Stocking Ideas

[BelleMorte]

A friend of mine is giving me her 175 tank...not sure what all comes with it just yet. We were talking about what to stock it with yes I know I have ages to think about it but I like having a good game plan I do know I am getting "dori" for the tank with "nemo" (my daughter's dream fish) after that I am not sure how many fish would be to much for the bio load as this is going to be the biggest thing yet I have done and sort of feeling out of my league on choices of fish...the inverts and corals I am cool with lol. Any help will be greatly appreciated

 

[huma-huma]

id be careful with the blue hippo tang. not sure if you are just starting off in the sw side of it, but id recommend giving the tank some time to stabilize before adding the hippo tang. they are absolutely gorgeous fish and are worth the wait. however they tend to fall ill to sickness and stress more frequently than other fish. that being said, if you give the tank some time to smooth out, then introduce one, you shouldnt have a problem at all. and congrats on the great steal!!. also please, for the sake of the mountain of money you are about to sink into this obsession (its a good thing ) please qt your fish.

also in terms of stocking, its really dependant on what you want to keep. spend some time searching through liveaquaria and write down all the fish you may want. then come back here. we can help to eliminate any less than ideal fish from the list.

 

[Criptix]

Woot Woot!I would love to get a 175!Maybe some day but for now I will be happy with my 45g.Huma-Huma has great advice and I agree liveaquaria.com is a good reference for fish and their optimal tank sizes.Take a look at dwarf angels and butterfly fish I find them to be absolutely breathtaking.Just keep in mind that most of them are not very good beginner fish;however;once you feel like you could handle it i believe it would be making for some breathtaking viewing and enjoyment.
Here is a list of fish that are good for a 150g(the next step up was 200g)
Beginner Fish: Tropical Fish for Beginners in Saltwater Aquariums
Keep us posted and keep the questions coming!Good luck!

 

[BelleMorte]

I have a 12 gallon cube I am going to use as a quarantine tank got it for free as well...this will be my second sw tank and yes I know they are prone to sickness and stress. That being said I was mostly looking at a mix of sizes and how many? I have a 30 gallon build that I have kept at max 4-5 some small ones. My 30 gallon is 8 years old and just started it as a reef tank last year

 

[alco1]

it's really hard to say exactly how many fish would be ok, you can't really put a number on it due to the different sizes and different fish produce more pollution than others and the type of filtration you have than can handle the bioload.

Just keep slowly adding fish in every 2-4 weeks 1 at a time. as it progresses and you add more stuff you may get a bit more familiar with your setup and get a personal view of what your tank may be able to handle.

it's not the best advise..... but hopefully it may help

 

[BelleMorte]

Yeah my husband has been looking at things mostly small fish. I think I will keep the load small when it gets cycled that way I won't have to worry about a huge loss if something were to go wrong. I am nervous and excited at this is the biggest tank I have ever had. I have a 20 gal fw and 30 gal sw.

 

[AtoZ Cichlids]

A friend of mine is giving me her 175 tank...not sure what all comes with it just yet. We were talking about what to stock it with yes I know I have ages to think about it but I like having a good game plan I do know I am getting "dori" for the tank with "nemo" (my daughter's dream fish) after that I am not sure how many fish would be to much for the bio load as this is going to be the biggest thing yet I have done and sort of feeling out of my league on choices of fish...the inverts and corals I am cool with lol. Any help will be greatly appreciated

Haha thats my favorite thing to hear... Nemos and Doris XD. I work at a reef store and you wouldnt believe how many people young and old call the fish nemos and doris, and the little little kids... Ha "lets find nemo lets find nemo look mommy nemo!!!" lol all the time... ohh and any blue fish in the store is a dori to the little kids! may as well rename the species! I think its so funny and I love it

 

[BelleMorte]

I bet that is adorable. My daughter also likes the bright colored fish. She keeps trying to get me to put all the fish from nemo in my tank

 

[huma-huma]

I bet that is adorable. My daughter also likes the bright colored fish. She keeps trying to get me to put all the fish from nemo in my tank

Trying to lightly stock a 175/180 is futile. Id put 2 medium-sized tang (purple tang is a must) and possibly 2 bigger tangs (blonde naso, lt. Tang, vlamingi tang) then add a school of anthias pr chromis and watch what happens. Youll be at the fish store every 3-4 days wanting to add fish lol

 

[ezy33]

With a larger tank you could take fish that have out grown a smaller system. I picked up my sail fin, blue and yellow tangs from local fish stores as trade ins. This way they are already adapted to life in a aquarium. Good luck!

 

[MarinaClown]

Just keep slowly adding fish in every 2-4 weeks 1 at a time.

This is the best advice you can get. I am a strong supporter of this approach. Many times I realized that I didn't really want the fish I thought I wanted by waiting a few weeks before pulling a trigger. Definitely look into wrasses. They are bright colored and active fish. Best part is you can have more than one in that tank.

 

[BelleMorte]

I was debating on that. I always add slowly as I can't go out and buy them all at one time....