future stock list

[MosaicMadness]

I am new to saltwater and am planning on starting a tank. Nothing has been bought yet, still in the planning and graphing stages. I would like a 120 gal tank 4'x2'x2' with 30?gallon sump that has a bubble filter, fuge and skimmer. I also want a top-up to keep the water level steady with evaporation. lighting with timers.

I really want like a little "ecosystem", fish, coral and inverts together to make it interesting. 2"ish of sand bottom and 120lbs live rock + fuge rock.

CUC: maybe a few small hermit crabs, various small snails, peppermint shrimp and/or cleaner shrimp and maybe some sexy anemone shrimp. I also like the tuxedo urchins and possibly an abalone or brittle star.

I do NOT plan on adding all fish at the same time, but spacing it out into probably 3 separate additions to the tank:
1-2 small ocellaris clownfish
neon blue goby
yellow clown goby
firefish
springeri dottyback
**mandarin dragonet (this is one that I REALLY want, so will shuffle other fish/tankmates if needed)
bicolor blenny
cherub angel

I LOVE the mushroom leather coral and basically plan on getting a handful or more of the "easy-peaceful" type corals as time, tank parameters and finances permit.

So 1. is this too much load for the tank, 2. compatibility issues? 3. timing, which fish would you add in which order?? (I know mandarin only after tank is mature & lots of pods) And I think you add the more aggressive fish last which would be...?? Angel and dottyback?

Thank you for any suggestions... trying to do it right the first time, because I don't think we have an "upgrade" in us :)

[Martini5788]

Neon gobies have a very short life span and they are tiny. You would have a hard time finding them most likely. Clown gobies are also small, as well as bicolor blenny. Most of your fish have a very similar body type which can cause some issues, mainly aggression. Wait at least 6 months before the Mandarin and have a steady population of pods and a large refugium. I would rethink the dotty back entirely, they have a tendency to be major pains. What exactly is a bubble filter?

[Martini5788]

Honestly though, you have some room to grow in that 120. That is definitely not a heavy stock list and with tiny fish, not many of them, you will get bored with it. Try and add in some color and movement. Think wrasses, anthias, angels, a bristle tooth tang like a Kole or tomini. You could probably do a yellow in a 120 as well.

[ichthyogeek]

Practically all of your ideas are wonderful!

1)Definitely not! You have room for quite a few more fish! However, in a 120 gallon tank, you'll have fish that maybe max out at 3 inches, which will mean you'll have to look at the tank closely to see what you've got.

2)I am very cautious about dottybacks, since they're pretty aggressive little devils. However, the springeri and orchid dottybacks are relatively peaceful. I'd opt out of the sexy shrimp if I got dottybacks though. The cherub angel and bicolor blenny may nip at LPS slime, but it shouldn't be too bad if you add the corals first.

3) Three additions of fish/corals/inverts so something like this:
a) add your CUC (snails, hermits, shrimp, various assorted inverts), and the firefish.
b) add your corals(mushroom leather, whatever else catches your eye), clownfish, and gobies
c)mandarin dragonet
d) cherub angel and dottyback.

You really need to add the dragonet last, but the angel and dottyback are just too aggressive, so you'll really need to just split it into four big additions if you absolutely must have large additions. Stay away from green brittle stars (Ophelia sp.), they'll eat your fish. Like Martini said, you have room to grow, and have tiny fish with tiny lifespans. I'd add two more firefish to your stocking list since your tank is so big. You also have few fish that swim out in the open, most will stick to the bottom/rockwork of the tank. I'd personally switch out the gobies (which would really shine in a nano tank), and replace with more active fish. Have you looked into flasher/fairy wrasses, tomini and yellow tang, larger shrimp goby/pistol shrimp, or butterflyfish?

[CStrickland]

Welcome to the forum!
I'm stocking a 120 as well, maybe the feedback I got on my list will help you
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2535722
But don't get a melanurus wrasse like I have b/c they hunt pods all day so there's none left for the mandarin.
You might rethink the angel, depending on coral nipping. The one I chose is less brightly colored but less dangerous in that regard.

I agree you still have room for a "showpiece" fish. Either a bristle tooth sort of tang, a foxface, or maybe a school of anthias if you can commit to thrice daily feedings. None of those are very hard to keep happy.

I really like how carefully you are proceeding, laying out a stock list and planning the order of additions is hands down the best groundwork you can lay for your tank (well, rodi and a boss skimmer helps too). You are off to a great start!

[MosaicMadness]

Ok, so taking the suggestions into consideration, how does THIS list look??

Watchman goby (replacing yellow clown goby)+ pistol shrimp (replacing sexy shrimp)
Lemon butterfly
trio of blue reef chromis
red head solon fairy wrasse
2 ocellaris clownfish
firefish pair
mandarin
cherub angel

Any incompatibilities here?? grouping for introduction to tank??

[MelloW33]

Looks like a good list. You will just have to be careful with which corals you add if you have a butterfly.

[ichthyogeek]

ooh, I approve! Here's a basic stocking groupings:

a)firefish, goby/shrimp pair, wrasse
b)chromis, clownfish, mandarinfish
c)butterfly, angelfish

You seem to have plenty of planktivores now, so action shouldn't be a problem. Just know that the chromis (viridens, right?) might eventually pick each other off.

Additionally, you'll need a quarantine tank with a few problem species (chromis due to uronema, butterflyfish due to eating). Things to look for in quarantine (you need a 20 high +pump+sponge+heater, all easily/cheap off of Petco rn):
goby/shrimp-don't quarantine, allow the shrimp to make its burrow soon
butterfly-make sure it's feeding
chromis-be on the lookout for uronema (a nasty bacterial infection common in wild caught chromis)
wrasse-nothing really, just check for disease
clownfish-make sure they're eating
mandarin-doesn't need quarantine
angelfish-make sure it's eating

Personally, I wouldn't add any clams/sponges or overly fleshy LPS corals to your tank due to the butterfly and angelfish. Maybe be cautious with polyps like Xenia too.

[Martini5788]

ooh, I approve! Here's a basic stocking groupings:

a)firefish, goby/shrimp pair, wrasse
b)chromis, clownfish, mandarinfish
c)butterfly, angelfish

You seem to have plenty of planktivores now, so action shouldn't be a problem. Just know that the chromis (viridens, right?) might eventually pick each other off.

Additionally, you'll need a quarantine tank with a few problem species (chromis due to uronema, butterflyfish due to eating). Things to look for in quarantine (you need a 20 high +pump+sponge+heater, all easily/cheap off of Petco rn):
goby/shrimp-don't quarantine, allow the shrimp to make its burrow soon
butterfly-make sure it's feeding
chromis-be on the lookout for uronema (a nasty bacterial infection common in wild caught chromis)
wrasse-nothing really, just check for disease
clownfish-make sure they're eating
mandarin-doesn't need quarantine
angelfish-make sure it's eating

Personally, I wouldn't add any clams/sponges or overly fleshy LPS corals to your tank due to the butterfly and angelfish. Maybe be cautious with polyps like Xenia too.


Please don't tell people not to qt new additions. That is bad practice all around. Also, mandarin has to be after a significant amount of time.

[MosaicMadness]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/album.php?albumid=10545&pictureid=73016

[MosaicMadness]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/album.php?albumid=10545&pictureid=73016

[MosaicMadness]

If you are putting the first fish into the tank, that WOULD be the qt yes??

[Martini5788]

If you are putting the first fish into the tank, that WOULD be the qt yes??


A qt tank is a separate tank that is in no way connected to the main tank. It is used before the fish enter the display tank. You use it to treat for disease, get the fish eating well, and for observation. It can take weeks for certain parasites to rear their ugly head and if the fish was in the display tank with the rest of your livestock, they would all be infected.

[MosaicMadness]

But if you have nothing in the tank but rock and sand, you can put them right in the display tank, yes?

[Martini5788]

But if you have nothing in the tank but rock and sand, you can put them right in the display tank, yes?


No, because if you were to introduce a parasite from the initial fish introductions, you would have to remove the fish to a qt and treat them
For the parasite and then leave the display tank fish less for 2.5 months

[ichthyogeek]

Please don't tell people not to qt new additions. That is bad practice all around. Also, mandarin has to be after a significant amount of time.

Umm...for most common fish, yes you need to quarantine. There are exceptions. Hear me out on this, okay? Most dragonets come into our aquariums incredibly malnourished. The chances of OP getting a healthy mandarin are slim to none. Therefore, what that fish needs, is food, and lots of it. I doubt that OP will be willing to add 28 bottles of pods into the QT (one per day for four weeks) to get that mandarin up to snuff. However, adding the mandarin into a healthy tank with a thriving pod population, will help the mandarin get better, allowing it to (hopefully) thrive. I would not recommend this method for most fish. But I'll make an exception for dragonets. They produce a very heavy slime coat that helps ward off most external parasites like ich and velvet. I know next to nothing about internal parasites, but I'd be willing to bet that mandarins rarely get them.

Martini, please notice that I advised quarantine in the first place (something you didn't point out), as well as the tank size and what to look out for depending on which fish. Additionally, I pointed out to quarantine ALL the fish EXCEPT the mandarin for the reasons stated above.

OP, I did forget to mention that you should probably space the acquisition (not the adding) of the fish three months apart. This gives the fish time to settle. So you set up the tank, wait three months to allow algae, pod populations, coralline algae, beneficial bacteria, and other stuff to grow. You add the first batch three months after you set up the tank. Three months later, you quarantine the next batch, and add the mandarin fish (approx. 6 months after you setup the tank...however, I'd wait a year just to be safe tbh). Etc. etc.

Traditionally, you can quarantine for as little as 2 weeks, but the consensus nowadays is one month. I know that the georgia aquarium quarantined their whale sharks for something like 6 months. This is to make sure that the fish have no disease/parasites, are eating well, and generally is to make sure you don't infect your display tank with something bad. Technically, you should also quarantine anything else you add into the tank after you set it up (like your CUC and various inverts including corals).

Final note: I noticed the pair of clownfish, but jsyk, don't add an anemone if you want to keep the mandarin. I've heard stories of how the mandarin got caught by the anemone and was eaten...

[CHSUB]

They produce a very heavy slime coat that helps ward off most external parasites like ich and velvet

mandarins can still get ich or velvet dispite their slime coat....still should QT!!!

[Martini5788]

They produce a very heavy slime coat that helps ward off most external parasites like ich and velvet



mandarins can still get ich or velvet dispite their slime coat....still should QT!!!


Yup. While it is less likely because of said slime coat, when I get a mandarin I will still qt.