Need new fish.. is a list actually helpful?

[Nor'easter reefer]

So my tanks been running with a couple clowns, snails, hermits and a pair of urchins for like 8 monthes (4 months without new additions). Got a bi color blenny but he had constantly and eventually disappeared... I have no clue what got him because if you fed the tank and hid you would see him but not well enough to see if he was malnourished or not... that was 4 or 5 months ago. Since then no casualties but my 120g tank looks really sad and empty. i have a fire shrimp in qt right now and I'm setting up a coral frag tank soon. I always see people posting stocking lists... is the general consensus that stocking lists help the final outcome or that some people are just hyper organized and like lists? All I know is i have 2 clownfish that have had a 120g tank to themselves for like 8 months and that needs to change.

 

[Tamberav]

So it can help to figure out what works aggression wise and what doesn’t and what is too many fish, etc.

However almost no one sticks to it perfectly. They will see a fish at the LFS they want or come across a rare one they didn’t consider or one they wanted is only seasonally available and they don’t want to wait or X died so they replaced it with Y instead. Or one they have turns out to be a surprise jerk and now they can’t stock certain fish because of it..

You get the idea.

I think people also get excited.

 

[Tamberav]

Mostly you just want to try and add the passive fish first and the aggressive ones last.

 

[Nor'easter reefer]

So it can help to figure out what works aggression wise and what doesn’t and what is too many fish, etc.

However almost no one sticks to it perfectly. They will see a fish at the LFS they want or come across a rare one they didn’t consider or one they wanted is only seasonally available and they don’t want to wait or X died so they replaced it with Y instead. Or one they have turns out to be a surprise jerk and now they can’t stock certain fish because of it..

You get the idea.

I think people also get excited

I pick one then talk myself out of it as if every one's going to be perfect I was headset on a one spot foxface now I'm paranoid it'll eat my corals i don't have

 

[Tamberav]

I pick one then talk myself out of it as if every one's going to be perfect I was headset on a one spot foxface now I'm paranoid it'll eat my corals i don't have

Well bi color blennies can be nippers so I guess you dodged that potential problem

 

[Nor'easter reefer]

Well bi color blennies can be nippers so I guess you dodged that potential problem

I geuss so lol. I also thought most blennies were fairly outgoing. I had a lawnmower 7 or 8 years ago in a 55g and spent hours watching him roam the rock work. The bicolor was the biggest houdini. You'd see his head out of the corner of your eye and if he saw you see him he was gone, back in the rock

 

[Tamberav]

If you are looking for a beneficial fish for your reef, consider a more peaceful wrasse (if you have sand) like the yellow (chrysus) wrasse or a blue star leopard wrasse. You do need sand for them to sleep in though.

Blenny wise, I have a tailspot in my 150 that is always visible.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Do you have coral?

 

[Nor'easter reefer]

If you are looking for a beneficial fish for your reef, consider a more peaceful wrasse (if you have sand) like the yellow (chrysus) wrasse or a blue star leopard wrasse. You do need sand for them to sleep in though.

Blenny wise, I have a tailspot in my 150 that is always visible.

Im actually not super familiar with wrasse. My last tank is fell in love with my buddies mandarin and wanted one of them more than anything so anything that seemed to nip at pods was out the window lol. I'll look into both of those. I'm setting up a coral qt tank this long Christmas weekend so that hopefully after the new year I can pick up my first few frags

 

[Nor'easter reefer]

Do you have coral?

Not yet but that's also next on my list. Setting up a qt tank over the next few days to hopefully get my first frags after the new year, fingers crossed

 

[Tamberav]

Im actually not super familiar with wrasse. My last tank is fell in love with my buddies mandarin and wanted one of them more than anything so anything that seemed to nip at pods was out the window lol. I'll look into both of those. I'm setting up a coral qt tank this long Christmas weekend so that hopefully after the new year I can pick up my first few frags

Ahhh! Wrasse are so much fun! If you are trying to avoid pod eaters then fairy and flasher wrasses don’t really eat them so they would be fine with a Mandy.

 

[Tamberav]

Genicanthus Angels are another good one. They are planktivors and reef safe and you get that angelfish shape and activity without the nipping.

 

[Nor'easter reefer]

Ahhh! Wrasse are so much fun! If you are trying to avoid pod eaters then fairy and flasher wrasses don’t really eat them so they would be fine with a Mandy.

I'm not dead set on a mandarin this time, though if a 120g with a sump could support a wrasse or 2 and a mandarin I would jump on that bandwagon. I'm considering a HOB refugium for the display tank specifically for a pod nursery that my return pump in the basement doesn't chowder the pods

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I have in my 120 , easy fish that have been awesome in my tank, one spot fox, Falco hawk (add last), if you have sand yellow wrasse, pintail wrasse, rolling the dice six line wrasse, tomini tang, lawnmower blenny. I have a niger trigger ( hit or miss) yellow tailed damsel (also last) blue green Chromis are awesome.

 

[Nor'easter reefer]

Genicanthus Angels are another good one. They are planktivors and reef safe and you get that angelfish shape and activity.

Im surprised that liveaquaria lists that angelfish as reef safe.. I felt like most angels with not reef safe or were "with caution" at the very least! I didn't think I could have a angel with any corals really!

 

[Tamberav]

Im surprised that liveaquaria lists that angelfish as reef safe.. I felt like most angels with not reef safe or were "with caution" at the very least! I didn't think I could have a angel with any corals really!

Yup! The bellus is my favorite if you can swing the cost but they are all nice looking.

There are even reef safe butterfly’s called pyramid butterflies, another planktivor.

 

[Nor'easter reefer]

I have in my 120 , easy fish that have been awesome in my tank, one spot fox, Falco hawk (add last), if you have sand yellow wrasse, pintail wrasse, rolling the dice six line wrasse, tomini tang, lawnmower blenny. I have a niger trigger ( hit or miss) yellow tailed damsel (also last) blue green Chromis are awesome.

I had chromis in my old tank years ago. That tank was a hodge podge disaster lol but everytime I bought chromis I always ended up back to just one everyone said they schooled and then they just disappeared. Idk if it was them fighting or what, because the sole survivor always thrived lol

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I had chromis in my old tank years ago. That tank was a hodge podge disaster lol but everytime I bought chromis I always ended up back to just one everyone said they schooled and then they just disappeared. Idk if it was them fighting or what, because the sole survivor always thrived lol

I should have said just one, LOL, I've always just had one

 

[Nor'easter reefer]

Yup! The bellus is my favorite if you can swing the cost but they are all nice looking.

There are even reef safe butterfly’s called pyramid butterflies, another planktivor.

Is the pyramid as hard to feed as a copperband? I love the copperbands but I'd hate to buy a fish and watch it starve while I try to convince it to eat

 

[Tamberav]

Is the pyramid as hard to feed as a copperband? I love the copperbands but I'd hate to buy a fish and watch it starve while I try to convince it to eat

No, they are easy to feed.