Help with 90 Gallon Stocking List

Ironclad · Aug 4, 2023

As the title suggests I would like some help with the stocking list of the upcoming reef tank I am going to start. The tank is 90 gallons and the measurements are 48x18x24. The livestock I plan to add are;

Pair of clownfish
Kole Tang
A Bristletooth Tang
Royal Gramma
Pair of Bangii Cardinal
Midas Blenny
Orage Spot Gobby
Melanarus Wrasse
Canary Wrasse
Fire Shrimp
Urchin
Assorted Clean up crew

I am just wanting to make 100% sure that the fish are compatible and that the list isnt too much for the tank. What also would be helpful would be the order in which to add the fish. I am planning to start the tank about 4 months from now. I have done SOOOOOOOOO much research and want to make sure that everything goes as correctly as possible. Thanks for your help!

blaxsun · Aug 4, 2023

Other than the kole tang the list looks ok (the kole tang is way too big for 90-gallons). Order really depends on the individual fish personalities, but probably add the tang last and the goby first - and everything else somewhere in the middle.

Pickle_soup · Aug 4, 2023

I am not part of the tang police, but 4 feet for a tang is a bit short. I downsized from 220 to 125, but it's a bit longer, and I did not stack the LR against the back this time. My tangs love it. They now can take big laps around the tank, and I noticed that they are much happier. I would not put tangs in anything smaller than 125 gallons.

Anemone_Fanatic · Aug 4, 2023

Looks good for the most part. A 90 gallon is plenty for a kole tang, people seem to forget that they only grow to about 6". Many of the smaller Ctenochaetus and Zebrasoma tangs are perfectly content with a 4' tank. People think a 6' tank is significantly better than a 4' tank, when in reality both are tiny spaces for a fish which usually lives in a 352,670,000,000,000,000,000 gallon "tank". There are many people with two (or even three) tangs in a 4' tank, and it usually works out fine. I wouldn't recommend more than one because it can get hard to manage aggression/parasites, but it is by no means cruel to the fish.

Be sure to quarantine all fish in a tank with a tang, they're super vulnerable to external parasites.

It can be hard to pair bangaii cardinals, you need to get a male and female, which can be difficult with them as they're a fixed-gender species. Oftentimes, people will start out with a small group of them in order to ensure a pair, removing the excess males/females once a pair has formed.

Also, try to introduce the two Halichoeres wrasses at the same time. They should be alright together, but there's the possibility of one becoming territorial if it has time to establish itself in the tank.

Good luck!

littlefoxx · Aug 4, 2023

A kole tang is apart of the bristletooth tangs, were you planning on two of them? In that tank size I would only do one of the bristletooths (yellow eye, blue eye, gold eye, white tail kole tangs or a tomini tang) tominis are 6 inches the koles tend to get to be about 8 inches.

Pickle_soup · Aug 4, 2023

Anemone_Fanatic said:
Looks good for the most part. A 90 gallon is plenty for a kole tang, people seem to forget that they only grow to about 6". Many of the smaller Ctenochaetus and Zebrasoma tangs are perfectly content with a 4' tank. People think a 6' tank is significantly better than a 4' tank, when in reality both are tiny spaces for a fish which usually lives in a 352,670,000,000,000,000,000 gallon "tank". There are many people with two (or even three) tangs in a 4' tank, and it usually works out fine. I wouldn't recommend more than one because it can get hard to manage aggression/parasites, but it is by no means cruel to the fish.

Be sure to quarantine all fish in a tank with a tang, they're super vulnerable to external parasites.

It can be hard to pair bangaii cardinals, you need to get a male and female, which can be difficult with them as they're a fixed-gender species. Oftentimes, people will start out with a small group of them in order to ensure a pair, removing the excess males/females once a pair has formed.

Also, try to introduce the two Halichoeres wrasses at the same time. They should be alright together, but there's the possibility of one becoming territorial if it has time to establish itself in the tank.

Good luck!

2 feet of extra swimming space is significant. That's 50% more space. That's a silly comparison. Since we can't replicate

352,670,000,000,000,000,000 gallon "tank"

in our homes, why not keep tangs in 10 gallons? That's like me saying there is no difference for you with a 150 sq ft living room vs 300 sq ft since we live on a planet that has 1,597,675,921,459,200 sq ft.

littlefoxx · Aug 4, 2023

If you do a bristletooth tang you gotta make sure youve got room for it to swim and make an obstacle course of sorts. Personally Im not a fan of tangs in anything less than 6 feet but Ive seen people do it in your dimension tank before, just be very creative with your rocks as they like to cruise the open space and swim in and out of arches and stuff.

blaxsun · Aug 4, 2023

Pickle_soup said:
2 feet of extra swimming space is significant. That's 50% more space. That's a silly comparison. Since we can't replicate in our homes, why not keep tangs in 10 gallons? That's like me saying there is no difference for you with a 150 sq ft living room vs 300 sq ft since we live on a planet that has 1,597,675,921,459,200 sq ft.

There's a big difference between Chicago and Hong Kong. Just saying...

blaxsun · Aug 4, 2023

littlefoxx said:
If you do a bristletooth tang you gotta make sure youve got room for it to swim and make an obstacle course of sorts. Personally Im not a fan of tangs in anything less than 6 feet but Ive seen people do it in your dimension tank before, just be very creative with your rocks as they like to cruise the open space and swim in and out of arches and stuff.

All of this. This is the rock scape on my 71" 160-gallon display. Although not apparent there are probably 20 caves, arches and ledges that the fish routinely run an obstacle course through. They've even found spots they can squeeze through sideways that I would've thought daunting. They also need ample "resting" space for both sleep or just to chill.

littlefoxx · Aug 4, 2023

This is my rock space in my 70 gallon. Had to hold a purple tang in there for two weeks as I had a part break on the set up of my six footer and he made use of the arches like crazy until I could move him to the bigger tank

Anemone_Fanatic · Aug 4, 2023

Pickle_soup said:
2 feet of extra swimming space is significant. That's 50% more space. That's a silly comparison. Since we can't replicate

in our homes, why not keep tangs in 10 gallons? That's like me saying there is no difference for you with a 150 sq ft living room vs 300 sq ft since we live on a planet that has 1,597,675,921,459,200 sq ft.

A 48" x 18" tank is 6 sqft. A 72" x 18" tank is 9 sqft. It's more like a 300 vs 200 sqft living room. Still a difference, but not much.

I'll note that you made no complaints against the 5" melanurus and canary wrasses, despite them being nearly as long as the tang. As a matter of fact, they're much more active swimmers than any Ctenochaetus species of surgeonfish. The tang swims around from rock to rock all day picking at algae, but the wrasses zoom around like little torpedos constantly. If the tang needs a 6' tank, surely they would need an 8'? Of course not. That's absurd, there's many of them in 3' tanks which are happy as clams.

It's more about what's in the tank than how big it is. As you said in your own post, your tangs seemed happier in the 125 gallon with an open aquascape than in the 220. High flow and a good aquascape is more important than length, IMO. I'd rather live in the 200 sqft room with a treadmill than in the 300sqft without, wouldn't you?

littlefoxx · Aug 4, 2023

Anemone_Fanatic said:
A 48" x 18" tank is 6 sqft. A 72" x 18" tank is 9 sqft. It's more like a 300 vs 200 sqft living room. Still a difference, but not much.

I'll note that you made no complaints against the 5" melanurus and canary wrasses, despite them being nearly as long as the tang. As a matter of fact, they're much more active swimmers than any Ctenochaetus species of surgeonfish. The tang swims around from rock to rock all day picking at algae, but the wrasses zoom around like little torpedos constantly. If the tang needs a 6' tank, surely they would need an 8'? Of course not. That's absurd, there's many of them in 3' tanks which are happy as clams.

It's more about what's in the tank than how big it is. As you said in your own post, your tangs seemed happier in the 125 gallon with an open aquascape than in the 220. High flow and a good aquascape is more important than length, IMO. I'd rather live in the 200 sqft room with a treadmill than in the 300sqft without, wouldn't you?

Not to get in this little squabble but 72 inches is actually 6 feet not 9 feet and 48 inches is 4 feet not 6 feet, other than that Im stayin out of this one!

littlefoxx · Aug 4, 2023

Anemone_Fanatic said:
A 48" x 18" tank is 6 sqft. A 72" x 18" tank is 9 sqft. It's more like a 300 vs 200 sqft living room. Still a difference, but not much.

I'll note that you made no complaints against the 5" melanurus and canary wrasses, despite them being nearly as long as the tang. As a matter of fact, they're much more active swimmers than any Ctenochaetus species of surgeonfish. The tang swims around from rock to rock all day picking at algae, but the wrasses zoom around like little torpedos constantly. If the tang needs a 6' tank, surely they would need an 8'? Of course not. That's absurd, there's many of them in 3' tanks which are happy as clams.

It's more about what's in the tank than how big it is. As you said in your own post, your tangs seemed happier in the 125 gallon with an open aquascape than in the 220. High flow and a good aquascape is more important than length, IMO. I'd rather live in the 200 sqft room with a treadmill than in the 300sqft without, wouldn't you?

Also giggling at the torpedo comment cause thats so true haha

Anemone_Fanatic · Aug 4, 2023

littlefoxx said:
Not to get in this little squabble but 72 inches is actually 6 feet not 9 feet and 48 inches is 4 feet not 6 feet, other than that Im stayin out of this one!

I'm talking about square feet for this one, not length. I'm not that bad at math, give me a little credit!

4 x 1.5 = 6,
6 x 1.5 = 9.

littlefoxx · Aug 4, 2023

Anemone_Fanatic said:
I'm talking about square feet for this one, not length. I'm not that bad at math, give me a little credit!

4 x 1.5 = 6,
6 x 1.5 = 9.

Oh I see

Ironclad · Aug 4, 2023

Super helpful info! I'm planning on introducing fish slowly and then chorals once the tank is good and established. From what I understand have differing opinions on the Tangs but from everything I have read the Kole tang doesn't get as large as some of the other tangs, Regal tang for example. I just think, and I don't think I'm alone in this opinion, that tangs are really beautiful, and would prefer to have more than one in my tank. Two of the smaller tangs. I planned on introducing the clowns first and maybe the goby. Then once the tank is established start to do the rest of the stock list. Tangs together, wrasses together, and so on.

littlefoxx · Aug 4, 2023

Ironclad said:
Super helpful info! I'm planning on introducing fish slowly and then chorals once the tank is good and established. From what I understand have differing opinions on the Tangs but from everything I have read the Kole tang doesn't get as large as some of the other tangs, Regal tang for example. I just think, and I don't think I'm alone in this opinion, that tangs are really beautiful, and would prefer to have more than one in my tank. Two of the smaller tangs. I planned on introducing the clowns first and maybe the goby. Then once the tank is established start to do the rest of the stock list. Tangs together, wrasses together, and so on.

Tangs are indeed beautiful, but you need to take care by selecting the appropriate tang for your tank and number of tangs. I would NOT do more than one in this tank. Tangs are aggressive as heck to each other and in a 4 foot tank that probably will be thunderdome tang style. I would get the tomini (flame fin) tang, thats the smallest. Look into dwarf angels, they are very colorful and active like tangs and would be better suited for your tank. I think tangs need 6 feet having seen them in a 4 foot and in my 6 foot tank as they are very active. Tang police will tell you NO on any tang for your tank which is very valid. I think you would be okay with a tomini and ONLY that.

littlefoxx · Aug 4, 2023

littlefoxx said:
Tangs are indeed beautiful, but you need to take care by selecting the appropriate tang for your tank and number of tangs. I would NOT do more than one in this tank. Tangs are aggressive as heck to each other and in a 4 foot tank that probably will be thunderdome tang style. I would get the tomini (flame fin) tang, thats the smallest. Look into dwarf angels, they are very colorful and active like tangs and would be better suited for your tank. I think tangs need 6 feet having seen them in a 4 foot and in my 6 foot tank as they are very active. Tang police will tell you NO on any tang for your tank which is very valid. I think you would be okay with a tomini and ONLY that.

@vetteguy53081 has 25 tangs in his huge tank, he would be a good one to ask as well for advice