Fish stocking help

[Mrod]

In process of getting fish for RSR250 (36”, 54 gallons)

looking for colorful, reef safe fish that will be compatible, somewhat hardy and easy to care for.

couple things to know
- already have an talbot damsel
- tank is bare bottom
- high flow SPS dominant reef tank planning
- have some sexy shrimp
- will be getting a lawnmower blenny
- will be getting a flasher wrasse (Best to just have 1?)

where I need help/ideas is what else to add?
- flame hawk fish (hoping anemone would protect
- banghai cardinal

Any thoughts on above, better choices, etc?
No anthias or tangs due to shorter lifespan or needing to swap later as they get older that I don’t feel like dealing with.

Any help appreciated, especially from the veterans/experts who have seen it all and probably tried them all, lol.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions provided.

 

[avgreen]

If you're really looking to do SPS dominant then I would seriously consider minimal stocking. So, find a few super cool fish that you might have always wanted to keep and thats that. With the obligatory caution out of the way, I love flame hawks and highly suggest them just because they are awesome to watch jump around the tank like Mario. Flasher Wrasse are awesome and if you're going to keep them I suggest keeping a group of at least 3 with 1 male and 2 female of the same species and adding them at the same time. Keeping some wrasse are like keeping tangs in that if you are going to try to keep multiple, you want to keep more than two because it helps distribute possible aggression. The reason I say to keep a group rather than just one is for two reasons: 1. they're a super fun fish to have and watch zip between corals. 2. having females with a male will encourage him to keep brighter colors and "flash" more often. I also suggest getting a yellow hali wrasse and a blue streak cleaner wrasse cause they're fun. But like I said, less is more.

 

[nereefpat]

Azure damsel - fine
Lawnmower - fine
Flasher - fine. You can mix, but different species
Flame hawk - love them. They are usually safe with bigger cleaner shrimp, but the sexy shrimp worry me a bit
Cardinal - fine.

Good list. If you went with skunk or fire cleaner shrimp, the hawk would be less of a risk.

 

[nereefpat]

Flasher Wrasse are awesome and if you're going to keep them I suggest keeping a group of at least 3 with 1 male and 2 female of the same species and adding them at the same time. Keeping some wrasse are like keeping tangs in that if you are going to try to keep multiple, you want to keep more than two because it helps distribute possible aggression. The reason I say to keep a group rather than just one is for two reasons: 1. they're a super fun fish to have and watch zip between corals. 2. having females with a male will encourage him to keep brighter colors and "flash" more often.

They all turn male eventually. Standard practice is to not keep more than one of each species.

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

In process of getting fish for RSR250 (36”, 54 gallons)

looking for colorful, reef safe fish that will be compatible, somewhat hardy and easy to care for.

couple things to know
- already have an talbot damsel
- tank is bare bottom
- high flow SPS dominant reef tank planning
- have some sexy shrimp
- will be getting a lawnmower blenny
- will be getting a flasher wrasse (Best to just have 1?)

where I need help/ideas is what else to add?
- flame hawk fish (hoping anemone would protect
- banghai cardinal

Any thoughts on above, better choices, etc?
No anthias or tangs due to shorter lifespan or needing to swap later as they get older that I don’t feel like dealing with.

Any help appreciated, especially from the veterans/experts who have seen it all and probably tried them all, lol.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions provided.

Tangs and anthias are by no means short lived, ive heard of some tangs living until theyre 20 or so in captivity, and i have a lyretail anthias who is 4 years old with me so probaly at least 5 and going, so i wouldnt rule them out on that. If you stick to the more docile anthias like dispar ,randalls etc then youre not going to have to replace as much, or at all

 

[Mrod]

Gotcha. Tangs more for size. Anthias har need lots of feeding but they are beautiful and maybe in future.
Will try some flasher and good to know multiple better and glad to hear about the flame hawk as think I’ll try one also as they look really cool.

thank you both

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Gotcha. Tangs more for size. Anthias har need lots of feeding but they are beautiful and maybe in future.
Will try some flasher and good to know multiple better and glad to hear about the flame hawk as think I’ll try one also as they look really cool.

thank you both

Oh sorry i only.noticed your tank size, i missed it initially.

 

[Albertan22]

If you're really looking to do SPS dominant then I would seriously consider minimal stocking. So, find a few super cool fish that you might have always wanted to keep and thats that. With the obligatory caution out of the way, I love flame hawks and highly suggest them just because they are awesome to watch jump around the tank like Mario. Flasher Wrasse are awesome and if you're going to keep them I suggest keeping a group of at least 3 with 1 male and 2 female of the same species and adding them at the same time. Keeping some wrasse are like keeping tangs in that if you are going to try to keep multiple, you want to keep more than two because it helps distribute possible aggression. The reason I say to keep a group rather than just one is for two reasons: 1. they're a super fun fish to have and watch zip between corals. 2. having females with a male will encourage him to keep brighter colors and "flash" more often. I also suggest getting a yellow hali wrasse and a blue streak cleaner wrasse cause they're fun. But like I said, less is more.

I’m certainly no sps expert but your thoughts on minimal stocking seem very old school. A lot of the people I’ve been following on social media seem to be advocating more fish so that you don’t need to dose nitrate and phosphate.

 

[Mrod]

It is interesting as do see some prefer ULM and some the higher feeding,flow and light successfully. More than 1 way to skin a cat true here I guess.

obviously more fish the better if I can do that. Is it best to know the limit by when your unable to keep the no3 and po4 to desired level as guideline? I do have a sump and skimmer and will add gradually. Also as tank matures should make it easier, I’m going several months lights out to help - sucks seeing a tank running empty now with just 1 damsel and no lights But being very patient, lol