Stocking Questions

maveri9720 · Nov 13, 2006

Hey all. My 120 has been cycling for over a month now and I am putting water into my quarantine tank tomm, so now is the time to finalize my fish list and start thinking of the order of buying and introducing these fish to my tanks.

I would like you all's opinion's on my fish compatibility list and help on what the order of purchase should be.

My Fish list and preliminary order of purchase:

- Pair of Ocellaris Clown Fish

- Yellow Watchman Goby

- Tail Spot Blenny

- Royal Gramma

- Neon Blue Goby

- Six Line Wrasse

- Kole Tang

What do you all think?

Also, where should I get these fish from? Locally or online? If online, I would most likely use Drs Foster and Smith's Live Aquaria.

Thanks for the help all.

showtime305 · Nov 13, 2006

I would bump the Royal Gramma to the back of the list. If you plan on adding more than 2 or three fish at a time, then ordering online is probably going to be cheaper. I personally wouldn't add more than 1-2 at a time. I've purchased most of my fish and shrimp locally so I could hand pick my live stock and get it home fast and safe. I order my Pygmy Angel from Saltwater fish.com and it turn out a be a great fish. Live Aquaria is a great site to order from also.

maveri9720 · Nov 13, 2006

I would only be ordering 1-2 fish at the most and holding them in the QT for at least a month.

So it wouldn't matter either way then, if I got them over the internet or bought them locally, since I would only be getting 1-2 fish?

Also, I would probably be getting them from Marine Fish or Cap Bay, any preferences or experiences with either or?

Thanx

showtime305 · Nov 13, 2006

They are both equal when it comes down to fish.

zanski · Nov 13, 2006

I shop prices on EVERYTHING and ive found that saltwaterfish . com has the cheapest prices. Although in order to get free shipping you have to get i think atlease 70 bucks worth of stuff. A friend of mine got all of his livestock from there and they were all fine. Personally I like to hand pic my fish and I end up picking the ones that turn into problems. Probably because i dont know a healthy fish from a sick one. <---NOOB haha so i may start ordering from there as well. I would order online stuff during the cooler months because of shipping temps and gas prices. Some online places charge a expensive gas charge (profit) haha Good luck

tsciarini · Nov 13, 2006

Ive ordered from DrF&S in the past and had good results. Shipping tends to be pretty expensive. As far as the order goes, you typically want to add the most agressive fish last. Youve got a pretty good list there... look forward to seeing the updated pics!

showtime305 · Nov 13, 2006

I put held a group buy when I ordered from Saltwaterfish.com which made it easy to meet the free shipping requirements. They also have monthly special, so you can find some livestock marked down pretty low.

schwaggs · Nov 13, 2006

While the yellow watchman and royal gramma are beautiful fish, you may never see them. My yellow watchman spends it's whole life under the sand and the royal gramma only comes out of his rock when it is time to eat or whne the lights go out... the yellow watchman can be tough to keep alive initially (they don't ship well) and the royal gramma seems bullet proof.

Of the other fish on your list, the 6-line and kole are active swimmers. The Clowns can be but they usually just hang around. You may want to consider some more swimmers like a few chromis, one of the reef safe angels, another wrasse, or a pair of anthias...

I have had good luck with both saltwaterfish.com and Dr Foster & Smith (Live Aquaria). I get most of my stuff locally, however.

showtime305 · Nov 13, 2006

That's strange. My Royal Gramma is out just as much as my other fish. It's usually the first fish to hide when my hand enters the tank though. They aren't big swimmers. My tangs and dwarf angel swin around a good bit. The clowns and Royal Gramma just hang around.

maveri9720 · Nov 13, 2006

Thanks for all the responses guys, I appreciate it.

I was comparing some prices between online and from what I remembered from my last trip to the LFS and with shipping included, the LFS was actually cheaper and that wasn't even taking into account, the discount the ARC gives us. So, looks like I will be buying locally, as long as they have what I am looking for.

So, I have heard different opinions on the clownfish being first, so would this list be better? Also, I would like to quarantine 2 or maybe 3 at the most, fish together at the same time, so would the groupings below work out?

- Yellow Watchman Goby w/ Tail spot Blenny??

- Ocellaris Clown Fish w/ Neon Blue Goby

- Royal Gramma w/ Six-Line Wrasse

- Kole Tang

Yea, I know it is a light bio-load, but I have alot of LR and plan to have a good amount of corals and clams, so I would like a nice balance and have everything healthy, than a crowded tank that could posibly produce stress.

Plus, I can always add fish afterwards, depending on the personalities of the above fish.

Thanks all. :thumbs:

tsciarini · Nov 13, 2006

yeah shipping costs can be pretty extreem... it really doesnt make it worth it unless you buy alot at once; and ofcourse you can't but a bunch at once. lol

You can probably get away with any order on the Clowns... just be aware that they will find their spot in the tank and any fish that tries to move in will more than likely get harrassed. For the most part, the first few fish stay pretty far away from eachother in the beginning.
You're list/order looks good.

Where are those progression pics?!??! lol

maveri9720 · Nov 13, 2006

Thanks for the help Tony.

Yea, I know, the pics are coming.

I just got back from a week long trip to NY on Saturday and my camera card is full of pics of everything. So, when I get a free minute, I will upload all my pics to my comp and then I can sort everything out and post some good pics.

I finally finished screwing around with my aquascaping, so I need to take pics of that too.

Just so much stuff that I am trying to get done all at once. And leaving for a week didn't help any.

I'll get them up soon though.

kappaknight · Nov 13, 2006

Wow, Tony whipped you into shape about this fish thing... I personally think quarantine is overrated especially for a brand new tank. Your 120 is basically a giant quarantine now unless you have other stuff in it.

maveri9720 · Nov 13, 2006

Well, you're right about the 120 being a big quarantine tank, but only for the first fish u put in there. After that, the fish should be quarantined to prevent spreading disease to whoever is already in the main tank.

And even for the first fish, if you need to treat it with medicine for whatever reason, you will need to catch it and quarantine it anyway, so you don't contaminate the LR and LS in the tank with the medicine.

Much easier to quarantine for a month in a small tank, then try to get lucky and get a disease free fish and hope he stays that way.

tsciarini · Nov 13, 2006

Maveri9720 wrote:
And even for the first fish, if you need to treat it with medicine for whatever reason, you will need to catch it and quarantine it anyway, so you don't contaminate the LR and LS in the tank with the medicine.

:thumbs:

maveri9720 · Nov 13, 2006

Yea, I know, I am a slow learner, but do I learn eventually.

By the way Tony, do you think I can put two tangs in my 120???? lol

showtime305 · Nov 13, 2006

You can probably get away with 3-4 in there depending on the species.

Stocking Questions

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