75% rule

[WVNed]

People respectfully disagree about almost everything here so that'a ok

 

[WVNed]

In a 75 I have started with about 100 total of 5 kinds of snails, 30 hermits and 2 conchs. Of course some of them died and others made more so I dont know what I have now.
Half my rock came from a FOWLR tank and they ate it clean.

 

[norfolkgarden]

People respectfully disagree about almost everything here so that'a ok

Sorry to contradict. [emoji53]

I always look forward to your posts. [emoji4]

I did the crazy snail stocking level when I 1st started.
Nearly all of them died and just made it worse.

Snails per gallon might work for dwarf ceriths but it didn't work for astrea/trochus. At least not for me.

The current stocking level works long term.

Before and after pics

 

[WVNed]

Ya I did the ugly stuff. It went away. No drama

Really struggling with the camera stuff.

 

[norfolkgarden]

Ya I did the ugly stuff. It went away. No drama

Really struggling with the camera stuff.

Lol, your camera work is better than mine.

Nice tank!

 

[WVNed]

Thanks

 

[Jholli90]

45 inches of fish is 15 adult clownfish in your tank as a simple example.
So nope the rule doesn't work.

Your biofilter relies on a canister filter. Do you have a spare? If you max out your bioload and rely on equipment to maintain it like a canister filter it will break on a holiday weekend.
What if the power goes out.
Also biofilters have to grow. Add stuff slowly and let it do so.

You are pushing way to hard.

Once there is stuff to eat you figure a CUC by snails per gallon not 5 in a tank.

In that case, I would treat the tank like a 55 gallon with a couple more inches of height.

I like your list. The changes I might suggest would be:
Skip the tang.
Change the flame angel to a smaller flameback, or cherub or similar.

Would there be another fish with the flame's red color I could add?

 

[norfolkgarden]

Would there be another fish with the flame's red color I could add?

Unfortunately no. [emoji53]

Flame angelfish is one of the iconic and prettiest fish available. Start with a really small one. The 4 ' run matters more than the overall gallons. But it will be tight and they start out cranky.
I dumped ours in the pursuit of a really calm zen tank.
If you go with similar, mildly aggressive fish, it will work out fine.

A flasher or fairy wrasse comes close and they swim/travel as much, if you want something with a better disposition.

 

[nereefpat]

Would there be another fish with the flame's red color I could add?

There are some red/orange reef safe wrasses.

Flashers like carpenter's or yellowfin, or one of the smaller fairies like maybe C. rubeus. Check out the LA reef safe wrasse section for options. Add any fairies or flashers before the melanurus, or at least before the melanurus starts to mature.

 

[Jholli90]

45 inches of fish is 15 adult clownfish in your tank as a simple example.
So nope the rule doesn't work.

Your biofilter relies on a canister filter. Do you have a spare? If you max out your bioload and rely on equipment to maintain it like a canister filter it will break on a holiday weekend.
What if the power goes out.
Also biofilters have to grow. Add stuff slowly and let it do so.

You are pushing way to hard.

Once there is stuff to eat you figure a CUC by snails per gallon not 5 in a tank. You will need to multiply what you have by ten times to do anything useful.

I am getting a generator for power outage, and a spare is a good idea I hadn't considered. I will definitely get one. I didn't want to add a ton of snails because I was worried they wouldn't have enough food. I've read about people who add a ton at 1st but then they all starve. I have 14 at the moment (i forgot I had 3 trochus). I was looking at a year b4 my tank was fully stocked.

 

[WVNed]

Sound like a plan. A CUC is valuable but waiting until they have something to clean up is an excellent idea.

 

[Reef of Fillory]

Coral Beauties are great little fish as well - similar in size and temperment to the flame angels. I kept a Coral Beauty in my Biocube and never had any issues with aggression or skittishness/anxiousness.

IMO a flame angel or coral beauty would be fine in your tank - they do sometimes go after corals though. Had my CB in with a 1/2" mandarin as well and saw no aggression

 

[mta_morrow]

Would there be another fish with the flame's red color I could add?

A flame hawkfish is typically front and center when you are near the tank.

Same with the long nose hawkfish

But the flame hawkfish will definitely POP!

 

[Florida Sunshine]

I love my flame hawkfish. Just make sure your tank is covered. My first one would jump out of the tank at least once a week until we finally didn't see him in time. Now I have a screen cover and my replacement is fat and happy. They have great color and awesome personality.

 

[Jholli90]

A flame hawkfish is typically front and center when you are near the tank.

Same with the long nose hawkfish

But the flame hawkfish will definitely POP!

I wanted a hawkfish, but I like my hermits and shrimp.

 

[Jesterrace]

I was reading an article that mentioned something called the 75% rule. It means you take your tank size and multiply it by .75
The answer is amount of inches of adult fish you can have in your tank.
So by this rule a 60 gal × .75 equals 45 inches worth of fish that the tank would support.
Has anyone ever heard of this before? How accurate is it?

Any inches per gallon rated rule is a joke, it doesn't even work well for freshwater because it takes zero account of the level of activity or temperament of a given fish. There are larger fish that just kind of hang around (ie Marine Betta) and there are smaller fish (ie small Butterflyfish, Dwarf/Pygmy Angels) that don't get much more than 4-5 inches that need plenty of space not to feel cramped because they are active swimmers and the angels can be somewhat aggressive. The bottom line is that it's a combo of max size, level of activity and temperament (ie Peaceful, Semi-Aggressive, Aggressive). A more aggressive fish will do better with a larger tank.

On the stocking list, I agree skip the tang, and Flame Angel and sub a Pygmy Angel (ie Flameback, Cherubfish). As someone who had a Flame Angel that wasn't full grown in a 36 gallon tank, I can tell you it was a complete jerk to it's tank mates. Not saying the Flameback or Cherubfish wouldn't be but they stay smaller and would be less likely to be cramped in a smaller tank. Personally I would skip the Damsels and Chromis as well. Some have decent luck with them, but they are not a fish I would want to bother with due to temperament (ie Damsles) or the fact that they tend to pick each other off (Chromis). Definitely get a couple of conch snails, they will do wonders for your sandbed. I have 5 of them in my 90 gallon and they do a great job.

 

[Jesterrace]

Coral Beauties are great little fish as well - similar in size and temperment to the flame angels. I kept a Coral Beauty in my Biocube and never had any issues with aggression or skittishness/anxiousness.

IMO a flame angel or coral beauty would be fine in your tank - they do sometimes go after corals though. Had my CB in with a 1/2" mandarin as well and saw no aggression

Just me but I feel that the CB is less likely to be aggressive, although personally I wouldn't recommend them for a cube. I had a Flame in a 36 gallonbowfront and it was a complete jerk to his tank mates (targeted my purple firefish after about 30 seconds in the tank) and after a week it turned to coral nipping. My CB is virtually a model citizen in my 90 gallon, other than an occasional "get out of my way" charge towards my pajama cardinal and the once in a blue moon exploratory nip it is well behaved and regularly hangs out with it's tank mates with no issues.

 

[Reef of Fillory]

Just me but I feel that the CB is less likely to be aggressive, although personally I wouldn't recommend them for a cube. I had a Flame in a 36 gallonbowfront and it was a complete jerk to his tank mates (targeted my purple firefish after about 30 seconds in the tank) and after a week it turned to coral nipping. My CB is virtually a model citizen in my 90 gallon, other than an occasional "get out of my way" charge towards my pajama cardinal and the once in a blue moon exploratory nip it is well behaved and regularly hangs out with it's tank mates with no issues.

Almost all advice given in this hobby is anecdotal - with that said, you're comparing a Flame Angel in a 36 gallon to a Coral Beauty in a 90 gallon. I don't think that's a fair assessment.

Anyone who is contemplating an angel of any type in a reef must understand and realize the risk in them becoming interested in corals.

IMO much of a fish's personality and aggressiveness comes from a combination of aquascaping choice, tank size, food availability and tank-mate choices. It's hard to assume that a list of fish will get along before you can assess what you've got in your tank already and how they interact. For instance, I got a goby/shrimp pair, and my firefish killed the goby [assuming] and now lives in the burrows with a pistol shrimp.

 

[mta_morrow]

Any inches per gallon rated rule is a joke, it doesn't even work well for freshwater because it takes zero account of the level of activity or temperament of a given fish. There are larger fish that just kind of hang around (ie Marine Betta) and there are smaller fish (ie small Butterflyfish, Dwarf/Pygmy Angels) that don't get much more than 4-5 inches that need plenty of space not to feel cramped because they are active swimmers and the angels can be somewhat aggressive. The bottom line is that it's a combo of max size, level of activity and temperament (ie Peaceful, Semi-Aggressive, Aggressive). A more aggressive fish will do better with a larger tank.

On the stocking list, I agree skip the tang, and Flame Angel and sub a Pygmy Angel (ie Flameback, Cherubfish). As someone who had a Flame Angel that wasn't full grown in a 36 gallon tank, I can tell you it was a complete jerk to it's tank mates. Not saying the Flameback or Cherubfish wouldn't be but they stay smaller and would be less likely to be cramped in a smaller tank. Personally I would skip the Damsels and Chromis as well. Some have decent luck with them, but they are not a fish I would want to bother with due to temperament (ie Damsles) or the fact that they tend to pick each other off (Chromis). Definitely get a couple of conch snails, they will do wonders for your sandbed. I have 5 of them in my 90 gallon and they do a great job.

You are correct on chromis.

Very much off base for chrysiptera damsel fish.

 

[norfolkgarden]

I wanted a hawkfish, but I like my hermits and shrimp.

Our hermit crabs are fine and you would want to get a large fire shrimp or a large cleaner shrimp and a small flame hawk and that still wouldn't be completely guaranteed.
But ours have been fine.

It's an absolutely beautiful fish but it's a completely different color than the orange of the angelfish.
They are very complimentary of each other.
The flame hawk was not one of the fish the angelfish was capable of bullying.

The 3 azure damsels should also do ok with the flame angelfish.

As a personal preference I would never get another chromos or blue chromis in my life.