Stocking ideas

[christopher7]

Hello everyone. Starting to think about the fish I want to keep and wanted to get more ideas and opinions, especially on the stocking order. There are a few fish that I know I want to keep, but I'm open to other suggestions and feedback.

My goal is to have a tank suitable for a Red Mandarin in ~1 year and I want to make sure none of my other livestock will compete for food.

I'd also like:
Tiger/black cap jawfish
Black and white/snowflake ocellaris clown
Blue velvet damsel(s?)
Flame angel

What are some of your favorites that might be a good fit here? Oh, I guess it would help to tell you that it will be an ~50 gal DT and 20 gal sump, mixed reef - probably mostly softies. Thanks!

[christopher7]

Oh and a blenny - tail spot or linear

[A sea K]

Going to need a Midas blenny added to the mix and a wrasses, my personal favorite in the reef-safe category would be one of the Leopard's.

On the bad news side of thing you need to ditch the Blue-Velvet damsel, aside from it growing into a drab color and too large for your system they are VERY mean and not suited to a community style system.

[scooter31707]

Also a Flame Angel is recommend to have a minimum 70 gallon tank. They can become aggressive too. I would add the angel last. Just my 2 cents.

[christopher7]

What about a Flameback or Pygmy angel? And I like the Longfin Fairy Wrasse. I read somewhere that adding the jawfish first helps reduce its stress because it won't be harassed by any other inhabitants while it's getting used to its new home. Does anyone have experience with this?

[leetch]

That's quite an aggressive tank. I personally will never ever put another Damsel in my tanks again. They are absolute jerks when they have established their territory and have no problem attacking other fish even ones that are bigger than them...that is until the bigger fish teaches them a lesson.

[scooter31707]

Agreed. A Flameback or Pygmy will work, but that is aggressive tank.

[Sk8r]

Did I miss the tank size? You'll need a 100 gallon tank.
I would skip the blue velvet damsel. I run a damsel tank, a 105, and that fish is one I would not add. The problem with damsels is that despite their small size, they take a big tank or they freak out. 100 gallons up, they're fine...though they are hyperactive and will upset more sedentary fish.
Mandarins are the opposite end of the spectrum. A mandy will swim through a bar room brawl and never notice it going on. They get nipped on occasion because they do not observe territory. They're off in their own world. But because they're so weird---and slimy beyond belief---other fish having nipped them once usually leave them alone and look the other way as their territory is violated.

For color, consider the frighteningly named fiji blue devil---which is a fairly mildmannered damsel, bright blue all over. Or maybe in a 100, four chromis.

[Shawn O]

With a Jawfish, I'd consider other peaceful tank-mates like dartfish and pajama or banggai cardinals. Zebra barred dartfish are pretty fish. Firefish are interesting to watch and are nice looking. Blenny may have issues with the Jawfish, Tailspot over linear due to coral nipping (per LiveAquaria). Two Spot Bimaculatus Blenny looks to be a good candidate, although small.

[christopher7]

Alright to recap, for a ~50 gal:

Red mandarin dragonet (in distant future)
Black cap jawfish
Black ocellaris clown
Longfin fairy wrasse
Tail spot blenny
Flameback angel

Too much? Still too aggressive? The LiveAquaria descriptions put most of these at peaceful, apart from the clown and angel.

Thanks for the feedback thus far!

[uncleL]

Royal Gramma, 2 Clowns "Nemo", Lawnmower Blenny and a Coral Beauty are a good mix