70 gallon soft reef (for now) bulid.

[Beengirl]

Ok so no more worrying for me Now o. To the fun part stocking. I've thought it over and these are the fish I like. Only ones with stars next to them are a must.
* pair of clowns
* flame angel
*carpenter flasher wrasse
* purple fire fish
* yellow watchmen goby OR engineer goby(any opinions and experience on either would be great!)
Kole tang
Fox face lo
Blue chromis
Spotted cardinal
Royal gramma
Thanks. This should keep me occupied while cycling.

All the fish on that list should get along fine! And lots of color in there! You should get more than 1 chromis though, they are a schooling fish; I have 3 green chromis.

 

[obscurereef]

I have the McCoskers flasher wrasse which is similar to the carpenter flasher wrasse, and it's stunning! A day after adding it, he was out, but usually they are said to hide in the sand for a while. I got 3 chromis and for some reason 2 of them disappeared (at separate times). My parameters were fine and they were eating okay, but it seems to happen. I know someone else w/ a beautiful setup and he added 6 to his established 50 gallon refugium and has only 2 now. I'd say just get other, prettier fish instead.

 

[Lindsay1718]

Could I fit all of them in my 70 gallon? It seems like a lot, but of course I'm used larger cichlids.i knew chromis needed to be in groups how about cardinals?

 

[obscurereef]

Cardinals are also grouping fish although many just keep one. To me they are cool looking, but since they are nocturnal they don't move, and fish are more interesting when they create movement! Could probably keep them all (would be pushing it) except for the tang and foxface which grow to be large and have a larger bio load than the other fish.

 

[Beengirl]

Could I fit all of them in my 70 gallon? It seems like a lot, but of course I'm used larger cichlids.i knew chromis needed to be in groups how about cardinals?

Yeah, get at least 2 cardinals. They don't do well alone. When I got my chromis I got 3, and still have the same 3. No problems with them at all. In the LED light, my green chromis kinda look irridescent/ pearly- I think they're very pretty.

 

[Lindsay1718]

Your talking about chromis, right? I'm not a huge fan anyway but, I heard they helped shyer fish come out more. What are some more recommendations on fish to look at?

 

[obscurereef]

I think they're pretty too, simple can be better. When there was only one chromis left he started to get more shy so I added a clownfish and he comes right to the glass and is "buddies" with the clownfish. I'd say the clownfish bring new fish out more than chromis.

 

[Lindsay1718]

Any opinions on the gobies?

 

[obscurereef]

Engineer gobies can get up to a foot and I wanted one in my 70, but it's kind of small for them. They move the sand around a lot so silicates could be released often leading to a diatom bloom. Plus when older they might eat inverts and small fish. If you still want to get one go ahead, they are beautiful fish! If not, then a watchman goby and pistol shrimp pair would be really cool!

 

[reef lover]

I wouldn't suggrst flame angel. They Not really reef safe is you plan to have coral

 

[Lindsay1718]

Yes I plan to start with low light corals then add some more light maybe after Christmas. I know about angel being with caution fish, but that is one of my favorites. I'll have to think about it. I was thinking if you kept well fed he might not nip.

 

[Lindsay1718]

Ok so day 1 water test
Nitrate 5-10
Nitrite 0
Ph 8.5
Ammonia 0-.05

Is that a good sign I will have a quick cycle I got it to 4ppm last night and it's down to .05? I cut sump off last night and shut ball valves bc I'm having issues getting return ball valve to right amount of flow it either sucks too fast or not fast enough and water in sump is clear but not in DT. I think I will cut power heads off for now to let settle.

Also, I really wanted some shrimp so I guess hubby's pick of engineer goby is out. I will go for yellow watchmen goby and a pistol shrimp. I really like watching symbiotic relationships. Its beat to see how they would be in the ocean. I liked the eel look of engineer too though. I'm planning to get a leather toadstool( I think that's the name, I'm just learning about corals) so I can watch clown host it.

 

[Mrc8858]

Your cycle is almost complete if you converted 4ppm in a day. This is what I meant about adding so much liverock can sometimes nearly instantly cycle your tank.

 

[Lindsay1718]

I was worried I didn't have enough I only had about 65 lbs for a 70 gallon. But it was fully cured so maybe that helps. So should I check again tonight to see if it's at 0 and add some more ammonia to see how it does? What is a mini cycle?

 

[Mrc8858]

Well most people use like 10-25% live rock 75-90% base rock which is why the cycle takes so long. Adding all live rock is the same as adding a fully established filter to a tank, but ya test later to see if you hit zero which you probably will or close to it. A mini cycle is just when you experience a little die off or more then normal amounts of nutrients which causes you to get ammo and nitrite readings since it can't convert it quick enough.

 

[Lindsay1718]

Yeah I had planned on just seeding my rock but, I found a great deal on CL a guy had to move so he kept his rock live with heater and pump. It had no die off smell at all for only 2.75 a lb. he wanted 4.50 but I guess he needed to move soon so he accepted the offer.

 

[Beengirl]

Yes I plan to start with low light corals then add some more light maybe after Christmas. I know about angel being with caution fish, but that is one of my favorites. I'll have to think about it. I was thinking if you kept well fed he might not nip.

My half black angel ate all kinds of coral, he loved it. And I feed every day and he gets seaweed sheets every day too, so don't think keeping them well-fed is the deciding factor. It's just whether that particular fish likes coral or not.

 

[Lindsay1718]

Oh that sucks. Well now I have to find something else. I've been looking on live aquaria and saw some smaller tangs but none as pretty as the flame angel. Any ideas?

 

[Mrc8858]

Marine bettas are nice

 

[Beengirl]

Oh that sucks. Well now I have to find something else. I've been looking on live aquaria and saw some smaller tangs but none as pretty as the flame angel. Any ideas?

I'm not telling you not to get one, that was just my experience. Try one if you really want one. I tried it, didn't work, so I set up a 30g FOWLR to put him in. It gave me an excuse to get another tank, anyways!! Lol. I've read on here that people have gotten lucky and their dwarf angel doesn't touch their coral. I wasn't that lucky.