Stratoquarius' Salt tank progression

[Wiggles92]

Most species of the listed fishes besides the gobies & some species of wrasse will outgrow your aquarium.

However, you could get one of the smaller species of tang (not a yellow tang, though) for in there; most tangs will not work because they're very active fishes that need plenty of room to swim. Some smaller species of foxface might work in there, too, but you have to be careful when netting them due to their venomous spines. Most triggers will get too large for your aquarium, and some tend to be very reclusive, too.

Overall, I'd say go with a couple of gobies & a wrasse or two, and call it good at that; those two groups tend to be more community-friendly, too.

Also, don't add any livestock until the cycle is 100% complete; anything that came on the live rock (especially the coral) will probably not survive the cycle.

 

[Stratoquarius]

Thanks for the tips Wiggles. the stuff on the rocks seems to be growing more rather than dying off which is pretty cool.

Right now i'm looking to go in a fish only direction but who knows maybe down the line I will go more reef. I can't believe that a yellow tang will be too large for a 65 gallon tank. the tank will be 7 times the fishes length.

 

[Wiggles92]

Thanks for the tips Wiggles. the stuff on the rocks seems to be growing more rather than dying off which is pretty cool.

Right now i'm looking to go in a fish only direction but who knows maybe down the line I will go more reef. I can't believe that a yellow tang will be too large for a 65 gallon tank. the tank will be 7 times the fishes length.

Most, if not all, tangs are zippy fishes that need plenty of room to swim; some people even recommend giving them no less than a 6' aquarium because of their hyperactive nature. I would plan accordingly now with your stock if there's even a remote chance that you might go reef in the future; some of the fishes that you listed may not be compatible with a reef, and it can be a pain to find new homes for saltwater fishes.

 

[Stratoquarius]

yeah thats a good point, I'll stick to the fish only route. I totally agree with you that tangs like to have lots of swimming space, but I feel like there must be tonnes of people on here already that have tangs in tanks that are too small. if you had a 65 gallon fish only tank Wiggles, what would you do with it? I like to think of as many options as possible

 

[JASamper]

I think the 6' is a bit over the top, in my 120 4x2 my yellow tang has plenty of room.

 

[Wiggles92]

yeah thats a good point, I'll stick to the fish only route. I totally agree with you that tangs like to have lots of swimming space, but I feel like there must be tonnes of people on here already that have tangs in tanks that are too small. if you had a 65 gallon fish only tank Wiggles, what would you do with it? I like to think of as many options as possible

Keeping your previous list & goals in mind, if I was you, I would go with the following stocklist (excludes the clean-up crew):

• 1x Multicolor Lubbock's Fairy Wrasse
• 1x Bicolor Blenny
• 1x Yellow Prawn Goby
• 1x Snapping Shrimp
• 2x Ocellaris Clownfish

This stock would allow you to convert to a reef in the future while providing a nice mix of color & activity for the time being. The wrasse stays pretty small & will be you main centerpiece fish. The blenny is neat to watch hop from rock to rock & will mow down the nuisance algae, too. The goby & shrimp will form a symbiotic relationship & will watch out for one another while also helping to keep the bottom near their burrow clean. Lastly, a pair of clownfish are just a fun addition to any aquarium, especially if you plan on transitioning to a reef later on (add an anemone at that point).

Keep in mind that you have far more options if you choose to not plan for converting to a reef in the future. In that case, I'd do maybe two or three non-reef safe wrasses & a snowflake eel.

 

[JASamper]

Sorry to go off topic but regarding the anemone, I previously read an article a few days ago stating that anemones should only be taken into consideration by an experienced aquarist because of some data that suggested that the overall majority of anemones in captivity do not make it to two years of age compared to the wild in which they are virtually immortal till they catch a disease. Which shocked me because I always though anemones to be a good starter to get introduced to corals. I would like to hear your point of view, Wiggles92 because you seem to have a large amount of experience in keeping marine animals.

 

[Wiggles92]

Sorry to go off topic but regarding the anemone, I previously read an article a few days ago stating that anemones should only be taken into consideration by an experienced aquarist because of some data that suggested that the overall majority of anemones in captivity do not make it to two years of age compared to the wild in which they are virtually immortal till they catch a disease. Which shocked me because I always though anemones to be a good starter to get introduced to corals. I would like to hear your point of view, Wiggles92 because you seem to have a large amount of experience in keeping marine animals.

From personal experience as well as from reading, I've found that anemones need to have really good lighting, current, & water parameters as well as a place for them to "put down roots" so-to-speak. Certain species also should be target fed from time to time while others will use photosynthesis for all of their needs (but often will still benefit from target feeding); it also helps to have a good 'pod population built up ahead of time as they will feed on those, too. The end goal is to get the anemone to pick a spot in the aquarium & stay there because an anemone that's on the move is not happy with its previous location in the aquarium, and it almost always takes an established & mature aquarium for them to thrive.

I had two Condylactis anemones when I first started as they came stuck to the live rock; the first one didn't last long under my poor husbandry habits (unbeknownst to me at the time) while the second one did very well for about a few months after that before it was killed by something. The second one was pretty happy as long as nothing bothered it, and it would feed on small pieces of krill, shrimp, & fish as well as very small whole dead fish.

 

[Stratoquarius]

Okay well I think i'll do a non reef tank.
I absolutely do not want to keep clowns, I've kept and bred them before and want something a bit less common, so im not sure what to replace them with.
so we are talking 3-4 wrasses, a blenny and a goby?
any chance I could still have the fox face?

I like the wrass idea because I saw many many wrasses for sale that I loved.

 

[Wiggles92]

Okay well I think i'll do a non reef tank.
I absolutely do not want to keep clowns, I've kept and bred them before and want something a bit less common, so im not sure what to replace them with.
so we are talking 3-4 wrasses, a blenny and a goby?
any chance I could still have the fox face?

I like the wrass idea because I saw many many wrasses for sale that I loved.

Haha, I stuck the clowns on there since you mentioned about considering a reef in the future; I'm not a huge fan of them in a FOWLR setting, but they're pretty cool in a reef.

I would say that three small to medium-sized wrasses, a blenny, & a goby would work pretty well; if you pull a wrasse or two, then I'd say that a one spot foxface might work as its the smallest one that I could find on LiveAquaria (7" adult size). The blenny isn't needed either, but I figured that it would be a better choice instead of two gobies as it's more active & colorful than most gobies plus it helps with nuisance algae; personally, I'd ditch the goby in favor of the blenny if I wanted to cut a small fish from the mix.

Regardless of what you choose, I would err on the low side for the stocking, too, as you're probably going to be getting juvenile specimens rather than adults.