Stocking a 180 Ga

[03sonicstang]

Good afternoon RC; well I’m in the planning stages of my Live stock and need some suggestions.

Tank is a 180 with 40 ga Sump, AquaC180EV Skimmer with a 9.5MAG. about 175 Live Rock with 110 fine sand bed
Running for about 12 weeks now

Current inhabitants are (they were in a 12ga for (3) years)
False Percula Clown
Royal Gramma

In quarantine:
Purple Firefish
Scooter Blenny

I want to select a peaceful group with fairly low maintenance and not a lot of risk of killing the species. A couple of my thoughts are:

Another smaller False Percula Clown
Clown Goby, one Citrinis and one green
Pistol Shrimp with a Goby paired up
Fridmani Dotty back
Biecolor Blenny
(2) Kaudern's Cardinal's- Tank-Bred
I want a Tang but my head is spinning with the choices.. I thought a Kole but I’ve heard they can have a bad attitude!
Red Velvet Wrasse or another Wrasse that not going to kill my Pod supply (again my head is spinning with choices)
Another Dotty back, if it’s a good idea, I love the Purple Stripe (Diadema)


This will be over a long time as well, but I want a plan!! I plan on quarantining for about 3-4 weeks…

Thanks for reading and offering any suggestions!!Tom

[03sonicstang]

Good, bad or Ugly :)

[03sonicstang]

Ugly?

[Pickupman66]

Read below beside each fish. this is just what I would do. I have a 180 myself.


Good afternoon RC; well I’m in the planning stages of my Live stock and need some suggestions.

Tank is a 180 with 40 ga Sump, AquaC180EV Skimmer with a 9.5MAG. about 175 Live Rock with 110 fine sand bed
Running for about 12 weeks now

Current inhabitants are (they were in a 12ga for (3) years)
False Percula Clown
Royal Gramma

In quarantine:
Purple Firefish
Scooter Blenny

I want to select a peaceful group with fairly low maintenance and not a lot of risk of killing the species. A couple of my thoughts are:

Another smaller False Percula Clown ~~get the smallest one you can.
Clown Goby, one Citrinis and one green ~~do you plan to keep SPS? if so, these little devils will make meals of your corals and are a PITA to get out.
Pistol Shrimp with a Goby paired up ~~Good deal.
Fridmani Dotty back ~~ Careful with dottybacks. they can be very territorial and a small fish can even rule a 180. death of old age is the easiest way to get them out.

Biecolor Blenny ~~ I had one that nipped at my sps. Others with good exp.
(2) Kaudern's Cardinal's- Tank-Bred ~~I have a Banggai in mine with plans for 1 or two more.
I want a Tang but my head is spinning with the choices.. I thought a Kole but I’ve heard they can have a bad attitude!

~~ the bristletooth (kole, Tomini, chevron) are great tangs to have. talk about algae munchers. I LOVE Tangs and have 3 in my tank. Sohal, Naso and Purple. with the 180, you can get away with 2 or 3 of your favorites and if they are small, they will do perfectly fine. add them all at the same time if possible.
Red Velvet Wrasse or another Wrasse that not going to kill my Pod supply (again my head is spinning with choices) ~~ with a 180, you should be fine especially if you have a fuge. I have plans for a Melanurus here soon and had it not been for shipping error, I would have already.
Another Dotty back, if it’s a good idea, I love the Purple Stripe (Diadema) ~~~ same as above with all the Psudochromis family. they are cute, but can be little devils and are very very very hard to remove from a tank. especially a 180.


This will be over a long time as well, but I want a plan!! I plan on quarantining for about 3-4 weeks…

Thanks for reading and offering any suggestions!!Tom


Those are just my thoughts on fish based off what I am doing. I have the above mentioned tangs, (they are all large too at over 6") an onyx clown, pink spot goby and banggai cardinal. I plan more cardinals, a wrasse, mate for the onyx, school of multiple anthias, a swallowtail angel of sorts, and one two centropyge angels (yes I know they can be nippers)

[03sonicstang]

Awesome input. thank you for the reply!!!

I think I'm going to skip the Dottybacks. As for SPS corals I know I say now that I'm not going to want any but that could change!!!

[jaa1456]

With a 180 you have plenty of options, But like mentioned Dottybacks can become real pains, You could even add a yellow or purple tang in that tank. Although I would save the purple for last unless it was really small and still then I would make it the last tang added. Also a 40g sump seems a bit small for a 180. Have you tried unplugging the return pump(s) yet to see if the sump will overflow? If you haven't I would defintely check that out. Just be ready to plug the pump back in if it looks like it will overflow.

[03sonicstang]

Thank you for your comments; yes the tank gets shut down once a week for water changes and I test the flowback. I still have 2" of Height left of the 40 after the pumps are shut down.