So I'm planning to upgrade in the next few weeks to a full 85 gallon setup. I'm buying it from someone and it comes with everything, including a nice reef, various clean up crew, a couple shrimp, a black and white clown (I assume ocellaris but could be wrong) and a 6 line wrasse. He currently has a tang and an angel but he will be rehoming those two. So, aside from transferring the coral frags currently in my 29 gallon, I'm planning on adding a few fish along the way. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on my wish list or even recommendations on compatible fish. Logical order of stocking ... These are fish I'd like to have but the only ones on the top of my list are the orange clown and banggai pair. 85 gallon *Black and white ocellaris clown Orange and white ocellaris clown (smaller) *6 line wrasse 2 banggai cardinals (mated pair) Green clown goby Coral beauty angel (reef safe?) Orchid dottyback Derasa clam Flame scallop It's also a rimless so please label known carpet surfers. He said he has a screen but I'm not sure how it will look. Here is the beautiful tank!
My take is this and I am no expert: the list looks good, but long. The good news is that none of the fish you've named get huge or need massive swimming space. The bad news is that's still a lot for an 85 that is gorgeously stocked with coral. The Coral Beauty is allegedly reef safe. It's an angel though, so YMMV. The derasa clam is a great choice. It will help with the bioload and be a stunner as it grows. It may grow too big for your tank though. That of course is no problem because you'll be upgrading again by the time that happens. ;-)
Hmm ok. Do you think the clowns, cardinals and wrasse will be fine in there together? I don't have to have the angel, but they are pretty! What about the list if I ditch the angel? And I've thought the clams were so cool for a long time but never thought I'd have the tank or lighting for them ... these are Kessil lights and he's got all kinds of corals growing happily in there. So I feel a clam will be fine, at least until it outgrows the space. I've also read they really help to reduce the bio load rather than add to it! I only added the scallop yesterday. I'm really not familiar with them at all! I was actually trying to search and see what those little hinge shelled creatures are like you find tucked into live rock or scattered along the beach. (Do you know what they are?) Usually around ¾" in size or smaller ... when I ran across the scallop! It seems interesting and like it might add to the tank. So I guess in order of priority, I'd like: *black clown Orange clown Banggai pair *6 line wrasse Green clown goby Orchid dottyback Coral beauty So would you stop at the goby or the dottyback? Those are both rather small fish. Is it the amount of coral that is limiting the fish stock? Just trying to understand saltwater stocking since I've only had fresh tanks before my current tank I started in December. It only has some small coral frags and 1 damsel that came with the tank. (It came with 3 but I traded the other 2 to the LFS for credit!) He's a bluefin/black damsel so he will be rehomed when I switch over tanks most likely as I've heard they can start nipping at corals as they get older. I estimate he's still pretty young though. Anyway ... One other question. I do plan to quarantine. Is it possible to quarantine in the sump or no because it's a shared water system? Do I just need a hunk of live rock and a power head ... thermometer and light? Do I have to have a separate filter or anything? I've told my wife I'll take down the 29 cube (which would be ideal to just leave running) when I move everything over to the big tank ... just brainstorming. Thoughts or recommendations?
Hiya, All wrasses are known as jumpers, so you'll need a lid. I've had luck with coral beauty's in my reef tank, but try to find one that is known to be reef safe. All the dwarf angels are a individuals and some will some won't eat corals. The rusty is supposedly the safest of the dwarfs. Finding an actual mated pair of Bengii cardinals can be difficult. They are very hard to sex. Dottyback's can be aggressive, so add that one last. When adding the clown, make sure it's smaller then the one you currently have. Otherwise, the bigger one may kill it. Especially if it's already converted to a female.
Cardinals do much better in schools. They can be aggressive towards each other. QT needs to be seperate! Yes to angel, if it eats coral, no biggie. Clam yes! Good luck with scallop, they are filter feeders thus require routine feeding. I've tried them twice in the past and unsuccessful long term. Both clown gobies and dotties are fairly stationary so they'll Bith likely find a rock hang out. The giby will move around much more but so small. The dotty will likely defend whatever spot it claims. Probably not as territorial as a damsel though. Most importantly, go slow and research your animals. We're taking animals from different oceans and depths and placing them in a glass box. Dotties and pseudo's like over hangs and cave type areas. Cardinals are more nocturnal and stay in caves and crevices during brightest part of day. Neither species will appreciate the typical rock wall aquascape and being blasted all day with light and no cover from human observers.
All good points! Thanks! I've been trying to research the different ones. The tank comes with the black clown and 6 line and a ton of coral ... but it's all already established so hopefully won't be more than a cycle bump. I definitely won't add all of the fish at once. How long is a typical quarantine period? Is it best to treat with something like copper prophylactically while in quarantine?
There are lots of ways to quarantine. They come with different positives and negatives. They also have different likelyhoods of success. Think about what you want to accomplish with quarantine. This is a good article that explains to you how to quarantine. I would suggest reading that and then we can answer questions to help you decide how to quarantine and what you'll need to do it! http://www.reef2reef.com/threads/how-to-quarantine.189815/ As Kim and Mark said Dottybacks are pretty aggressive. However you have chosen the least aggressive of them IMO. On the other hand, you've chosen the most aggressive genus of all of the wrasses. Sometimes you get individuals that are ok but as a group the Pseudocheilinus are a bad news bunch. Some wrasse experts deem them unfit as a group for peaceful reef tanks. Clown gobies are cool but a pain in the butt if you keep SPS as they like to perch on them an irritate them. I think Bangai are a good choice, they don't require large amounts of territory. Watch DD because they sometimes offer captive bred bonded pairs. Like Kim said, very hard to sex. Coral Beauty is one of the safer dwarf angels but that is very individual. I had an African Flameback that is supposed to be even more reef safe and it became an Acan eating fool! Be prepared to take him out if he starts eating corals.....fleshy LPS and zoas are most at risk. If you add the second clown, get one that's either substantially smaller or larger than the established one. All of this paragraph is my opinion, YMMV. Any fish can jump but wrasses, dartfish and often even clowns are particularly prone to jump. There are some pricey but super good looking screen tops made by a company calle Artfully Acrylic. A conventional screen top can be used with clear acrylic holders and would look pretty good on a rimless tank as well.
Thanks for all the info ... I'll check out that article. As far as the wrasse goes, it's been in the tank for a while and seems happy so hopefully it's not too aggressive! I don't have to get the angel, just a thought. And the dottyback too. What are your thoughts on a royal gramma? That was another one I was looking at ... I'm pretty sure there are all types of coral but I'm not sure of the names or care of each yet as I still don't have all the details of tank inhabitants. I'll see if he can get a list together of everything so I can research care of those in unfamiliar with before bringing it all home! As far as the varied corals, the clown, wrasse and cardinals, what fish might you recommend for this tank? I definitely want reef safe and friendly towards others ... colorful is a plus but good personality is nice too.
I would get the royal! Same as dotty, they like to hide under ledges and near crevices and caves in the ocean; sometimes vertical or even upside down! I have a six line (great for pests) and he bothers no one in my tank. However, years ago I had a different one and he was very territorial. I've had two coral beauties, one currently, both fine with coral.......but my tank is SPS.
So we go to pick up the tank Saturday!! I'm so excited that I feel like a little kid at Christmas! The drive is about 4 hours so it's going to be a long day.. but I've got a tank with a heater and power head partially filled with sw up and running. I'll also have a large container for the fish and rocks with coral to stay in until I get the tank going. I'm getting nervous but I'm excited too. I just hope I don't lose anyone on the ride home. The weather should be nice though.. so hopefully that'll help.
