1st Fish for my Reef!!!

[familiar1985]

Im planning to go purchase the first fish for my reef tank that i started about 3 weeks ago. Its a 100 gal tank 60" x 18" x 20" w/ asm g3 skimmer. Cycle finished almost a week ago. levels are currently, ammonio 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 20. My nitrate has been consistent throught the 3 weeks at 20, how can i get nitrate down? I have had clean up crew in there for 5 days and they seem to be doing well Back to the point of this thread, what is a good 1st fish for the tank? and am i overlooking anything?

[acrodave]

water change to lower your nitrate..and maybe try some clowns they are hardy and im sure you will like them

[Misslittlefoot]

tomato clowns are the cutest!!! but if you want more than one...put them in the tank together or they might get a little aggressive towards each other

[nikkipigtails]

The amount of reduction in nitrates is proportionate to the amount of water change that you do. If you do a 20% water change, then you lower your nitrates by ~20%.

As for stocking, make a list of all the fish you want. Remember that the general stocking rule is 1" of fish per 5 gallons of water. I, personally, take it a step further and say 1" of ADULT fish per 5 gallons of water. (Mind you, this is just general, there are many other things to take into consideration.) After you've made your list, start with the least agressive and work your way to the most aggressive. That way, the more docile fish will have the chance to settle in and establish their own territory without feeling threatened by the more aggressive fish.

[familiar1985]

i like the maroon clownfish, but im thinkin its a little too agressive to be the 1st fish, or first pair, i want to have a clown with an anemone, so i need to figure out what anemone i want before i pick the clown? or am i wrong? what about a blenny?

[joeychitwood]

Clowns are great starter fish, as are Royal Grammas.

[familiar1985]

what about the maroon clown. would it be smart to get it now?

[joeychitwood]

Back to the nitrate level, are you using anything other than LR and a skimmer for filtration? Any trickle filters, Bio-Balls, paper wheel filters, etc.?

[G&NSalty425]

Have you thought about Green/Blue Chromis? They are mostly peaceful like to be kept in groups and are hardy fish.

[joeychitwood]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13618782#post13618782 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by G&NSalty425
Have you thought about Green/Blue Chromis? They are mostly peaceful like to be kept in groups and are hardy fish. Very good idea. A shoal of Green Chromis looks great in a reef tank.

[familiar1985]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13618748#post13618748 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by joeychitwood
Back to the nitrate level, are you using anything other than LR and a skimmer for filtration? Any trickle filters, Bio-Balls, paper wheel filters, etc.?

Just rock and skimmer right now. I have a penguin biowheel hob filter laying around i can set up and a phosphate reactor.

[joeychitwood]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13618828#post13618828 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by familiar1985
Just rock and skimmer right now. I have a penguin biowheel hob filter laying around i can set up and a phosphate reactor. Nope, just stick with the LR and skimmer. Bio-Balls, Bio-Wheels and trickle filters can cause elevated nitrates. Give it some more time. Your tank is still very young.

[familiar1985]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13618782#post13618782 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by G&NSalty425
Have you thought about Green/Blue Chromis? They are mostly peaceful like to be kept in groups and are hardy fish.

i like them, but i would have to buy like 6 and that would use up like 12" of my inch per gallon space.

Would this work in a 100 gal:

1 Tang (preferrably one of the smaller ones)
2 Maroon Clownfish
3-5 Wrasse or 6 Chromis or 5 pseudochromis
2-3 blennies
2-3 Gobies

[crvz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13618733#post13618733 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by familiar1985
what about the maroon clown. would it be smart to get it now?

very aggressive fish as they age, I'd be more inclined to add it later if you decide you like that clown (same with the tomato, to be honest).

[FranktheTankTx]

Psuedos cannot be kept together generally. 1 only... at least that's the rule of thumb I stick by.

[LUVSPS]

I don't much care for the inch per gallon rule. For example, a 6'' dartfish makes much less waste and has much less space requirements than a 6'' trigger.

That being said, I think a 100g can support 1 tang, (hippo,yellow, tomini, kole, purple. I like the tomini cause their max size is 6'') 2-3 medium fish like wrasses or anthias, and a small school of small fish like 6 chromis. A couple gobies to sift the sand and keep it clean and maybe a hawkfish or 2 clowns.

That's a balanced reef, IMO. The chromis will add color and movement and the tang will be your showpiece/display fish. The gobies are your workers. The wrasses balance out the tang with your small fish and the clowns are just CUTE. lol

[familiar1985]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13620505#post13620505 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FranktheTankTx
Psuedos cannot be kept together generally. 1 only... at least that's the rule of thumb I stick by.

my mistake no psuedos maybe 1

[FranktheTankTx]

I love the Orchid. I pan to have one in my 54g. Beautiful fish!

[nikkipigtails]

It seems like you're overstocking yourself already. My advice is 1" of ADULT fish per 5 gallons. That means that if you want a sailfin tang, for example, the ADULT size of a sailfin is 16". You have 20" of room in your tank so you should deduct 16" from the 20" of room you have available. I know you said that you want a "small" tang. There's no such thing. If you go by the 1" of ADULT fish per 5 gallons, then you don't have to remove fish when they get too large. Also, it keeps your tank from getting overstocked and your fish from getting stressed out.

Take a step back for a minute, slow down and take a realistic look at what you can responsibly hold in a 100 gallon tank.

[joeychitwood]

As LUVSPS has mentioned above, the "inches per gallon" rules for fish stocking don't adequately address the biomass differences between fish species. A five inch Dog Face Puffer is going to create much more waste than a five inch Lawnmower Blenny.

Though a Sailfin tang can reach 16" in length in the wild, there is little chance that a captive Sailfin will reach that length in your tank. I do agree that the adult fish should be considered in advance when stocking the tank with small specimens or juveniles.

[familiar1985]

nikki, what i meant by small tang, is the ones that wont really reach 8" in a 100 gal tank. Im also setting up a 30 gallon fuge in addition to the sump so that should add some water.

LUVSPS, that sounds nice, pretty much what i was going for.

Considering that the inch per gallon rule doesnt account for messier or cleaner fish, in this case with these fish mentioned, and my tank parameters, how many inches should i limit myself to? Which fish to start with? i like what luvsps proposed, that sounds about right to me.

[Mike31154]

First additions to my 75 g were a juvenile Maroon clown and a Blue Devil Damsel. I still have both, in fact the Maroon is now a large female with a mate, both hosting in a BTA. The Blue Devil Damsel can be a pain, but currently he's behaving since most of his tank mates outrank him despite being added later. Yes, the big Maroon can be aggressive also, but I find she pretty much leaves other fish alone as long as they respect the territory around her BTA. Later additions included a Mandarin Dragonet, Copperband Butterfly (starved unfortunately), Lawnmower Blenny, Yellow Tang, Singapore Angel and a number of Chromis. The Chromis gradually met their death after they stopped shoaling and went their separate ways. Anyhow, this worked for me, everyone gets along pretty well and the Maroons don't cause any more trouble than any of the other livestock. The Blue Devil is a bit of a nuisance in that he tries to claim a spot below the BTA. Most of the time the big Maroon chases him off, but he's a persistent little puke and I fear he may be inhibiting the Maroon pair in their willingness to spawn.

In your 100 gal you should have plenty of room for a Maroon to establish it's territory without harassing other fish constantly. Both my Yellow Tang and the Singapore Angel are not bothered whatsoever even when they are quite close to my Maroon's BTA. I suspect it's due to the fact that they are large fish as well. If you'd like a Maroon, I'd say get yourself a juvenile and once your tank is ready, you can get a BTA. They're a good host for Maroons and one of the less demanding anemones to keep.

[LUVSPS]

familiar, I would put say the wrasses first. I'm not to knowledgeable about wrasses but I think a flame pair would be easy and pretty. Make sure they can't jump out because they will try.

Next I would probably do the tang.

Then I would put in the clowns and I probably wouldn't do maroons because of aggressiveness.

Then your misc. fish like if you want a purple pseudochromis or a purple firefish.

Next the chromis. They will tightly school for a little while before realizing nothings going to eat them at which point they will just kind of loosely hang out together. Still beautiful.

Last, your goby. Waiting til last will have given the sandbed a chance to mature. He should keep your sandbed sparkling. Go to vivid aquariums .com and watch the video of the diamond goby at work.

HTH and can't wait to see pics!

[nikkipigtails]

Didn't I say that the rule was general...oh, wait, I did. Others mentioned taking waste into consideration the other thing you have to take into consideration is the level of activity of the fish as well as its agressiveness.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13618585#post13618585 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nikkipigtails
As for stocking, make a list of all the fish you want. Remember that the general stocking rule is 1" of fish per 5 gallons of water. I, personally, take it a step further and say 1" of ADULT fish per 5 gallons of water. (Mind you, this is just general, there are many other things to take into consideration.) After you've made your list, start with the least agressive and work your way to the most aggressive.

Look, you don't have to take my advice. All it is is advice. I've seen way too many newbies get all excited about adding fish then personally seeing them bring diseased, beat up, barely living fish into the LFS to trade them in because they weren't responsible when they stocked their tank.

[familiar1985]

i appreciate your advice, your helping me hold back on getting extra fish. Iv been taking care of freshwater tanks for a while, so im not totally new to these equations. Just tryin to find a good balance for a successfull and entertaining reef. The longer the tank the less trouble you will have with aggression, i believe. My tank is pretty long for a 100gal (5ft) so i dont see it being much of an issue, unless i throw completely incompatible fish in. There are many hiding places also.

[Vapour1ze]

100g you could do more than 1 tang, do like a hippo and a yellow maybe,

[familiar1985]

if the maroon is really that aggressive ill pick another clown

[Stevenx2]

Your tank has been running for 3 weeks and you want to start stocking already?? Don't you think you should wait a while longer, so that you are 100% sure the cycle is over and you have enough bacteria???? Whatever you screw up at the beginning will take revenge in a couple of months. I mean it's your money, but just think about the poor fish and corals, if you rush everything... I waited nearly 16 weeks to start stocking...

[tthnow]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13618566#post13618566 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Misslittlefoot
tomato clowns are the cutest!!! but if you want more than one...put them in the tank together or they might get a little aggressive towards each other

OMG we are neighbors!

[petoonia]

I second making a stock list. Start looking at all of the fish compatible for your tank. When you come up with a final list then start stocking. Having a set list of what you want will also help you avoid impulse purchases at the LFS.

Here are some different fish I would suggest looking at percula clowns, a dwarf angel (coral beauty, or flame angel), kole tang (the blue eyed ones are really nice), tomini tang, yellow tang, midas blenny, tailspot blenny, lawnmower blenny, orchid dottyback, fairy wrasses, watchman goby.

Good luck with your new tank!!!

[familiar1985]

it finished cycle a week ago, im pretty sure if i add a fish i wont see my ammonia nitrite go up. Everyones situation is different depending on the quality of live rock and bacteria present, i guess. Everywhere i have read it pretty much says that the cycle is finished once nitrites come down to 0 and theres some algae growth. i never said i was going to add my 1st fish today tho. i was thinking maybe next weekend. Was your ammonia and nitrite 0, the whole time you were waiting? With clean up crew? without?