Suggested fish for SW Reef - 90G

[Panther17]

So my proposed tank will be a 4ft long, approximately 90G tank - will start as FOWLR, but will eventually become a reef.

I was hoping that somebody could run a quick sanity check on the list below to ensure I am not introducing anything wrong. I am aiming where possible for a peaceful temparament that won't eat inverts and won't upset fellow tank mates.

1 Royal Gramma
1 Midas or Lawnmower Blenny
Cardinals - 3 PJ's & 2 Banggai's
6 Green Chromis
2 Clownfish
2 Gobies (Pair of Sleeper Gold Heads)
1 Wrasse (Six Lined Wrasse)

Tank will have a 2" sand base and approx. 90 pounds of Live Rock.
Tank will also have a sump-refugium (thinking just live rock rubble and maybe some macro algae).

Last question - Can you buy macro algae at most LFS? I live in South Australia.
Thank you.

 

[obscurereef]

-Royal grammas like shade, so kind of hide in dark places. Can be a little territorial, but not too bad.

-Midas blenny...great fish/personality. One of my favorite additions.

-cardinals-pretty big school. When they get 3+ they become a little more agressive. You'd want to add all of the cardinals at one time so there's no fighting for new comers and that would create a large bioload. It's possible though.

-From a few people including myself, chromis have dwindled down to one. Sometimes they just disappear. I personally would rather have other fish than a school of chromis. 2 schools is a lot for a 90 anyway.

-pair o' clownfish

-Sleeper gold head gobies: You'll have a clean sand bed, that's for sure

-Cool wrasse. They've got a rep for having some bad behavior. Can pick on small fish/shrimp, but shouldn't be too much of a nuisance especially since it's a FOWLR. Another wrasse would be awesome imo. You have so many options since you don't have coral.

You should be able to buy some chaeto from your LFS. Just ask them if they have any for sale.

All in all, those are nice choices, but I think with the schools, the bioload would get crazy. Ergo you are sane.

 

[Panther17]

Thanks obscurereef,

So you would suggest just a pair each of the 2 different cardinals and drop the chromis?

Royal Gramma not recommended?

If I go for a reef eventually then I should drop the Wrasse?

Are there any reef-safe fish that you would suggest I also look at? (Coral Beauty seems to be a 50/50).

If I follow your recommendations then would you say I have room left in my bioload?

Thanks once again for the awesome advice!!

 

[obscurereef]

Personally I'd rather have other more colorful fish than a school of chromis, but that's just my liking. I'm not completely sure on how the mix of cardinals would work out.

Most of the people who've got royal grammas say they hide more often than not, but if you want it, go for it.

The six line wrasse is considered reef compatible, but some have had bad experiences as in they're little bullies. That doesn't apply for all six line wrasses though.

The dwarf angel fish would be fine in your FOWLR tank, but like you said, there is a risk when you convert to a reef setup.

Other reef safe fish...anthias (really gorgeous), wrasses (check out red corris, vrolik's wrasse, christmas wrasse, etc. Says cautionary for reef compatible b/c they can pick on small fish, inverts), firefish, etc.

It depends on how good your filtration is. How many fish total are you thinking of now? I have fun helping so no problem