How many banggai

[wontonflip]

Ok, so I was watching my Banggai eating yesterday, and just realized how big and fat he's gotten since I got him a few months ago. They grow fast! I've actually fallen in love with them. They're just so pretty! So I wanted to get a few more for the 125. How many would get along together? I also want to put a small school of Chromis in the 125.

So basically, here's my desired fish list for the 125 (which will eventually become reef once I get money for lighting):
- 2 oscellaris clowns (currently have just 1 left...I'll probably go with one smaller one to hopefully pair it with)
- 1 firefish (existing fish)
- Banggais (dunno how many yet)
- Chromis (maybe 6?)
- Tang (maybe just a yellow tang, although I do like the blue hippo
- some type of Goby
- a basslet, maybe rgb

Am I crossing over the 'heavy bioload' line yet, especially if I will be putting in some corals? I was hoping to maybe slip in a foxface, too. I know it can nip at corals if not well fed. Just part of the hobby -- hoping a 'reef compatible fish' doesn't turn on your corals! I just wanted at least 2 larger fish like the tang and foxface, but also some smaller schooling fish to give the tank move movement.

As for corals, I know nothing about any of them, really. So I honestly don't know yet what I'll be putting in. Once I get lighting, I'll most likely just stick to the hardy ones, maybe just start off w/ mushrooms that I'll take from my 10g.

So many choices!!! I'm so close to getting the tank going and the fish choices are making my eyes bulge out. Today, I'm draining the tap water that I used to test the plumbing, then I'm going to start filling it up w/ ro/di, and mix the salt right in the tank w/ my older powerheads that I don't care if they break or not. Just dunno yet how to fill it LOL -- I wanted to run the rodi line into the main tank and just let it go...but the line isn't close enough. So I may just have to do it in stages.

:^:

 

[sen5241b]

IMHO, all aquarist need to decide what's more important corals or fish. With lots of fish,it will be harder to keep trates under control. Except in small amounts, 'trates are bad for most corals. You'll need expensive skimmers, large fuges and all that goes with them and other meaures to control 'trates. If you under-stock fish, 'trates will be lower and much easier to control.

Bottom line: If you want lots of fish AND lots of corals, you'll end up having to spend lots of time and money on the many measures needed to control 'trates.

 

[wontonflip]

I'm not worried about nitrates. I've got a fuge that will be set up, I'm planning on a good skimmer rated at around 200-300gallons (still deciding between the established Octopus or an eshopps). I'm up to the challenge of testing my tank's limits one livestock at a time. I've been successful w/ my 45g -- 0 nitrates all the time with a combination of a skimmer, fuge, low bioload, and ro/di.

Considering I'm not planning on getting corals for a while, I'm concentrating on stocking fish first. By the time I am ready for the corals, I'd have been able to establish a routine to keep nitrates at 0, or at least extremely low. I'm going for the sturdier ones that don't require absolute 0ppm nitrates anyway. At least I'm not just grabbing things and hope it works. I want a plan because I want my tank to thrive, and not "survive".

I'm not exactly jumping into the coral bandwagon blindly here. I'm making a plan, which was the point of this post to see where I stand w/ my desired fish and corals. I want to plan out the fish I want, which tend to be reef safe (and YES I'm aware no fish is 100% reef safe..it's up to the individual fish), get advice on them. Then at least by the time I start getting coral, I wouldn't have ended up with poorly selected livestock.

And yes, I understand high bioload = higher nitrates produced. But which is why I'm putting my plan out there now so I can adjust my livestock plan accordingly. I think by now, I've learned quite a bit about ways to keep nitrates low, and I hope to implement them to the big tank. Hence why it's taken me months to even begin filling up my tank :) I wanted to make sure to do the plumbing to accomodate the best flows and to accomodate a fuge (which, btw, will be above the aquarium! Yay pods!)

So listing all those fish is not to say I'm definitely getting those. I'm listing them so people can guide me if it would work with proper setup. I've never had a large tank, and have only had 3-4 fish in a tank at a time to begin with. So populating a large tank is new to me.

BTW, Sen...check out my tank build for the 125 :) You'll see I had it all planned out, with room for improvement to accomodate for better filtration.

 

[yote]

I dont seen any problems with your fish list.Even with a foxface.
And I'd say to go with either 4 or 6 of the Banggais.Add them in even numbers.

 

[dcantucson]

I had 6 at one time and they all got along. I actually like them better in large groups as they sometimes don't move around a lot so having more makes more of a presence.

 

[wontonflip]

Are there issues adding more Banggais if there's already 1 established? ie, will they fight like Clowns fight to assert dominance?

 

[dcantucson]

I had two and then added four. There was a little aggressiveness by one of the bigger original ones, but it wasn't too bad. They pretty much all got along and hung out together in the end. Nothing like Clowns though, at least for me.

 

[sen5241b]

I'm not worried about nitrates. I've got a fuge that will be set up, I'm planning on a good skimmer rated at around 200-300gallons (still deciding between the established Octopus or an eshopps). I'm up to the challenge of testing my tank's limits one livestock at a time. I've been successful w/ my 45g -- 0 nitrates all the time with a combination of a skimmer, fuge, low bioload, and ro/di.

Considering I'm not planning on getting corals for a while, I'm concentrating on stocking fish first. By the time I am ready for the corals, I'd have been able to establish a routine to keep nitrates at 0, or at least extremely low. I'm going for the sturdier ones that don't require absolute 0ppm nitrates anyway. At least I'm not just grabbing things and hope it works. I want a plan because I want my tank to thrive, and not "survive".

I'm not exactly jumping into the coral bandwagon blindly here. I'm making a plan, which was the point of this post to see where I stand w/ my desired fish and corals. I want to plan out the fish I want, which tend to be reef safe (and YES I'm aware no fish is 100% reef safe..it's up to the individual fish), get advice on them. Then at least by the time I start getting coral, I wouldn't have ended up with poorly selected livestock.

And yes, I understand high bioload = higher nitrates produced. But which is why I'm putting my plan out there now so I can adjust my livestock plan accordingly. I think by now, I've learned quite a bit about ways to keep nitrates low, and I hope to implement them to the big tank. Hence why it's taken me months to even begin filling up my tank :) I wanted to make sure to do the plumbing to accomodate the best flows and to accomodate a fuge (which, btw, will be above the aquarium! Yay pods!)

So listing all those fish is not to say I'm definitely getting those. I'm listing them so people can guide me if it would work with proper setup. I've never had a large tank, and have only had 3-4 fish in a tank at a time to begin with. So populating a large tank is new to me.

BTW, Sen...check out my tank build for the 125 :) You'll see I had it all planned out, with room for improvement to accomodate for better filtration.

You seem to know what you're doing. Planning is so important and you've done yours. Good luck with your tank. One little suggestion: put chaeto in your fuge and skip the caulerpa.

 

[wontonflip]

Yeah, definitely going w/ Chaeto. I've got so many pods in my chaeto now! Big ole fat ones! Thanks Sen :)