What fish should I buy?

smellslikefish

smellslikefish

Member
Hello, I have a 72gal tank with 80Lbs LR and a 20gal sump. I'm looking to buy about 5 more fish and wanted some opinions on a stock list. This is what I have so far.
Damsel
Maroon Clown
BTA
Mandarin
Lawn Mower Blenny
Hippo Tang
Xenia
1 Ricordia
ALOT of cabbage leathers.
I'm thinking a want a few chromis, do they swim in schools?
Can anyone suggest a few fish for me?
Thanks,
 
120reefer

120reefer

Member
Yea like Kevin said, the blue hippo will outgrow your tank really quick unfortunately.... and yes the chromis will school, a buddy of mine has 5 in a 75gal. and they all swim together all the time
As for the mandarine... you'll have to wait a few more months until your tank is established, you need a really good pod population for them to live long term. And for the BTA, what kind of lights do you have? Unfortunately if its not t-5 or halides, bubble tips(and other anemones) just dont do that well under other types of lighting, despite the wattage, the PAR rating just isn't there. Shrooms and zoas, leathers and even the rics should do ok as long as your parameters stay where they are, or better. Hope this helps, good luck with everything... have a tank pic?
 
j.p

j.p

Member
if it were me i would probably get a maroon clown or pair, mandrian, coral buety of flame, and like a school of 3 lyertail (sp?) anthias
 
smellslikefish

smellslikefish

Member
I know my hippo will outgrow my current tank but he will be fine for a while, he's very small. I buy pods often for my mandarin. I have a Nova Extreme 216w fixture. The above list was a list of what I already have. I was asking suggestions for new fish.
-Thanks
 
120reefer

120reefer

Member
Lol, wow im an idiot.. guess I should drink this coffee a little faster so I can actually read
Sorry, then yes the chromis are an awsome idea, if your looking for something a little different than what everyone else has, have you thought about blue reef chromis instead of the blue/green chromis? they cost a bit more, $10 a pop usually, but they are beautiful looking, I was thinking about getting a med. sized school for my tank... Sorry again for the last post that made absolutely no sense at all.. Lol
 
smellslikefish

smellslikefish

Member
Cool, I'll look into the blue chromis, I like the idea of schooling fish. Any other suggestions? I was thinking a Copperband as well.
 
120reefer

120reefer

Member
Only problem with the butterflies is that MOST of them will pick on your clean up crew... especially the snails, which is the reason most butterflies are not considered to be "reef" safe. It's not to say they will be perfectly fine in a reef tank as many people on this board, including a few people I know, have had great success with them. Have you thought about maybe a dwarf angel? Although again, most times you will see in the description that dwarfs are not reef safe, or it will say "with caution" it's because they sometimes "nip" at sps corals and sometimes zoos as well. Same as with the butterflies though, there are tons of people including myself on this one who havent had ANY problem with nipping. Only reason I'm suggesting the dwarf over the butterfly is because I dont see any sps or stonys on your stock list... Hope this helps
 
j.p

j.p

Member
woo i jst re-read this and i saw it said 5 MORE fish i thought he wanted to get 5 fish for the tank and tthats it wow
i would add anymore fish maybe some gobies but nothing else
 
mcbdz

mcbdz

Active Member
Just a few suggestions to check out.
royal gramma
B. cardinal
firefish(I like the red)
midas blenny
fox face
sixline wrasse or a fairy wrasse
 
smellslikefish

smellslikefish

Member
I think I've decided on..
Copperband BF
3-4 green chromis
Firefish gobie
These in addition to my current fish:
Damsel
Maroon Clown
BTA
Mandarin
Lawn Mower Blenny
Hippo Tang
Would this be too much in my 72gal?
 
candycane

candycane

Active Member
Chromis are good schooling fish with usually decent temperaments. The CB Butterfly, you might want to research a bit more. There are several of fish that I WILL NOT buy because of their survival rate - that being one of them. Copperbands MIGHT also nip at LPS corals. Damsels are rather aggressive, so you have to watch out for them and so are maroons when they get big enough and have found a home. A couple of the others are "jumpers" so you might want to make sure you have something on top of the tank.
Mandarins usually have a partially hard time surviving. I have never had a problem. A little cyclop-eeze in a bottle outside of their cave and they usually go right in. Also, Tubifex Worms (black worms) are a good food source for them. You might want to check out the different Anthias species because a lot of them are beautiful and you can usually house more then one. Squares and Dispars are two of my favorite ones. But for a 72 gallon, like was probably mentioned above, you want to make sure the fish are going to stay rather small.
 
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