165-gallon five footer stocking (1.5mx0.7mx0.6m)

[Zionas]

Phase One of Stocking Plan:

First three fish-
x1 One-Spot Foxface (8”)

x2 Tank-Bred Common Ocellaris or B n W Ocellaris Clowns (3.5”)

(Wait 1 month)

Flexible: Marine Betta (8”) available, get Marine Betta. Marine Betta not available, get x3 PJ Cardinals (3.5”).

(Wait 1 month)

Get whatever fish I did not get previously.

(Wait 2 months)


Phase Two:

x3 Australian Stripeys (Microcanthus strigaster) (6”)

(Wait 2 months)

x1 Black and White Bannerfish (8.5”)

(Wait 1 month)

x2 Flame Hawkfish (4”)

Time elapsed at this point: 7 months


Am I stocking too quickly?


1-year mark: Centropyge angel (Flame-4”, Coral Beauty-4”, Half-Black-4”, one of the Pygmies-3”)


Do you see any incompatibility between the species I have chosen?



I want Foxface in first because they can be skittish and need time to adjust.

I want Clowns to go in with my Foxface to add a little more vitality to my new tank, and also to give them time to pair. Hope it works well. One big, one small. One 2-3cm, one 4-5cm.

Then, I’ll add the 3 PJ Cardinals and the Marine Betta. Which one goes first will depend on which one is available. If the Betta is available and at a good size IMO (6-8cm), I will get the Betta. If the Betta is not available at that point, I will get my trio of PJ Cardinals. Both are slow and peaceful fish, no problem with the other species.


Then, a slightly longer wait of 2 months before I add the Stripeys as a trio. They are peaceful and hardy, but they’re active swimmers, so I think I’ll need the 2 months to make my tank stabilize a bit more before I can add bioload.


Then, once my tank hits the 6-month mark, I’ll add a Bannerfish. Another active swimmer and from what I’ve read on WWM, Reef Central, and @4FordFamily (thank you!) on R2R, they benefit from more mature live rock and more stability overall though they’re a hardy species.


Then I’ll give it another month before I add my pair of Flame Hawks. I’ll buy two juveniles below 5cm and put them in together. Why I’m adding my Hawks relatively later is because they’re the semi-aggressive ones out of the bunch.

And once my tank hits the 1-year mark, a Centropyge to top it off. I’ve saved one for last because it’s perhaps the most feisty of the bunch, and also the susceptible to disease.


Let me know what you think.



Now from your experience, say if my tank suffered a crash due to disease or a power cut or whatever, which of the species I’ve chosen would likely to survive? Which ones would more likely die?

 

[dreamcatcherr9]

Sounds good to me; with added comment of testing ammonia and other parameters after each addition.

Once the bio load has adjusted to the change, no problem moving on to the next fish.

Of course I’m no expert, just my opinion.

 

[Zionas]

Very much appreciated.


If we take into consideration the swimming habits of each species:

Only 5-6 out of my 13-14 fish will be active swimmers.

OSFF

Trio of Stripeys

Bannerfish

Dwarf angel


The rest are much poorer swimmers:

Clowns

Hawks

Marine Betta

PJ Cardinals


I can’t wait to see the contrast between the two modes of activity. The open water fish doing laps around the tank. The PJs sort of hovering in the water, the Hawks perching on rocks and corals. The Clowns guarding their little area. The Marine Betta, slow and lazy, but gracing the tank when it comes out.

Also my build is meant to be a minimal jumpers build. It will have an acrylic top regardless, as I treat 95% of all species as jumpers rather than not, but the jumping is what has turned me off from many gobies, Wrasses, Firefish, and Dartfish.

I was originally thinking a YWG and Pistol Pair Shrimp but then I figured they’d have problems with my pair of Flame Hawks and maybe my Marine Betta will eat the shrimp.