Livestock questions for 75 gallon setup

Clarinuto · Aug 23, 2018

My current plan (which could likely change again at some point because I have too much time on my hands to think about it

) is to add 2 ocellaris clowns, 1 royal gramma, 1 coral beauty, 1 midas blenny, an orange striped prawn goby, and potentially a yellow clown goby. I really want to add a wrasse that eats parasites and potentially one of the smallest tangs (like maybe a kole yellow eye or a bristletooth).

My questions are --- are there any wrasses that fit the bill for eating parasites, would get along with the rest of the list, and fit into a 75 gal reef tank? Same question for the tang (minus the parasites) -- I'm open to other kinds as well, just don't want them to be cramped in my ank?

And lastly, would my tank be overstocked by the time I add the wrasse and tang?

Thanks!

DeniseAndy · Aug 23, 2018

The first list sounds fine in a 75g. Just make sure the clowns are young and still fighting for dominance and such. Bonded pair will not be nice to other fishes. If you get a prawn goby, get the shrimp to go with it. They are much happier together.

A fourline may be a good fit for wrasse. Most heliochoeres get a little large for that tank. Not sure they eat parasites as readily, but a fairy or flasher will fit nicely. Just make sure you have a good cover. They are great jumpers.

I would personally pass on the tang. Get a lawnmower blenny instead. They eat the algae, have great personalities, and would fit just fine.

Clarinuto · Aug 23, 2018

DeniseAndy said:
The first list sounds fine in a 75g. Just make sure the clowns are young and still fighting for dominance and such. Bonded pair will not be nice to other fishes. If you get a prawn goby, get the shrimp to go with it. They are much happier together.

A fourline may be a good fit for wrasse. Most heliochoeres get a little large for that tank. Not sure they eat parasites as readily, but a fairy or flasher will fit nicely. Just make sure you have a good cover. They are great jumpers.

I would personally pass on the tang. Get a lawnmower blenny instead. They eat the algae, have great personalities, and would fit just fine.

Thanks for the great advice. Would a lawnmower end up having an issue with the midas blenny or orange striped prawn goby? Also, the long term plan is to eventually add a mandarin... would there be compatibility issues there?

PDR · Aug 24, 2018

Clarinuto said:
My current plan (which could likely change again at some point because I have too much time on my hands to think about it ) is to add 2 ocellaris clowns, 1 royal gramma, 1 coral beauty, 1 midas blenny, an orange striped prawn goby, and potentially a yellow clown goby. I really want to add a wrasse that eats parasites and potentially one of the smallest tangs (like maybe a kole yellow eye or a bristletooth).

My questions are --- are there any wrasses that fit the bill for eating parasites, would get along with the rest of the list, and fit into a 75 gal reef tank? Same question for the tang (minus the parasites) -- I'm open to other kinds as well, just don't want them to be cramped in my ank?

And lastly, would my tank be overstocked by the time I add the wrasse and tang?

Thanks!

Your stocking list looks good to me. I personally do not recommend the six or four line wrasses due to aggression issues as they get older. Take a look at this article https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/all-about-reef-safe-wrasses-in-aquaria.28. Just about anything in the Halichoeres genus will work in your tank but I personally recommend a Melanurus wrasse. I also believe any of the bristle tooth tangs (kole, 2 spot, square tail, tomini) will be perfectly comfortable in a 75 gallon. I have a Kole tang in my 75 display and I have never seen any signs of stress from him. They tend to pick at the rocks all day and aren't as hyper as other tangs. Same goes for the wrasse, just make sure you have plenty of rock and you will be fine. FWIW my Kole tang HATES all of my blennies/gobies, so make sure to add them before the tang.

Clarinuto · Aug 25, 2018

PDR said:
Your stocking list looks good to me. I personally do not recommend the six or four line wrasses due to aggression issues as they get older. Take a look at this article https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/all-about-reef-safe-wrasses-in-aquaria.28. Just about anything in the Halichoeres genus will work in your tank but I personally recommend a Melanurus wrasse. I also believe any of the bristle tooth tangs (kole, 2 spot, square tail, tomini) will be perfectly comfortable in a 75 gallon. I have a Kole tang in my 75 display and I have never seen any signs of stress from him. They tend to pick at the rocks all day and aren't as hyper as other tangs. Same goes for the wrasse, just make sure you have plenty of rock and you will be fine. FWIW my Kole tang HATES all of my blennies/gobies, so make sure to add them before the tang.

PDR, thanks for info and wrasse article! Question for you: do you feed your wrasse more than twice a day? I currently feed my tanks twice a day, so that’s no issue to me. Feeding more than that might be difficult though so it’s something I have to think about before committing. Also, have you had issues where he bothers your inverts?

PDR · Aug 25, 2018

Clarinuto said:
PDR, thanks for info and wrasse article! Question for you: do you feed your wrasse more than twice a day? I currently feed my tanks twice a day, so that’s no issue to me. Feeding more than that might be difficult though so it’s something I have to think about before committing. Also, have you had issues where he bothers your inverts?

I only feed once a day and all of my wrasses are quite fat lol. But I do feed high-quality frozen food and plenty of it. Also having mature live rock helps since they hunt for critters all day. The only time I had a wrasse go after inverts was my full grown grey head wrasse, and that was only new additions. I would just keep him at bay for a few min then he would stop bothering them. I'm sure if I had smaller shrimp (like sexy shrimp) he would have eaten them, but never bothered my crabs, snails or other shrimp.