New 125 gallon tank, livestock questions etc...

[SGT Henry]

Hey, I bought a 125g tank, wood stand, canopy, chiller, skimmer, 30g sump, water pumps, LR and LS, and lighting system for $850...not bad...its been set-up for 3 years so it has a great cycle going on and its doing pretty well...Im gonna move it to my house on friday and im sure it will be a loooong day.

Anyways, the tank has 4 fish already (purple tang, sailfin tang, yellow tang and a big maroon clownfish)...I think im gonna sell the clown because I already have a false perc clown in a 20g which ill move to the 125g.

I was wondering what you guys thought of the stock list I had in mind:

-purple tang
-sailfin tang
-yellow tang
-false perc
-firefish
-mandarin(once the tank is up and running and also im gonna have a 10g refugium which will certainly help with the pods)
-hippo tang
-royal gramma
-and maybe a goby...

The lighting right now is about 500watts total...Im gonna move my shrooms and yellow polyps from the 20g over there. With 500w, is there any coral i cant keep?

thanks...

 

[roka64]

I take it you like tangs? That seems like a lot of them for that tank. At least one or two of them are aggressive and might cause problems for the firefish and royal gramma and possibly the goby.
The Purple Tang can be very aggressive and do not fare well with tank mates of similar body shape, especially other Tangs of the genus Zebrasoma, which would be the Yellow and the Sailfin. I'm don't have any tangs, but just the little reading I have done, so you may want to wait until folks can give you their personal experiences....

 

[SGT Henry]

Yeah, ive heard about the prurple tangs usual bad temper towards other tangs but the yellow, sailfin, and purple tang along with the maroon clown have been sharing that tank for 3 years now soo i guess thats a good sign.

Do you think the firefish and clown would be picked on in such a big tank?...Its 6 feet long soo they have alot of swimming space.

thx again, appreciate the opinions...

 

[roka64]

I was looking at that. I guess I am saying, there is no real guarantee. Aggressive and peaceful fish generally don't get along. I think of the tang ran across the firefish, goby and possibly the clown and royal gramma, they could be snacks....But then again, it is a pretty big tank. I think I will have to yield to the more experienced, at this point, I'm a little bit stumped! LOL!

 

[melosu58]

On the other hand you dont know how long those tangs have been in there. I`ve had three tangs in my 125 but I just dont know about 4

 

[seaham358]

If the tangs are already in the tank then its not a issue IMO. The problem happens when you introduce them, and sometimes when they mature.
I don't see any issues with your fish list...

 

[afilter]

On the other hand you dont know how long those tangs have been in there. I`ve had three tangs in my 125 but I just dont know about 4

Yeah, I would not add a 4th Tang. Even though a 125g seems huge it can get real small if you have an agression problem. Frankly the 3 you have are already pushing it since they are all similar in body type. Have a plan to remove one or more if aggression issues arise. Once the setup is moved, you are basically going to upset the balance even if you try to set up the aquascape as close to the way it was.

You could always look at an angel, I love my coral Beauty (of course never a guarantee with nipping coarls).

Otherwise some of my other reef safe favorite include:

Six line wrasse (would compete for pods with a mandarin)
Clowns (maroons are my favorite)
Anthias
Cardinal fish (bangai)
Chromis (school of 5)

Good Luck,