Order of adding fish to new tank (after cycle)

[ajtomase]

I’m getting Red Sea Reefer 750 (200 gallon) tank in 2 weeks. After my tank is done with Dr. Tim’s fish-less cycle, I’m not sure if this is the right order to add the fish that I want:

• Right after tank finishes fish-less cycle
  • Clownfish (2)
• After 2-weeks with just clownfish (each species added every 1-2 weeks)
  • Banggai Cardinalfish (1 or 3)
  • Firefish
• Following fishes after ugly stage begins (each fish added every 1-2 weeks)
  • Lawnmower blenny
  • Whitetail bristletooth tang
  • One spot fox face
  • Copepods and phytoplankton
• 2 months after adding pods (each species added every 1-2 weeks)
  • Salon fairy wrasse
  • Mandarin
  • Lyretail anthias (2 female, 1 male)
  • Royal gramma

Couple of my concerns beyond the order of the fish added:

1. I was also debating between having some type of shrimp (cleaner or blood fire red), or having some type of hawkfish. Thoughts?
2. Not sure whether to get 1 or 3 banggais...thoughts?
3. Can anyone tell me if whitetail bristletooth tang is maroon color? Was thinking of tomini tang, but looking for a maroon colored tang
4. Should I be adding phytoplankton and copepods right after the tank cycles, or wait until the the ugly stage begins?

 

[i cant think]

I’m getting Red Sea Reefer 750 (200 gallon) tank in 2 weeks. After my tank is done with Dr. Tim’s fish-less cycle, I’m not sure if this is the right order to add the fish that I want:

• Right after tank finishes fish-less cycle
  • Clownfish (2)
• After 2-weeks with just clownfish (each species added every 1-2 weeks)
  • Banggai Cardinalfish (1 or 3)
  • Firefish
• Following fishes after ugly stage begins (each fish added every 1-2 weeks)
  • Lawnmower blenny
  • Whitetail bristletooth tang
  • One spot fox face
  • Copepods and phytoplankton
• 2 months after adding pods (each species added every 1-2 weeks)
  • Salon fairy wrasse
  • Mandarin
  • Lyretail anthias (2 female, 1 male)
  • Royal gramma

Couple of my concerns beyond the order of the fish added:

1. I was also debating between having some type of shrimp (cleaner or blood fire red), or having some type of hawkfish. Thoughts?
2. Not sure whether to get 1 or 3 banggais...thoughts?
3. Can anyone tell me if whitetail bristletooth tang is maroon color? Was thinking of tomini tang, but looking for a maroon colored tang
4. Should I be adding phytoplankton and copepods right after the tank cycles, or wait until the the ugly stage begins?

1. You can have a Hawkfish and a shrimp (They only tend to go after small shrimp such as sexy shrimp)
2. Is go for a total of 2 since as adults they pair off and tend to kill the weaker one off eventually if they’re left in threes.
3. Yes it is a beautiful Maroon colour (My LFS has two beautiful specimens in currently)
4. I started instantly, also try get chaetomorpha or some macro species growing to help with the pods growth. It also tends to outcompete cyano/dinos if you have established algae. In the wild you can find rocks covered in mats of macroalgae and No cyano or dinos even if the water is right, the reason why is competition from macros.

Also, you can have WAY more fish than that in the long run (I’d say a minimum of 16 depending on size)

 

[ajtomase]

1. You can have a Hawkfish and a shrimp (They only tend to go after small shrimp such as sexy shrimp)
2. Is go for a total of 2 since as adults they pair off and tend to kill the weaker one off eventually if they’re left in threes.
3. Yes it is a beautiful Maroon colour (My LFS has two beautiful specimens in currently)
4. I started instantly, also try get chaetomorpha or some macro species growing to help with the pods growth. It also tends to outcompete cyano/dinos if you have established algae. In the wild you can find rocks covered in mats of macroalgae and No cyano or dinos even if the water is right, the reason why is competition from macros.

Also, you can have WAY more fish than that in the long run (I’d say a minimum of 16 depending on size)

Thanks! How would I know if I have a male and female, and not 2 males or 2 females? Is there a preference of which hawkfish to look into? I'm between the flame hawkfish and the long nose hawkfish.

 

[i cant think]

Thanks! How would I know if I have a male and female, and not 2 males or 2 females? Is there a preference of which hawkfish to look into? I'm between the flame hawkfish and the long nose hawkfish.

So, I think it’s just a gamble on if you get a male and female but I’m pretty sure two females will coexist quite happily and even if there’s two males it should be enough tank space.
In terms of which hawkfish, what are you after? I could grab a list of each species of hawkfish seen in captivity if you want

 

[ajtomase]

So, I think it’s just a gamble on if you get a male and female but I’m pretty sure two females will coexist quite happily and even if there’s two males it should be enough tank space.
In terms of which hawkfish, what are you after? I could grab a list of each species of hawkfish seen in captivity if you want

I think I'm on the fence between the long nose hawkfish and the flame hawkfish and how each of them behave around cleaner shrimp and blood red fire shrimp.

 

[i cant think]

I think I'm on the fence between the long nose hawkfish and the flame hawkfish and how each of them behave around cleaner shrimp and blood red fire shrimp.

IME these fish don’t bother shrimp from the Lysmata genus, also if the tank is 7’ then you can have both a Cleaner and a Blood Red Fire. You could also have both of the hawkfish if you introduced them the right way (That is if the tank is over 4’ long).

 

[ajtomase]

IME these fish don’t bother shrimp from the Lysmata genus, also if the tank is 7’ then you can have both a Cleaner and a Blood Red Fire. You could also have both of the hawkfish if you introduced them the right way (That is if the tank is over 4’ long).

Tank is 71" long (about 6" long)

 

[i cant think]

Tank is 71" long (about 6" long)

Should be just fine then, I had a Cleaner and a Fire in a 3’x2’x2’ tank for a nice 5 years and they didn’t bother eachother. If possible in my 4’ I’d love to try introduce a Fire to my Cleaner shrimp pair but feel like it would be VERY hard.

 

[ajtomase]

Should be just fine then, I had a Cleaner and a Fire in a 3’x2’x2’ tank for a nice 5 years and they didn’t bother eachother. If possible in my 4’ I’d love to try introduce a Fire to my Cleaner shrimp pair but feel like it would be VERY hard.

Have you had a hawkfish and a shrimp at the same time?

 

[i cant think]

Have you had a hawkfish and a shrimp at the same time?

Yes, they never bothered eachother and it was in a 7’ display tank at a LFS I worked in. I had a couple actually, along with some other fish. The species I had were:
- Neocirrhites armatus
- Oxycirrhites typus
- Parracirrhites forsteri
- Cyprinocirrhites polyactis

My favourite in terms of body was C. polyactis, My favourite in terms of colour was P. forsteri and My favourite in terms of size was N. armatus. The unusual was a tie between O. typus and C. polyactis.
I wish I had photos of that tank, it was a beautiful setup, and had some rarer fish in it (Not ULTRA rare but relatively rare, a few ventralis anthias was sort of the rarity of fish in that tank).