Tank Journal Archive

Peter_1988_

Member
Dec 1, 2013
35
13
Bacchus Marsh
Potential Livestock List
It is a probably a bit early to be talking about stocking a tank that has not been built yet but I have already been thinking about it for sometime so may as well write down my ideas and see if anyone has any suggestions. It can't hurt to plan ahead even if I probably wont add any live stock for another year. I will add a list shorty of the fish and some corals that I am looking to stock so feel free to comment if you think I should add something else or if certain things may not get along. Remember the tank will be 2.5 foot wide and 2.5 foot tall and somewhere between 10 - 12 foot long.
 

Peter_1988_

Member
Dec 1, 2013
35
13
Bacchus Marsh
Top of the list
  • 1 x yellow tang
  • 1 x sailfin tang (may get the desjardini sailfin tang if its not too expensive)
  • 1 x blue tang
  • school of ocellaris clownfish (most likely two black and white and 2 orange and white)
  • 2 x banngai cardinal fish
  • 2 x pyjama cardinal
  • school of banner fish (I am thinking maybe 4 of these)
  • 1 x copper band butterfly fish
  • school of fire fish or zebra barred dart fish
  • 1 x flame hawk fish or long nose hawk fish
  • 1 x Bi color goat fish or yellow back goat fish
  • 1 or 2 blue throat triggerfish. (male and female?)
  • 1 or 2 leopard wrasse. (male and female?)

Maybe List:
  • Kole yellow eye tang (will it get along with the rest of the tangs or too many tangs?)
  • Blonde naso tang (too large and aggressive to get along with other tangs?)
  • 1 x flame angel or 1 x lemonpeel angel (reef safe?)
  • yellow or green clown goby? (Are these two small for a large tank with some larger fish?)
  • Bellus angelfish (reefsafe?)
  • school of Bartlett anthias or maybe another cheaper anthias? (any other anthias suggestions?)
  • snowflake eel or zebra eel (I really want an eel however probably wont risk it eating my invertebrates and small fish. Might save this for a different setup down the track)
  • Engineer goby instead of an eel? Do they knock things over and cause damage to rockwork?
  • school of chromis? (I have heard they end up killing each other most of the time?)
  • school of Australian stripey's?
  • royal gramma?
  • Niger triggerfish?
  • Common cleaner wrasse?
Invertebrates:
  • 2 x banded coral shrimp
  • other shrimp?
  • brittle stars
  • sand sifting sea star?
  • hermit crabs?
  • Anemone for clownfish (bubbletip? is there a better one anyone recommends?)
  • snails?
  • 1 x Clam (what is a good beginner clam that looks good but not too expensive?)
Corals:
Going to be extremely expensive to fill this tank so probably want to buy small corals that will grow large. Have not given too much thought yet so open to any suggestions of good beginner corals that get fairly large?
  • Definately want a variety of zoanthids of different colours
  • Maybe some scoly's but do not want to spend too much on these
  • Leather corals?
  • Plated corals?
  • brain corals
  • Probably no sps to start with. May think of getting a few sps corals later on but not too many
 

Buddy

Member
Mar 13, 2012
3,142
1,526
  • 1 x yellow tang - Yes
  • 1 x sailfin tang (may get the desjardini sailfin tang if its not too expensive) Yes and not too expensive
  • 1 x blue tang Yes
  • school of ocellaris clownfish (most likely two black and white and 2 orange and white) Might be ok, or the pairs may kill each other, even in a 12 foot tank!
  • 2 x banngai cardinal fish Yes, but no experience keeping them with pyjamas
  • 2 x pyjama cardinal
  • school of banner fish (I am thinking maybe 4 of these) No experience
  • 1 x copper band butterfly fish Yes, picky eaters and can nip at corals
  • school of fire fish or zebra barred dart fish Yes
  • 1 x flame hawk fish or long nose hawk fish Yes
  • 1 x Bi color goat fish or yellow back goat fish Yes, get quite large and move a lot of sand.
  • 1 or 2 blue throat triggerfish. (male and female?) Yes, they love to move anything that isnt glued down!
  • 1 or 2 leopard wrasse. (male and female?) Yes but picky eaters

Maybe List:
  • Kole yellow eye tang (will it get along with the rest of the tangs or too many tangs?) Should be ok, introduce all the tangs at once
  • Blonde naso tang (too large and aggressive to get along with other tangs?) These get really big but 12ft is ok
  • 1 x flame angel or 1 x lemonpeel angel (reef safe?) Its just pure luck to get one that behaves
  • yellow or green clown goby? (Are these two small for a large tank with some larger fish?) Great fish, I have a yellow in my 6ft and hes always in sight
  • Bellus angelfish (reefsafe?) Yes, reef safe
  • school of Bartlett anthias or maybe another cheaper anthias? (any other anthias suggestions?) Yes, not sure on any suggestions
  • snowflake eel or zebra eel (I really want an eel however probably wont risk it eating my invertebrates and small fish. Might save this for a different setup down the track) I have seen it work but be careful with small fish
  • Engineer goby instead of an eel? Do they knock things over and cause damage to rockwork? No experience
  • school of chromis? (I have heard they end up killing each other most of the time?) I have heard this too, but also heard of others keeping with no problems.
  • school of Australian stripey's? No experience
  • royal gramma? Yes
  • Niger triggerfish? Maybe not reef safe, not sure how they go with blue throats
  • Common cleaner wrasse? Yes, picky eaters
Invertebrates:
  • 2 x banded coral shrimp Yes, make sure its a pair
  • other shrimp? Pistol yes, mantis no
  • brittle stars Yes, just dont get the huge green ones
  • sand sifting sea star? Yes but wait until the tank is established
  • hermit crabs? Yes but will eat snails and steal their shells
  • Anemone for clownfish (bubbletip? is there a better one anyone recommends?) Any you prefer, make sure that the anemone suits the type of clowns you get, also wait until the tank is established
  • snails? Turbo, trochus, strobus, dove
  • 1 x Clam (what is a good beginner clam that looks good but not too expensive?) Go for a squamosa clam
Corals:
Going to be extremely expensive to fill this tank so probably want to buy small corals that will grow large. Have not given too much thought yet so open to any suggestions of good beginner corals that get fairly large?
  • Definately want a variety of zoanthids of different colours
  • Maybe some scoly's but do not want to spend too much on these
  • Leather corals?
  • Plated corals?
  • brain corals
  • Probably no sps to start with. May think of getting a few sps corals later on but not too many
  • All of these are fine
 
I've currently got a five foot tank (5 x 2.5 x2.5) with 1 yellow, 1 sailfin, 1 blonde naso and 1 mimic tang and they all get on no problem. I also have a second tank (300litres) with a small kole yellow eye tang and a scopes tang, they also don't have any problems. I do have a lot of rock and the naso and mimic where added to the big tank when we moved, so for the tangs in the current set up they all went in at once. The naso is the biggest (about the size of your hand) and he is a girl, will hind from anything.

My new tank comes in two weeks (2200litres 10 foot x 3 foot x 2.3 foot) and all 6 of these guys will be going in together. I was thinking about two additional yellow tangs and two additional sailfins but I'm not sure (I do love my tangs and I want them to be as happy as they are now).

I also have a Flame Angel in my coral tank with no problems but we had a coral beauty in the second tank and it would eat anything ... I agree it is luck with these guys but I was also thinking about the lemon peel as they look so very nice.

I have school of five chromes in the big tank without a problem, if anything they really do stick together. I also have three cheaper anthias and they tend to stay with the chromes and the pink and blue look great. I was told that 20% of bartlett anthias will die, I don't know if this is correct however it is the reason I went for the cheap ones and I've never lost one of them.

I love the copper band butterfly fish and I had one, he went fine for six months. He was eating, never saw him pick at the corals however he just stopped eating one day. I tried everything I could but within two weeks he was gone.

Good luck, it sounds like you'll have a great tank.
 

Peter_1988_

Member
Dec 1, 2013
35
13
Bacchus Marsh
I've currently got a five foot tank (5 x 2.5 x2.5) with 1 yellow, 1 sailfin, 1 blonde naso and 1 mimic tang and they all get on no problem. I also have a second tank (300litres) with a small kole yellow eye tang and a scopes tang, they also don't have any problems. I do have a lot of rock and the naso and mimic where added to the big tank when we moved, so for the tangs in the current set up they all went in at once. The naso is the biggest (about the size of your hand) and he is a girl, will hind from anything.

My new tank comes in two weeks (2200litres 10 foot x 3 foot x 2.3 foot) and all 6 of these guys will be going in together. I was thinking about two additional yellow tangs and two additional sailfins but I'm not sure (I do love my tangs and I want them to be as happy as they are now).

I also have a Flame Angel in my coral tank with no problems but we had a coral beauty in the second tank and it would eat anything ... I agree it is luck with these guys but I was also thinking about the lemon peel as they look so very nice.

I have school of five chromes in the big tank without a problem, if anything they really do stick together. I also have three cheaper anthias and they tend to stay with the chromes and the pink and blue look great. I was told that 20% of bartlett anthias will die, I don't know if this is correct however it is the reason I went for the cheap ones and I've never lost one of them.

I love the copper band butterfly fish and I had one, he went fine for six months. He was eating, never saw him pick at the corals however he just stopped eating one day. I tried everything I could but within two weeks he was gone.

Good luck, it sounds like you'll have a great tank.
Thanks for that. It's good to know that the tangs can work well together but I will still be cautious as I know it does not always work out. I look forward to seeing your new 10 foot tank. I have heard yellow tangs and sailfin tangs can school well together but also heard that they do not always get along so it would be a risk. Do you know what kind of anthias you have? The only one I have really heard anyone keep is the Bartlett anthias. I will probably give the chromis and at least one of the lemonpeel or flame angel a go and see what happens. Hopefully it works out.
 

Peter_1988_

Member
Dec 1, 2013
35
13
Bacchus Marsh
Thanks Buddy,

Its good to know I'm on the right track with most of these and to get a bit more info. I really like the yellow clown goby so glad to here it should do ok in a bigger tank even though they are so small. The niger trigger and blue throat would be one or the other. I prefer the niger but heard blue throats are more likely to suit reef tanks better so would probably stick with one of them and not the niger. I have also heard it can be hard to keep more than one pair of clownfish but I am hoping if I introduce them together they will either form a small group or two pairs and keep to their own territories. Not sure now about the goatfish... Maybe they would work better in a FOWLR tank to keep the sand clean but not necessary in a reef tank when you have clean up crew? They might bury corals if they move too much sand.
 
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Thanks for that. It's good to know that the tangs can work well together but I will still be cautious as I know it does not always work out. I look forward to seeing your new 10 foot tank. I have heard yellow tangs and sailfin tangs can school well together but also heard that they do not always get along so it would be a risk. Do you know what kind of anthias you have? The only one I have really heard anyone keep is the Bartlett anthias. I will probably give the chromis and at least one of the lemonpeel or flame angel a go and see what happens. Hopefully it works out.
I think they are Dispar Anthias. They were in Williamstown at the time for 3 for $50 deal I think.