Reef Stocking by Tank Zones

[truetricia]

Good day R2R!

I was curious if anyone had any good info/threads regarding stocking lists by tank zones. For example (my list may be inaccurate, and is only intended for demonstration purposes):

Upper Tank: chromis, fairy wrasse, tangs
Mid-Tank: wrasse, tangs, anthias, damsels, angels
Cave/Rockwork: deepwater anthias sp., gobies, dragonets, hawkfish
Sandbed: sand-shifting gobies, dragonets, scorpionfish

Understanding that some fish occupy multiple zones, a list organized like this would assist with stocking to ensure that a tank isn't overcrowded in a particular zone, and a diversity of fish behaviors can be found in the tank.

Curious if there's a list like this out there already....

 

[truetricia]

Bump for comments...

 

[nereefpat]

I doubt that there is much data on it, but I agree it's a good way to think about your potential list.

I often see stock lists for 125s or 180s, for example, with about 5 tangs and not much else. Sounds boring to me. What about blennies and gobies, and hawks?

Diversity of roles and diversity of families of fishes always makes for a better tank.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

It would definitely be cool to see!! I wonder if tank size would play into this question. @ReefSquad

 

[Thales]

I think this is a holdover from freshwater and that reef fish don’t really separate themselves like this. Espically in smaller tanks. Even in the 212000 gallon reef I ran, this kind of zonation didn’t really happen

 

[Ranjib]

Theres a definitely data around this in the forums, but they are not organized/categorized. It will be cool to build this one. You are pretty spot on already.,, you can also do the reverse.. i.e. go to liveaquaria and enumerate the fish and then assign them based on their recommendation into zones. After that validate it with experts here.

 

[Ranjib]

For specific advice relevant to your setup, it will be easier if you share the tank volume, substrate and rockscape (photo will be great).

 

[Lasse]

I have a small tank - only 50 cm deep but I have stock it with the zones in mind. Cardinals in the free water, wrasses that moves around the whole tank, different gobies that occupies different place in the aquarium like caves, corals, the sand and below the sand. Some do not follow what I think but most of them do.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[mta_morrow]

I have my RSR 525 stocked by zones.

4 gobies on the sand bed

blue throat trigger, 3 chromis, 3 zebra dartfish open water mid tank.

2 red line cardinals low to mid, open water and around the rocks.

Coral beauty, tomini tang, melanarus wrasse all over the rock work.

3 azure damsels stay around upper rocks.

2 blennies around the rocks.

2 ocellaris clowns in a corner!

I think that’s all the fish?

 

[Jase4224]

Definitely seems like the way to go. I think coral looks best when separated into their natural zones/counterparts. Especially if you light those areas differently to represent differences in depth. With the fish to match this would be great