Mr. Fishy Fish
Active Member
Honestly, that's way too much fish for a 125 IMO. You're going to have some issues keeping up with the Bio-load. I suggest you start with all the small fish, see how the tank & parameters look and then go from there. Also, putting 3 tangs in a 125-gallon is a risk since they will most likely fight with each other over the limited space. Maybe consider getting a foxface instead of the regal tang. Regal tangs grow up to 1ft long, I'm personally debating whether I should get one for my 200-gallon aquarium. Of course you could always get a small one then trade it to the LFS once it becomes too big. However, I personally wouldn't go that route. IMO it's not fair to the fish or the owner to go through all that, since it's stressful for the fish and owners get attached to the fish. Also, considering the yellow tang and purple tang are both Zebrasoma I'd rethink the purple tang. I think the Kole tang would be a much better choice than a purple tang in your situation. Another thing to consider is the anthias bio-load. Anthias eat and poop like crazy, in order for you to keep them healthy, you're going to need to do multiple feedings a day. Multiple feedings can tax your filtration system heavily, so you need to make sure your filtration can actually keep up with the bio-load before even considering 7 anthias. I honestly think you should drop the anthias if you want the tangs. Also, are you aware that mandarins have a very poor survival rate without a steady population of copepods. Unless you have some way to support its diet I'd also reconsider the Mandarin. Don't get me wrong, you could probably put all those fish in a 125, but you will have to do a ton of water changes and most likely have to deal with aggression issues down the line. Trust me, you will get burnt out quickly if you take this route. Just my 2 cents. Good luck!
I was the same way when I first started. I still push it sometimes lol.
