Stocking Plan for New 60 Gallon Mixed Reef

[iannarelli]

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to start up a new 60g cube tank (build thread linked below) and I need some help with my stocking. I had previously wanted to do a 120g peninsula, but wound up not moving forward with it. I had a stocking plan all figured out for that tank; however, I recognize that with half the volume and half the area, it wouldn't be responsible to keep some of my choices in the smaller space. With at being said, I'd like some advice on the below lists, specifically with regard to bio-load, space requirements, aggression/compatibility, and order of adding to the tank.

1. Are there any problems with the "definitely want" list?
2. Of the fish in the "nice to have" group, what could I realistically add? I run my 75g planted tank heavily overstocked (and over filtered), so I'm not opposed to having a responsible, heavily stocked tank, but not right off the bat as this will be my first reef.
3. Are there any fish I may not have considered that maybe I should?

Definitely want to have:

• Pair of Ocellaris Clownfish
• Dwarf Angel (leaning toward Coral Beauty of Flame, Elibi was my first choice, but I think a 60g cube might be too small)
• Royal Gramma
• Goby + Pistol Shrimp Pair (open to suggestions here, would prefer something with lots of personality)
• Melanurus Wrasse
• Blenny of some sort (Starry or Lawnmower, any advice here?)

Nice to have:

• Flame Hawkfish
• Chromis (Black & White or Black-axil - I understand these can be quite tricky)
• Firefish Goby
• Blenny (Midas is my first choice but I hear they're bullies)
• Zebra Barred Dartfish
• Bangaii Cardinalfish
• Chalk Bass

Won't get as much as I want to have one unless I'm told overwhelmingly that it would be okay:

• Tomani Tang (would love one, but I think the tank is too small)
• Earmuff Wrasse (same as above)

As for non-fish, I will have an anemone for the clownfish, some beginner soft corals to start off, and then at some point, a couple SPS corals. Eventually, I think a clam would be really cool. As for the clean-up crew, I haven't really given it much thought, below is the list I had made for the 120g... what would work in a 60g cube?

• Emerald Crab
• Electric blue hermit crab
• Pom pom crab
• 2x Blue leg hermit crab
• 2x Red leg hermit crab
• Marble (red tile)/black tip star (really want some type of star fish)
• 4 Trochus Snails
• Tuxedo urchin
• 2x cleaner shrimp
• 2x fire

Huge thanks for your help! I've tried to do my homework, but I am definitely still learning, so I want as much advice as possible to help make this a successful first reef!

 

[Ben's Pico Reefing]

I think you haves and want to haves are good. Most are smaller size. Your cleanup crew needs a bit more. I deal with picos and small nanos but others will be able to guide you more on cleanip crew.

 

[fishywishy]

Everything’s good. if you have really good filtration you could have all the fish on your list except:

The tang (too big).

The chromis (I would pass on the chromis to keep just the risk of uronema down).

Flame hawk (it might eat your shrimp).

Elibi might be fine but I would stick to the smaller dwarfs(coral B, flame, flame back etc), ywg and tiger shrimp are cool but the shrimp can be super annoying sometimes, and any blenny is fine.

Definitely have a tight fitting lid, some of those fish are big jumpers.

I would just stick to one or two cleaners, 4 seems like a lot in a tank that size.

 

[iannarelli]

I think you haves and want to haves are good. Most are smaller size. Your cleanup crew needs a bit more. I deal with picos and small nanos but others will be able to guide you more on cleanip crew.

Thanks!!! If the cleanup crew needs more, it would have been woefully undersized for the 120g!

 

[iannarelli]

Everything’s good. if you have really good filtration you could have all the fish on your list except:

The tang (too big).

The chromis (I would pass on the chromis to keep just the risk of uronema down).

Flame hawk (it might eat your shrimp).

Elibi might be fine but I would stick to the smaller dwarfs(coral B, flame, flame back etc), ywg and tiger shrimp are cool but the shrimp can be super annoying sometimes, and any blenny is fine.

Definitely have a tight fitting lid, some of those fish are big jumpers.

I would just stick to one or two cleaners, 4 seems like a lot in a tank that size.

Thanks so much! Honestly wasn't expecting to hear I could have both lists! I supposed I should have linked to my build thread so you could have a sense of filtration: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-60-gallon-cube.1046231/

What would you define as good filtration? Planning on keeping the sock on in the sump, the skimmer I plan on getting I feel it overkill, and will likely have bio blocks in the sump and some cheato in the refugium section. Will that be enough? For reference, my other tank is a 75g planted Amazon biotope. I run an Oase Biomaster 850, Fluval 307, and a 20 micron string filter in a RODI housing on that tank. The canister filters are loaded with Fluval BioFX and Biohome media. I would consider it over-filtered.

I figured as much about the tang, I can live without it. Did know about uronema, just googled it, seems pretty nasty. I had only read getting chromis to eat was the difficulty. As for the flame hawk, thanks for the warning. How is the pistol shrimp annoying? I will definitely have a tight-fitting lid!

Apologies for the naive question, but what are you counting as the other two "cleaners"?

 

[fishywishy]

Thanks so much! Honestly wasn't expecting to hear I could have both lists! I supposed I should have linked to my build thread so you could have a sense of filtration: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-60-gallon-cube.1046231/

What would you define as good filtration? Planning on keeping the sock on in the sump, the skimmer I plan on getting I feel it overkill, and will likely have bio blocks in the sump and some cheato in the refugium section. Will that be enough? For reference, my other tank is a 75g planted Amazon biotope. I run an Oase Biomaster 850, Fluval 307, and a 20 micron string filter in a RODI housing on that tank. The canister filters are loaded with Fluval BioFX and Biohome media. I would consider it over-filtered.

I figured as much about the tang, I can live without it. Did know about uronema, just googled it, seems pretty nasty. I had only read getting chromis to eat was the difficulty. As for the flame hawk, thanks for the warning. How is the pistol shrimp annoying? I will definitely have a tight-fitting lid!

Apologies for the naive question, but what are you counting as the other two "cleaners"?

Your filtration looks good, a bigger sump would be better but it will probably be alright. I would definitely get some cultured LR instead of dry rock for your DT and I would just go to algae barn website and see what they give in their refugium kit and get stuff for your refugium based on that. You could also get a little bit of ocean LR to put In your sump to seed your tank for better filtration. The skimmer is definitely overkill but for that many fish it will be a good idea.

My shrimp is always clicking all day but In the middle of the night my pistol shrimp randomly clicks a bunch and it can get really annoying because it’s right next to where I sleep.

When you said “2x fire” I thought you meant fire cleaner shrimp but I guess that’s something else.

 

[steveschuerger]

Is this a fowler or reef tank? Out of all the fish and other denizens listed the only one(s) I wouldn’t consider in a reef are the dwarf angels . Too many what ifs.
Several of your fish on either list are what I had in an IM SR60, now living in my 90.
This is what I had that were happy in the 60
Pair of Ocellaris clowns
2 Bangaii cardinals
Orange spot blenny
Melanurus wrasse
Blue Star leopard wrasse
Blue eye bristle tooth tang

So you can have a smaller tang if your so inclined. Rest of both lists looks fine.

 

[iannarelli]

Your filtration looks good, a bigger sump would be better but it will probably be alright. I would definitely get some cultured LR instead of dry rock for your DT and I would just go to algae barn website and see what they give in their refugium kit and get stuff for your refugium based on that. You could also get a little bit of ocean LR to put In your sump to seed your tank for better filtration. The skimmer is definitely overkill but for that many fish it will be a good idea.

My shrimp is always clicking all day but In the middle of the night my pistol shrimp randomly clicks a bunch and it can get really annoying because it’s right next to where I sleep.

When you said “2x fire” I thought you meant fire cleaner shrimp but I guess that’s something else.

I've been struggling to find a larger sump that will fit under my stand while still leaving me some room for an ATO and anything else I'd potentially add down the line. Trigger says the sump holds 24 gallons, which is 40% of the display. If you can point me to a bigger one, I'm happy to take a look. I realize I could do a custom one, but I don't currently have an appetite for that. I like how clean the premade sumps are. For your reference, my design for the stand (below) is to match the width of the cube and then be a little deeper. I've modified the typical 2x4 stand design to maximize the interior footprint. Apologies for the dark background, I made this is AutoCAD. The measurements are:
(A) Internal Width: 20.25 in.
(B) Vertical Post Clearance (Front/Back): 16.25 in.
(C) Internal Depth: 29.125 in.
(D) Vertical Post Clearance (Sides): 26.125 in.

I will follow your advice re: Algae Barn and the refugium. Honestly, I don't think the clicking will bother me... my bedroom is on the opposite side of the apartment and I can sleep through pretty much anything.

 

[iannarelli]

Is this a fowler or reef tank? Out of all the fish and other denizens listed the only one(s) I wouldn’t consider in a reef are the dwarf angels . Too many what ifs.
Several of your fish on either list are what I had in an IM SR60, now living in my 90.
This is what I had that were happy in the 60
Pair of Ocellaris clowns
2 Bangaii cardinals
Orange spot blenny
Melanurus wrasse
Blue Star leopard wrasse
Blue eye bristle tooth tang

So you can have a smaller tang if your so inclined. Rest of both lists looks fine.

It's going to be a reef tank. I've read the angels are hit or miss. They're such good-looking fish, I might try to risk it. Same with the hawk... seems like some people have had luck making sure everyone is well-fed so they don't get curious about eating corals/tank mates... but I hear you. Would you consider the Tomani to be a "smaller" wrasse? I really think it is a unique looking fish but would want it to thrive and also wouldn't want to have to rehome it.

 

[iannarelli]

@fishywishy Actually, now I'm a little confused as to how Trigger is calculating the water volume (listed at 24.3 gallons)... With a 20"x20" footprint, filled to the brim (15 inches) you'd have 25.97 gallons. So it seems they're just subtracting the volume of the baffles and other pieces within the cube? At max simmer section height (9.5 inches), there's only 16.45 gallons of water, which is ~27.4% of the DT. The Sapphire 34 isn't much better, and I'd have to extend the depth of the stand. Struggling to find something short or having someone like modular Marine making a custom one with a larger footprint.

 

[fishywishy]

@fishywishy Actually, now I'm a little confused as to how Trigger is calculating the water volume (listed at 24.3 gallons)... With a 20"x20" footprint, filled to the brim (15 inches) you'd have 25.97 gallons. So it seems they're just subtracting the volume of the baffles and other pieces within the cube? At max simmer section height (9.5 inches), there's only 16.45 gallons of water, which is ~27.4% of the DT. The Sapphire 34 isn't much better, and I'd have to extend the depth of the stand. Struggling to find something short or having someone like modular Marine making a custom one with a larger footprint.

Tbh I don’t know much about pre made sumps because I make my own but I wouldn’t worry about getting a bigger sump, the sump you have seems fine enough for all that fish. just make sure you add plenty of cultured rock to your main display and fill you refugium with plenty of biodiversity and you should be good.

 

[steveschuerger]

It's going to be a reef tank. I've read the angels are hit or miss. They're such good-looking fish, I might try to risk it. Same with the hawk... seems like some people have had luck making sure everyone is well-fed so they don't get curious about eating corals/tank mates... but I hear you. Would you consider the Tomani to be a "smaller" wrasse? I really think it is a unique looking fish but would want it to thrive and also wouldn't want to have to rehome it.

Tomani can probably handle a 60 cube but it’d have to be the only tang. My 60 was a 36” long shallow reef. They definitely like running space and mine is much happier in the 4 footer

 

[iannarelli]

UPDATE: My tank finished its cycle this last Friday. And I got my first two inhabitants Saturday afternoon, a pair Ocellaris Clownfish. Could definitely use some advice on what I should go about adding next, based on my original stocking list... Reefapalooza NY is coming up this weekend and I want to be disciplined/responsible.

 

[iannarelli]

Bump... I have a lot of apprehension about what's best to add next... I never worry when I want to add things to my FW tank, but I don't want to mess up my first go at reefing! I went through the previous advice given and updated my wishlist, organized by type of fish:

Angels
I know these would be a risk to corals...

• Coral Beauty
• Flame Angel

Basslet

• Royal Gramma

Shrimp Goby
Would a 60 gallon support more than one pair?

• Yasha or Orange Stripe + Fine-Striped or Candy Strip Pistol Shrimp

Blennies
The Midas is stunning, but the LMB is typically the best worker, right?

• Midas
• Starry
• Sailfin

Wrasse

• Melanurus
• Adorned
• Fairy/Flasher

Tangs
Should one of these be the last fish? Both of these are only aggressive to other Tangs according to online forums. Will the White Tail get too big for a 60g? I understand the Tomini *should* be okay, but it's also slightly smaller.

• White Tail Bristletooth
• Tomini

Misc:

• Flame Hawkfish (risk to inverts)
• Firefish Goby
• Zebra Barred Dartfish
• Bangaii Cardinalfish

 

[kimts]

Checking in to see what, if anything, you added to your pair of clowns. My 60 gallon cube is ready for livestock, and I don't know where to start! I like your list and may use it myself.

 

[iannarelli]

Checking in to see what, if anything, you added to your pair of clowns. My 60 gallon cube is ready for livestock, and I don't know where to start! I like your list and may use it myself.

As far as fish go, I currently I have an Algae Blenny, Royal Gramma, Purple Firefish, Melanurus Wrasse, Sharknose Goby, Yellow Banded Possum Wrasse, and a Pearly Jawfish. Also have some Rock Flower and Bubble Tip anemones, a pair of cleaner shrimp, a pitho crab, 3 conch (Tiger, Silver Lip, and Hawkwing), pom pom crabs, and a porcelain crab. Then these a bunch of snails and some coral frags I really need to place.