What Can I Stock In My 180 Litre Reef Tank?

[simonas]

I now have a rio 180 tank and my old fish Lawnmower blenny nd two clown fish have been transferred over

im stuck as to what to aim to keep, I like wrasses, coral beautys, flame angels, tangs, gobies etc. I have no idea with marine as to what sort of stocking levels I can aim for

also Id like a brittle starfish are they safe in reef tanks and do they feed ok?

 

[lljdma06]

No tangs, they need lots of swim space, & if you're going to do a wrasse, I recommend a smaller one that is reef-safe. You are actually a good candidate for a six line or a 4 line. Wrasses of that type & size will work. Possibly look into the fairy wrasses & flasher wrasses. Shrimp/goby pair will work. Basically because of the stock you already have, you're still stuck with a small peaceful community. A small angel may be a possibility at the end of your stocking, but working with angels from what I've heard is like Russian Roulette. You may get one that's reef safe, but you really don't know. If you are really interesting in corals, I wouldn't get an angel. IMO, not worth the potential risk.

It's up to you. Jawfish are cool too, as are grammas.

L

 

[Donya]

also Id like a brittle starfish are they safe in reef tanks and do they feed ok?

Generally yes, as long as they are not in with animals that will nip at them. If they get scales pecked off of the arms regularly, it can easily lead to infection or dropping the whole arm, which can take months to regrow. So, I'm not sure I'd risk one with a wrasse. It's also important to keep any impellers out of easy reach, otherwise curiosity can get parts of their tippy-toes chopped off.

Serpents and brittles are scavengers that are pretty easy to care for as Echinoderms go. They should still have a super-cautious and very slow drip-acclimation (I usually do 4hrs even when the water is pretty similar), but after that they are usually good to go fending for themselves. It is also important to ID before you buy though, at least to the extent of knowing how big the animal will get. There are lots of safe species that are small to medium-sized, but there are also a few giants that can be a risk for eating fish. Ophiarachna incrassata (the "green death") is best known for actively predating on fish, but some other large brittle/serpent species have been accused of it too (such as Ophioderma squamosissimus, which gets even bigger than Ophiarachna incrassata sometimes). Most of the dull brown and brown/white striped species are safe though.

 

[ainsy]

Definitely no tangs - but I love both coral beauty and flame dwarf angels.

 

[ainsy]

Oops forgot to say - if you get any dwarf angel make sure you watch it like a hawk in the LFS tanks over a few visits - some are, as their names suggest, angels in a reef tank but others can be nippers and will munch your coral!

 

[suprasonic]

plenty of good fish to choose from purple fire fish would look good as long as the tank is covered one of a royal grama or orched dottyback loads of the cardinals would suit maybe a shoal of redspots