Help me chose a few fish for my 120 reef tank.

Scuba Dan · 07-08-2006, 12:42 PM

I have a 120gal tank set up. I dont want to keep a lot of fish in there. What would be a nice # to keep in your opinion? 3 or 4? more? What ever the amount, what fishes would you keep? Would like to stay with VERY hardy and colorful fish, also dont want a fish that will get huge on me....maybe in the 3" or so size and must not eat my liverock and whatever corals I may get in the future...

Thanks....

Geoff · 07-08-2006, 09:22 PM

any other requirements.

the number of fish you can keep really depends on the substrate you have. if you have a BB tank and a monster skimmer, you can really pack the fish in there. if you have a DSB, than you are not able to.

a small shoal of blue/green chromis would be good. maybe 5. a couple fo fire fish would be good. a six-lined wrasse is not a bad idea.

i find fish difficult to keep, so these are the fish i have been able to keep long term without difficulty.

G~

Scuba Dan · 07-08-2006, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geoff

any other requirements.

Let me think about it, Im sure I can think of some more...Hmmmm

*LOL*

Thanks for the reply. I will be using the DSB. Do you have to keep fish in a reef tank? or can you just have corals and such without the fish?

r6413utah · 07-08-2006, 09:41 PM

If you are going into the small fish I have the following and they all are doing really well with soft corals

Dottyback (1) No more then one
Yellow Wrass (2) do well in pairs
Green/Blue Chromis (9) Keep in odd numbers
Anthia (1) Male better color
Seahorse (2) male/female
Manderin Drogonet (2)
Crabs (many) red and blue leg (I have Crabzilla in another tank he comes into the big tank if I loose a fish and cannot get it out.
Briddle Stars (many small ones)
Basket Stars (many just discovered)

I would Sugget starting with Chromis for the first few months

Scuba Dan · 07-08-2006, 09:54 PM

Thanks r6413utah for the list.

Geoff · 07-09-2006, 07:28 AM

you said very hardy. there are severalr6413utah's list that i do not think are hardy.

i do not recommend Anthias for beginners. they need to be fed more often than most fish because of their smaller stomachs.

i also do not recommend putting dotybacks in any system that will house other fish. they are very mean and will badger other fish in the system.

mandarins are also out of the question. they have very specific feeding requirements that generally are not met in our systems.

yellow coris wrasses are good, but i would only get one.

i do not like any crabs at all. they are to oportunistic for my taste.

seahorses are also very hard to keep due to their feeding requirements. they are unable to compete with other fish for food. they are best kept in a species tank.

basket stars/crinoids are also difficult to keep due to their feeding requirements. they are planktonic feeders, but each species has a specific sized food that they are looking for. it can be done, but i would not recommend it for a DSB system. to much food needs to be removed quickly in order to meet their requirements.

i only listed those that i know are hardy and easy to keep. a yellow or blue tank would also work, but i would only add one or the other. a 120g is a bit small for them. another good tang that does well in smaller tanks is the Kole tang.

G~

NoSchwag · 07-25-2006, 07:11 PM

Here is the list of fish that I have in my 120 BB tank..

1 Powder Blue tang
1 Yellow tang
1 Copperband butterfly
1 Blue Jaw trigger
4 Anthias
1 Mandarin
1 Fuzzy Dwarf Lion
1 Cardinal
1 Large Cleaner Shrimp
1 Large Fire Shrimp
1 Tomato Clown
1 Ocellaris Clown
1 Blue Linkia
1 urchin
200+ snails

I really dont know if I'd consider any fish on my list more hardy than any other. When I buy fish, I buy them local and I make sure I see them eat before taking them home.

thekid55 · 07-25-2006, 08:11 PM

here is a list of fish in my 120 small sand bed.

yellow tang
purple tang
foxface
3 chromis
vlamingi tang
sixline wrasse
banded goby

PelagicMagic · 07-25-2006, 08:43 PM

I would go with a school of chromis and a few firefish. I like tangs and keep an orange sholder, hippo, and yellow. I also keep an anthias and have not found him hard to care for. I feed him once a day and I have had him for almost a year. I also like pearly jaws but do not keep them because I do not want to add more fish. I kept a valmingi tang but removed him due to his growth rate. Valmingi tangs require very large aquariums

My fish list

pink square anthias
Mandarian goby
orange sholder
yellow tang
hippo tang
dusky jaw
5 green chromis
chrysopterus clown

Pro · 07-25-2006, 09:46 PM

Im just going to list my small tank. 1 yellow tang, 5 chromises, chalk basslet, 2 percs. I also have a red star fish in the 65 gallon.

popper · 07-31-2006, 08:17 PM

I'm partial to fairy wrasse,you can do a group(only 1 male),or different fairy wrasse together if you add them at the same time with no problems.I had a Solorensis then added a blue-sided(was told it was a female solorensis)They fought for a few days,then stoppped.They are pretty peaceful as a group,do your research first though,some 1 or2 are less tolerant after settling in.