my stocking (wish litst)

[liquafaction]

This is a long term goal for me, but I was wanting opinions my stocking goals. I hope these boogers go good together. I am one of those people that have to have 2's or more, or to me it will just look to cluttered. 100 gal tank

3 yellow tangs
2 banner fish (Heniochus intermedius)
4 clowns (ocellaris, or clarkii)
I would like to add last a small triger, but I the smallest ones I see, get to 12 inches, and I figure I am running out of room, and he would be to aggresive.

I want to keep corals, mostly softs, but I would imagine I would have to get a few hards. I was told that buttefly fish are hard on corals. Are the banner fish considered butterflies? Would the banners be hard on corals?

[g. mcclean]

From everything I have learned, and I am still a newbie, keeping more than one of most species is very difficult unless you get mated pairs. I would think 3 tangs would never work. Many of the butterfly fish have very specialized diets that include stony-coral polyps or other sessile invertebrates. A good source of information on reef aquariums and their inhabitants is Reef Aquariums by Tullock. Sorry I see you mentioned bannerfish. They appear to be reef safe as they are plankton feeders.

[liquafaction]

from what I have read so far, yellow tangs can be kept in small groups, and banners can be kept in pairs. The clowns can be kept in pairs if you get them young, and with one large dominant. I am a newbie as well though, and do not know for sure. If I can keep these fish in pairs, I was hoping they would not hurt each other, and corals.

[Guy W]

Originally posted by liquafaction
from what I have read so far, yellow tangs can be kept in small groups, and banners can be kept in pairs. The clowns can be kept in pairs if you get them young, and with one large dominant. I am a newbie as well though, and do not know for sure. If I can keep these fish in pairs, I was hoping they would not hurt each other, and corals.

Yellow tangs can be kept in small groups, generally... however it would require a much much larger tank than 100 gallons. I assume the tank is 4 feet long? I wouldn't keep any tang in a 4 foot tank, let alone 3. That goes for the Heniochus as well.

I think in the long run it would be a mistake. Consider some other smaller fish to go along with your clowns. Royal Gramma's, Chromis, Gobies, smaller Wrasse, Dwarf Angel and so on.

I have a 125gal, 6 foot tank and all I have is a Flame Angel, Maroon Clown, Xmas Island Anthias, and a 6 line wrasse. Perhaps I'll add 2 more fish eventually but thats it.

In your tank I would say a group of 3 to 5 clowns, a Flame/Bicolor/Coral Beauty Angel (pick one), and 1 or 2 other small fish would be maxed. Maybe a pair of anthias or chromis. And some inverts, crabs/snails/stars/shrimp... If lighting permits you should also have no trouble adding corals to that setup.

Thats my recommendation.

Guy

[liquafaction]

5 feet long, 2 feet tall, and 19" deep.

thanks for your input

[Guy W]

Originally posted by liquafaction
5 feet long, 2 feet tall, and 19" deep.

thanks for your input

At 5 foot, maybe 1 tang is what I would suggest. However not 3, plus to two heniochus (which are very similar to tangs).

Guy

[liquafaction]

can I buy a vowel?....lol

2 tangs
2 banners
3 clowns

???

or am I over crowding the tangs?

[Guy W]

Originally posted by liquafaction
can I buy a vowel?....lol

2 tangs
2 banners
3 clowns

???

or am I over crowding the tangs?

I'm sure most people will recommend no. If you do 2 tangs I would try get 2 different kinds. To try to eliminate the agression. 2 yellow tangs in a small area will probably fight. I'd think about doing these 2 types of tangs, as they are both peaceful and smaller for tangs.

Kole Tang
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=345

Achillies Tang (difficult, wait until established)
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=325

Or

Blue/Regal Tang (not as small but peaceful)
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=330

So ya I'd go with a Kole/Ahcillies combo or a Kole/Regal combo if you really want tangs. I would still say no on the heniochus. There are 2 types that look real similar Heniochus acuminatus (10") and Heniochus diphreutes (7"). The first one is more common and looks a little nicer. Either way I still wouldn't recommend 2, maybe 1 tops!!!

The yellow tangs are just too **** agressive IMO. I had one when I first setup my 125 with a Picasso Trigger and the Tang would beat on the trigger all day long!!! No joke.

So I think you would be pushing it with 2 tangs, a Heniochus, and some clowns but I think you would get by for a while. Just keep a backup plan on what to do if they get too big.

Guy

[kreblak]

Yellow tangs can be VERY agressive. Mine was quite defensive of the corner of the tank he felt was "his". My tank is three feet long, and he paced it all day long. He was a small tang and it was obvious that he needed more room. Two yellows together is probably not the greatest idea.

Oh, for the amount of fish you want, I highly recommend getting a LOT of live rock. Those fish are going to want hiding spaces, as well as territories of their own.

[liquafaction]

I deffinatly will do a ton of live rock.

I was looking at the achillies tang last night. That is a real cool fish, but they recomended it for experienced aquariest, and said they were hard to feed, and water conditions must be perfect. The description kinda spooked me out of wanting one

[kreblak]

Hard to feed and requiring perfect water quality is the description for EVERY tang. It is the main reason the so many people say that tangs are "prone" to Ich. Tangs are no more prone to Ich than any other fish, they simply get stressed without a rich algae supply for them to graze throughout the day, and get sick as a result. Achilles tangs are great looking fish. They are great fish for the aquarium so long as you have the swimming space, keep your ammonia and nitrites at zero, and keep your nitrates down to acceptable levels.

Perfect water quality is hard to come by, but I help a friend maintain his tank and he may have just done it. He has a 75 gallon tank with a 6 inch DSB and 125 lbs of live and base rock, plumbed to a 20 gallon sump where he is running a gigantic skimmer. His ammonia and nitrites are zero, and his nitrates are an astonishing 10 ppm. That's as close to perfect as I've ever seen. He keeps a flame angelfish, a purple tang, a huma-huma trigger, and a couple of green chromis.

Five months ago, his tank wasn't so pristine. He had a crushed coral substrate, no skimmer, and his nitrates were through the roof (around 150 ppm). Accordingly, his fish weren't doing as well as they are now, especially the tang and the angel.

[liquafaction]

I was thinking of passing on a coral tank for now, and getting a trigger. My favorite picks of fish are just not reef friendly. After we get done remodeling the house, I want to put do a 500 gallon, I may reef that one.