Stocking Question for Custom 33g Cube

[syemeni2]

Hello,

I am about to begin my 4th saltwater tank over the years. I had to take a break for 4 years due to moving, finishing up grad school, a newborn and whatnot.

So I am very excited. : )

It will be a 33g cube and I would like to keep ~4 fish. I can not decide about the 4th fish, which I would like it to be a bright yellow fish(sorry about my shallow approach to forming a habitat). In general, I am looking for an open area swimmer/active fish. I do not like gobies:

Please note the decided items are in green
optional items are in blue
Undecided/need help in decision are in orange

Fish:
-ocellaris clown fish
-fridmani pseudochromis
-blue reef chromis

yellow fish options:
-yellow assessor
-yellow dwarf angelfish(heraldi)
-canary or midas blenny
-two spot hogfish(yellow candy hogfish)


Inverts:
Bubble tip anemone

Corals:
Cespitularia
Hammer or Torch or Frogspawn
Maybe some zoas and mushrooms

If I get a heraldi dwarf angel, i am planning to drop the blue reef chromis. I am not sure how well the midas or canary blenny will get along with the orchid dottyback. I am not sure if i can get a hold of the yellow assessor; also yellow assessors seem to be pretty expensive.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading my post.


Just to give a background:
1st tank:30g fish only over stocked tank: kept it 2 years no loss, until I had to leave it to a friend, who boiled the tank.
2nd tank: a 29g biocube with soft corals and a longfin fairy wrasse,B&W ocellaris clownfish, blue damsel. 2 years, loss: 1 cleaner shrimp,1 tuxedo sea urchin
3rd tank: a 29g Mustang Seahorse tank. 1 year preparation, 1 year keeping.loss:1 sun coral. I had to move, so gave the horsies to lfs.

I bought a 33g Aquamaxx cube, which will fit over my old stand for biocube 29g. I built a false wall out of black acryllic to the 1/4 of the tank like the biocube with the compartments according how I always wanted.(Initially, I was planning to have an actual sump in the cabinet but I decided I can not risk an overflow on a hardwood floor.) This system has constant depth compartment for an aquamaxx ws-1 protein skimmer(4"x7"x7"), compartment for a refugium(1.5g) and space for custom made media basket(3"x4"x18.5"). It can handle about 1.2g of evaporation. So I will need to devise an ato system. The sump area is able to handle up to 2x cobalt mj1200 pumps for circulation.1 cobalt mj1200 will push the water through a coralife 9w uv sterilizer. I will use a kessler led light for lighting. Currently it is cycling.

[GoVols]

I've kept "really small" juvi Yellow Tangs in a 30 gal in the past.

My lfs always gave me full trade in price when they grew.

[GoVols]

Gotta have way more live rock than that and mature system though for my suggestion.

[syemeni2]

Thanks GoVols,

A portion of the live rock is buried under the sand to increase the stability of the vertical piece. There is more than 30lbs of live rock in the tank. Do you think it is enough?

How long does it take the tang to grow?

[syemeni2]

Originally Posted by GoVols

Gotta have way more live rock than that and mature system though for my suggestion.

Thanks GoVols,

A portion of the live rock is buried under the sand to increase the stability of the vertical piece. There is more than 30lbs of live rock in the tank. Do you think it is enough?

How long does it take the tang to grow?

[GoVols]

You need a lot of exposed live rock for a tang to graze on and feel nice and secure.

He'd to go in last when your system has some maturity.

If you could find a 1" to 1.5" yelo tang he'd work out easily for at least 6 months.

Once you feel he's cramped for space it wouldn't be right not to find it a larger home.

[GoVols]

I have a great (lfs) and my family and the owners family have been close friends since 1990. If he doesn't have what I want in fish, size or health he'll locate what I want.

The key is making sure you get a healthy specimen. Look it over like nobodies business and make sure it's eating.

[syemeni2]

Thanks for the advice. Ideally, I would like to have a fish that I wont have to move sometime soon. Besides hunting fish in a fishtank can be very destructive.

Do you have experience with the combination of fridmani and midas blenny? To me it seems to me the best possible combo. Apparently, the two spot hogfish becomes agressive as it gets mature.

I would love to keep a heraldi dwarf angelfish but I am worried that tank size is not going to be enough although it may be able to handle the bioload.

Yellow assessor would be awesome but where to find it?

Thanks

[syemeni2]

I imagine having a lfs as a family friend is a very nice advantage. : ) I wish prosperity to all the LFS in general.

[GOSKN5]

Originally Posted by syemeni2

Thanks for the advice. Ideally, I would like to have a fish that I wont have to move sometime soon. Besides hunting fish in a fishtank can be very destructive.

Do you have experience with the combination of fridmani and midas blenny? To me it seems to me the best possible combo. Apparently, the two spot hogfish becomes agressive as it gets mature.

I would love to keep a heraldi dwarf angelfish but I am worried that tank size is not going to be enough although it may be able to handle the bioload.

Yellow assessor would be awesome but where to find it?

Thanks

I wouldn't do the hog and dottyback for sure... shaped the same and both rather fiesty... wouldn't get along...

Midas is a great fish.. although they get fairly large and might be a little cramped in that tank... Canary is a good option.. make sure it's eating as they can waste away...

A dwarf angel to consider might be the cherub angel... they are small, active and have some yellow on them...

Yellow assessor is a nice fish.. but I think the orchid dottyback would harass it some... if you went that direction you could certainly find one online.. live aquaria or divers den or blue zoo has them pretty often

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by GoVols

I've kept "really small" juvi Yellow Tangs in a 30 gal in the past.

Which is bad husbandry.

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by GOSKN5

I wouldn't do the hog and dottyback for sure... shaped the same and both rather fiesty... wouldn't get along...

Especially in a small tank.

[TheOtherDB]

I had a Centropyge Argi which are half yellow. I liked it because it stayed small in my 34g, it was active and spent time where I could see it. And, while feisty, it left my other live stock alone. But, it's not 100% yellow.

I have a yellow tang that I bought when it was about 2" tall. It's been in my tank for about 6 months and is about 4" tall. He's about out grown the tank at this point.

Lemon Peel angels are beautiful, stay somewhat small, but the ones I've seen tend to be shy, and if you get any corals, it may pick at them.

I've looked at a small, yellow fish with the common name, "Yellow Clown Gobi" But, you don't like gobi's

I was in the same spot you are now, and opted for the tang. I love the fish and he adds a lot to the tank, but I will need to trade him for something smaller very shortly, and I've not decided what to replace him with. I'll be interested to see how this thread plays out.

[syemeni2]

Originally Posted by GOSKN5

I wouldn't do the hog and dottyback for sure... shaped the same and both rather fiesty... wouldn't get along...

Midas is a great fish.. although they get fairly large and might be a little cramped in that tank... Canary is a good option.. make sure it's eating as they can waste away...

A dwarf angel to consider might be the cherub angel... they are small, active and have some yellow on them...

Yellow assessor is a nice fish.. but I think the orchid dottyback would harass it some... if you went that direction you could certainly find one online.. live aquaria or divers den or blue zoo has them pretty often

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

Snorvich, Goskn5
Thanks for the great advice. Yellow assessor is actually available in blue zoo
and it is on sale for a mere $109.00.

Well, it will be my 3rd fish.So, in 3-4 months if a wave of cheaper assessors come about I will definitely jump on them.

I actually love the way the yellow candy hogfish swims(or floats in freespace). I kept one for a while and it was ery easy going but I guess it was not mature enough.

I did not know that the canary blenny is slightly smaller than the midas blenny. Indeed, I like the color of the canary blenny more than the midas. So it is definitely a great option.

TheOtherDB
It is definitely a beautiful looking Tang, but I have bad experiences involving catching fish. So I would prefer not to take out any fish I put in the tank if possible: )

At this point, my first preference would be a yellow assessor. 2nd preference is canary blenny. will see. i will keep you updated.

[syemeni2]

Yellow assessor is available in liveaquaria as well and it is 49.99. That's quite a lot more agreeable: )

[GoVols]

Originally Posted by syemeni2

I imagine having a lfs as a family friend is a very nice advantage. : ) I wish prosperity to all the LFS in general.

lol

It sure does and he owns one of the finest (LFS) in the Southeast.

I been in there right closing time and he'll ask me to hang around. He'll lock up and we'll catch up on both families and grandchildren too. lol

In 1995 he helped me get a custom corner "Reef Ready" 250gal tank built at Oceanic Systems.
He and Oceanic gave me a very good price. Both of them just wanted to see that tank built. Oceanic finished that tank in about 4 months, even sent me pictures during each phase of the build. Oceanic was so proud of that tank that they hauled to a show in Chicago before I got it. My (LFS) owner saw it at that show before I did. (lol)

In those days Oceanic was second to no know in aquarium quality. Well, Oceanic got a to good to be true offer from ALL-Glass and he sold out. All-Glass wanted the Oceanic name and ruined it what's left of Oceanic Systems today.

He and his staff do give me so sweet perks at times but our friendship comes first!

[Ritten]

Originally Posted by snorvich

Which is bad husbandry.

It really is. There is so much information on the internet available to us with guidelines for every fish available to purchase.