Too many fish?

Reef.Blue · Dec 19, 2023

I am currently purchasing an innovative marine 80g with the dimensions of 47x18x16. I created a stocking list but I’m not sure if this is too many fish.

2x black ice clownfish
Orange back fairy wrasse
Sand sifting goby
Flame hawk
Tomini Tang
Green mandarin
3x anthias (undecided type)
Purple Tang
Powder blue tang
Copperband Butterfly
Cleaner wrasse

Reeflix · Dec 19, 2023

Reef.Blue said:
I am currently purchasing an innovative marine 80g with the dimensions of 47x18x16. I created a stocking list but I’m not sure if this is too many fish.

2x black ice clownfish
Orange back fairy wrasse
Sand sifting goby
Flame hawk
Tomini Tang
Green mandarin
3x anthias (undecided type)
Purple Tang
Powder blue tang
Copperband Butterfly
Cleaner wrasse

I would think this is too many fish. Especially with a purple tang, which would eventually get too big for this tank. I have a 75, and I was only going to put in 8 fish. I also caution putting multiplication tangs in one tank as they can turn on eachother

UMALUM · Dec 19, 2023

You'll have better success with fish if you think of compatability and care rather than quantity. Drop the powder and cut the list in half if your gonna keep two tangs in a cuatro. Anthias need a ton of nutrition and Butterflies can be finicky and shy. Both probably best left out of a newer aquarium.

slingfox · Dec 19, 2023

Tank seems too small if you are going to have those two large tangs and a copperband.

littlefoxx · Dec 20, 2023

Powder blues are nasty and so are purples. Both would be too big for the tank and super aggressive in that small space

Reef.Blue · Dec 20, 2023

littlefoxx said:
Powder blues are nasty and so are purples. Both would be too big for the tank and super aggressive in that small space

Could I replace the powder and the purple with a yellow and kole tang?

1ocean · Dec 20, 2023

My purple is not nasty at all. He is in the 300 with 2 yellow tangs, a blonde naso, a tomini, a blue hippo ..all have been tank mates for coming on 2 years...

RichReef · Dec 20, 2023

You can try any combination of fish you want. Every fish is different. I have a PB, Yellow, Purple, and a SF. Thick as thieves. They are always together. It took some work with acclimation boxes and some mirrors but it worked out.

The 2 biggest issues on how many fish you can keep is hiding spaces/habitat and the most important thing is how many fish you can have is directly related to your export.

littlefoxx · Dec 20, 2023

1ocean said:
My purple is not nasty at all. He is in the 300 with 2 yellow tangs, a blonde naso, a tomini, a blue hippo ..all have been tank mates for coming on 2 years...

He has 300 gallons though, OP has 80. Purple probably would be nasty in that tank size. My purple is bossy, only nasty to new fish for a few days then she mellows out

littlefoxx · Dec 20, 2023

Reef.Blue said:
Could I replace the powder and the purple with a yellow and kole tang?

I would only keep a tomini in ther if you have to have a tang. Tank is small for them due to activity level. My tangs have a six foot tank and swim all over. I would look at live aquaria on the fish and see minimum tank sizes. This tank is too small for multiple tangs

Seansea · Dec 20, 2023

I say no sweat with that. I have in my 75g
1 orange shoulder tang
1 hippo tang
1 tomini tang
1 flame hawk
1 royal gramma
2 perc clownfish
1 bi color angel
6 mollys
1 blue dot jawfish
2 watchman gobies
1 melenarus wrasse

So 18 fish. 3 more than your list.

Have good filtration. I feed heavy so need to take care of waste. Algae scrubber for the win. Also skim heavy.

Good aquascape for fish to hide and make territory.

Sand for sand dwellers.

Get the tangs small. They grow super slow in home aquaria.

If you add clowns first they will get major territorial.
Get a mirror and put it up to tank before you add fish. Keep them occupied for a few days.

Good luck

MnFish1 · Dec 20, 2023

Reef.Blue said:
I am currently purchasing an innovative marine 80g with the dimensions of 47x18x16. I created a stocking list but I’m not sure if this is too many fish.

2x black ice clownfish
Orange back fairy wrasse
Sand sifting goby
Flame hawk
Tomini Tang
Green mandarin
3x anthias (undecided type)
Purple Tang
Powder blue tang
Copperband Butterfly
Cleaner wrasse

Whenever someone asks 'is this too many fish' - it usually is

. In this case I think it is. At least a couple may bully some of the others, and the purple tang and powder blue tang this size will likely be an issue as they grow. I however, had a 5 foot tank - a little deeper and taller with 3 tangs - and no problems (and a copper band). Hope this helps - good luck with your new tank

Reeflix · Dec 20, 2023

Reef.Blue said:
Could I replace the powder and the purple with a yellow and kole tang?

What I would look at is, what fish must you have, pick maybe 5-10 (depending on the size,) and then you have the perfect stocking list for you.

Reef.Blue · Dec 20, 2023

MnFish1 said:
Whenever someone asks 'is this too many fish' - it usually is. In this case I think it is. At least a couple may bully some of the others, and the purple tang and powder blue tang this size will likely be an issue as they grow. I however, had a 5 foot tank - a little deeper and taller with 3 tangs - and no problems (and a copper band). Hope this helps - good luck with your new tank

Could I replace the powder and the purple with a yellow and kole tang?

Seansea · Dec 20, 2023

Reef.Blue said:
Could I replace the powder and the purple with a yellow and kole tang?

Yes

Reef.Blue · Dec 20, 2023

Seansea said:
Yes

Wouldn't the kole have problems with the tomini?

Seansea · Dec 20, 2023

Oh didnt see you had tomini tang in there. Yes. Big problem. When i put mirror up to distract clownfish tomini spends the most time attacking himsel.

am3gross · Dec 20, 2023

I wouldn't add the Copperband or the Mandarin till the tank is well established with pods. Both those fish will decimate a pod population if they are not eating prepared foods.

I have a 375 and the 1 CB I have does not let a pod go by with out eating it, and he also eats all the mysis I can add to the tank.

UMALUM · Dec 20, 2023

littlefoxx said:
I would only keep a tomini in ther if you have to have a tang. Tank is small for them due to activity level. My tangs have a six foot tank and swim all over. I would look at live aquaria on the fish and see minimum tank sizes. This tank is too small for multiple tangs

What live aquaria and others claim as minimum tank sizes are first uneducated opinions and second supposed to represent what's needed to house a full grown specimen. Being that 90% of hobbyists don't survive the first year or two makes opions like this a mood point. A purple will be absolutely fine in that tank.

Reef.Blue · Dec 20, 2023

am3gross said:
I wouldn't add the Copperband or the Mandarin till the tank is well established with pods. Both those fish will decimate a pod population if they are not eating prepared foods.

I have a 375 and the 1 CB I have does not let a pod go by with out eating it, and he also eats all the mysis I can add to the tank.

I currently have a 40b with a Tomini tang, flame hawk, and a green mandarin. I didn’t buy one of the captive bred ones and he’s been eating pellets so do you think he will be fine? I’m getting rid of my 40 breeder and moving my current fish into there