Looking for feedback on my fish plan!

[HydroPhilia]

Hi Everyone,

 

Long time listener, first time reefer. Our new tank has just finished cycling and I was hoping you guys could give me some feedback on my fish list/plan. Their new home is a 33 gallon cube with ~12 gallons in the sump. It is rimless and I’m not planning to have a lid (except maybe for a few weeks after adding each new fish). Please take a look at my dorky spreadsheet and let me know if you see any problems with the species getting along or with the order in which I plan to add them. Looking for some good first-hand experience to back up my research. Thanks for all your help and inspiration!

[WV Reefer]

10 minutes ago, HydroPhilia said:

Hi Everyone,

 

Long time listener, first time reefer. Our new tank has just finished cycling and I was hoping you guys could give me some feedback on my fish list/plan. Their new home is a 33 gallon cube with ~12 gallons in the sump. It is rimless and I’m not planning to have a lid (except maybe for a few weeks after adding each new fish). Please take a look at my dorky spreadsheet and let me know if you see any problems with the species getting along or with the order in which I plan to add them. Looking for some good first-hand experience to back up my research. Thanks for all your help and inspiration!

That’s a lot of fish. 

 

Welcome to NR. 🙂

[Donny41]

Looks like you went by the inch per gallon rule which is outdated and was used more for fresh water aquariums anyways. If your looking for species diversity I would say cut out the clowns and/or chromis and you would have a more appropriate stocking list

[DaveMc]

Definitely would cut back on some when it comes to the chromis and/or clowns. If you do decide to keep the clowns I would dd them last to the take. From personal experience, once they claim "their" area in the tank they can at times bully any new fish that you add, so adding them last with help curb the bullying a little.  

 

Welcome to NR!

[HydroPhilia]

Great advice, thanks! Keep it coming. 

[NuisanceAlgaeCultivator]

That’s likely too many fish. As donn41 mentioned that inch per gallon is more for freshwater, general rule of thumb for saltwater keeping is about an inch per 5 gallons...that said your filtration system can impact a lot.

Once you pick your fish by that general rule, check out mixing in some crabs or shrimp as opposed to more fish. They generally have a lower bio load, can be really colorful and active, and most can even help with cleaning something in your tank.

[A Little Blue]

I would replace Lawnmover with Tailspot, Six-line with Pink-Streaked. 

Crossed out Rainford. And rethink number of fish in respect to your tank size and ability of your filtration to keep up with bio-load. 

 

[Joevember]

If you want to get shrimp further down the road, a chalk basslet will eat them. 

[Donny41]

+1 to tail spot blenny. Will still help keep algae in check and are much smaller. Plus they have great personalities!

[Tamberav]

Way too many fish and some are jumpers so expect to find some fish jerky on the floor now and again. 

 

I would not do the chromis at all, they eventually fight and kill each other, they don't school well in our small tanks like the wild. If they are not schooling, they are not particularly interesting so if you skip them, that helps your stocking.

 

Lawnmowers get big and poop a lot, I would do a small combtooth or a fang blenny instead. 

Rainsfords would be best in a mature tank with lots of micro fauna and I would buy a captive bred one to increase the chances of it eating prepared food well. This will increase long-term success. 

 

Sixlines are mean, I have one but once they mature into adults, they might decide the tank is too small and murder things to free up territory. 

 

Chalk bass are great fish but very prone to jumping, would be a very poor choice for open top.

 

Many wrasse and blennys and gobies are all jumpers too. 

 

I aim for around 5 fish in tanks around 25-30g due to swimming space and territory needed by each. Bioload generally isn't a concern, it is the personal space they need as they grow and stake out territory. Cube tanks have less territory than Long tanks. A 12g Long and a 25g cube hold about the same # of fish due to shape of the tanks. 

 

You may want to rethink not having a sceen top or you will be limited to what fish you can keep. Any fish can jump but some are almost suicidal. 

[Wingsong]

14 hours ago, HydroPhilia said:

It is rimless and I’m not planning to have a lid

Go buy a BRS DIY rimless screen lid kit or you're gonna have fish jerky. No reason not to spend the small bit of money and time to make a screen lid. I've been at a LFS and heard the familiar sound of a suicidal wrasse leaping out - fish is lucky we were around to hear.

 

I have 2 clowns and a Lawnmower in a 20g, I can't imagine having only 13 more gallons but SEVEN more fish. They need their turf. Forget the inches rule of freshwater community tanks and just look up max size and aggression levels/territoriality/intolerance of conspecifics. Your fish needs room to turn in your tank's dimensions and room to have its own cave/corner - too many territorial fish in a 33g = fighting, jumping due to the fighting, and stress.