First additions to my 180....thoughts?

[Jakepen]

Should have my tank cycling in a week or two. Closest decent fish store is hour and a half away, so it’s not often I’ll be making that trip. Also will being quarantining, so these two factors combined is while I’ll be adding multiple fish at a time. For my first batch I was thinking a Copper band butterfly, Midas blenny, multibar angel, and two firefish. Maybe one or two more, possibly a hawk fish, some kind of goby. I would like to get wrasse, but I’ve heard that QT is quite difficult with them, might be better to treat them solo? Any thoughts I would appreciate.

 

[Ocelaris]

Wrasses are fine to quarantine with others basically, with the exception of leopards and maybe some of the rare ones. But wrasses require a lot of planning.

Whatever you get, make a long term list and add them in the order of least aggressive first as it will be hard to add them later.

With a copper band, try to get some live black worms as they're hard to get eating. Also the copper band rules out similar tangs like yellow tangs.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

My thoughts: no serious conflicts but a few things stand out...

Two firefish may not work out in the long haul. Midas blenny might nip firefish, especially if qt is cramped. Angel is sensitive to ammonia so keep a close watch on that, depending on qt setup. Hawkfish may be a little boisterous in qt if the cbb is slow to eat or if the firefish is skittish.

Firefish, cbb, goby and (if enough space and biocapacity) the angel sounds like a good group to me.

Good luck the first fish is an exciting time!

 

[Jakepen]

Wrasses are fine to quarantine with others basically, with the exception of leopards and maybe some of the rare ones. But wrasses require a lot of planning.

Whatever you get, make a long term list and add them in the order of least aggressive first as it will be hard to add them later.

With a copper band, try to get some live black worms as they're hard to get eating. Also the copper band rules out similar tangs like yellow tangs.

Yeah, plan is to add least aggressive to most aggressive ie. tangs last. With a copperband I shouldn’t add certain tangs, why because of similar shape?

 

[Jakepen]

My thoughts: no serious conflicts but a few things stand out...

Two firefish may not work out in the long haul. Midas blenny might nip firefish, especially if qt is cramped. Angel is sensitive to ammonia so keep a close watch on that, depending on qt setup. Hawkfish may be a little boisterous in qt if the cbb is slow to eat or if the firefish is skittish.

Firefish, cbb, goby and (if enough space and biocapacity) the angel sounds like a good group to me.

Good luck the first fish is an exciting time!

Why not two firefish, Would it be better to get more, or only one? Also QT tank will be a jbj 30 gallon cube.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Firefish often won't coexist in the long run. they will be fine in qt but eventually one will likely intimidate the other to starvation. Usually Best to keep only one

 

[pcon]

Firefish are perfectly fine together. Three or more firefish is probably better to diffuse some aggression.

It seems like a bold move to put in 2 very difficult fish in your first batch. Both the Copper Band and Multibar are really finicky eaters difficult to get to eat prepared foods. Often I have had to try a dozen or more foods to get one to eat. IME Copper Bands are easier to get eating. In either case the multibar absolutely should only be put into a mature tank with lots of sponge, pods and algae coating the rocks as they are constant grazers. The copper band also greatly benefits from a similarly mature tank.

I would suggest that neither a Copper Band Butterfly nor a Multibar Angelfish are advisable in the first batch of fish. Both require considerable effort to get and keep eating, and are very fragile fish, not what you want for a packed quarantine.

Hawk, wrasse(fairy or Halichoeres), goby/blenny, and some firefish would be a fantastic initial stocking and would be happy in a small quarantine together.

 

[Ocelaris]

I agree with pcon wholly, but to answer your question about tangs, yes, the same shape and color makes them defensive.

Hawkfish can be aggressive to smaller fish, I had to get rid of mine because he was attacking a Watanabe angel!
Something that plays into your selection is what if any corals, clams, shrimp you are looking to keep long term. I've had to take out a few fish due to them picking on shrimp, clams and corals. Copper bands will possibly eat clams.

 

[Jakepen]

Jeez, there is so much thought that goes into stocking a tank haha. Alright, so no multibar, really have my mind set on a CBB. My justification was since he is such a peaceful fish, I wanted to get him in early so he could establish himself. Makes sense though, if I put him in QT with six other fish he may not get any of the food that I put in there. Back to the drawing board I guess.

I know I want lyretails, seven or so.
Definitely want a handful of wrasse
Tangs, but those will be added last.
I do want a triggerfish, but I know that is a risk. Harlequin tusk would be amazing.

I guess my thing was always Coral, in my first tank (30 gallon) I focoused so much on coral, I never learned much or explored a lot into fish, so my ideas are pretty limited. If you guys were stocking a 180, what would be the first six fish you add? I would love some ideas....first batch would ideally be quite active.

 

[Mini Coop]

Jeez, there is so much thought that goes into stocking a tank haha. Alright, so no multibar, really have my mind set on a CBB. My justification was since he is such a peaceful fish, I wanted to get him in early so he could establish himself. Makes sense though, if I put him in QT with six other fish he may not get any of the food that I put in there. Back to the drawing board I guess.

I know I want lyretails, seven or so.
Definitely want a handful of wrasse
Tangs, but those will be added last.
I do want a triggerfish, but I know that is a risk. Harlequin tusk would be amazing.

I guess my thing was always Coral, in my first tank (30 gallon) I focoused so much on coral, I never learned much or explored a lot into fish, so my ideas are pretty limited. If you guys were stocking a 180, what would be the first six fish you add? I would love some ideas....first batch would ideally be quite active.

Hey there! I am currently stocking a new 180 as well. I am working on my list and am lucky to have a store closer, so I don't have to get so much at once.

Right now I have 2 cardinals and 2 wheeler's shrimp goby's in QT. I will add my clowns, flamehawk and scooter blenny (These are in my current 120 at my in-laws). I also have a foxface and sailfin - but they are both pretty big, so they will stay there until I am ready to put them into the tank here.

Future for me:
Next round: Anthias
Wrasse: McCosker, Carpenters and one other that I haven't decided on
Firefish: Only one purple firefish
Flame Angel
Powder Blue Tang, Powder Brown Tang and my sailfin
my "showfish" will be the niger trigger.

I try to keep only 2-3 fish at a time in QT. I have had much better success that way. And also, I will say - I have had terrible problems with ammonia in my QT. I have had to do DAILY water changes at 50%. It was terrible. Even with little amounts of fish. This time, I spent the $ on the fritz turbo start. I put a small bottle of it in the QT. It is a large amount of live nitrifying bacteria that avoids the ammonia spike. I was going to use this in my DT to cycle the tank, but was a little scared. It worked wonders!! The fish have been in my QT for almost 2 weeks with NO ammonia spike at ALL!!! I have done a couple of small water changes to suck out the leftover food, but that is IT! The ammonia badge hasn't even veered a little from completely yellow.

 

[Kmsutows]

Jeez, there is so much thought that goes into stocking a tank haha. Alright, so no multibar, really have my mind set on a CBB. My justification was since he is such a peaceful fish, I wanted to get him in early so he could establish himself. Makes sense though, if I put him in QT with six other fish he may not get any of the food that I put in there. Back to the drawing board I guess.

I know I want lyretails, seven or so.
Definitely want a handful of wrasse
Tangs, but those will be added last.
I do want a triggerfish, but I know that is a risk. Harlequin tusk would be amazing.

I guess my thing was always Coral, in my first tank (30 gallon) I focoused so much on coral, I never learned much or explored a lot into fish, so my ideas are pretty limited. If you guys were stocking a 180, what would be the first six fish you add? I would love some ideas....first batch would ideally be quite active.

PLEASE hold off on the copperband. They are very difficult for a tank that isn't established especially. They do not readily eat out of the water column they take a lot of work to train. Live black worms are an absolute must. Established tank because they constantly graze looking for food in live rock. They live off worms in the wild like tube worms. They also have very tiny mouths so need very small food and will absolutely be out competed for food, especially because they need to be trained to eat food out of the water column.

Lyretail anthias look great but can get aggressive both with another and out competed smaller more docile fish for food. They can go in towards the end of your stocking list

 

[Jakepen]

PLEASE hold off on the copperband. They are very difficult for a tank that isn't established especially. They do not readily eat out of the water column they take a lot of work to train. Live black worms are an absolute must. Established tank because they constantly graze looking for food in live rock. They live off worms in the wild like tube worms. They also have very tiny mouths so need very small food and will absolutely be out competed for food, especially because they need to be trained to eat food out of the water column.

Lyretail anthias look great but can get aggressive both with another and out competed smaller more docile fish for food. They can go in towards the end of your stocking list

Alright, kind of a catch 22 with the CBB isn’t it. Best to go into a established tank, yet would be better to add them before many fish get in the tank. I will hold off for a half a year or so. Lyretail I can wait as well. Just have to come up with a new list.

Thanks for your input Mini coop! I’ve been creeping on your build thread a bit. I ha s a friend that has been soaking some sponges in his tank for a while, plan on throwing those in my QT (I know about possible med absorption, not concerned) so I don’t have to worry everyday about ammonia spikes.

 

[Mini Coop]

Alright, kind of a catch 22 with the CBB isn’t it. Best to go into a established tank, yet would be better to add them before many fish get in the tank. I will hold off for a half a year or so. Lyretail I can wait as well. Just have to come up with a new list.

Thanks for your input Mini coop! I’ve been creeping on your build thread a bit. I ha s a friend that has been soaking some sponges in his tank for a while, plan on throwing those in my QT (I know about possible med absorption, not concerned) so I don’t have to worry everyday about ammonia spikes.

Just a warning - I have done that too. I always soak a sponge for at least a month before using in QT. A sponge shouldn't absorb medication at all. Just get the ammonia badge to keep an eye on things. If you run into trouble, the fritz was worth the money in time and salt that I have saved!

 

[Mini Coop]

Just a warning - I have done that too. I always soak a sponge for at least a month before using in QT. A sponge shouldn't absorb medication at all. Just get the ammonia badge to keep an eye on things. If you run into trouble, the fritz was worth the money in time and salt that I have saved!

Als0 - hahaha - creep away! But don't be afraid to ask questions and give your input as well! I love to learn from others!