PLEASE check out your intended fish purchases here first!

[tsharp90]

In beginning of planning a 40g breeder bta tank. My thoughts for livestock so far are:
A bunch of different color morphs of BTA
Several clown fish. Maybe a BW pair and some pink skunks. Can I have a pair of each?
A bunch of sexy anemone shrimp
candy stripe pistol shrimp with some kind of shrimp goby.
Maybe add some ricodea later on.

please let me know your thoughts

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by Brando8719

Hi guys,

I was wondering if I could add a Diamond Watchman Goby to my tank. My roommate saw one in the lfs the other day and has really been bugging for one. The way the eat the sand is pretty hilarious. I've never seen anything like it.

I currently have:
2x Ocellaris Clown
1x Bi-Colour Angel
1x Red Elongated Dottyback
1x Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
CUC including astrea snails, turbo snails and hermit crabs.

My set up is a 55 gallon reef with a 15gallon sump. I'm using a bullet-1 skimmer, 400W MH, 45lbs of live rock and 50lbs of live sand. My tank is only 4-5 months old. I currently don't have a refugium set up but it is something I plan on doing in the future. I plan on having corals (well, more than I do now). I currently have a red favia, frogspawn, and open brain. I have read that the goby often throws sand on the open brains? Is this a problem if you clean them off daily?

In my research some sites mention a stocked refugium is necessary which makes me think that they might eat pods? Therefore, maybe my tank isn't established enough to house one? I know they can eat a variety of other foods.. I'm just not sure why the refugium is necessary.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

They are carnivores so mysis or equivalent would be good. The probably do eat small organisms but I cannot find out why a refugium is a requirement. However, they make a major mess with the sand sifting.

[Brando8719]

Originally Posted by snorvich

They are carnivores so mysis or equivalent would be good. The probably do eat small organisms but I cannot find out why a refugium is a requirement. However, they make a major mess with the sand sifting.

Thanks.. it's much appreciated. That's what my lfs said too. I'll really have to think about this one... I don't know if I want that mess in my tank.

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by Brando8719

Thanks.. it's much appreciated. That's what my lfs said too. I'll really have to think about this one... I don't know if I want that mess in my tank.

In my case, it really was aggravating. You may be more tolerant.

[jonathansruelas]

Hey guys,

Well I'm still cycling but I wanted to see whether this fish list would be able to work.

Tank is 130 gallons, 52x28x20. I have a sump, ASM G2 skimmer, have a refugium in the works, waiting for cycle to end to add the chaeto, have about 15lbs of rock in sump with sand, in main display there will be around 100lbs of live rock.. I plan to have mushrooms/zoas/xenias. I will be using a tek t5 48" with 6 x 54watts

I know some of these fish will be hit or miss with corals I want but I'm going to try it out, the ones I want are inexpensive and grow fast anyway so worth a try.

Wish List.
1. One Spot Foxface
2. Flame Angel
3. Potter or/Rusty Angel
4. Tusk Wrasse
5.Pair of Ocellaris Clowns/Black
6. Falco Hawkfish
7. Pinktail Trigger
8. Blue Jaw Trigger

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by jonathansruelas

Hey guys,

Well I'm still cycling but I wanted to see whether this fish list would be able to work.

Tank is 130 gallons, 52x28x20. I have a sump, ASM G2 skimmer, have a refugium in the works, waiting for cycle to end to add the chaeto, have about 15lbs of rock in sump with sand, in main display there will be around 100lbs of live rock.. I plan to have mushrooms/zoas/xenias. I will be using a tek t5 48" with 6 x 54watts

I know some of these fish will be hit or miss with corals I want but I'm going to try it out, the ones I want are inexpensive and grow fast anyway so worth a try.

Wish List.
1. One Spot Foxface
2. Flame Angel
3. Potter or/Rusty Angel
4. Tusk Wrasse
5.Pair of Ocellaris Clowns/Black
6. Falco Hawkfish
7. Pinktail Trigger
8. Blue Jaw Trigger

Your triggers, especially if more than one need a larger tank. In any case, three largish fish will make your tank look small. As you know you have fish that will not be LPS coral safe and fish that will not be invertebrate safe

[Tin_Whistler]

I probably won’t be adding fish for about a year as I’m still collecting/building the parts to the tank, but I’m big into pre-planning and figure since I’ve got my list I should run it past somebody smarter, and more subjective than I am.

Tank will be a 180 Gallon mixed reef (6x2x2), Fuge will be a 40 breeder filled with rock, sump size is unknown, but I’m guessing around 20 gallons of water between the different sections there. Lid will be made of ¼” mesh, and tight fitting to keep the wrasses in the tank.

I had a hard time coming up with this list as there’s so many fish I like, many of which are either too big, or too aggressive for a majority of what I’d like to keep. I’m also torn on whether this is too many fish or not, but I think it’s a good mix of mostly peaceful fish that’ll do well together.

Everything below is listed in order they will be introduced into the tank, and everything will be QT’d for a minimum of 6 weeks before being introduced into the tank.

Fish
1 x Wetmorella albofasciata (White Banded Possum Wrasse)
2 x Paracheilinus carpenteri (Carpenter Flasher Wrasse) M/F combo of course
3 x Sphaeramia nematoptera (Spotted Cardnalfish)
2 x Amphiprion ocellaris (Ocellaris Clownfish)
1 x Cryptocentrus cinctus (Yellow Watchman Goby)
1 x Chromis cyaneus (Blue Reef Chromis)
1 x Ctenochaetus strigosus (Kole Yellow Eye Tang)
1 x Gramma loreto (Royal Gamma Basslet)
1 x Pterosynchiropus splendidus (Red Mandarin) waiting at least 10 months after the cycle
1x Acanthurus japonicus (Powder Brown Tang) Adding last due to aggressiveness

Inverts
2 x Thor amboinensis (Sexy Anemone Shrimp)
1 x Lysmata debelius (Blood Red Fire Shrimp)
1 x Lybia Tesselatta (Pom Pom Crab)
2 x Neopetrolisthes ohshimai (Porcelain Anemone Crab)
1 x Alpheus bellulus (Tiger Snapping Shrimp) will be added alongside the Goby, QT’d separately though
1 x Entacmaea quadricolor (Rose Bulb Anemone) waiting 1 year to afford better lights/mature tank
1 x Heteractis crispa (sebae Anemone)

Clean Up Crew [not listed in order]
2 x Elysia crispate (Lettuce Sea Slug)
1 x Mespilia globulus (Blue Tuxedo Urchin)
1 x Strombus alatus (Fighting Conch)
5 x Nassarius sp. (Nassaarius Snail)
5 x Turbo fluctuosa (Turbo Snail)
5 x Cerithium sp. (Cerith Snail)
5 x Astraea phoebia (Spiny Star Astrea)
10 x Nerita sp. (Nerite Snail)

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by Tin_Whistler

I probably won’t be adding fish for about a year as I’m still collecting/building the parts to the tank, but I’m big into pre-planning and figure since I’ve got my list I should run it past somebody smarter, and more subjective than I am.

Tank will be a 180 Gallon mixed reef (6x2x2), Fuge will be a 40 breeder filled with rock, sump size is unknown, but I’m guessing around 20 gallons of water between the different sections there. Lid will be made of ¼” mesh, and tight fitting to keep the wrasses in the tank.

I had a hard time coming up with this list as there’s so many fish I like, many of which are either too big, or too aggressive for a majority of what I’d like to keep. I’m also torn on whether this is too many fish or not, but I think it’s a good mix of mostly peaceful fish that’ll do well together.

Everything below is listed in order they will be introduced into the tank, and everything will be QT’d for a minimum of 6 weeks before being introduced into the tank.

Fish
1 x Wetmorella albofasciata (White Banded Possum Wrasse)
2 x Paracheilinus carpenteri (Carpenter Flasher Wrasse) M/F combo of course
3 x Sphaeramia nematoptera (Spotted Cardnalfish)
2 x Amphiprion ocellaris (Ocellaris Clownfish)
1 x Cryptocentrus cinctus (Yellow Watchman Goby)
1 x Chromis cyaneus (Blue Reef Chromis)
1 x Ctenochaetus strigosus (Kole Yellow Eye Tang)
1 x Gramma loreto (Royal Gamma Basslet)
1 x Pterosynchiropus splendidus (Red Mandarin) waiting at least 10 months after the cycle
1x Acanthurus japonicus (Powder Brown Tang) Adding last due to aggressiveness

I think your fish list is excellent, you will have room, biocapacity and copepods for a pair of red mandarins.

Inverts
2 x Thor amboinensis (Sexy Anemone Shrimp)
1 x Lysmata debelius (Blood Red Fire Shrimp)
1 x Lybia Tesselatta (Pom Pom Crab)
2 x Neopetrolisthes ohshimai (Porcelain Anemone Crab)
1 x Alpheus bellulus (Tiger Snapping Shrimp) will be added alongside the Goby, QT’d separately though
1 x Entacmaea quadricolor (Rose Bulb Anemone) waiting 1 year to afford better lights/mature tank
1 x Heteractis crispa (sebae Anemone)

You might consider a pair of alpheus soror pistol shrimp; they are non commensal but interesting and gorgeous

Clean Up Crew [not listed in order]
2 x Elysia crispate (Lettuce Sea Slug)
1 x Mespilia globulus (Blue Tuxedo Urchin) pretty but a bit of bulldozer with corals and rock structures. Urchins in general are like that
1 x Strombus alatus (Fighting Conch) I would increase this number to 3
5 x Nassarius sp. (Nassaarius Snail)
5 x Turbo fluctuosa (Turbo Snail)
5 x Cerithium sp. (Cerith Snail)
5 x Astraea phoebia (Spiny Star Astrea)
10 x Nerita sp. (Nerite Snail)

In general, VERY well thought out

[Tin_Whistler]

Originally Posted by snorvich

I think your fish list is excellent, you will have room, biocapacity and copepods for a pair of red mandarins.

I had thought about a pair, but dismissed it a bit as I know they can be territorial towards eachother. I would guess a Male/Female combo should do decently, especially with that much space.

Originally Posted by snorvich

You might consider a pair of alpheus soror pistol shrimp; they are non commensal but interesting and gorgeous

I definitely like these guys as well, I could see them being a possible future addition. More than likely I'll keep an eye on the available space in the tank and see if I think it needs some more filling out with smaller inverts.

I love the activity emerald/hermit crabs add. But I don't want anything in the tank that'll eat corals or kill fish/snails which is why I've only got peaceful shrimp, and crabs that aren't jerks.

Originally Posted by snorvich

pretty but a bit of bulldozer with corals and rock structures. Urchins in general are like that

Rocks will all be cemented, and pegged together. I'm hoping I'm able to cement all the corals really well as well.

I figured without algae eating crabs this guy would make a nice addition to the clean up crew. I prefer the longspine myself, but I don't know if I'd want one in a tank this large... too likely to loose track of it and get stuck while cleaning the tank...

Originally Posted by snorvich

I would increase this number to 3

Consider it done.

Originally Posted by snorvich

In general, VERY well thought out

Thank you.

I appreciate you taking your time to go over it! Thanks Steve!

[snorvich]

For the red mandarin pair, I was suggesting a Male and Female as two of the same sex do not work.

[snorvich]

For the red mandarin pair, I was suggesting a Male and Female as two of the same sex do not work.

[bayman]

New to Saltwater,
I have a 55 gal tank, coralife 65g Protein Skimmer, 3 inch live sand, 60lb live rock, magnum 350 canister and emperor 400 power filter, Glo T5 Ho 2 bulb lights,

I would like to know what type of fish would be recommended for this size tank,
I would like:
2 clown fish
1 blue tang
what would be recommended for the fish we like, from what i understand with this tank size i can get a total of 7 small to mid size fish.
any and all information would be appreciated..

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by bayman

New to Saltwater,
I have a 55 gal tank, coralife 65g Protein Skimmer, 3 inch live sand, 60lb live rock, magnum 350 canister and emperor 400 power filter, Glo T5 Ho 2 bulb lights,

I would like to know what type of fish would be recommended for this size tank,
I would like:
2 clown fish
1 blue tang The reef central recommended tank size for a Hepatus tang is 240 gallons.
what would be recommended for the fish we like, from what i understand with this tank size i can get a total of 7 small to mid size fish.

There is no real guideline as such, and it makes a difference which fish you try to put together.

any and all information would be appreciated..

[A_Z]

No dice on a marginalis. Pretty much an impossible fish to find here.

75g FOWLR since I prefer butterflys over soft corals w/25g sump (probably holds 10-15g of water)

Added in order:

Blue Chromis
Terminal Male Flame Wrasse
Squareback Anthias Male
Peppermint Candy Cane Hogfish
Declivis Butterfly fish
Kole Tang.

Inverts:
Skunk Cleaner Pair
CUC - snails one or two dwarf hermits

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by A_Z

No dice on a marginalis. Pretty much an impossible fish to find here.

75g FOWLR since I prefer butterflys over soft corals w/25g sump (probably holds 10-15g of water)

Added in order:

Blue Chromis
Terminal Male Flame Wrasse
Squareback Anthias Male
Peppermint Candy Cane Hogfish
Declivis Butterfly fish
Kole Tang.

Inverts:
Skunk Cleaner Pair
CUC - snails one or two dwarf hermits

My recollection is that hogfish are not shrimp safe

[jonathansruelas]

Originally Posted by snorvich

Your triggers, especially if more than one need a larger tank. In any case, three largish fish will make your tank look small. As you know you have fish that will not be LPS coral safe and fish that will not be invertebrate safe

I don't plan to keep any invertebrates, what kind of trigger do you recommend if the ones I choose are too big? Was the rest of the list ok?

Thanks for the help by the way

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by jonathansruelas

I don't plan to keep any invertebrates, what kind of trigger do you recommend if the ones I choose are too big? Was the rest of the list ok?

Thanks for the help by the way

The rest of the list is fine. I cannot really recommend any trigger as they all get large and all are in varying degrees, aggressive. Least aggressive might be the Niger but it will reach one foot in length.

[barbouri02]

Hi ya'll.

We have a 55 in the works*4ft*, plan for 75 lbs of LR in the display, its got a 20 gal sump (where more rubble will live), in sump skimmer rated for 100g, Eshopps 800 overflow, mag 9.5 return pump with ball valve to slow the flow just a hair to keep it inline with the overflow. It will have a 3-4 inch sandbed. We also plan to have two powerheads in the tank to help with flow (probabaly the hydor Koralia Evolution or original Koralia). As as well a Tek 5 4 bulb fixture for lighting. We plan to have a standard CUC for this tank as well, hermits, snails, shrimp but thats all.

We have a list of fish and corals we've fallen in love with but dont HAVE to have them all, and realize we can't due to size of tank, but out of our selections what would be best in ya'll opinion. I just wanted to see what the more experienced thought we could have in our tank without having to worry about having TOO many fish in there. Here's the list:

Fish:
Royal Gamma
Fire Fish
pearly jawfish
Flame Angel
Percula clown
Red Mandarin (obviously added after 6 or more months with a solid pod population)
Kaudern's Cardinal
Orange Stripe Prawn Goby/Pistal Shrimp
McCosker's Flasher Wrasse

We also like some of the more agressive fish as well, but would consider another tank for them if needed:
Fu Manchu Lion
Marine Betta

We'd like these corals:
Torch Coral
Frogspawn
Branch Hammer
Elegance Coral (thought I read something bad about this one)
Trumpet Coral
Bubble Coral (Pearl)

Stylophora Coral
Birds Nest Coral

Colt Coral
Pipe Organ Coral
Ricordea Mushrooms
Blue Sympodium Polyp
Waving Hand Coral
Jasmine Polyp
Glove Polyp
And various Zoa's appeal to us.


So, obviously we cant have it all, but what would work best for the system we have in the works?

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by barbouri02

Hi ya'll.

We have a 55 in the works*4ft*, plan for 75 lbs of LR in the display, its got a 20 gal sump (where more rubble will live), in sump skimmer rated for 100g, Eshopps 800 overflow, mag 9.5 return pump with ball valve to slow the flow just a hair to keep it inline with the overflow. It will have a 3-4 inch sandbed. We also plan to have two powerheads in the tank to help with flow (probabaly the hydor Koralia Evolution or original Koralia). As as well a Tek 5 4 bulb fixture for lighting. We plan to have a standard CUC for this tank as well, hermits, snails, shrimp but thats all.

We have a list of fish and corals we've fallen in love with but dont HAVE to have them all, and realize we can't due to size of tank, but out of our selections what would be best in ya'll opinion. I just wanted to see what the more experienced thought we could have in our tank without having to worry about having TOO many fish in there. Here's the list:

Fish:
Royal Gamma
Fire Fish Must be established first
pearly jawfish
Flame Angel
Percula clown ideally not paired; but may associate with some of your corals and has the potential to damage them
Red Mandarin (obviously added after 6 or more months with a solid pod population) in your sized tank, you will need a refugium
Kaudern's Cardinal
Orange Stripe Prawn Goby/Pistal Shrimp
McCosker's Flasher Wrasse may intimidate your firefish

We also like some of the more agressive fish as well, but would consider another tank for them if needed:
Fu Manchu Lion Will eat tankmates
Marine Betta gets too large for that tank, may eat tankmates

We'd like these corals: While we don't normally give coral advice in this thread, as it is about fish . . .
Torch Coral
Frogspawn
Branch Hammer
Elegance Coral (thought I read something bad about this one) Should be an Aussie variety; dip in revive
Trumpet Coral
Bubble Coral (Pearl)

Stylophora Coral needs high flow
Birds Nest Coral

Colt Coral
Pipe Organ Coral
Ricordea Mushrooms
Blue Sympodium Polyp
Waving Hand Coral may take over your tank
Jasmine Polyp
Glove Polyp
And various Zoa's appeal to us.


So, obviously we cant have it all, but what would work best for the system we have in the works?

[armison89]

what fish can i keep with a catalina goby since they need cooler water?

[barbouri02]

Capensis SH's are cooler water fish that often are paired with catalina gobys. But that would be species only tank.

[barbouri02]

Thank you Steve for your advice. I was aware the more predatory fish probably wouldn't work with our "community" tank as planned, but I know sometimes they do well, other times not so good at all.

Thanks for answering about the corals, I know its a fish purchase thread but since we dont have the tank set up yet I just wanted to make sure since mainly this tank would be fish focus but if we added the corals we liked that there wouldn't be an issue with the fish.

As for stocking density with the fish, should we consider cutting it down? If so where?

[barbouri02]

Oh, and we plan to get the refug in the sump going well before any mandarin is even thought of going into the tank.

[aaglikin]

75 gallon, 2 fluval canister 205/305 filters, reef ooctopus,skimmer, 80 lbs live sand, 50 lbs live rock, led lights. Just introduced the sand and rock, just starting cycle. Probably add a little more rock later. Would like suggestions since this is my first go. Like clowns, angels, tangs, damsels and puffer. Thanks in advance.

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by barbouri02

Thank you Steve for your advice. I was aware the more predatory fish probably wouldn't work with our "community" tank as planned, but I know sometimes they do well, other times not so good at all.

Thanks for answering about the corals, I know its a fish purchase thread but since we dont have the tank set up yet I just wanted to make sure since mainly this tank would be fish focus but if we added the corals we liked that there wouldn't be an issue with the fish.

As for stocking density with the fish, should we consider cutting it down? If so where?

Well your stocking density is a bit high. I would prioritize the list and then look at about 80% as a starter. Remember than any dwarf angel is not safe with LPS. It may be ok with your elegance but there is not a guarantee.