FOWLR Stocking list

[jschne06]

Hi,
I am starting a 180 gallon (6ft) fowlr aquarium. I plan on having 150-180 lbs or live rock as well as the following fish:

1 Blue Tang
1 Yellow Tang
1 Kole Yellow Eye Tang
1 Bicolor dwarf angelfish
1 Coral beauty angelfish
1 Flame Angelfish
1 Royal Grama Basslet
1 Yellow longnose butterflyfish
2 Ocellaris clownfish
1 Bicolor dottyback
1 Saddleback butterflyfish
3-4 Blue/Green reef chromis
Do you think that this is too many? I want to make sure the tangs have enough room. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[reefnoob]

Welcome!
I think you could get by with 3 tangs. But I'm not too sure about 3 angelfish. I read that you should only have 1 dwarf angelfish per tank. And by the way, theres a chance that the angelfish and butterflyfish will nip at corals. I think it may be a little too much bioload though. Maybe get the chromis off your list or maybe a tang or angelfish. Just as a warning, there could be a lot of aggression issues. Hope this helps.

 

[jschne06]

Thank you for the reply! I'm not stuck on the flame angel, so maybe I will skip that and the chromis.

 

[jschne06]

I think that I will skip the kole tang as well. I am reading that they are shy and the other tangs may give them problems. Is there another type of tang that would be compatible with the blue and yellow?

 

[reefnoob]

I honestly think that 3 would really be pushing it. But maybe a sailfin tang? Make sure you research a lot before purchasing anything. Many tangs such as an Achilles tang are very hard to care for. I'm glad that you are researching first, something that regrettably many people don't do.

 

[noy]

you are fine with the tangs. The kole is a smaller tang - 6" or so and the yellow tang is just a bit bigger. The only big tang you have is the blue tang. I find blue tangs to be very peaceful and the only aggression issue may be the yellow tang. I have a 110g and i keep 5 tangs and a flame angel.

i think you are fine with 3 dwarf angels with a 180g. I have a friend who has 3 flame angels in a 210 - no problems. just add them all at once or close together.

A lot of the fish you listed is pretty basic fare - i'm not sure how many tanks you plan to keep but why put a bunch of chromis/dottyback/clown fishes in a big tank like that. If you like how they look then sure but with a 180 gallon you can probably stock something special. I seen people do reef tanks with chromis/anthias themes but it seems like you want to have a FOWLR setup.

You may want to think of some of the larger angelfish (emperor/koran/queen/bluefaced) they are stunning and a healthy adult specimen becomes the focus of the tank. You could do even some of the more uncommon tangs like a clown tang or achilles tang.

At end of the day, its what you like/want and we are all just making suggestions.

With a good filtration system/sump/refugium setup you shoudl be ok bioload wise.

 

[BL1]

The Kole isn't shy most of them are actual real a-holes and bully other fish. In a 180, and done properly I think you could add those three angels in the same tank. And since you're doing a FOWLR you won't have to worry about coral nipping. I think your real problem will be aggression from the tangs and angels towards the butterflies.

 

[jschne06]

Deciding on what fish to stock is so stressful :( I don't want any of them to get bullied or harassed. I would really like the longnose butterfly but I'm not set on the saddleback. Would 1 naso tang (instead of the other three) and 1 bicolor dwarf angelfish (skip the other 2) give the longnose butterflyfish a better change of not getting bullied?

 

[jschne06]

FYI: If I decide on a naso tang instead of the other three I would probably upgrade to a 200 gallon tank.

 

[BL1]

I'm not saying your definitely have a problem with aggression, every fish is different. But based on the body shapes and normal temperments of those fish you could have a problem on your hands. Also, I wouldn't get so wrapped up in your stock list so early. You've got a lot of time and in that time I'm sure you'll change your mind on what fish you want in your tank. When I set mine up I only ended up having one of the fish that I originally planned.