New fish - what order ?

[wjwaz59]

I have developed a list of fish I'd like to add to my 75 gal fish + reef tank. I was wondering if the order of introduction is important.
After researching, here is my 'long list' of fish. I figure it is most prudent to take at least a year to slowly populate the tank. Right now I have a reef package from SWF and 3 firefish gobies.
So the question is, does the order these fish are introduced matter?
Ocellaris Clown
Six Line Wrasse
Dispar Anthias
Flame Angel
Mandarin Goby
Thanks

 

[birdy]

I see a couple problems, the first is that a sixline wrasse and a mandarine goby will compete for food. They both eat pods and the goby will starve without them. If you do not have a refugium then I would say do not get the goby. Also the goby, anthias (can be difficult to keep, and need to be in groups) and the flame angle should not be added until your tank is at least 6mo old.
Other than that you can add the clownfish and wrasse in the next couple of months. Then the other fish much later. Probably goby, anthias, flame angle.

 

[wjwaz59]

Great feedback !
I do have a refugium, but don't like the idea of the Mandarin and Six Line competing for a limited food source that I can't directly control. But that leads to another question. I can see a lot of very small critters scurrying around my refugium. I see SOME critters on my live rock during the day, definitely more at night (watching with a flashlight) How can you tell if you have an adequate POD population to support certain feeding requirements of fish ? Does it just happen when the tank matures with good water params ?
I think I'll go clown fish, then sixline...... This will most likely take me out to the six - month mark anyway, then decide on the rest. I really like the anthias and would be willing to take a chance on small group of these.

 

[birdy]

You probably do have a great supply of pods right now. The problem is that in a new tank it takes a while for the population to even out. Right now they are eating a lot of the detritus and crude from the recently cycled tank, the population will die off as the food amount decreases, eventually a equilibrium will develop and you can correctly gage the amount of pods in a tank. I have had both a sixline and a mandarine goby, and I like the sixline the best it had a lot of character.
How are those three firefish gobies doing. I would like to add a small group of schooling fish to my tank, Do they stay in a group?

 

[wjwaz59]

These guys are really great. They hang out together. They just hover at different spots in the tank all the time. When my lights go to 'moonlight' mode they head for their cave in a piece of liverock.. all three of them together in one hole. When the lights come on in the morning for 'dawn', one at a time, they peek their heads out, and slowly swim out. They wait for each other until each one has woken up. They then move together to the prime spot to get their morning feeding. It is hilarious to watch their ritual ! Like I put in another post, their names are Alfalfa, Darla and Spanky.

 

[mr. tuna]

i agree with that order but i would reccomend for the flame angel and the clown fish the last two.