Advice on livestock

[Zhain]

I just finished adding water and rock to my 150g tank that I plan on setting up as reef. I am starting to consider the types of livestock for the tank and am looking for some help in finalizing my list and also on the order in which they should be introduced. I would also like to know if this is too many fish for my tank size, or if I could get away with adding any additional fish.

My list currently looks like this:
Purple Tang
Flame angelfish (or any other dwarf angelfish that anyone can recommend)
Ocellaris clownfish - is it ok to just have 1 or do they do better in pairs?
Banggai cardinalfish - would like to have a few of these if possible
Randall's prawn goby
Copperband butterflyfish - are these really difficult to keep? I really want a butterflyfish for the tank but not many are reef compatible from what i see
Mandarinfish - would not be adding this for a while and possible might even drop from the list depending on how well i can get my refugium to produce live pods

I would also like to hear any recommendations on corals for the tank. My light system is the Orbit Marine PRO Dual LED.

Thanks!

[TokiHacker]

Originally Posted by Zhain

I just finished adding water and rock to my 150g tank that I plan on setting up as reef. I am starting to consider the types of livestock for the tank and am looking for some help in finalizing my list and also on the order in which they should be introduced. I would also like to know if this is too many fish for my tank size, or if I could get away with adding any additional fish.

My list currently looks like this:
Purple Tang
Flame angelfish (or any other dwarf angelfish that anyone can recommend)
Ocellaris clownfish - is it ok to just have 1 or do they do better in pairs?
Banggai cardinalfish - would like to have a few of these if possible
Randall's prawn goby
Copperband butterflyfish - are these really difficult to keep? I really want a butterflyfish for the tank but not many are reef compatible from what i see
Mandarinfish - would not be adding this for a while and possible might even drop from the list depending on how well i can get my refugium to produce live pods

I would also like to hear any recommendations on corals for the tank. My light system is the Orbit Marine PRO Dual LED.

Thanks!

You got a great little setup of fish!

copperband butterfly can be a difficult fish to feed, not particularly keep. Try and get one you already see eating in the LFS.

as for coral I don't know much about those lights, but to my knowledge you going to need to upgrade if you want to sustain anything better than mushrooms and possibly a few softies. It being a 150 usually presents it is fairly tall vs long.

[scooter31707]

Originally Posted by Zhain

I just finished adding water and rock to my 150g tank that I plan on setting up as reef. I am starting to consider the types of livestock for the tank and am looking for some help in finalizing my list and also on the order in which they should be introduced. I would also like to know if this is too many fish for my tank size, or if I could get away with adding any additional fish.

My list currently looks like this:
Purple Tang
Flame angelfish (or any other dwarf angelfish that anyone can recommend)
Ocellaris clownfish - is it ok to just have 1 or do they do better in pairs?
Banggai cardinalfish - would like to have a few of these if possible
Randall's prawn goby
Copperband butterflyfish - are these really difficult to keep? I really want a butterflyfish for the tank but not many are reef compatible from what i see
Mandarinfish - would not be adding this for a while and possible might even drop from the list depending on how well i can get my refugium to produce live pods

I would also like to hear any recommendations on corals for the tank. My light system is the Orbit Marine PRO Dual LED.

Thanks!

Mandarin might have to come off with Cooperband, Flame Angel, and goby competing for pods. Just so you know, there is a possibility that the Cooperband could start nipping at corals. IME, they have been ok.

[TokiHacker]

Originally Posted by scooter31707

Mandarin might have to come off with Cooperband, Flame Angel, and goby competing for pods. Just so you know, there is a possibility that the Cooperband could start nipping at corals. IME, they have been ok.

Only reason why I didn't say it was because it seemed like he did his research on the Mandarin and most likely wouldn't go into the tank anyways.

[Rallos]

Copperbands can be finicky to get eating but once they get established they are generally hardy.

The flame angel might nip corals too. Depends on the individual.

[Zhain]

I don't think I will be doing the mandarin honestly. I do really want the copperband though. Do you think I should add it to the tank first so it has less competition for food? I would definitely ask the LFS to feed it for me before purchasing and have done some research on what behavior a healthy specimen exhibits and what to look for physically.

Since creating this post I have been doing some research on corals and found some that i would really like to get. My LFS assured me my lights would be good enough for just about anything. I would hate to have to get different ones, but I would do that if it becomes necessary.

I am interested in these so far:

Acanthastrea
Catalaphyllia
Sarcophyton
Montipora - capricornis variety
Seriatopora

I really don't think I want mushrooms. I had them in the past and they were fun, but I want something a bit more challenging with this new tank. Eventually would love to have an Acropora, but its probably beyond my skill to care for right now.