What should I put in my 90 gallon?

[Currdawg12]

Looking to what I should put in my 90! It’s cycled and ready for fish and coral so send me some cool stuff I should put in there !!

 

[Zionas]

Is your tank 3 foot long or 4 foot long?

Right off the bat I can suggest two Ocellaris or Percula Clowns. I am personally not a fan of the designer varieties though, I much prefer the original.

 

[Indytraveler83]

One thing to consider is how many fish you want:

Some like having a few medium sized fish in a system that size. Otherwise you could have a decent sized grouping of smaller fish.

What type of coral do you plan on keeping? Do you plan on keeping any inverts? That can restrict your fish selections.

A few suggestions to look up:

bristletooth tangs
Pygmy angelfish
Marine betta

Groups of chromis
Anthias
Flasher & fairy wrasse
Bangai cardinalfish
Royal Gramma
Neon dartfish
Watchman gobies

*Not all of these fish may be compatible or reef safe. Just suggestions to get you searching.

 

[ChristianAl]

Looking to what I should put in my 90! It’s cycled and ready for fish and coral so send me some cool stuff I should put in there !!

I have a 90 gallon mixed reef I started this tank Nov 22,2019

 

[JLandes]

I am looking to get a Red Sea Reefer 350 (73g display, 91g total) here pretty soon. I have thought about livestock and here are a few of the things I think would be cool (not necessarily all at once):

Pair of Clownfish
Yellow Eye Kole Tang
One Spot Foxface
Group of Chromis
Royal Gramma
Lawnmower Blenny
Some kinda of Dwarf Angel

And of course a nice clean up crew

 

[Currdawg12]

id like fish that all do different things, like a group of fish, a couple solo ones then some that like to hang in th rock work and some that like the sand bed and yes I will have coral and I plan to just have a mixed tank with some nems.

 

[Currdawg12]

id like fish that all do different things, like a group of fish, a couple solo ones then some that like to hang in th rock work and some that like the sand bed and yes I will have coral and I plan to just have a mixed tank with some nems.

id also kind of like a boss of the tank. one fish that just stands out

 

[Indytraveler83]

id like fish that all do different things, like a group of fish, a couple solo ones then some that like to hang in th rock work and some that like the sand bed and yes I will have coral and I plan to just have a mixed tank with some nems.

What fish interest you the most? If there's one or two species that interest you, it's easier to build around that. (my fish livestock is a mess of poor planning, so don't make my mistakes...)

Also, what is your fish budget? Looking for animals under $50? Under $20? No limits?

For instance, groups of anthias or flasher wrasse can be very very cool, but extremely expensive (to me anyway).

Groups of dartfish or a docile damsel (such as the Talbot's) would be much cheaper.

 

[Zionas]

Marine Betta is a must have for me. Hell I’d love a pair.


Other than that:

Ocellaris Clownfish pair (I am not a fan of designer varieties, you should get the regular orange ones with white bands or the Darwin variety with black and white stripes)

A basslet (Royal Gramma, Blackcap Basslet, Yellow Assessor, McNeills or Randall’s Assessor)

Yellow Watchman or another Watchman Goby of the genus Cryptocentrus (maybe even look into ORA’s captive bred Starry Goby, heard they live really long lives like the Yellow Watchman and its congeners)

One of the more peaceful damselfish-get a small group of maybe 3 (Azure Damselfish, Talbot’s Damselfish, Springer’s Rolland’s Damselfish, Tracey’s Damselfish, King Demoiselle-maybe, Lyretail Damselfish-one of the Neopomacentrus species, or Fusilier Damsels-if you can find them)


Pajama Cardinalfish- get them in odd numbers, that’s what I’ve heard. Personally I think PJ Cardinal>Bangaii. They do get a bit larger than the Bangaiis but they live a lot longer from what I’ve read. 7+ years seems to fairly common for PJ Cardinals.


Some kind of dwarf angel of the Centropyge genus


One of the sand burying wrasses of the Halichoeres genus (Yellow Coris, Melanurus, Red Lined, Christmas-Halichoeres claudia, Adorned etc.)


Yellow Candy Hogfish (heard they can get quite aggressive though)


Tomini or Kole Tang (maybe?)

 

[Victor_C3]

I have a 90-ish gallon tank (the plan was for a 3’ 90, but I went with a tank that measures 36”x26”x28” instead)

I’m a month or so behind you in my build, but I was thinking of adding 11 flame anthias (Pseudanthias ignitus) which grow to a max size of 3” and then add one or two larger fish like a Chaetodon tinkeri and a hippo tang (he’ll be moved before he gets too big).

Overall, I think it’ll be a nice contrast to have those two larger fish with a large group of smaller orange fish.

 

[Zionas]

I can tell you right off the bat that the Blue Tang is not going to work in a tank of your size. It gets to a very large size and requires at least 200 gallons IMO for it to be comfortable. The Tinker is one of the smaller butterflies, could work. Worth a try. I am toying with the idea of getting a butterfly.

Depending on whether you keep inverts or not, maybe a Hawkfish (Flame, Longnose, Falco, Spotted) could also be a good choice.

If you do decide to go the big-small contrast route, I’d love to see how it turns out.

I’m not sure what you should get as your second larger fish, so I’ll let the more experienced members contribute.


Edit: the Marine Betta could be your second large fish. It’s smaller than the Blue Tang and far more sedentary. Just make sure to give it a good cave for it to retreat to. At first it’ll be shy and it may require weaning off of live foods. If you can get a specimen that’s already taking foods other than live foods, by all means get it. Heard once it adjusts it’s one of the hardiest fish out there.

 

[Indytraveler83]

Edit: the Marine Betta could be your second large fish. It’s smaller than the Blue Tang and far more sedentary. Just make sure to give it a good cave for it to retreat to. At first it’ll be shy and it may require weaning off of live foods. If you can get a specimen that’s already taking foods other than live foods, by all means get it. Heard once it adjusts it’s one of the hardiest fish out there.

My own experience:

My marine betta got QTed with an anthias that developed uronema. I treated him and quarentined him as if he had it, but he never showed a sign of illness the entire time. I've heard of them being the last fish standing in tanks that have severe outbreaks of disease.

Mine is captive bred- it accepted frozen mysis by the second day, and he's now even accepting pieces of shrimp from feeding tongs. I read that captive bred betta's are by far more likely to adjust to our feeding regiments.

 

[ReefGrammie]

I'll just comment on a few of these that I personally have had experience with in my 90:

bristletooth tangs
Pygmy angelfish - Definitely. I've had a coral beauty before, and now a cherub (pygmy) for over 6 years - beautiful fish!
Marine betta
Groups of chromis
Anthias
Flasher & fairy wrasse - I am a huge wrasse fan. I have both a fairy and a flasher, great color. Add them last, as they are more peaceful
Bangai cardinalfish
Royal Gramma - very peaceful fish, but tends to hide in the rocks most of the day (at least mine did)
Neon dartfish
Watchman gobies - I have a yellow watchman goby paired with a pistol shrimp. Great combination and fun to watch!

*Not all of these fish may be compatible or reef safe. Just suggestions to get you searching. Excellent point!

Pair of Clownfish - I started with a mated pair of O. clowns (nemo). I still have the male, over 11 years later. They can live a long time!
Yellow Eye Kole Tang
One Spot Foxface
Group of Chromis
Royal Gramma - See above
Lawnmower Blenny
Some kinda of Dwarf Angel - See above

And of course a nice clean up crew - Most definitely!

Ocellaris Clownfish pair (I am not a fan of designer varieties, you should get the regular orange ones with white bands or the Darwin variety with black and white stripes) - I agree (also see above)
A basslet (Royal Gramma, Blackcap Basslet, Yellow Assessor, McNeills or Randall’s Assessor)

Yellow Watchman or another Watchman Goby of the genus Cryptocentrus (maybe even look into ORA’s captive bred Starry Goby, heard they live really long lives like the Yellow Watchman and its congeners) - See above

One of the more peaceful damselfish-get a small group of maybe 3 (Azure Damselfish, Talbot’s Damselfish, Springer’s Rolland’s Damselfish, Tracey’s Damselfish, King Demoiselle-maybe, Lyretail Damselfish-one of the Neopomacentrus species, or Fusilier Damsels-if you can find them) - Yes, there are some beautiful damselfish out there! I have 2 right now, a 3 stripe and a blue/yellowtail. Some people steer away from damselfish because they can be aggressive, but mine are model citizens.

Pajama Cardinalfish- get them in odd numbers, that’s what I’ve heard. Personally I think PJ Cardinal>Bangaii. They do get a bit larger than the Bangaiis but they live a lot longer from what I’ve read. 7+ years seems to fairly common for PJ Cardinals.

Some kind of dwarf angel of the Centropyge genus - See above

One of the sand burying wrasses of the Halichoeres genus (Yellow Coris, Melanurus, Red Lined, Christmas-Halichoeres claudia, Adorned etc.) - these are great, but you will need a deep sand bed for them to sleep in at night. Also, if you intend to have a fire/cleaner shrimp, they will end up as lunch!

Yellow Candy Hogfish (heard they can get quite aggressive though) - I have had a candy hogfish and a striped hogfish over the years. Great additions, and yes they can get aggressive (also see the above comment about having a fire/cleaner shrimp - they will become lunch).

Tomini or Kole Tang (maybe?)

 

[Currdawg12]

What fish interest you the most? If there's one or two species that interest you, it's easier to build around that. (my fish livestock is a mess of poor planning, so don't make my mistakes...)

Also, what is your fish budget? Looking for animals under $50? Under $20? No limits?

For instance, groups of anthias or flasher wrasse can be very very cool, but extremely expensive (to me anyway).

Groups of dartfish or a docile damsel (such as the Talbot's) would be much cheaper.

no real budget but I wouldn't put anything over 150 dollars until my tank is at least three years old and stable, I just love variety and how fish just have different personalities, I love the grumpy fish and I love the sweet fish that will eat out of your hand

 

[Currdawg12]

I'll just comment on a few of these that I personally have had experience with in my 90:

I loved how you replied. thanks

 

[Currdawg12]

I'm seeing a lot marine betta never heard of one before this post

 

[Indytraveler83]

I'm seeing a lot marine betta never heard of one before this post

They are a very neat fish, but not as commonly kept. One of the smallest in the grouper family, they can also be refereed to as a "Comet." They are somewhat unique in that they are a predatory species, but very shy. They are typically peaceful to anything they can't fit in their mouths, and can be bullied by fin nipping fish. They also are not a particularly fast animal, but tend to gracefully move in and out of rock work.

I utterly fell in love with this fish the first time I saw a picture of it, but could never get my lfs to get one in. While visiting an lfs out of town, I spotted a baby in the rock work of a mixed wrasse tank and snatched it up.

I would not recommend putting it with particularly small fish (such as a neon goby) and a larger marine betta may also eat small shrimp. But I've also read that ones that accept prepared foods regularly have been known to not "hunt" their invert tank mates.

Its not a fish for every system, but a very interesting animal to add. I've found that its one of the few "larger" fish that a 90 gallon can fit that poses no threat to corals. For me, I'm not particularly worried if he occasionally eats a peppermint shrimp when he gets older (my lfs sells them 2/$7), but I won't touch a "reef safe with caution" angelfish or anything like that, as I've got far too much money invested in acans, zoas and similar corals.

 

[Zionas]

If only I could get a captive bred Marine Betta. Unfortunately they don’t ship from places like ORA or Quality Marine RO my part of the world (China), so I’m stuck with the ones my LFS imports. I’m definitely gonna try getting a larger one and a smaller one and seeing if they will pair.

There’s a member on another forum who’s really experienced when it comes to this fish (ThRoewer) and he said the best bet is to get two of different sizes, one below 4” and one 25-50% larger with the hope that the larger one becomes the male. Not much is known about the sexual dimorphism of Marine Bettas but he (ThRoewer) said that they do tend to remain females possibly for a fairly long time because they’re groupers and grow very slowly (long-lived too, he told me 10 years is young for a Comet).

So that’s what I’m gonna try to do if I can find two healthy specimens. To be honest if I could get two of them in my system (105 gallons) I’d probably ditch the dwarf angel or butterfly.

I’m going for a variation of what the OP wants to go for, in the sense that I want to portray a stark contrast between the larger fish and smaller fish in my build.

However, instead of the more difficult to maintain Anthias, I’m opting for 3 Pajama Cardinals and 3 of the more peaceful species of Damselfish, as well as a pair of clowns, a pair of Flame Hawks (not sure how pairing them can be done), and a Basslet such as a Royal Gramma or Blackcap.

The two big fish, I hope, will be the Marine Bettas. I hope they won’t kill each other. If my LFS can get two specimens, one bigger and one smaller, at the same time, I’ll ask them to put them in the same tank with a divider for 1 week. If there’s no aggression. I’ll ask them to remove the divider and have them in the same tank for a few more days. If they don’t go all out against each other I’ll buy.

As for their hardiness, yeah. Pretty much everyone who’s had one had told me they’re pretty much bulletproof when it comes to diseases. If I can get two to pair or at least co-exist in my tank, it would also bring a much needed hardiness boost. As an extra measure I will be setting up decent sized caves on opposite ends of my tank once I get it.

As for the rest of my fish, OP, I’m a first timer like you. I’ve chosen some pretty hardy species like the Ocellaris Clowns, Flame Hawkfish (I don’t plan to keep inverts), a basslet of some kind, Pajama Cardinals and some damsels in the mix.

 

[Currdawg12]

They are a very neat fish, but not as commonly kept. One of the smallest in the grouper family, they can also be refereed to as a "Comet." They are somewhat unique in that they are a predatory species, but very shy. They are typically peaceful to anything they can't fit in their mouths, and can be bullied by fin nipping fish. They also are not a particularly fast animal, but tend to gracefully move in and out of rock work.

I utterly fell in love with this fish the first time I saw a picture of it, but could never get my lfs to get one in. While visiting an lfs out of town, I spotted a baby in the rock work of a mixed wrasse tank and snatched it up.

I would not recommend putting it with particularly small fish (such as a neon goby) and a larger marine betta may also eat small shrimp. But I've also read that ones that accept prepared foods regularly have been known to not "hunt" their invert tank mates.

Its not a fish for every system, but a very interesting animal to add. I've found that its one of the few "larger" fish that a 90 gallon can fit that poses no threat to corals. For me, I'm not particularly worried if he occasionally eats a peppermint shrimp when he gets older (my lfs sells them 2/$7), but I won't touch a "reef safe with caution" angelfish or anything like that, as I've got far too much money invested in acans, zoas and similar corals.

so marine betta are reef safe?

 

[Indytraveler83]

so marine betta are reef safe?

Absolutely coral safe. They won't touch it.

They will eat smaller inverts, like small shrimp and anything that fits in their mouth. I wouldn't try keeping sexy shrimp or something like that with them. Full grown they may try to even eat a cleaner shrimp, but I've seen a lot of positive stories of them leaving them alone.