instance, I know people have had mixed results with Orchid Dottybacks and I believe there is a possible conflict with Flasher/Fairy wrasses. That's the sort of thing I want to sort out first.

The tank will require some changes when I get it, and I plan to do the initial cycle with a few mollies, so I have time to sort through this.

Thanks.

 

[OrionN]

Most important: How big? Other information needed: Cover or not? Sand bed or not?

 

[Fredfish]

Assume for now its big enough to house all the fish listed. As I wrote in the first post, my first step is compatibility. The second step will deal with size and actual stocking.

Cover: yes, the wraises I want are jumpers
Sand: yes, I actually like the little critters that can populate a sand bed. That's actually an important point I missed. I want to avoid fish that will slurp up every single worm, feather duster, snail and crab/shrimp in the tank. I may need to deal with trade offs if I want a particular fish badly enough.

I'm glad you posted Minh. The Flame Angel is on the list because of your experiences with it. It is a known coral nipper, but in the wild appears to be primarily and algae grazer. My concern with this fish would be possible aggression.

 

[OrionN]

I had very good experiences with Captive bred Orchid Dottyback. I keep pairs of these many times in the past. I never have any problem with them. Very docile, not at all like the rest of the Dottyback group. Specifically, They coexist with a harem of Royal Gramma with no problem.

I do not have experiences with these species:

Anthias, probably Ignatus or Randall's (had Lyletail Anthias before, no problem)
....
Flasher/Fairy Wrase, probably two (I don't have much experience with these, but this will change soon)
....
matted/Spotted Pygmy Filefish (because they're cool!)
.....
Yellowstriped Cardinal (group of 3/4)
.....
Starry Blenny
Striped Blenny
......
Piramid Butterfly
Bellus Angel (but had Watanabei Angels, likely to be about the same)
......

 

[Fredfish]

I had very good experiences with Captive bred Orchid Dottyback. I keep pairs of these many times in the past. I never have any problem with them. Very docile, not at all like the rest of the Dottyback group. Specifically, They coexist with a harem of Royal Gramma with no problem.
...

Unfortunately, ORA/Captive Bred are hard to come by in Canada. Outside of clowns, there is nobody I am aware of that regularly orders captive bred.

I don't know if I can do the same thing with wild caught.

 

[OrionN]

Wild caught cost an arm and several fingers. Good luck on this

 

[Fredfish]

Wild caught cost an arm and several fingers. Good luck on this

Really? I thought it was the other way around. I haven't specifically asked. If I can get captive bred, I would love to try a pair.

 

[Fredfish]

Doing reading on aggression for some of the fish on my list here is what I have found.

The Flame Angel may not get along with a tang like the Tomani because the fill the same niche as algae grazers. It may also get aggressive in general maybe because the right habitat is not provided (enough hiding places). It seems the same can be true for Tangs.

The Orchid Dottyback and Fairy Wrase occupy the same feeding niche so that might be an issue so maybe I would be safer with two Flasher's?

I'm not sure what to make of the base level aggression of these two species. Are some fish aggressive just because?

 

[OrionN]

Really? I thought it was the other way around. I haven't specifically asked. If I can get captive bred, I would love to try a pair.

Orichid dottyback is a native fish of Red Sea. They are small smart and stay in crevices and cracks in the reef. Very difficult to catch so cost very high for wild caught. ORA and other breeders raised them. Lately I see a lot of deformities in the tank raised Orchid Dottyback which is really too bad.

 

[OrionN]

I never keep flasher or fairy wrasses so I cannot comment on how dottyback interact with them. However I would be very surprise if there is any problem.

Flame angles have no problem with any tangs Tomini tangs included.

 

[Fredfish]

...
Flame angles have no problem with any tangs Tomini tangs included.

It seems Live Aquaria agrees with you. In fact, the only fish they show caution with besides other dwarf angels is larger fish that can eat them.

So where does the semi-agressive label come from, how they compete for food?

If I go with two flasher wrases, there really don't seem to be any serious compatibility issues with the list compiled.

 

[OrionN]

Flame Angels are very efficient pod hunters. IME, they really complete against Mandarin for food. If the tank is smallish in size, Mandarin will not do well in a tank with an angel in it. From your fish list, it seem that the tank will be large enough.

 

[Fredfish]

Flame Angels are very efficient pod hunters. IME, they really complete against Mandarin for food. If the tank is smallish in size, Mandarin will not do well in a tank with an angel in it...

Interesting. My experience with an Orchid Dottyback is similar. The one I had in a lightly stocked 65 eventually stopped taking prepared foods but never got skinny or unhealthy. Hmm.

From your fish list, it seem that the tank will be large enough.

That's an excellent lead in to the next part of this exercise.