PLEASE check out your intended fish purchases here first!

[night_blade]

couple things

-you say skip the sand, so what sand should i get
- at my LFS the red sea skimmer is on sale, so i kinda wanna get that
-i really wanna get the tang
- would 2 of the korolia powerheads work (400 gph)
- thank you for the rest of the advice (the eel will wait)

[Sk8r]

ah! the regular dry aragonite sand; no sense paying for live.
The powerheads would work, but I'd go 800. Ask around about that: I'm a real bonehead when it comes to koralias. Ask in the equipment forum: you'll get a good answer there.
This particular tang grows large and without a large skimmer, sump, and fuge, may not get enough oxygen as he grows, so watch that. They're about a foot long, adult size, and this is the fish that will push you into a 100 g tank if you get attached to him and don't want to sell him. My advice is against it, but if you do, above all, quarantine this fish---all others, too, but this is the one that will way often come down with ich, a fish parasite that can take out your tank. They get exposed to it at the fish store and if brought into your tank, infest it as well.
I would strongly, strongly suggest you use ro or ro/di water (walmart kiosk) from the very start. Conditioned tapwater is not the best. your store may also sell water.
if you're not familiar with setup and cycling, read the two * (stickied) threads at the top of this forum; there are a whole lot of tips and tricks and necessary-to-knows in there for somebody setting up.

[flashyleopard]

Originally posted by Sk8r
flashyleopard, the only experience I can give you with the purple tang is that he was a perfect gentleman toward all my fish, which are all cigar-shaped except the chromis. There was no aggression at all. What he would do with other tangs is a question I just don't know the answer to, but his rep is for fighting. I would hazard a guess that a tang of a different family might fare better with him, but I just never tried him with a tang-shaped fish.

Thanks Sk8r, I have posted the same question in the reef fish forum. It seems no one has a difinitive answer. I will just have to introduce him last and keep an eye on the situation. That will be quite some time, since my tank doesn't even have water in it yet...lol I'll probably change my mind again by then anyhow.

[candeewolf]

Been sorta lurkin here a while, and this seems like a good thread to post in, so here goes...

I just recently purchased a used plexi 100g tank that has unique dimensions of 72" long by 18" deep by 20" high. I have these 2 pumps: Little Giant 4-MDQX-SC (low volume, high pressure) which will channel about 1300 gph at 1'-3' head; and an Iwaki WMD-40RLXT which at 4' of head channels 1200 gph. I just got a EuroReef RS180 that will go in a 75 gal sump/refug that I have that measures 60"x18"x16". I have 3 Stealth heaters totaling 450 watts as well as 100 lbs. of live rock, though I might put more. I am adding live sand as I buy it and plan on it totaling about 200 lbs. for a sand bed of about 2-3 inches. I am about to order a T5 lighting system that is sufficient to have LPS and zoas (sorry, I don't remember the specs on it; my LFS has it all written down).

So, with all of that info down, to the stocking list:

This is the list of the fish I'd most like to have (though I'm expecting to have to throw out or change a few). Just see it as the best case scenario:
1x Niger Trigger
4x Lyretail Anthias (1 male, 3 female)
2x Gold Bar Maroon Clownfish
1x Harlequin Tuskfish
1x Powder Blue Tang
1x Yellow Tang
1x Zebra Moray Eel
1x Leaf Fish

And these are the other possibilities:
Blue Throat Trigger (instead of Niger)
Banana Wrasse (Thalassoma lutescens)
Lunare Wrasse (Thalassoma lunare)...obviously not with the banana wrasse
Pinkface Wrasse
Foxface Lo
Auriga Butterflyfish
Assorted Anthias (some other pretty Anthias that would be more suitable in a school for this tank)

I am also open to suggestions of fish/inverts I have not listed here. Again, I am looking for a more aggressive tank that is still reef safe, as I plan on having a BTA and corals (likely no SPS).

I am also curious of what people think about the dimensions of the tank, as it is very very long (72", I love that for tang and anthias swimming room) but very shallow both in height and depth (18" depth, 20" height, could be bad for swimming room as well).

Thanks for taking the time to read it all and thanks for any helpful feedback.

[Sk8r]

It's a good setup. I will say my own experience with a ghost eel in a reef cost me 300.00 worth of fish (they're legendarily hard to feed. Ha! They don't eat fishfood, that's for sure! And the capacity to open its mouth was amazing, considering its girth.) The maroons get to about 5" adult, and are the meanest creature you will ever put your hand in a tank with...you WILL get bit, I assure you. The rest are capable of fighting back, but still may find themselves pushed. THe leaf fish is an exotic, and I've never dealt with one, so can't advise you there. But your stocking ideas are not that far off with one further caveat: jumping is more likely in a shallow tank, and wrasses can jump. I suspect that anthias can. The anthias are somewhat nervous fish, and some of the others being pushy---hard to say until you see it in action, but I'd get the anthias in before thinking about adding some of the pushier sorts, and just judge whether the next addition is good.
Do not near stock all those at once. A month between major acquisitions, ie, the anthias as a group, a larger fish, is good.
Quarantine! Some of those are ich-magnets (tangs, especially).

And stock, as I said, species at a time: the powder blue is super-aggro and should be among the last. Watch for aggression and judge for yourself whether the next step will be good.

[Aquarist007]

what a fantastic idea for a thread SK8R---so very very useful

I just added a link to it in the Capn's Log Book blog

http://www.reefcentral.com/wp/?p=346

and hopefully it will give even more support to you and this thread

Scott

[Sk8r]

THanks, Scott---I hope I am saving fishy lives by doing this; and consequently helping new reefers get started without creating an accidental food chain in their tanks. I'm also far from proprietary about this thread---I'd love to have other old-line reefers chime in here.

[lukinrats]

Hey SK8r... I had been talking about gobies with you, a few pages back... We talked about the yellow watchman, and the diamond... You told me that the yellow watchman was good, but that a diamond can keep the entire bottom of a 75 gallon, clean of detritus etc... I am going to wait a bit longer before I put one in, so that it will have all it needs, but I have discovered something... It has been mentioned to me that there are gobies that are being sold as a diamond, but really are not... I just wondered if you can find a true diamond somewhere on the net, and give me a link... I want to make sure I get the real deal

Thanks,
NathanS

[Sk8r]

here you go.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...220&pcatid=220
I would trust liveaquaria.

[james3370]

90 gallon tank.....how many fish (nothing bigger than tang) could i do w/out being overcrowded??

standard concensus i've gotten is.....1" of fish (at mature size) per actual gallon of water in the tank

[james3370]

speaking of quarantining....is the biocube 8 i currently have (& plan on breaking down once the 90 is up & running) good to turn into a QT/nurse tank??

was thinking about sitting it up inside the stand w/ one average-sized piece of live rock & a few snails & crabs for that purpose

[Sk8r]

You have to consider adult size---and marine fish tend to grow all their lives. Most tangs exceed 10", the majority even exceeding 12". I give them 1" of fish equals 6" globe of tank space; with 2" to globle for every inch of fish. SO if you've got a hippo tang, at one foot adult size, that's a 24" sphere to allot for him. And sphere's can overlap but not for more than a few moments.
And then there's behavior or requirements: tangs and angels have a super high oxy requirement, ditto anthias. She dthem and life gets easier, but be sur eyou like the place they'lll be going ot.

[james3370]

of these, which would you suggest?? other fish would be 2 (maybe 3) pairs of clowns, few flame angelfish, wrasse, etc

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...pcatid=380&N=0

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...pcatid=367&N=0

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...pcatid=330&N=0

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...pcatid=392&N=0

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...67&pcatid=2767

[Sk8r]

I would say, first, I'd worry about putting two angels of the same type together. i've never tried it. But they can get nippy.
If you get the tusk, you're going to have a possible headache feeding it...especially when you leave town. It's a lifestyle choice; and I'd tend to think it might take one of the red clowns to shove back against this fellow.
The hippos are mildmannered, but fragile: if there's ich to be had, they'll have some. The yellows are striking, and most people admire them and actually recognize what they are. I would add to your tang list my own favorites, the purple tang and the Atlantic blue, which is like the purple, only bluetoned. Similar habits and size.
I would have just a little caution about taking on a very aggressive like the tusk: beautiful, but possibly a future headache, and that can actually depend on many factors, including the tank population and the individual fish. I'd say if you get that one you may lose fish and invert population will be a pita unless you also do a remote sandbed type fuge to help with waste disposal. The obligate meat-eaters are messier and put a big strain on the tank: big skimmer a good notion. The tangs, which eat algae, tend to pollute with phosphate, so a big fuge is a good idea.
I think you're faced with some choices: several of these would work with less hassle and cost (The algae eaters)...they're all very handsome fish. I have absolutely NO personal experience with the tusk and suggest you ask in the Reef Fishes forum to see if anybody can give you firsthand experience of this fellow.

[ljosh]

In my 125g I have 1 false perc, 1 lawn mower blennie and one purple tang. I would like to add 5 green chromis and 5 blue chromis. Is this too much for the tank? Also due to the shipping costs I would like to add them all at once. The tank is well cycled. It has been running for a about 1 year and 3 months. Will this be allright?

[Sk8r]

It should be. The chromis, the little Pitas, will adjust their own numbers, but I have kept 7 in a 100g, so you may be ok. Qt them all together.

In my tank with similar setup, I had a blue velvet (cranky fellow), a blue devil, a yellowtail, a domino, and a 4-stripe damsel. That was one busy tank...but they were healthy and very active. It requires a good skimmer to do that, because they're all carnivores, but it can be a fun tank. They're always on the move, like the chromis.

[lukinrats]

Hey Sk8r... First off, thanks for the link to the diamond goby

I was able to get some shots of baby snails, and some snail eggs... I am sure I know the ID on the Nassarius, but if I am wrong, please let me know.

Also, I have an ID on the other baby snail, in my thread that I am not sure about... I am calling it a strombus grazer, so again, Please check it out and correct me if I am wrong

There are 2 different clutches of eggs pictured in my thread that I can't figure... Neither one looks like the eggs that those Nassarius were laying down, and the white ones are small as a speck of dust... I did not know it was egg clutches until I got the pictures on the PC, and saw the high res

Here is my thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...#post13185966\

Thanks,
NathanS

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Sk8r
I would say, first, I'd worry about putting two angels of the same type together. i've never tried it. But they can get nippy.
If you get the tusk, you're going to have a possible headache feeding it...especially when you leave town. It's a lifestyle choice; and I'd tend to think it might take one of the red clowns to shove back against this fellow.
The hippos are mildmannered, but fragile: if there's ich to be had, they'll have some. The yellows are striking, and most people admire them and actually recognize what they are. I would add to your tang list my own favorites, the purple tang and the Atlantic blue, which is like the purple, only bluetoned. Similar habits and size.
I would have just a little caution about taking on a very aggressive like the tusk: beautiful, but possibly a future headache, and that can actually depend on many factors, including the tank population and the individual fish. I'd say if you get that one you may lose fish and invert population will be a pita unless you also do a remote sandbed type fuge to help with waste disposal. The obligate meat-eaters are messier and put a big strain on the tank: big skimmer a good notion. The tangs, which eat algae, tend to pollute with phosphate, so a big fuge is a good idea.
I think you're faced with some choices: several of these would work with less hassle and cost (The algae eaters)...they're all very handsome fish. I have absolutely NO personal experience with the tusk and suggest you ask in the Reef Fishes forum to see if anybody can give you firsthand experience of this fellow.

for further information on tangs;

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...5&pagenumber=1

http://www.reefcentral.com/wp/?p=341

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Sk8r
You have to consider adult size---and marine fish tend to grow all their lives. Most tangs exceed 10", the majority even exceeding 12". I give them 1" of fish equals 6" globe of tank space; with 2" to globle for every inch of fish. SO if you've got a hippo tang, at one foot adult size, that's a 24" sphere to allot for him. And sphere's can overlap but not for more than a few moments.
And then there's behavior or requirements: tangs and angels have a super high oxy requirement, ditto anthias. She dthem and life gets easier, but be sur eyou like the place they'lll be going ot.

+1 for having to consider adult size

I have 17 fish in my 110 gal---4 tangs and a fox fish included---but I have 2 refugiums in total 70 gal plus a MSX250 skimmer which supplies a ton of oxygen.

[Sk8r]

Strombus grazer, imho---they're a wonderful snail, selfprotective, use silk to get about between levels, never have to be rescued, and reproduce like crazy. They stay tiny and can reach places in the rock other snails can't.

[Arati]

Ok I wanna play.

I am getting ready to upgrade from my 36bow w/20g fuge to a 65g with a 6"deep 55g rdsb a 15g macro fuge and a 15g sump with an mr2 skimmer.

I keep mostly sps. I have about 100lbs of lr and a dsb in the DT.

this is my stocking list it is a mix of fish I have had for some time and a few new fish.

prt 1) my current fish all with me 8+ mnths and fat/healthy ect.
2 true percula
1 twinspot goby
1 target mandarin
1 possum wrasse
1 firetial goby ( the boss of the tank)

prt 2) The fish I want to add
1 carpenters flasherwrasse male
1 female swallow tial angel (Genicanthus melanospilos)
1 scribbled rabbit (Siganus doliatus)


My questions .. are all the new fish passive enough for my current stock, and also are they reef safe. is the 65gtank to small for the larger fish will they outgrow it? is the swallow tial really reef safe? :P

[Sk8r]

My sources say plankton feeder for the swallowtail and the carpenters: probably preferential mysis feeders, and they do call the swallowtail about the only reefsafe angel. I have seen the carpenters get along well with sps. The largest caution I have is the scribbled rabbit: its appetite for macroalgae is so huge it ends up importing phosphate to your tank (which is bad for corals) OR as in my case, when I tried to slow it down on the macros, it immediately ate a head of my frogspawn coral---a green, incidentally. You'll note those uncommon opal eyes---and while I'm dubious fish see color, I somewhat suspect their eyes may be specialized in picking up certain wavelengths of favored food: like anything green. Just a suspicion, not founded on research. I think you should be good for most everything, but the siganus gets over 10" long, as I recall, and That is the one I am most leary of.
Congrats on an uncommon and very colorful fish list.

[luamada]

I have a 5 month old tank. Numbers are great. 125G, sump, skemmer, heather, 2 MH 175, 3 #4 power head, 100pds Live Rock, 9 mushrooms, bunch of polips, 3 snails, at least 20 baby snails, blue legs crabs, one red leg crab, 5 other crabs, 2 blue damsels (that everyone keep telling me to get ride of). I also want many more corals. My proority is 3 gigas clams
my fish list
2 percula crown fish
2 cardinal
Blonde Naso Tang
Blue Hippo Tang
Powder Blue Tang- must have
Yellow Tang
2Neon Wrasse
Heteractis Magnifica anemone
Derasa Clam
Maxima Clam - 1st Grade Blue/Purple
2Fire Shrimp
Blue Linckia Starfish
what do you think about this list?

[Flightpipe]

I have a 75g mixed reef softies and lps I am worried I may be trying to squeeze in to many fish.

Tank - 75g 115lbs LR&LS Remora pro w/mag 3, Fluval 405 no foam with carbon and chemi pure. K4&K3 Corallife PC light 260w

(HAVE) 2 fire fish gobies, 2 chromis, 1 engineer goby, 1 yellow watchman

(TO ADD) 2 true percula clowns, 1 Flame angel, scooter blenny, AND MAYBE 1 yellow tang.

I think i may be setting my sights on too much I am scared of the tang because of ich so i am very unsure of that one. I could always ditch the chromis btw.

[Flightpipe]

Sk8r I'll continue on here

I believe that I have learned my lesson with qt after i got some B&W clowns that had it and took out my flame with em (i know i know I was listening to the LFS) but now doing it right I should be ok. The scooters at my LFS are eating frozen foods so I was a little less worried about pods though i see a ton at night. Also, I am planing up upgrade in ~1yr when i move again to at least a 125 with sump ect...

My Tank as it sits right now......enough for a tang yellow or otherwise?