Stocking

[nafuzy]

Ey guys!! When I start sticking my new reef tank I'm probably settling on around a 70 gal with a 55gal sump with a 10" refuge in it, and a "separate" 20gal refuge. Im re-researching most of everything cause I've been out of the game for a few months, but I'm no amateur and I know my diets, feeding routines etc. so tell me all what you think please I need a lot of advice and input:

90% Lps, sps corals, and some clams.
-3 lyre tails (1 male 2 female)
- 5 blue chroms
-2 ocelaris (maybe blacks not sure)
- 2 mandarins ( green, and spotted; seperate sexes)
-3-5 begi cardinals
- 1 tang; leaning towards yellow
-lots of crabs (several different)
-nasrius
-serpent stars
-various other sea stars etc
-cucumbers and nudis
-other undecided inverts

Oh and I'm going led, high flow rate, skimmer, I'm the greatest sump designer ever haha


Let's here it folks. Any and all questions comments opinions and advice pleeeeaaee and thank you!!

 

[nafuzy]

No cardinals. Changed my mind. And I want blue axial chroms, not blue/green reef

 

[carey]

other than the tang and the mandarins i think the list looks ok. The yellow tang is gonna need a bigger tank and the mandarins arent' recommended for a new tank as they only eat pods and there won't be enough in a new setup.

 

[nafuzy]

Well with my two refugiums, there will be plenty of pods, and I wouldn't get the mandarins till months down the line. This will be my 3rd tank, and the first masterpiece haha. But thank you carey.

Actually now that I looked more into it, I don't think I'm too fond of sps. I'm not going for any monis or acros, but I do kind of want some polyps and zoos going on. And definitely some ricordias. Maybe cherry coral?????

 

[nafuzy]

Any good ideas for a larger tang or similar fish besides the yellow tang???? And I'm actually leaning towards a 90. And I'm gonna drill. Know where i can find cheap reliable tanks???

 

[carey]

I'm not a super big fan of SPS either. I like some of the pieces but it's not an obsession with me like with others lol.

I always recommend either tomini, yellow eye kole tangs and other bristletooth tangs in tanks that aren't 6 feet. I've found the above mentioned to not need as much zoom room as the yellows and blues do. I'm beyond glad I did not put a yellow tang in a smaller tank after seeing how much mine zooms around all day. LOL

My favorite tang is the white tailed bristletooth and it's a perfect fish for a 75 or a 90g tank. Unfortunately I have been waiting for it to come back into stock since before christmas. :-(

I managed to get my drilled reef ready 90g tank and sump off of craigslist for $200. I t was brand new still in the packaging. It's just a matter of getting lucky and seeing an ad in time to snag a good deal. You can literally save thousands of $$ if you find the right deal.

 

[nafuzy]

200$?!?!?'. Wow that IS lucky!! I'm jealous now... :/. Well I'm gonna do the sump and refugiums myself, and the drilling (maybe; I know a store that will for free if I don't), but maybe I will try for a 90g..hmmm.

Another question that I never thought about before, is should I plan all the coral I will pick up in the future and already know the spot to put it..?? That almost seems....sort of fun/surprise/experiment depriving!

 

[carey]

I always wait til I get the coral or at least when I'm looking at one in an LFS I kinda in my mind know where it will go.

You will be moving things around and re-arranging in the beginning so you really won;t know what you end up with til you see it. lol

 

[nafuzy]

Again; what I needed/wanted to hear! . So I think I am going to look for a cheap 90 gal and instead of a tang I might go for a blue throat trig. I hear they can be okay in a reef tank that size "with caution" of course. I have a friend with a really cool reefer and he's got a pair in his. Plus I've aaaalllwwwaaayyys wanted a trigger. Whatcha think??

 

[carey]

I unfortunately know nothing about triggers other than they can bite and have teeth. lol My friends have a niger trigger in their tank but no coral really so not sure if they are safe or not.