Noobie 120 gal stocking scheme...

[sn4265]

Well, the new 120 gal tank is going to finally be making it into the house and getting filled this weekend. The plan is to add the water, rock, and sand to the tank on Saturday. The LR is fully cured and ready to go as I've had it curing in the garage for over a month now and have no ammonia or nitrites. Here is the stocking plan that I have come up with so far...

1 pair Ocellaris Clowns ( one black, one orange)
1 lawnmower blenny
A wathcman goby/pistol shrimp combo
1 diamond goby
2 - 3 firefish
1 Kole Tang
1 Coral Beauty or Flame Angel

And various cuc

The plan is for this tank to remain a FOWLR tank for at least 6 months before I even think of corals, but I definitely want to go for corals down the road. Do I have any major problems with this stocking plan? Is this a light or medium load for a 120 gal tank? At what rate should I plan on adding these fish? Is there a specific ordering which I should add these? I'm planning n adding the clowns first.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Toddrtrex]

I would skip the diamond goby -- have a feeling it won't get along with the watchman. Plus, IME (( and others )) after about 6-12 months they seem to start to waste away, even if eating prepared foods.

Unless you can find a true pair of firefish, I would stick with just one.

As for the order, pretty much the way you listed it.

[nterry]

I had 3 firefish in my 120 a while back, two reds and purple. It really didn't work very well, with the purple constantly stocking the two reds. One of them eventually disappeared. However, once I added a few more fish, the firefish became much more timid and stopped chasing each other. They also stopped coming out much at all except for meal times. Sigh... such a nice fish too. My flame angel took a disliking two them and would chase them around. Not enough to hurt them per se, but enough that they hid a lot more once I added the flame angel to the tank. Coral beauty seemed a little more mellow about the firefish.

Again, I think a single firefish will be best. Multiple ones will work, but I suggest making a series of mounds rather than one continous single mound.

[sn4265]

Further research has me leaning much more towards to Coral Beauty. It seems that they are also less apt to pick at corals and since this is definitely in the long range plan I would rather go that direction. This is the first I've heard about firefish though. I'll have to do more reading there. Thanks.

[sn4265]

Well... I had bad luck with the Firefish as the Pistol Shrimp ate them. I'm now looking to replace the last Firefish with either a CB Angel or a Six Line Wrasse. Any suggestions on either of these?

I have a Watchman Goby to go along with the Pistol, so I'm curious about adding any other Gobies. I hear that many kinds of fish don't do well with similar species in the tank with them. Otherwise I'm wondering about a Blenny and definitely interested in any recommendations here. Thanks.

[wedwards]

Not sure about compatibility with the pistol but I love my Lawnmower Blenny.

[RenoR1]

Pistol and lawnmower should be fine. At least they are in mine

[sn4265]

I'm thinking that maybe a Midas Blenny may be in my future. I've heard a lot of good things about this particular fish. Anything I should be aware of?