135 gal stock list, help

Looks mostly good

I would be wary of the achilles tang, they can be very agressive to other tangs & are harder to keep healthy. Very succeptible to ich.

Chromis are nice but seem to dissappear over time.

 

I would get 30 green chromis....ok maybe not 30 but they do love to school, i would get atleast 10 if your skimmer can keep up. Also IMO yellow tangs are over rated, you see them in soo many tanks and they can be super mean, especially toward other tangs.

Anyway thats what i think.

/DesktopModules/ActiveForums/themes/_default/emoticons/cool.gif

 

I agree with xroads on the achilles. I would suggest doing a lot of reading about all the different tangs and then make a decision. While the achilles is a beautiful fish, many of it's other attributes would make me question buying one (ultimate size of 9+ inches, agressive disposition, etc.) It's very easy to see a small sized tang and think that it will be ok in this size tank or another but the fact is that they grow up pretty quickly and show signs of stress (ich, agression) when they feel like they have to fight for their space. One agressive fish in your tank and it will affect the rest of your tank and fish.

 

Here's an example of what I found on the achilles with a simple search

Average Size:
9.4 inches (24 cm).
Characteristics and Compatibility:
One of the more demanding surgeonfish of the Acanthuridae Family, the Achilles Tang requires much attention. It is highly susceptible to contracting ich, and can have problems with HLLE. It can be aggressive towards other surgeonfishes, especially those of its own kind. Large adult specimens in particular fight terribly if not given lots of space to keep them apart. With the possible exception of providing are very large system with more than ample room to swim around and plenty of places to hide, this fish is best kept singly. Often hard to acclimate.

 

I know that ALL tangs are supceptible to ich, that's just the price you pay for having them. As you can see in my avatar, I have a hippo tang. She is the largest fish in my tank (probably 6" now) and yet when I got her, she was the size of a 50 cent piece. She is also pretty timid and never has shown aggression to another fish that I've seen, but I had a saddleback clown that had a pretty impressive gash from those scaples that the tang can use when they choose.

I added a second tang to my system (powder brown, Acanthurus japonicus) after doing much research on the different tangs. He seems pretty mellow and he's pretty small, however when I added a copperband butterfly last week, he tried for over an hour to kill it. Thankfully , he got over it and no longer notices the CBB but I now know that I'll probably have problems adding fish in the future.

One of the best parts of having a bigger tank is getting to pick from the list of fish that you really can't have in a smaller tank. Enjoy choosing!!

 

Posted By reefgoon09 on 10/01/2008 07:13 PM
O... well I got my info from saltwaterfish.com lol funny how they say it is peacefull and the your search said it is mean.
You always need to research at least six sources in my opinion to get any kind of handle.  They want to sell fish and most people have tanks of smaller than 100 gallons so they try and give a glowy picture.  I really wouldn't put a fish that gets that big in my 210 but many do.

 

How about a pair of clowns ? (the mellow kind) There are a lot of really cool blennies out there and most people love their blennies. I've got a Royal Gramma and a Six line wrasse and would recommend both.
Here is a good place to read up on Tangs
www.wetwebmedia.com/besttgsreefs.htm
www.wetwebmedia.com/badacanthurusaq.htm

 

I always suggest planning your fish in levels. Chromis tend to be schooling surface swimmers and take up the top of the water column. Clownfish are hosters and typically end up in the middle of the water column and do not really travel more than a foot away from their home. Gobies, blennies, and mandarins make great fish to fill the lower level of the tank. The tang is a fish that swims mainly middle, but kind of goes where ever he wants. I personally would suggest one tang and either a flame or coral beauty angelfish. Multiple tangs can be difficult and as for which one, I would choose a powder brown or sailfin as my first tang. They are just all around easier. It seems the prettier the fish is, the less likely it will live in your tank without constant care. Examples of this are the Powder blue, Achillies, and Anthias.

 

I personally would stick to one. The yellow tang is nearly bullet proof.

 

I would lean powder brown tang unless you find a healthy powder blue that you can put on hold at the LFS for a week and watch it eat.

Royal Grammas can be mean, just as a warning.

The mandarin needs to wait until the tank is about a year old, but they are cool fish and some can be trained to eat prepared foods.

The lawnmower blenny is a fish with a ton of character. It reminds me of a puppy. You can also choose from many other types of blennies, but the lawnmower is definatly one of the cheapest, most well natured, and bullet proof.