Angelfish stocking advice?

[thediscobandit]

Hey everyone. I have a 36"lx24"wx36"h tank coming to me soon and I'm thinking about setting up my first reef tank. I have a lot of experience keeping freshwater fish but really thinking about shifting to a couple nice reef tanks in lieu of the 5-6 cichlid tanks constantly cluttering my house.

That being said im looking for stocking advice. I absolutely love angelfish, lionfish, and eels but im wondering what my tank could handle. The tank will be 130-140 gallons with a 75 gallon sump/fuge. Ive done considerable research into the additional equipment i will need to switch from fresh to salt and im prepared to make those purchases, but would live to hear some tips on setting up a cube-type, deep tank like mine, especially concerning lighting.

Im really into the goldflaked angelfish, apolemichthys xanthopunctatus, but i dont know if they would be a good fit for my tank. Im prepared to go with smaller species, but would really love to keep one of the larger more impressive angels if i could.

Any help would be appreciated. Im honestly in the dark with this marine fish business and just trying to do my due diligence before i stumble onto the scene lol. Thanks.

 

[swebb]

I believe a Goldflake angel would fit into a tank that size. I would definitely try to get a somewhat good idea of everything that you want to stock in the tank as I have heard that angles are not particularly friendly on what goes into the tank after them. I will say to take a look at the Chaetodontoplus genus as well. My Grey Poma angelfish has one of the coolest personalities in my tank, and it is even willing to eat out of my hand.

 

[eatbreakfast]

The goldflake should be fine in that size tank, though that would be about the largest angel I would recommend for that size tank.

Is the tank drilled? If not that will definitely limit the amount of fish the tank will hold.

Also, angels don't always mix well with coral depending on the type of coral and species of angel in the reef tank.

 

[thediscobandit]

The goldflake should be fine in that size tank, though that would be about the largest angel I would recommend for that size tank.

Is the tank drilled? If not that will definitely limit the amount of fish the tank will hold.

Also, angels don't always mix well with coral depending on the type of coral and species of angel in the reef tank.

Yes the tank is set up peninsula style with an external coast to coast overflow so the actual dimensions are around 40"lx24"wx36"h with the overflow box. Also getting a custom 75 gallon to fit under the stand for my sump/fuge. Its my first "nice" custom tank thats why i was considering going reef.

I have a lot more questions about setup but i was first just exploring stocking options before getting into all that. But of course i understand that my stock will have to abide by the capabilities of my system.

Good to hear that the goldflake would work out. Ideally i would just want to start with a just a couple harder/short polyp corals and figure out if they would work for an angel tank. Any suggestions on those?

Long term i would love to have some variety of dwarf moray if my tank allowed, and possibly a smaller variety of lionfish as tankmates for the angel. Any chance that these fish could cohab together?

 

[thediscobandit]

I believe a Goldflake angel would fit into a tank that size. I would definitely try to get a somewhat good idea of everything that you want to stock in the tank as I have heard that angles are not particularly friendly on what goes into the tank after them. I will say to take a look at the Chaetodontoplus genus as well. My Grey Poma angelfish has one of the coolest personalities in my tank, and it is even willing to eat out of my hand.

Thanks for the advice! I do like the look of the C. niger and C. poliourus. I was going to inquire about the personality of angels because ive always enjoyed the antics of my cichlids.

Tankmate capability will be important, but im prepared to make this a single species tank if need be. More interested in growing one nice pretty fish then jamming a tank full of unhappy ones. Been there done that ha.