180 gallon FOWLR fish stocking list.

The tanks a 72 x 24 x 24 180 gallon with a 75g or 90g sump/refugium.

I'm looking for advice on which fish I should cut from the list and also cool fish that I could add.

Tangs:

Blue tang


Sailfin Tang

Dwarf Angels:

Flame Angelfish


Coral Beauty Angelfish


Green Anthias


Basslets:

Chalk Basslet


Yellow Assessor Basslet


Blue Assessor Basslet


Blennies:

Starry Blenny


Scooter Blenny


Red Sea Mimic Blenny


Midas Blenny


Butterfly fish:

Black and White Heniochus


Saddleback Butterfly fish


Golden Butterfly fish


Banggai Cardinalfish - 8



Black Ocellaris Clownfish - pair


Green Chromis - 8


blue Chromis - 4



Firefish - 2


Green Mandarin Dragonet - pair


Spotted Dragonet


Gobies:
Green Clown Goby



Blue Spot Jawfish



Wrasses:

McCosker's Flasher Wrasse



Niger Triggerfish(love the fish, but not sure if it will go well with the tank.)

 

thats a lot of fish. im not good on stocking with larger tanks, but heres a bump for ya.

 

4 copepod eating fish in a 180 is not wise you should have two at the most, the fish you have that eat copepods are scooter blenny, mandarin dragonet, and spotted dragonet. i wouold go with either a dragonet pair or a spotted and one normal dragonet and make sure ones male and ones a female

 

you also have way to many fish i would keep your fish count under twenty

 

Do not have the two pairs of clowns in one tank...this will end badly for them all....also you have 4 fish listed thats WAY to many..i have a 180 reef which im going to stock heavy bc i hvae the equipment to handle it and im going to have 20-25 fish total over 2-3 years

 

Ya, I'm trying to decide which pair to keep.

I'm going to have a 90g sump/refugium so I can stock more fish.

 

Will the blue and green chromis schools fight?

 

i would do one or the other with chromis.

 

I'd definately cut the trigger and the hawkfish if you plan on keeping some of the smaller more peaceful ones on there, i.e. clown goby, firefish, basslet or a mandarin (similar way of swimming). The hawkfish I had was a giant douchenozzle to anything smaller than him and while he didnt kill any that were added before him he certainly annoyed me and stressed them out sneaking up on them and nipping them.

If I were in your position I'd probably go with 2 7-8"+ sized fish like an achilles tang and a regal tang to draw attention and go a lot smaller with everything else, but then I just don't like my tank to look cluttered. On the other hand, having a FOWLR tank gives you the opportunity to go with fish lots of reef tank owners wish they could add so you have a chance to add some flair to your tank. If you want the trigger then go with tangs and larger wrasses that are boisterous and not fish he'll pick on. They can be bullies at feeding time so don't house them with shy fish that take their time eating cause you'll end up having to try to target feed all of them when they dont get enough and that just gets old really fast. Make a plan and stick to it. Straying just leads to frustration and overstocking. Also make sure you definately don't want any inverts cause you will find the trigger and hawk dismembering them quite often.

 

For big reef tanks I always liked a ton of smal fish and a couple large ones. FOWLRS are a different story, I like fewer and larger fish. Any reason why there are no larger angels or butterflys on your list? How about a harlequin tusk? Also, I would cut the marine betta. They look great in pics, but everyone I have seen in person loved to hide all day in the rockwork.

~Will.