270g New Build - Need Fish Recommendations

[DaddyO NJ]

I am stocking a new 270g tank. 72x30x30
Moving an eight year old yellow tang and blue hippo (Nemo fish from when kids were small!) I will have lps and sps. Looking for some schooling fish and triggers to add.

is there a limit in the types and qty that can added together?

 

[blaxsun]

Lots and lots of fish. So many fish...

 

[Zionas]

If you’re okay taking a risk with corals, you could consider some of the “smaller” large angels. A pair of Red Sea Regals, Goldflakes, or maybe Blue Lines would be a nice showpiece. I’d add them and get them established before adding too many Tangs. Or you could go for a trio of Genicanthus: Spotbreast, Bellus, Watanabei, Japanese Masked Swallowtail.
As for Triggers, your best reef safe bets are the Xanthicthys (think that’s how it’s spelled?) genus as they’re planktivores.

 

[Just a Wrasse.]

Lots and lots of fish. So many fish...

Agreed.

 

[Just a Wrasse.]

If you’re okay taking a risk with corals, you could consider some of the “smaller” large angels. A pair of Red Sea Regals, Goldflakes, or maybe Blue Lines would be a nice showpiece. I’d add them and get them established before adding too many Tangs. Or you could go for a trio of Genicanthus: Spotbreast, Bellus, Watanabei, Japanese Masked Swallowtail.
As for Triggers, your best reef safe bets are the Xanthicthys (think that’s how it’s spelled?) genus as they’re planktivores.

Cool ideas, must try!

 

[Zionas]

You’re welcome. And sorry I love reef safe with caution fish like angels a lot.

 

[i cant think]

I am stocking a new 270g tank. 72x30x30
Moving an eight year old yellow tang and blue hippo (Nemo fish from when kids were small!) I will have lps and sps. Looking for some schooling fish and triggers to add.

is there a limit in the types and qty that can added together?

Desjardini sailfin tang (It may look a bit small in that tank size though),
wrasse. They don’t quite school but they are filled with colour and don’t stop, just avoid Scott’s fairy wrasses - Unless you find a peaceful one in the LFS.
A butterflyfish (Don’t try the basic ones and go for risky coral nippers if you’d risk it for angels too)
A Foxface, Venomous but peaceful and doesn’t try and sting you unless you grab it from the top,
Bristletooth tang (Some of these guys are underrated from their colouration)

 

[Zionas]

If you go for large angels, some species have been captive bred for a while and are worth considering:
1. Majestic
2. Goldflake (Biota has both the pure strain and the hybrid with the Flagfin, IMO the pure Goldflake looks better)
3. Blue Line / Maze

 

[i cant think]

If you go for large angels, some species have been captive bred for a while and are worth considering:
1. Majestic
2. Goldflake (Biota has both the pure strain and the hybrid with the Flagfin, IMO the pure Goldflake looks better)
3. Blue Line / Maze

The only thing with these is how they can be very expensive depending on where you are. I’m not trying to get you off of these though because it’s actually VERY fun to watch fish go from juvenile to adult and you know how long you’ll have them for.

 

[Zionas]

That’s true. I actually live halfway across the world (China) and I can get a captive bred Majestic for 60-70 pounds.

I love these and the Regal.

 

[i cant think]

That’s true. I actually live halfway across the world (China) and I can get a captive bred Majestic for 60-70 pounds.

I love these and the Regal.

I’m in Britain and the last captive bred Angel I saw was a majestic for £200-£400 I think
But that was when they had only JUST been captive bred

 

[Zionas]

I’m sure the prices will have gone down a bit. Last I checked they’re not overly pricey. A captive bred Conspicuous on the other hand….. probably 2700-2800 GBP. We get captive bred Majestic Angels regularly, Goldflakes (though I was disappointed to find out they’re the Goldflake x Flagfin hybrids) with fair regularity, and sometimes the Blue Lines too. Blue Lines aren’t bred by Bali Aquarich but by companies in Taiwan as they source their stock from southern Taiwan.

Asfur and Maculosus are also captive bred in Taiwan but they get too big for most tanks. I prefer Asfur over the “Mac.” Regals we’re successfully bred by Bali Aquarich 2 years ago but I have not once seen a specimen for sale so I think that was probably a one off success and they’re still working on the protocol.

On the Centropyge side, I am a little perplexed as to why Bali or anyone else in Asia haven’t bred the Coral Beauty or Flame when we can’t get any from Western sources. Bali Aquarich though has offered captive bred Venusta, Multibar, Colin’s, and more recently the Aurantia (Golden), as well as Lemonpeel x Half Black hybrids. I’ve also seen their captive bred Clarions, and I’ve seen crosses between Goldflakes and Griffis though not sure where this particular hybrid was bred (and whether they occur naturally). Taiwan has also bred the Bicolor but the Taiwanese breeders aren’t very well-known to us “Western” trained hobbyists.

Scribbled Angels from them were captive bred regularly but I haven’t seen them for about 2 years. They used to show up in every shipment. There’s one place that sometimes gets in the Poma Labs Conspic but the price is on par with a captive bred Clarion and I honestly feel there’s better looking fish than these two.

I’m not sure if you’ve heard of John Coppolino, but to paraphrase him, a fish being rare or unusual or expensive doesn’t hold appeal. It has to be attractive, something one would like to have for a while.

A research institute in China managed to breed the common yellow Foxface (Vulpinus) and I often see specimens for sale and sold cheaply. I’m not sure if they pair during mating or whether they broadcast spawn and get together in the masses during breeding season. If it’s the latter that means this institute must have huge facilities.

 

[i cant think]

I’m not sure if you’ve heard of John Coppolino, but to paraphrase him, a fish being rare or unusual or expensive doesn’t hold appeal. It has to be attractive, something one would like to have for a while.

I actually agree with this, a fish isn’t nice if it’s rare or unusual, it’s only nice if YOU like it and it really pops in the shop. I don’t find rare fish to be nice but I find the common things like Lubbock fairies to be eye catching

 

[Zionas]

For me I can’t say I’ve never drooled over the rare stuff featured from time to time on Reef Builders, usually stuff like deepwater angels and basslets, Anthias (the more common varieties people keep in shoals don’t appeal to me, I’m more into the larger and solitary types), sometimes a wrasse or two, but a lot of the not so rare or collector stuff is already very appealing. I can see myself wanting some of the rare stuff but it’s not a deal breaker for me when it comes my interest in the hobby if I can’t have them.

Plenty of guys here with beautiful large setups don’t have any species in almost “unobtanium” territory.

And at the end of the day some of it is relative rather than absolute. Two of the angels I listed, the Blue Line and Goldflake, I’m sure were in the very rare category not too long ago due to their limited natural distributions. And fish like Regal Angels, John Coppolino in his 2011 article said that just 15-20 years ago not a lot of people had success with them long term but now we see plenty.

 

[i cant think]

I am stocking a new 270g tank. 72x30x30
Moving an eight year old yellow tang and blue hippo (Nemo fish from when kids were small!) I will have lps and sps. Looking for some schooling fish and triggers to add.

is there a limit in the types and qty that can added together?

What did you end up going for?

 

[jjmuesch]

I really love my majestic fox foxface. He helps a lot with the algae.

Also a group of zebra barred dartfish but they might be too small for your tank