36 Gallon Saltwater Bowfront Stock options

[ZachB]

Hi,
I am a beginner, and will be starting a saltwater tank next week and want to get working on a stock list for when my tank is cycled. I will be starting with just fish but would like to add coral down the road.
I will be using a 36 gallon bowfront with a HW303b canister filter, a Fluval Sea PS1 skimmer, a 150w heater, with 50 lbs of live rock, and 20 lbs live sand.

What I'am interested in so far is:
2 Bicolor Angelfish
3 yellowtail blue damsel
2 Clownfish
1 Green Mandarin (I've seen this been called green mandarin goby)
1 Longnose Hawkfish
1 Cardinal Fish
I would like a cleanup crew or algae eating fish but I'm not sure what I should add. Any suggestions? (I would like a bottomfeeder fish if one would would fit)

EDIT: After more research I've come up with a second stock option
1 Flame Angel (or maybe a different Angel, flames sound tough)
1 Flame Hawkfish
3 Green Mandarin
2 Clownfish
3 Three spot Domino Damsels
Any thoughts on this option??

I know this tank is probably overstocked, What should I remove so I can have most of what I want?
I would like to have a large community of different and colorful fish. I'am open to ANY suggestions....

Thanks
Zach

 

[Sniperhank]

A 36 simply isn't enough for one mandarin, let alone 3. They are almost exclusively pod eaters and won't always accept food outside of that. One has been said to eat 10's of thousands of pods in a day. Without a mature refugium feeding a system, one mandarin isn't able to be kept alive.
The size is also going to limit you to one dwarf angelfish. They will become aggressive towards each other due to the size limitations of territories. When it comes to dwarf angels, they need to be in 4 ft long tanks minimum.
Those aside, both of those seem like they would be solid in terms of stocking.

 

[ZachB]

Okay, got it. NO GO on the Mandarin
Also, I've read the Domino Damsel is extremely aggressive, do you think I should switch it out as well?

Current stock would be:
1 Flame Angel
1 Flame Hawkfish
2 Clownfish

I would like a few more fish, can you suggest some that would be compatible? preferably some pairs or schools?

 

[ZachB]

How does this sound?
1 Flame Angel
1 Flame Hawkfish
2 Clownfish
2 Royal Gramma Basslet
2 Blue Reef Chromis

 

[54seaweed]

mandarins need a very well established tank of at least a year
another factor is mandarins are a very fragile fish to keep in captivity as they can starve very fast in a closed system .

survival of a mandarin is low in captivity around 10% and that percentage would drop with 3.

they don't do well with any type of parameter swings .
the only known way of having a better chance of one surviving is to be sure it is trained to eat frozen foods along with pellets . and that is not always a sure fire guarantee

3 mandarins in a tank of that size and why it wouldn't work :

1.) mandarins eats around 2500 pods a day times that by 3 that is 7500 pods in one day, mandarins eat constantly . a 36g tank couldn't maintain a stable pod population .

2.) 3 mandarins is a iffy issue , weather its 2 females to 1 male or vise versa the 2 odd balls will fight till death . and you still have the issue of a good stable food source .
buying pods on a daily basis is a very expensive option ,

3.) mandarins need a very well established tank with a pristine water quality . established tank means of at-least 1 year they don't do well with any type of big parameter changes.

4.) with the average amount of food a mandarin consumes your tank wouldn't be able to keep up a good population of pods as they could not reproduce fast enough. another factor is some of the other fish you have on your list will also consume pods . so that's another thing to take into consideration .

this article should give you a better understanding of what I'm saying

...I'd like to buy a Mandarin! | Melev's Reef, Inc

over all your stock list with both options is over stocked

you could get by with 1 dwarf angel at most but that is pushing it.
long nose hawk fish would work
cardinal would work but do better in pairs
clowns will work so long as they are the smaller ones that don't grow large
flame hawk would work

Just so your aware:

damsels are very nasty fish and you wouldn't really be happy with them anyway .
the domino damsels do get big I have one almost 6 inch in size and aggressive.
the yellow tails will stay on the small side but can be very aggressive. they do better in bigger tanks

nothing said was to deter you from your choices , it's just to give you a better view of what you will encounter .

we want you have the best success you can ,

look forward to seeing your progress as your tank evolves

this was my stock list I had in my 37g bow front

• 2 bangii cardinal
• 1 pj cardinal
• 1 Clarkie clown
• 1 mandarin survival was about 8 months
• 1 lawn mower
• 1 engineer Gobi
• 1 orange fire fish

these fish were transferred to a bigger tank as I progressed in the hobby and as they grew.
I did have a few damsels but they were removed almost immediately because they picked on everyone in the tank very mean aggressive fish ,

 

[ZachB]

Thank You for your input, like I said I'm a beginner and any advice given is great.

I will stay away from the damsel and mandarin, I dont think its best to start with difficult fish...

How does this sound?
1 Flame Angel
1 Flame Hawkfish
2 Clownfish
2 Royal Gramma Basslet
2 Blue Reef Chromis

 

[54seaweed]

Thank You for your input, like I said I'm a beginner and any advice given is great.

I will stay away from the damsel and mandarin, I dont think its best to start with difficult fish...

How does this sound?
1 Flame Angel
1 Flame Hawkfish
2 Clownfish
2 Royal Gramma Basslet
2 Blue Reef Chromis

that should work I did have a flame angel in my 37g but as everything grew I expanded to a bigger tank .

as for size I would probably aim more towards the long nose hawk over the flame hawk , remember you could always get more fish if you ever decide to upgrade in the future .
I would drop 1 royal grammar as they would fight if not a male/female pair

this was my 37g everything moved as I upgraded
may be you could get a few ideas that can help you
February 2013 Tank of the Month: 54seaweed's 37 Gallon Mixed Reef

 

[Sniperhank]

Okay, got it. NO GO on the Mandarin
Also, I've read the Domino Damsel is extremely aggressive, do you think I should switch it out as well?

Current stock would be:
1 Flame Angel
1 Flame Hawkfish
2 Clownfish

I would like a few more fish, can you suggest some that would be compatible? preferably some pairs or schools?

All damsels can be aggressive and can be a holy terror in tanks. Some people like them, others wish they never put any in. With that said, clownfish are damsels as well and can get territorial.

 

[bribo12]

2 royal grammas will fight. One should be fine though. Not a lot of saltwater fish can be in multiples unless it's a proven pair or a schooling fish. Other than that the list seems ok. The flame angel could become a menace so I'd definitely add it last.

Also, watch the hawk with small shrimp. Mine is fine with dwarf coral bandits but I wouldn't do anything smaller.

 

[ZachB]

Thank you everyone for the help.
I think it's decided, I will go with:
1 Flame Angel
1 Flame Hawkfish or Longnose
2 Oscelaris Clownfish
1 Royal Gamma Basslet
3 Blue Reef Chromis (Do you think I should only get one if I dont ever see myself upgrading tanks?)

In what order and in what time intervals should I add these fish? I'm thinking the clownfish/royal/chromis first
Then the Hawkfish
Last, the angel?

 

[Sniperhank]

Angel will have to be last.
When it comes to chromis, they do best in odd numbered groups. Even then, sometimes those numbers eventually dwindle away over time.