Newbie stocking questions

[KatieFloy]

Hi everyone. I am in the planning stages of my first reef tank. I've had tropical/goldfish tanks and currently have a 4,600 gallon pond with koi; however, all the new stuff I need to know is very overwhelming. Based on what I have learned so far I need to come up with a stocking plan before deciding on substrate and what lighting and flow type equipment I will need. All I know right now is that I will be using a 75 gallon aquarium and want to build a reef. I expect to start out slow with live rock and live sand (but what kind?) and possibly a fish or something to help jump start the cycle (what is better a fish or invert to help start the tank?). I plan to start with the "easy" and work towards the more difficult.

I have a list of fish/inverts I am possibly interested in. If someone could give me some feedback on what will work best for the size tank I have I would greatly appreciate it. My goal is to own a green or red mandarin at some point, but I think that will be the last fish I add to my tank. I ran these through one of the compatability sites and supposedly they are all compatible:

Fish:
Green or Red Mandarin
Snowflake Ocellaris Clownfish
Pajama Cardinalfish school or Agile Chromis school (or both if they will work)
Orange stripe Prawn Goby or Citrinis Clown Goby or Tangaroa goby
Blue dot Jawfish
Squaretail Bristletooth Tang

Crabs:
Halloween Hermit
Dwarf Zebra
Electric Blue Hermit

Shrimp:
Snapping Red Banded Shrimp
Banded Coral Shrimp
Sexy Anemone Shrimp

Starfish:
Tiel Sea Star or Indian Sea Star

Snail:
Bumble Bee Snail
Margarita Snail
Chesnut Turbo Snail

Coral:
Bullseye Rhodactis Mushroom
Florida Ricordea Mushroom
Colony Polyp
Sympodium Polyp
Birdsnest Coral
Acan Brain Coral
Big Polyp Blastomussa Coral
Blastomussa Coral
Elegance Coral
Trumpet Coral
Button Coral
Fox Coral

Anemone:
Bulb Anemone

Sea Urchin:
Hairy Pinchushion urchin

Thanks for any help/expertise. I really appreciate any advise!

 

[Maddlesrain]

Congrats on the new build!

For rocks and sand, you can either go live or dry to start, and it'll all become "live" in the end. I personally always go with dry when I add because it's not as costly. I also like trying to find porous rock because it's easier to attach corals to and allows more water to filter through it. Although there's a rough 1lb of rock to each gallon rule, it really depends on how you want to scape and your overall filtration.

Making sure you have enough rock to create terratories between fish and caves for hiding is important, just be sure to leave open areas for swimming.

I can touch on a couple of the fish as I've kept a few. I haven't kept the agile chromis, but I have 4 blue/green chromis and LOVE them. They really add a lot of movement and personality and are almost always out and following me from one side of the tank to the other. My first tank was similar to yours (a 72g bowfront), which I bought used and the original owner had a school of pajama cardinals. They picked each other off, and I'm now left with only one. I do not recommend adding more than one because of this. The single one left exhibits nicer colors and has long streamers on its fins now that he's alone. I also like the array of patterns and oversized eyes on the cardinals! I have a mated pair of ocellaris clownfish who are going on about 10 years now. They also came with my first tank and I couldn't be happier with them! They can get territorial and a wee bit nasty, so I personally recommend not adding them first, however, mine don't bother bottom dwellers like my mandarin at all. The last fish I have on your list is the mandarin. I have a target mandarin and really enjoy watching him "hop" across the rocks and substrate. I think you're wise in adding this fish last to make sure you have a nice supply of pods.

The hermits may eat the snails to steal their shells, so the general rule is to have one or the other. I personally keep snails and other, non shell dwelling, crabs. From my experience, the snapping shrimp hide and the only way you'll know it's alive is by listening for loud popping sounds at night, however, the banded shrimps will come out most of the time, as will other cleaners and peppermints.

I have an rbta and couldn't imagine having my clowns without it! From what I've found, they're incredibly resilient anemones (mine got chopped up in a powerheads once), so I think that's a good choice for a first tank!

Any polyps, zoas, mushrooms, and leathers seem to be good starting points. The lps are also pretty hardy. I've had an acan and frogspawn frag get almost completely eaten by a butterflyfish and come back to full health with the tiniest shred of remaining tissue.

Sorry I wrote you a novel. I hope some of this helps even a little!

 

[KatieFloy]

Thank you so much. That is incredibly helpful. I will probably go with the crabs over the snails because i think my 2 year old will get a kick out of the crabs and the info on the shrimp is great as well. Also using dry to save money is great advice. I may get a little live to seed but use mostly dry.

When adding things to the tank what is the best order (ie fish or inverts first or doesn't it matter)?

 

[Tahoe61]

Welcome.

You'll absolutely need a good screen or lid if you go with the Blue Spotted Jaw fish, they are big time jumpers. All fish have the potential to jump but Jaw Fish love to jump.

Do not be disappointed if you do not see schooling behaviors by the Cardinals or Chromis. Love the choice of Chromis though.

You've done some homework, excellent!

 

[Maddlesrain]

Thank you so much. That is incredibly helpful. I will probably go with the crabs over the snails because i think my 2 year old will get a kick out of the crabs and the info on the shrimp is great as well. Also using dry to save money is great advice. I may get a little live to seed but use mostly dry.

When adding things to the tank what is the best order (ie fish or inverts first or doesn't it matter)?

The crabs definitely are fun! They're also cool because of the different color varieties as well. Seeding is a good way to go, I've done it before, and it really doesn't take much to get everything going.
I don't think it matters much what order you go in if the water is stable when it comes to the fish and clean up crew. I would however, wait to add a coral until trying out the fish first to make sure everything is staying alive. As far as inverts, I'd start with the hermits first, see how they do, and then go for the shrimp and what not.