Proposed Stock List for 120g high - advice appreciated

Hey guys,

I posted this over in my build thread as well but I thought I might get a few more opinions here for those who haven't found my build yet (see my signature if you'd like to take a peek).

So, the overall plan was to set up a LPS/Soft dominated tank to start and maybe bring in some SPS after a year or so. The DT is on order and should be here on Saturday. The rock has been curing in a tub in the garage for a week now so I’m hoping the cycle will be completed in 4-5 more weeks or so. Then I’ll add 50lbs of primo deco live rock from Live Rock ‘n’ Reef and the CUC… I’ll call this week 0. I’ll wait a week or two to be sure I don’t get another cycle and to let my first batch of fish get through quarantine. I've got a 20g QT tank going through it's cycle right now as well.

So, here’s what I’m looking to put in and when I plan to introduce them. Note that I may not buy them from the store I linked here but for those who aren’t familiar with the species (mainly my family ) this should give you an idea. I’m sure I’ll be bringing home various impulse buys from the LFS of course!

I’m really looking for input here guys so please don’t be shy. Obviously the timeline will be based on how the tank is doing… especially with the trickier stuff like the anemone, mandarin, etc.



Week 0:

• 120g Quick Crew w/ hermits from Reefcleaners.org
• Will also get some Chaeto, some Red Gracilaria, and some Ulva Lettuce for the refugium.

Week 2:

• One-Spot Foxface
• 5 x Barred Dartfish
• 2 x Percula Clownfish
• 2x cleaner shrimp
• 4x fire shrimp
• 2x Red Brittle Sea Star
• 3x red serpent star

• Purple Tip Frogspawn
• Sun Polyps
• Pulsing Xenia
• Metallic Green Hammer
• Brain Worm Platygyra

Week 8 (around my birthday... hint to the family):

• Dwarf Flame Angel
• Royal Gramma
• Red Spotted Blenny
• Purple Firefish Goby

• Green Star Polyp
• Assorted Mushrooms
• Armor of God Zoo
• Purple Flower Pot
• Orange and Green Polyps
• Zoo colony

Week 14:

• Hi Fin Red Banded Goby and Pistol Shrimp
• Exquisite Fairy Wrasse
• Kryptonite Candy Cane
• Alien Moon Brain

Week 26:

• Purple long tentacle Anemone
• Blue Linckia Star
• Maxima clam
• Superman Chalice

Week 40: (being optimistic with my refugium!)

• Psychedelic Mandarinfish

Week 52: (being optimistic with my water quality!)

• Electric Flame Scallop

 

Another species I just came across that I'm interested in are the Ultra Maxi Mini Carpet Anemones. Those look awesome. Just started reading a bit about them. Anyone have any experience with them? I've heard some folks suspect them as fish hunters but, as with everything in this hobby, there seems to be conflicting info

 

I swear this is like deja vu.....I could have sworn I commented on this list before? Anyway, I can give feedback on the maxi mini anemone.....I have one in my tank and it's very hardy. I feed it about once per week and it catches left overs from fish feeding. It has not eaten any fish (knock on wood) and stays put in its spot that it has found since putting in my tank. I know many others have these in their tanks..I would love to add another with more purple in it (mine is green and a deep red). They don't host clownfish.

 

Adding that many fish and inverts in such a small system and in that short of a time span will probably lead to disaster IME.
IMO there is no way to keep that many fish/inverts healthy in a 120.Here's some good links.

http://www.3reef.com/forums/general-reef-topics/minimum-tank-sizes-selection-animals-137158.html

http://www.3reef.com/forums/new-hob...general-rules-successful-aquarium-126326.html

 

/concur

 

Revised Stock Plan

Thanks guys, for the valuable input. After the feedback I got here as well as some other sites, i've adjusted my stock plan to thin it out a bit and slow it down.

Vinny, I totally undertand that overstocking, especially with a new tank, is bad. What is a little less clear, for a newbie like myself, is what constitutes an overstocked tank. Even after several days of research, it's clear that there is no simple answer to that. In either case, I certainly understand the need to slow things down a bit. So here's the revised plan.

Week 0 after cycle:
120g clean up crew from Reefcleaners.org. As part of the CUC they'll also be including 1 brittle and serpent star, 2 peppermint shrimp, and a florida fighting conch.

Week 2 after cycle:

So this would be the first batch of fish. I'll plan on QTing these for 4-6 weeks before introducing them to the DT on week 2 after the cycle. At the moment, it looks like I'll be getting them from vividaquariums.com.

• One Spot Foxface Rabbit
• Dwarf Flame Angel
• Red Spotted Blenny
• 2x Percula Clownfish

This is a few more fish than I'd like to do at one time however there are a few factors which have contributed to this decision. Since I'll actually be buying these 4-6 weeks BEFORE week 2 (to get them through QT) I'm limited to buying only fish since the DT won't be ready for corals or inverts yet. I needed to buy enough fish to justify the shipping costs and to meet vivid's $150 minimum for livestock. All of these will be very young fish. The Blenny is the only one over 2 inches and it might be JUST over. The rest are all listed as .75-1.5 inches which leads me to believe it should work out fine..



Week 10 after cycle:

• Royal Gramma
• Hi Fin Red Banded Goby and Pistol Shrimp
• 1 Scarlet Skunk cleaner shrimp

Week 24 after cycle:

• 5x blue green cromis
• Purple long tentacle Anemone
• maxima clam

So hopefully that looks better. I've removed a lot of the shrimp, the wrasse, the mandarin, and I've replaced the barred dartfish and the purple firefish with the green cromis. The cromis aren't as big as the zebra dartfish and they satisfy a couple of my needs... schooling fish, top zone swimmers, blue/green color and a bonus... cheap and hardy. They're not as unique as the dartfish, but I think I'll probably have better luck with them.

After 18mos or so I can re-evaluate. I'd certainly like to get the mandarine and maybe a wrasse as well but we'll give it a year or two to see how the tank is running. Hopefully this feels better to you guys.

 

I have 3 zebra Dartfish in my 125g and they are definitely cool. They school a lot better than chromis.
I think 6 months might still be a little early to add an anemone. I have ears that 1 year is a good time to add one if your tank if flourishing. Just my opinion.

 

Thanks Dan... appreciate it. At what level in the tank do the zebra darts tend to hang out? Top/Middle/Bottom or do they tend to wander all over?

I certainly have no issue with waiting longer for the anemone. Out of curiosity, if anyone knows, will the clownfish switch their host site over time? I'm hoping that the clowns will initially host in the frogspawn or hammer coral until I can get the anemone in the tank. But I was just thinking if they're hosting in a coral for a year, how likely are they to switch to an anemone after that long?

 

The zebras ten to hang out towards the top half. Middle to top. They all gather in the corner and sleep together.
I'm not entirely sure about the clowns. I have heard that clowns hosting hammers or frogspawn will eventually lead to the demise of the coral. Just what I remember hearing. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Add fish like the angelfish after a while so they can graze on the rock. IMO mini maxis and a few of the fish on your list don't go well.