Would you consider this tank stocked???

[Patientman]

I agree, I want some smaller fish I think, anthias are a great suggestion. I’ve had the same exact group as you and I didn’t have them over a year. Unfortunately I’ve read a lot of people who say they die within a year. How long have you had your group?

2 1/2 years now … eat just about anything I put in the tank … were picky at first … Mysis only … but Selcon got them to try and eat a variety of foods.

 

[Cassian]

2 1/2 years now … eat just about anything I put in the tank … were picky at first … Mysis only … but Selcon got them to try and eat a variety of foods.

Wow, nice. What source did they come from, if you don’t mind me asking? I got mine transshippped from the wild, but they always ate good. Not sure why they started disappearing

 

[Arabyps]

A bit of a different idea is adding some saltwater (converted from fresh) mollies. Lots of colorful options and they are great at grazing. Check this out:

Top 10 Benefits of Keeping Mollies in a Saltwater Tank | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

Saltwater mollies are one of the least celebrated fish that aquarists can keep in a saltwater tank and this is very unfortunate. Of course all the new salt hobbyists are drawn to the hyper bright…

reefbuilders.com

 

[Cassian]

A bit of a different idea is adding some saltwater (converted from fresh) mollies. Lots of colorful options and they are great at grazing. Check this out:

Top 10 Benefits of Keeping Mollies in a Saltwater Tank | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

Saltwater mollies are one of the least celebrated fish that aquarists can keep in a saltwater tank and this is very unfortunate. Of course all the new salt hobbyists are drawn to the hyper bright…

reefbuilders.com

I just tried some of those recently and they didn't do really good. I might try some again though, thanks for the suggetstion!

 

[ApoIsland]

Hello everyone!
with the holidays over and a little bit of Christmas cash, I have been thinking about some new additions to my tank lately. I’ve never been a good judge of when to stop stocking a tank, so I thought I’d ask for some help. Do you think my tank is fully stocked or should I go ahead and get some more fish?

System:
180 gallon display, 90 gallon sump, and 65 gallon frag tank all plumbed together. Approximately 330 gals of water.

current stock:
Skeletor eel
Naso tang
Atlantic blue tang
Long nose black tang
Melanarus wrasse
Leopard wrasse
Copperband butterfly
Hawk fish
Mandarin
Black widow blenny
1 firefish
Foxface lo
Aiptasia eating filefish

Any advice is appreciated!


PS, before the tang police arrest me for having a naso in a 180 gal, this 180 is not the standard. It’s 8 feet long, so plenty of room for him

Man I'm jealous. Wish I had the room or $ for an 8' tank. You can definitely add more fish. I would stock that tank with at least 6 tangs. My dream tang list: Yellow, blue, naso, lavender, clown, sailfin.

 

[Patientman]

Wow, nice. What source did they come from, if you don’t mind me asking? I got mine transshippped from the wild, but they always ate good. Not sure why they started disappearing

Live Aquaria ... quarantined them for five week and been going strong since.

 

[Cassian]

Man I'm jealous. Wish I had the room or $ for an 8' tank. You can definitely add more fish. I would stock that tank with at least 6 tangs. My dream tang list: Yellow, blue, naso, lavender, clown, sailfin.

thanks for the suggestions and nice dream list! Although, I wouldn’t put a sailfin and a yellow in the same tank. I can imagine only one would survive.

 

[ApoIsland]

thanks for the suggestions and nice dream list! Although, I wouldn’t put a sailfin and a yellow in the same tank. I can imagine only one would survive.

I had a sailfin and yellow in my 120g for years with no issues. Also had a blue tang in there.

 

[Cassian]

I had a sailfin and yellow in my 120g for years with no issues. Also had a blue tang in there.

Wow, that’s interesting! Did you pair them when they were small?

 

[ApoIsland]

Wow, that’s interesting! Did you pair them when they were small?

The yellow tang was the first in the tank about 10 years ago (maybe 1.5 inches then). About 9 years ago the blue tang was introduced (less than an inch). A few years ago the sailfin went in (maybe 3.5 inches). The yellow and blue were approximately somewhere between 4 and 5 inches by the time the sailfin was introduced so all fairly similarly sized.

A couple years ago I added a small naso tang and kole tang (maybe 3 inches each) as a temporary hold for someone else. The fish all got along well. I have never witnessed any prolonged aggression between tangs other than the initial feeling out period for a day or two.

Unfortunately there was a major shortage of available food and a slight algae bloom when I tried to add enough to keep everyone fat and happy. Within a couple months I could visibly see all tangs excpet the yellow and the kole were getting skinnier. Tried to remove the Kole and naso but could only catch the sailfin and naso. For the last couple years I have had the yellow, blue and kole with no issue.

A few months ago the kole started taking bites out of a leptastrea and my prized birthday cake favia so he will be on his way out as soon as I can catch him. The blue tang has recently developed a taste for nipping at my favorite zoas so he will be on the outs soon as well. Sadly I will be down to only one tang. On the bright side I get to hunt for two more tangs to toss in the tank

 

[Cassian]

The yellow tang was the first in the tank about 10 years ago (maybe 1.5 inches then). About 9 years ago the blue tang was introduced (less than an inch). A few years ago the sailfin went in (maybe 3.5 inches). The yellow and blue were approximately somewhere between 4 and 5 inches by the time the sailfin was introduced so all fairly similarly sized.

A couple years ago I added a small naso tang and kole tang (maybe 3 inches each) as a temporary hold for someone else. The fish all got along well. I have never witnessed any prolonged aggression between tangs other than the initial feeling out period for a day or two.

Unfortunately there was a major shortage of available food and a slight algae bloom when I tried to add enough to keep everyone fat and happy. Within a couple months I could visibly see all tangs excpet the yellow and the kole were getting skinnier. Tried to remove the Kole and naso but could only catch the sailfin and naso. For the last couple years I have had the yellow, blue and kole with no issue.

A few months ago the kole started taking bites out of a leptastrea and my prized birthday cake favia so he will be on his way out as soon as I can catch him. The blue tang has recently developed a taste for nipping at my favorite zoas so he will be on the outs soon as well. Sadly I will be down to only one tang. On the bright side I get to hunt for two more tangs to toss in the tank

Wow! I can’t believe they get along that well. Best of luck catching your tangs and finding nice new replacements for them.

 

[mcbdz]

My main concern with fish stocking after size of tank and compatibility would be hiding places and water quality. As long as your fish are all happy and getting along and you can keep up your water quality with the feeding required then you should be good to add. I only have 3 islands in my 240gal and some of my fish are getting territorial so that is my concern with my next batch of fish. I dread having to go in and rearrange my rocks. But my corals are still sparse and frag size so limits hiding places at this time. One day when tank corals are full I'm sure hiding spots will be much better.

 

[Dolphins18]

Your eel may eat some of the smaller fish when he gets large. If they are fast they should be fine.

 

[PinkLadyLVT]

If you ever decide you don’t want the Skeletor, I’ll gladly pony up some cash! They used to be everywhere, and now they’re nonexistent it seems. Lucky!

 

[RobW]

I'm a bit of an overstocker myself. I have a 30 nuvo for my son. Right now we have the following in there.

1 coral beauty angel. (2")
2 occellaris clowns. (1" each)
1 black/white striped damsel. (1")
1 blue green chromis. (1-1/2")
1 6 line wrasse. (1")
1 naeoko wrasse. (2-1/2")
2 blood red shrimp.
2 cleaner shrimp.
1 Colorado Sunburst BTA.
10 margerita snails.
10 vibex nassarius snails.
10 red leg crabs.
1 pincushion urchin.
24 blue legged crabs.
2 emerald crabs.

 

[DxMarinefish]

I would say you are already maxed out.

I am sure some may not agree but all of your fish will still grow, their mood and behaviour will change and so will there territory requirements. I have been there done that and suddenly the small fish are not that small anymore, the large ones are looking like "Whale sharks" and the so called "sorted out territories" are no longer acceptable to some and war breaks out.

Take out some in order to put more in will be my move.

Try to calculate each fish max size in 3-4 years time from now and ask yourself whether your current tank can handle it.

Best wishes