planned stock list look ok?

[thewarbrd]

I've dug around and think I've come up with what I'd eventually like to have in our 75.. Is there anything I should watch out for? This would probably be the order I'd add things.

Dwarf Blue Leg and/or Zebra Hermit Crabs
Peppermint Shrimp
Royal Gramma
Yellow Watchman Goby (w/ a Pistol Shrimp)
Firefish Goby
Ocellaris Clown pair
Feather Dusters
Yellow Tang

As far as corals, until some point down the road when I can up the lighting I don't plan on anything other than Zoas and maybe some mushrooms. With 4x65 PC lighting (2x10000k + 2x420nm actinic) would a BTA be happy for the clowns or should I seek other options?

Now when it comes to snails, are there any preferred species that wont breed faster than kudzu? I actually acclimated some nerites to my freshwater 55 as the eggs wont hatch. They clean up good, but the back glass looks like a sesame seed bun :doh:, but I've yet to dig around for any non-prolific species for SW...

Thanks!

 

[ster]

I really wouldn't put a pistol shrimp in anything but a species specific tank. Also be aware that the gramma will tend to be more aggressive than the other fish in the tank, so there might be some issues with them getting a little beaten up.

 

[strapingyunglad]

rbta would be cool if you get T5 or metal halide lighting. other than that it all looks good.

 

[soarin']

If you still decide to go for the pistol shrimp you might want to make sure it is one of the smaller kinds (candy stripe or similar) -- the larger ones can get pretty territorial and "shoot" anything that invades their territory.

As far as the yellow tang goes, I did some reading up on those (for my own 55) and found that many consider anything less than a 150 to be too small for a yellow tang, since they really like to swim.

I've never had any snail babies grow up in any of my 3 tanks so far, except for stomatella (and peppermints are supposed to eat those) -- so I think you would be successful with the normal astrea, trochus, cerith, nassarius, etc. Every so often (3-4 months) I see some baby snails, but those get eaten by something (probably the hermits).

I would steer clear of the hermits, unless you like to watch them. Blue leg hermits tend to kill each other and eat your snails to get new shells.

Ocellaris clowns don't host in BTA's in nature, and PC lighting is considered too low to maintain BTA's.

 

[thewarbrd]

I'll look into the varieties of pistols a little closer, I'd read where folks had one in their tank (both with and without a goby 'mate') and never had a problem, but they didnt say what type... Maybe I'll just stick with peppermints to start with

The tang would be the last to go in and I'm still very iffy on it because of the size issue... One thing is for sure, the smallest tank they should be in seems to be a volatile topic... some say no smaller than 75, some say no smaller than 90, 120, etc, and the last thing I want is an unhappy fish so I'll probably leave it out.

The kids like watching the hermits at the LFS so I'll probably have to chance at least one kind and I can toss in a couple of up-size empty shells. Snails are relatively cheap so as long as the crab isnt the kind that will mow down coral, I'll be happy..

 

[FutureInterest]

Go with the red leg or scarlet hermits if you must have hermits. They are generally less aggressive in nature than the blue and zebras.

I would recommend you add the gramma last if at all. You want to generally put in your least aggressive fish first and your most aggressive in last. I don't have a problem with a yellow tang in a tank that size... but its up to you. You will need some sort of herbivore with teeth though to help keep your rocks clean.

As for snails the only ones that have hard egg casings are the nerites, I wouldn't add them to any tank just because their egg sacs are so annoying. Everything else either reproduce by sending their gametes into the water column directly as puffs of "smoke" or lay unprotected eggs in jelly sacs which quickly get eaten. I have about 7 varieties of snails in the tank and none are able to successfully reproduce such that offspring grow to adulthood... although they do try which makes for good fish/coral food.