# stocking my 120



## fish fever02

ok guys im getting ready to start stocking the 120, let me know what you think and if you think itll work....
*already have*
2 ocellaris clowns
100 blue leg crabs
a couple snails 
a few mushrooms
leather coral (not sure what kind)
a few zoas

*fish*
2 black and white clowns
coral beauty angel
flame angel
yellow tang
lawnmower blenny
potters angel
fox face tang
hippo tang

*inverts*
brittle star
2 cleaner shrimp
green bubble tip
rose bubble tip

*coral*
green candy cane
orange sun
black sun
Duncan coral
Australian lord acan purple green
green birds nest
devils hand
red dimple mushroom

well that's it...*c/p*


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## coralbandit

Quite the list $$$$!
Be careful trying to house more than one pair of clowns.
I would check on lighting requirements of the corals also and make sure they are similiar or you can make provisions for them
Besides the clowns you list on your want list all others are herbivores so make sure you have algae or can provide the proper plant nutrition.
Stock slow so BB can grow with additions.
Good luck!


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## fish fever02

yeah about $600 in total. well im going to order them all at once and just dump a gallon of BB in with them. I do need to check on the lighting tho. ive got 2 metal halides 250w hqi, 2 490nm actinic compact fluorescent and led moonlight.


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## angelsdice159

This is just my two cents..k
i dont think ur gonna have luck housing 3 angels in a 120 there pretty similar in shape
Good luck watch for strees and ick
As for the clowns i mix my black and whit wit my two true percula clowns
And it work the black one picks on one but hes okay just make sure u have homes for them i guess
Hell i have two anemones for them but they dont even touch them
There housing my frogspown ,hammer head, duncon, and flowerpot.
Basters. .lol. ... But who knows it may work. like i said just my two cents. Lol.


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## Reefing Madness

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## angelsdice159

Reefing madness.
I gotta ask how big and how old is ur salfin ..
Look beautiful ...lol


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## Reefing Madness

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## Goby

fish fever02 said:


> yeah about $600 in total. well im going to order them all at once and just dump a gallon of BB in with them. I do need to check on the lighting tho. ive got 2 metal halides 250w hqi, 2 490nm actinic compact fluorescent and led moonlight.


I understand that there's literature that suggests it's beneficial to add several fish simultaneously. Theoretically, by doing so there's less risk for territory battles. But that scenario doesn't apply to ordering a large community of fish online and placing them in a display tank unquarantined. And beneficial bacterial is a gamble IMO.

I'm worried your stocking plan and choices will create a lot of stress and with a hippo tang in the mix, the fish are all but guaranteed to get Ich. Hippo's don't do stress. Ocean fish + Stess and Ich = Marine Velvet. That would be so awful.

In my experience, those 3 particular angelfish will try to kill each other. And when a centropge attacks another centropge, it's very sudden and they dart around so fast you can hardly see them much less stop them. I personally wouldn't attempt that. If you decide to give it a try, several caves- more than 3, will be imperative to your success. 

Two black and white juvenile ocellaris males would be your best bet for harmony with your current clowns. Mated pairs of different clownfish species can sometimes live together but there's always the risk of things going sour when you least expect it. I've been able to accomplish it but not without a lot of trial and error. 

Good luck, and please do reconsider adding everything all at once.


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## coralbandit

Can't say about the potter,but I had a flame and coral beauty together with out issues between them.


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## angelsdice159

Goby said:


> I understand that there's literature that suggests it's beneficial to add several fish simultaneously. Theoretically, by doing so there's less risk for territory battles. But that scenario doesn't apply to ordering a large community of fish online and placing them in a display tank unquarantined. And beneficial bacterial is a gamble IMO.
> 
> I'm worried your stocking plan and choices will create a lot of stress and with a hippo tang in the mix, the fish are all but guaranteed to get Ich. Hippo's don't do stress. Ocean fish + Stess and Ich = Marine Velvet. That would be so awful.
> 
> In my experience, those 3 particular angelfish will try to kill each other. And when a centropge attacks another centropge, it's very sudden and they dart around so fast you can hardly see them much less stop them. I personally wouldn't attempt that. If you decide to give it a try, several caves- more than 3, will be imperative to your success.
> 
> Two black and white juvenile ocellaris males would be your best bet for harmony with your current clowns. Mated pairs of different clownfish species can sometimes live together but there's always the risk of things going sour when you least expect it. I've been able to accomplish it but not without a lot of trial and error.
> 
> Good luck, and please do reconsider adding everything all at once.








+1 ive seen the coral and flame together aswell but in a 130g
I would think of long term keeping remember it takes 1 sec to mess everything up in this hoppy and weeks to fix. 
I would also look in to getting a uv light if u wanna keep a hippo 
just go slow in stocking .,., again just are two cents


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## Reefing Madness

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## fish fever02

wow this thread has grown since ive been on last. thanks for all the responses. yes im going to stock slowly and now my question is which do I add first to last. and im going to try to do the coral beauty and the flame angel but not the potter


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## angelsdice159

Again if it was me i would add the tangs last and i would also drip thm together .
i would wait till the tangs get custom to the tank.
Then add the clown fish .
Then the angels. 
I would also watch my nitrate levels 
Wat kind of filtration system you running.

Again just my two cents every one has different opinions


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## fish fever02

im running a rs-100 sump with a phosban reactor and a quiet one lifeguard 3000 return pump


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## fish fever02

*UPDATE!*
Yesterday I bought a starry blenny and a yellow watchman
the beginning of my stocking has begun. I now have 2 ocellaris clowns, tons of blue leg crabs, couple snails, starry blenny amd the yellow watchman. next week ill be buying yellow tang, blue hippo, cleaner shrimp, maybe foxface. following week the 2 black and white clowns and a red rose bulb tip anemone and a green bulb tip anemone. for my birthday im buying the flame and coral beauty angels


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## Goby

fish fever02 said:


> *UPDATE!*
> Yesterday I bought a starry blenny and a yellow watchman
> the beginning of my stocking has begun. I now have 2 ocellaris clowns, tons of blue leg crabs, couple snails, starry blenny amd the yellow watchman. next week ill be buying yellow tang, blue hippo, cleaner shrimp, maybe foxface. following week the 2 black and white clowns and a red rose bulb tip anemone and a green bulb tip anemone. for my birthday im buying the flame and coral beauty angels


I have a starry and mated watchman pair that fight. I had to create territories on opposite sides- algae on one end and underground cave-haven with pistol shrimp on other. It's not the starry that picks the fight. The watchmen pick it and the starry ends it. They're both territorial species. That aside, they're both fun to observe...2 of my favorites for sure. My watchmen pair were amongst my very first fish. I've had 2 other algae blennies, an orange striped and one of those plain brownish ones (can't think of the name), but I rehomed both because they grew too territorial for a 4ft community. I've found the starry version to be more passive thus far. He seems to only get fiesty when provoked.

I'd put at LEAST 2 cleaner shrimp in the tank a week before the hippo goes in. You're going to want those cleaners to feel comfortable in their environment prior to adding the hippo. Do consider quarantine with the hippo. 

Angelsdice gave great advice- Get a UV sterilizer and watch those nitrates! I'm not certain how old your tank is, but if it's less than a year the anemones may struggle. Mine did. They're sensitive to the mini-swings that happen in young tanks. If you get BTA's, start them out low in the tank. I've distressed some BTA's with too much light too soon and it's a long recovery. Your BTA's will want to anchor their feet into rocks with deep tight crevices. In my experience, BTA's aren't as willing as other nem species, to improvise with alternative ways to anchor themselves down. If they anchor in a shady stop that's fine as they can reach out into the light and flow. ***Bidirectional flow*** I can't stress how important that is. If their tentacles are forced to blow in a single direction, a healthy nem will move. A not-so-healthy nem will stay and die. A moving nem may get stuck to a powerhead and if you're not there to prevent it from becoming soup, you'll likely have dead fish d/t a sudden/brief ammonia spike...very sudden. I've had it happen twice, most recently with a H. Malu. Furtunately malu's have short tentacles thus the damage was minimal but had it been a crispa etc it would have been disaster. My malu died but nothing else was harmed. Normally I keep my powerhead in a pulsing mode which decreases the likelyhood that something will get sucked towards it but that day I had it set for a constant speed and for whatever reason, the malu didn't like it. Also, I've learned to shy away from BTA's < 5". Initially, tiny acclimating BTA's will become distressed by the nuzzling of clowns...especially when their mouth gapes during acclimation and when they're expelling waste...which they seem to do more often than usual during the first few weeks following acclimation. Overly excited young clowns, especially a group, will mangle the open mouth and insides of a small stressed host anemone.

What is your plan B for if/when the hippo becomes covered with ick and you notice it spreading to other fish? And what do you plan to do if/when your two angels decide to kill each other? Will you have quarantine and hospital tanks ready to go? IMO, your stocking plan will have a higher liklihood of success if you have both ready and waiting. I rarely have to use my hospital tank anymore but when I do, the option is nice, especially when doing once or twice daily freshwater dips.

I'm anxious to learn how the angels do. I also tried mixing some of the dwarf species...even tried to achieve some mated pairs but it always failed. ibluewater successfully keeps mated lemon peel pairs and flame angel pairs though. I've never tried mixing anything with a flame angel. Good luck!


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## fish fever02

im still working on the hospital and quarantine tanks. Im thinking about not even doing the hippo just because of all the problems they cause. My mind has not been made up yet


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## fish fever02

getting my yellow tang and maybe foxface on Friday.


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## Goby

fish fever02 said:


> getting my yellow tang and maybe foxface on Friday.


I've never experienced keeping a foxface so do share how it goes! I've started a couple very young yellow tangs for my brother over the last couple years, both still doing well in his massive tank. I had each one for several months and they were an absolute joy to keep. Never had an issue with either of them.


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## fish fever02

Goby said:


> I've never experienced keeping a foxface so do share how it goes! I've started a couple very young yellow tangs for my brother over the last couple years, both still doing well in his massive tank. I had each one for several months and they were an absolute joy to keep. Never had an issue with either of them.


ill let you know. my wife is still deciding if she wants the fox face. im all for it, but shes the one that is allergic to the venom. I think I can convince her though


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## angelsdice159

I had a rabbit fox face and a yellowtang. They did good but the yellow started picking on the fox and almost killed hime. So i had to give him away
I think its becouse he had yellow on him.
If i would try it again i would do the magnificent fox face
And in all honesty I think his better looking in the red.
I also would do only two tangs. Max. ...2cents


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## fish fever02

Revised list of fish
Moorish idol
hawain flame angel
powder brown tang
yellow tang
coral beauty angel
fox face
hippo
black and white oscellaris
snails


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## angelsdice159

I have to say nice fish selection....but i think thats a lot of big fish for a 6' tank
U might end up loosing some of them to strees not saying it cant be done may be if u get them small but even then thea small hippo is hard to keep and wit all the other fish it could get stress get ick and 
Spred throw out ur tank i would limit my self to three big fish not to mention the powder hes hard to keep aswell had a coulpe
Friends try him but no luck and they been in the the fish game longer then me..
Good luck thou . i would definitely buy UV sterilizer an a protein skimmer..look out for high nitrates


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## Reefing Madness

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## fish fever02

haha yes small tank to you. another problem its not a 6' tank only a 4'x2'x2'and out of that list minus the hippo what fish do you think I should get


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## Reefing Madness

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## fish fever02

oh madness don't do that to me. this is just my juvenile tank. in about a year ill have my 180 or 240


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## coralbandit

My two reefs (120&75) along with my fowlr(120) are all 4' tanks.
I'm not implying that this makes it right,but it is possible.
For my fowlr I know my fish are with me for only a limited time before they have to go back to LFS (and I made them agree to take them back before I purchased them).
For the reefs I tried to stick with mostly small/medium fish with only 1 or 2 that can get "large".
I have a majestic angel in my 75 reef who is OK and seems to grow slow,although he knows he is the boss.
I just added a fox face to the 120 reef and think he is a pretty cool fish(never had one in my 30+ years).Also have a powder blue tang in with him.
IMO any dwarf angel will be fine,in a 120 for a while.


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## Reefing Madness

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## angelsdice159

180 or 240. .helll . That would be nice.
Wen i upgread to a bigger tank i wanna do a predator tank. . Nice. ..got to love upgreads. Lol


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## Chang Cindy

angelsdice159 said:


> Again if it was me i would add the tangs last and i would also drip thm together .
> i would wait till the tangs get custom to the tank.
> Then add the clown fish .
> Then the angels.
> I would also watch my nitrate levels
> Wat kind of filtration system you running.
> 
> Again just my two cents every one has different opinions


Totally agree *pc


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## Goby

fish fever02 said:


> Revised list of fish
> Moorish idol
> hawain flame angel
> powder brown tang
> yellow tang
> coral beauty angel
> fox face
> hippo
> black and white oscellaris
> snails



The size of your tank will be the least of your worries with this stocking list. A 120 gallon tall tank is borderline appropriate for these species. There's not a fish on your list I wouldn't attempt in a 120 tall individually and only a couple I wouldn't attempt together. The potential problems I foresee are... 

1.) Feeding issues. Moorish Idols are fussy eaters and sometimes won't eat. My brother has battled with several anorexic Moorish Idols. Juvenile tangs are constant grazers of nutrient rich algae and *both* their strong short and long term immune systems will be highly dependent upon your ability to adhere to a frequent and strict nutrient and algae rich feeding schedule when they are babies. Many adult tangs appear healthy, but if they suffered nutrient deficiencies as babies when their immune systems were forming, they are actually permanent ick magnets when stressed. This is why my brother has started many of his very young tangs in my tank. He doesn't want to commit to that feeding schedule or the subsequent increased water chemistry needs. Also, he's learned the hard way to not buy adult tangs for the same reason...if they weren't fed right early on, they become chronic carries of disease. 

2.) Aggression. Coral beauties are my favorite but they will kill other dwarf angels. They will kill their own mates, and have, in my tank. That being said, I've never tried keeping a Coral Beauty with a Flame Angel. Many yellow tangs are sweethearts when they are young but eventually grow territorial. I can attest to that personally. I've had two and their transformation from juvenile to adult was identical. For most keepers, this isn't a problem. But for those who also keep Powder Tangs, it can be. Many Powder Tangs are easily bullied and with regards to stress induced ick, are only slightly more regal than Hippo Tangs. An idea- perhaps consider a baby Scopas and baby Powder Blue Tang instead? I raised a Scopas Tang from about the size of a quarter to well beyond the size of my hand and it never became territorial. He literally adored every single fish in my tank including a Powder Blue. Thus far the Scopas has retained that personality in his permanent environment. That's one fish I hated to see go. His buddy, the Powder Blue Tang, gets picked on by other tangs including the Yellows, but thus far has been able to tolerate their aggression quite well and at the risk of sounding vain, I take credit for that. All that being said, I've only raised up one Scopas so there's the chance that mine was just unusually passive. Also, I've been told Power Blues are tougher than the Powder Browns but I've not personally kept the brown variety. By brother believes the Blues are easier to keep.

But regardless of what you do I'm rooting for you. I've occasionally had something work that shouldn't have. But more often than not, the common predictions held true. )


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## fish fever02

the Moorish idols at my reef store are proven to eat readily. they've fed them for me each time ive gone in. the reason for the powder brown is because they will eat the bubble algae. as far as the nutrient rich algae, how would I get the tangs this. buy from the lfs such as dry algae wafers or the ones you hang on the clips or would it grow in my tank with all the right parameters? this is still my first saltwater tank so im still really new to all of this


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## Reefing Madness

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## fish fever02

yea the powder brown will eat bubble algae not sure about the others. the guys at the reef shop have 2 in their coral farm and they picked it clean of all the bubbles


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## Reefing Madness

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## fish fever02

lol yes they do and ive seen their 2 powder browns eating it out of their tank


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## Reefing Madness

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## Goby

fish fever02 said:


> the Moorish idols at my reef store are proven to eat readily. they've fed them for me each time ive gone in. the reason for the powder brown is because they will eat the bubble algae. as far as the nutrient rich algae, how would I get the tangs this. buy from the lfs such as dry algae wafers or the ones you hang on the clips or would it grow in my tank with all the right parameters? this is still my first saltwater tank so im still really new to all of this


If you can get a Moorish that will eat I'd go for it. They're so awesome. And I wasn't aware that certain tangs ate bubble algae. 

My baby tang feeding schedule came from a lot of trial and error and was tweaked according to my tanks filtration abilities. I stress that because tangs need water with high oxygen content. When I fed the tangs too much causing even slight water chemistry issues, the oxygen levels, while still acceptable, would quickly fall and the tangs were clearly sensitive to that. So please keep that in mind when putting together your own routine.

I hung a new sheet of Nori first thing each morning. In my opinion the unlabeled paper-wrapped Nori found at asian grocery stores is the better product and I’m not sure why that is…appears to stay fresher longer. In addition to the nori I offered small servings of algae pellets several times daily but eventually started alternating the pellets with frozen Formula 2 via a feeding grid. The verdict is still out on that decision but I suspect the change improved the water chemistry…definitely less waste from the tangs both going in and coming out. Pellets need to be <0.5mm for the little guys. I soaked live Gracilaria in Selcon and offered that every night. They ate regular fish food from the water column via an automatic feeder as well- Sustainable Aquatics 0.5mm Micro Pellets. I also feed liquid foods but not every day- such as Oyster Feast and Phyto Feast however not to benefit the tangs but rather my sessile inverts and corals. Not sure how the liquids played into the tangs diet as they never appeared to filter feed like my angel, clownfish, fires, darts, gobies or damsel. No lettuce except for an occasional treat or to provoke a feeding response- they like it too much and it’s void of nutrients. Rarely mysis or brine either for the same reason. 

My initial feeding decisions came from the advice I found in books, on wetwebmedia.com, and from tang-keepers in my Reef Club. Then I tweaked things from there. Also, both of the baby Yellow Tangs I kept grew at a much faster rate than others purchased from the very same lot, on the very same day, by members of my reef club. I'd estimate by more than 50%. It was quite surprising. I'll be going to some swap meets again this fall and hope to acquire another baby tang to enjoy over the winter months. I'm leaning towards a Scopas Hybrid.


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## fish fever02

thanks for the advise with the feeding of the tangs. havnt been on much getting everything ready for the fish to go in and getting my half sleeve tattoo of a reef on Wednesday. good luck with your scopas if you get it. and yes we do learn something new everyday


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## Goby

fish fever02 said:


> thanks for the advise with the feeding of the tangs. havnt been on much getting everything ready for the fish to go in and getting my half sleeve tattoo of a reef on Wednesday. good luck with your scopas if you get it. and yes we do learn something new everyday


I wanna see the sleeve.


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## fish fever02

well ill have the outline done on Wednesday, then I have to wait until nov 1 to go back for the first session of color. getting an amazing price $600. we are good friends with our tattoo guy haha


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## Goby

fish fever02 said:


> well ill have the outline done on Wednesday, then I have to wait until nov 1 to go back for the first session of color. getting an amazing price $600. we are good friends with our tattoo guy haha


That's hot. Lucky wife.


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## fish fever02

haha I guess. ill get you a pic on wednesday


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## fish fever02




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## fish fever02




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## fish fever02




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## Goby

omg that is crazy awesome cool. Did you design it yourself? Will you please keep this thread updated as the sleeve progresses?


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## fish fever02

yea ill keep it updated for you goby. no I didn't design it just told my tattoo guy I wanted a clown, anemone, powder brown, and a Moorish idol. and he came up with the rest and laid it out the best he could


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## fish fever02

so got a good deal on some fish today. spent $240 and got my Moorish idol, powder brown, yellow tang, flame angel, and 2 black and white clowns


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## coralbandit

Good deal!Hope the ich is not in that tank though.Are you QTing them?


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## fish fever02

the 3 tangs are in the 27g cube. what are signs of ich??


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## fish fever02




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## fish fever02




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## fish fever02




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## fish fever02

hey goby the sleeve is almost finished I have one more session so within the next couple weeks ill be posting pics


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