Opinions on 72 gal Stocking Plan

[Synthgp]

Hi all:

I am in the midst of cycling my tank, and have been pulling together a stocking plan for the tank. I would love to get your thoughts on this stocking plan and the order of entry into the tank:

Fish Stocking Plan:

1x Blue Eye Tang
3x Banggai Cardinal (Banner or Kaudern’s fish)
1x Indian Vagabond Butterflyfish
1x orange spotted goby
2x ORA® Captive-Bred Caramel Clownfish. Or Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
1x Evansi Anthias
1x Tailspot Blenny (Ecsenius stigmatura)
1x Bicolor Dottyback
1x Firefish (Goby) (Nemateleotris magnifica)
1x Blue Green Chromis


Cleanup Crew Plan - I would prefer to keep this limited to what is really needed. Again, thoughts on this would be appreciated

Nassarius Snails
Scarlet Hermit Crabs
Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi eats aphasia)
Fire Shrimp (clean fish of parasites)
Turbo Snails for algae

 

[davidcalgary29]

That's a lot of fish for 72g. Is this going to be a FOWLR?

I'd reconsider the butterfly and anthias. That butterfly can get pretty big, and will probably limit you to softies if you want to cultivate any coral. If you want something with a similar profile but won't go for the coral, you could do worse than a dwarf white spotted filefish. And anthias need frequent feeding throughout the day.

I'd also ditch the cardinals, as they're not very engaging, and choose a captive-bred orchid or springeri dottyback pair over the lone bicolor. I've found that dottybacks do much better as pairs, and squabble with each other instead of other fish.

Firefish are timid, and tend to be jumpers. Do you plan to have a lid on your tank?

Few people have had success keeping chromis on a long-term basis.

I haven't yet seen a clownfish that wasn't a biter -- of human hands. Every time I see someone put their hands in the tank, and get attacked for it, I vow never to go down that route.

Sorry -- didn't mean to be a killjoy with this response.

 

[Synthgp]

That's a lot of fish for 72g. Is this going to be a FOWLR?

I'd reconsider the butterfly and anthias. That butterfly can get pretty big, and will probably limit you to softies if you want to cultivate any coral. If you want something with a similar profile but won't go for the coral, you could do worse than a dwarf white spotted filefish. And anthias need frequent feeding throughout the day.

I'd also ditch the cardinals, as they're not very engaging, and choose a captive-bred orchid or springeri dottyback pair over the lone bicolor. I've found that dottybacks do much better as pairs, and squabble with each other instead of other fish.

Firefish are timid, and tend to be jumpers. Do you plan to have a lid on your tank?

Few people have had success keeping chromis on a long-term basis.

I haven't yet seen a clownfish that wasn't a biter -- of human hands. Every time I see someone put their hands in the tank, and get attacked for it, I vow never to go down that route.

Sorry -- didn't mean to be a killjoy with this response.

@davidcalgary29 Not at all! This is all new to me, so not vested yet in a plan.

Really like the idea of Orchid Dottybacks (I thought they were all bullies)!

The kids at pretty vested in having a Nemo like clownfish - are there any that are considered to me less aggressive? Or are we just setting ourself up for trouble?

Anything else that you would consider adding?

I will need to invest in a lid for this mixed reef tank.

Keep the recommendations coming!

Here is the list following your insight:

1x Blue Eye Tang
2x Captive-Bred Orchid Dottyback
1x orange spotted goby
2x ORA® Captive-Bred Caramel Clownfish. Or Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
1x Evansi Anthias
1x Tailspot Blenny (Ecsenius stigmatura)
1x Firefish (Goby) (Nemateleotris magnifica)

Cleanup Crew Plan

3x Nassarius Snails
3x Scarlet Hermit Crabs
1x Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata boggessi eats aphasia)
1x Fire Shrimp (clean fish of parasites)
3x Turbo Snails for algae

 

[davidcalgary29]

Orchid dottybacks have a terrible reputuation, but I've never had a problem with them, and that probably because I keep them in pairs and buy captive-bred specimens. I've kept five different dottyback species, but these are my favourite. They're also spectacularly beautiful and stand out in an aquarium as they weave through the rockwork.

Skunk clowns are really the only clowns I'd keep, but they're kind of dumb -- I really don't know what other word to use for them -- and will think that the oddest things are trying to host them. My pair were obsessed with a patch of green hair algae (until that was taken care of my an urchin) and, later, a powerhead.

If you want a personal fish that will act like a dog, I'd consider a dwarf angel or, if you don't like coral, a butterflyfish. Dwarf angels alone make aquarium keeping worthwhile.