750x750x500 Stocking Opinions

Wrangy

Acropora Nut
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
So I'm more than very likely upgrading my tank and it's going to be a 750x750x500mm tank with external overflow and a larger sump with strong skimming and zeovit. The tank will continue being an sps dominated tank with some zoa's and ric's coral-wise and clams are a big centre point too.
I'm definitely going to be bringing my flame hawkfish, bellus angelfish and royal gramma over into the new tank so that's going to be my base level stocking for this tank. The following is what I'm after opinions for and thoughts on:
- A pair of yellow assessors or a single if no pairs are found.
Then either:
- A mystery wrasse
or
- A harem of three of a leopard wrasse species, in particular Macropharyngodon vivienae but very doubtful on the ability to obtain this in Australia! (Recently featured on Reef Builders and I've fallen in love! http://reefbuilders.com/2014/12/29/reef-nuggets-4-macropharyngodon-notes-maintaining-harem/) The tank will definitely be covered too!
- Have no ideas as it seems fully stocked to me. I can't do blennies or gobies though as my hawkfish hates them.

To me with these fish I would say the tank is well stocked but I feel I'm a little over-cautious with fish stocking so I would appreciate some thoughts/suggestions on what I'm thinking about.
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
Sound like fun Dom, look forward to your new build ! How many gallons will the new tank be? List of some great fish, look forward to seeing what you get :)
 

reefer gladness

Well-Known Member
If my metric conversion is correct you'll have a cube tank in the 70-75 gallon range. In a tank that size I'd say you would be overstocked with the list above and some fish would be better in a larger tank. A few things to consider:

Many gramma basslet's are collected in deeper waters and don't like the bright light environment of an SPS tank. Possibly the same with the yellow assessors (also basslets). I have a blue assessor and it hates bright light.

The bellus angelfish should probably be in a larger tank, or at least when it matures. Minimum recommended tank size for this fish is 125 gallons.

The leopard wrasse is a difficult species of wrasse to keep, they really like to eat live pods. With the mystery wrasse in there and up to 3 leopard wrasse there's too much competition for pods IMO.
 

PSU4ME

JoePa lives on!!!
Staff member
PREMIUM
Choff has the yellow assessors and was really disappointed with them.....very dull in color and not what he expected.

I have a Mystery Wrasse and dislike him......he eats every shrimp i try to put in there and is impossible to trap.

I love leopard wrasses but in a super clean tank you need to watch your pod population.....supplement it every three months.

I also have a yellow coris wrasses and you are hard pressed to find a bristle worm in my tank. My wrasses eat every living thing they can find!!!
 

Wrangy

Acropora Nut
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
Thanks Glenn :)

If my metric conversion is correct you'll have a cube tank in the 70-75 gallon range. In a tank that size I'd say you would be overstocked with the list above and some fish would be better in a larger tank. A few things to consider:
Many gramma basslet's are collected in deeper waters and don't like the bright light environment of an SPS tank. Possibly the same with the yellow assessors (also basslets). I have a blue assessor and it hates bright light.
The bellus angelfish should probably be in a larger tank, or at least when it matures. Minimum recommended tank size for this fish is 125 gallons.
The leopard wrasse is a difficult species of wrasse to keep, they really like to eat live pods. With the mystery wrasse in there and up to 3 leopard wrasse there's too much competition for pods IMO.
Yes, 75 gallons is correct. With a reasonably minimalist scape as well.
Bellus is only a small juvenile still so happy in a smaller tank for the moment but when she grows larger she'll go to a bigger home :) I might avoid assessors then if you both think they're a bit of a bad choice.
With the wrasse it's one or the other I wouldn't add 4 wrasse to the tank like that, way too much competition. It was more just to see if a trio would be okay in the tank if there were only a few other fish. I'm also prepared to give the time and effort required to acclimatise and keep the leopard wrasse, they won't go in for a while though.

Choff has the yellow assessors and was really disappointed with them.....very dull in color and not what he expected.
I have a Mystery Wrasse and dislike him......he eats every shrimp i try to put in there and is impossible to trap.
I love leopard wrasses but in a super clean tank you need to watch your pod population.....supplement it every three months.
I also have a yellow coris wrasses and you are hard pressed to find a bristle worm in my tank. My wrasses eat every living thing they can find!!!
My lfs get's assessors in with some frequency so I'll check them out next time they're there but otherwise I might avoid them for a moment.
I have a hawkfish so shrimp are out of the question anyway for me so the addition of a mystery and no shrimp doesn't bother me much at all :)
If I were to add leopard wrasse it won't be till down the line and I'll have a section of the sump as a pod growing section and I might culture my own sometime :) But I know where to get them from if need be. I also feed heavily too so they'll learn to eat that as well during quarantine.


Say if I were to change the stocking to:
Hawkfish
Royal Gramma
Bellus Angelfish (for the moment)
3x Leopard Wrasse

Would that be more appropriate in the tank?
 

PSU4ME

JoePa lives on!!!
Staff member
PREMIUM
Say if I were to change the stocking to:
Hawkfish
Royal Gramma
Bellus Angelfish (for the moment)
3x Leopard Wrasse

Would that be more appropriate in the tank?

With good maintenance that list shouldn't be a problem IMO
 

Wrangy

Acropora Nut
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
Change in plans haha I'm only going to run with a pair of the leopards after having a chat with YKTea from Reef Builders about them (he wrote the M. vivienae article) and some other leopard wrasse fanatics lol
I might also try and find a mate for my hawkfish too :)
 
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