What to stock first in a 90g FOWLR?

[Wade]

I'm helping a buddy set up a 90g FOWLR and we're getting close to being able to add the first fish. I put together this stock list of fish I thought would do well in his tank and need help determining what to add first. Before someone asks, I'm not intending on adding all of these fish. These are just the ones to choose from. I'm think that a 90g FOWLR tank could hold what, maybe 10-12 fish of various sizes? I plan to start with maybe two or three fish and then suggest he only add one or two additional fish every couple to three weeks and see how it does. Thoughts and suggestions?

· Flame Angel

· Coral Beauty Angel

· Tibicen

· Clown fish pair (mated) or single

· Kole Eye, Bristeltooth, or Yellow Tang

· Wrasse

o Red Coris

o Pinkface

o Bluehead

o Flasher

o Fairy -

o Mystery

· Convict/Engineer Blennie

· Orchid Dottybacks

· Indigo Dottyback

· Bartlett’s Anthias

· Butterflyfish

o Pearlscale

o Spotband

o Sunset

· One-Spot Foxface

·

[Sascha D.]

In marine fish its best to stock the least aggressive, most hearty fish first. The problem is that most of the fish you listed are not compatible with each other. For example, you can't add the coris wrasse with the fairy wrasses or anthias. The fox, clowns or butterfly are good ones to add first. You'll want to add the angels or coris last.

If I were setting up a fowlr then I would look at butterfly fish, tusk, goatfish, and bird wrasse. Grunts, sweetlips, lions, and groupers are popular, but some get too big for that tank size.

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[Wade]

Thanks Sasha. I should have noted that I planned to only get one of the wrasse listed. The same with the butterflyfish.

It's funny that he wants me to pick the fish that go in, but I understand that he just wants to make sure he gets what will work in his tank and not waste money. He just wants a lot of color and movement.

So why the bird wrasse? Is it just the most peaceful of the wrasses? If I go with the bird wrasse, can I get the anthias or is it that wrasse and anthias just don't mix period?

OK, so I start with a butterfly and a tusk or some clowns and then wait a few weeks to see how everything does before adding another couple of fish. The angel and wrasse (if I get a wrasse) go last. I guess the next couple to add could be a fox or tang (are those two compatible?), a tusk and maybe a dottyback? I know the 90 may not be quite big enough for a yellow tang, but the Kole Eye or Bristletooth will be fine I think.

Am I on the right track? Are there any on the list that just need to be crossed off considering the first choices?

[Sascha D.]

I'm not trying to dictate what fish you get or what your friend may or may not like. I was just giving my opinion based on your list. The Coris Wrasses, Harlequin Tusk, Bird Wrasses, etc., are aggressive. They will pick on peaceful planktivores and out compete them for food. I wouldn't put them with the flasher wrasses, fairy wrasses or anthias. The angels have the tenancy to be territorial to new fish added after they get established and so you should stock them last. You could add a Yellow Tang and Yellow Eye Kole Tang together if you do it at the same time. I wouldn't put the kole and another bristletooth together because they're in the same family and may fight as adults. The Orchid and Indigo Dottybacks are essentially the same fish. I would only add one or the other. You can mix fairy and flasher wrasses without problem.

I think that your friend should choose his level of comfort: aggressive, semi-aggressive or peaceful tank. That would make it easier to whittle down your fish list. It sounds to me like he wants 10-15 colorful fish that swim around peacefully. Something like 2 tangs/foxface, 3 flasher or fairy wrasses, 3 anthias, 1 dwarf angel, a couple firefish or engineer gobies, 2 clownfish, 1-2 butterfly fish. You could work a dottyback in there as well.

The first fish in the tank should be ones that aren't territorial or delicate. The foxface, tangs, clownfish and butterfly fish fit that bill. If you add the tangs first, then you'll want to add them both at one time. I started my new tank with a yellow tang and foxface. No problems. Whereas the fairy wrasses, flasher wrasses and anthias are more delicate and should not go into the tank at the beginning. They sometimes need time to adjust to new tanks and may refuse to eat for the first few days. New tanks don't have enough micro food to keep them alive until they pick up what you're feeding.

[Wade]

Your comments are very welcome Sasha and I really appreciate you taking the time to make them:)

You're spot on with what the guy I'm helping out is looking for. He just wants a lot of color and no problems (so definitely a peaceful tank) and he's in no way in a rush either so I can take as long as I need to introduce stock.

How many fish would you start with? Would you start right off with a foxface, tang, butterfly, and clowns or just the foxface and tang to start then wait a couple of weeks and add the clowns and butterfly? I'd also like to get the pod population up and thriving before I add the wrasses. I don't know about the fairy and flashers, but my six-line is a major bug eater.

Again, I'm asking for your opinion and guidance so don't feel like you're dictating what I should do:)

[Sascha D.]

Every tank progresses differently and there are a few different ways to start a tank. Cycling a tank really refers to the aging of the water and nature's reaction to what's available. For example, some tanks will get a diatom bloom because the diatoms are consuming the silicates in the water. Not every tank will get a bloom or it might vary in severity. Tanks with phosphates or nitrogen will get red slime or hair algae before ever adding fish. It doesn't really matter which symptoms manifest. What matters is how you react to them.

If you started with dry rock and cycled with lights on, then you probably got diatoms and algae. I would add a bottle of bacteria and feed the tank a pinch of flakes or other fish food 2-3 times a week. The old books used to recommend using raw shrimp, but fish food won't make the tank stink or fall apart as it decays. I would cycle it for 8 weeks, lights on, and no water changes. You can test if you want, but the results don't really matter. Around week 4 you should start seeing algae growing on the glass. By week 6 ammonia, nitrites and nitrates should be reading zero. If you get consistent test results for two weeks, then you're ready to add fish on week 8. I would start with one large fish. If you start to see cyano greater than 5" cumulative, then do a water change. If you're good for at least three weeks, then you can double your fish load. How fast you want to go is up to you. I'm pretty conservative, so I would wait two months before the third batch of fish. By week 20 or 24 you should be at full bioload.

If you started with cycled live rock, then you can skip the bottle of bacteria. Most rock that you get will leach some PO4 and you should expect cyano. It will disappear on its own and I wouldn't worry about trying to control it. If it's starting to spread over a lot of the surface, then stop feeding the tank and increase skimming until it goes away. You can also add phosphate absorbing material if you wanted to speed up the process. You don't have to worry too much about the leaching in a FOWLR after the initial cycle.

I like to start stocking with herbivores because they'll let the pods multiply and establish themselves. The flasher wrasses, anthias, firefish and dottybacks on your list primarily eat zooplankton. They'll be active hunters of pods just like your lined wrasse. I would stock them after the tangs and before (or at the same time) the angels. If you decide to get a foxface, then you can stock him first. It's a great fish because it will eat almost any algae that sprouts up and won't show aggression to later additions. If you don't want a foxface, then you can start with 1-2 tangs. Keep an eye on the test results for the first two weeks. If anything creeps up then do a water change. You could also start with a butterfly fish. It shouldn't give you any problems later.

[Wade]

I started with dry rock (reef saver from BRS) and 2 bags of live sand. I used the recommended dose of Microbacter to start the cycle and haven't done anything else to it since. It's been four weeks today. I tested the water two weeks in and was reading low levels of ammonia. It's hard not having daily access to the tank to monitor it. I plan to go by tomorrow and test again. I'm hoping to see some nitrates. I did start it with lights cycling on daily. I thought about giving him some flake food to add a small pinch once a week, but didn't follow through. I've not used the Microbacter before but read that's all that would be needed. It's also been several years since I started a tank from scratch so I definitely don't want to rush it and loose livestock, especially when I'm not paying for it. I'm definitely not in a rush and neither is he. I just want it to be successful for him.

The foxface was my first choice to start with so we're thinking the same there.

Well I'm log my tests results tomorrow and we'll see where we are. Thanks again Sasha.

[Sascha D.]

Sounds good Wade. The purpose of the flake food or shrimp is to add an ammonia source for the bacteria. If you're logging ammonia in the tests, then you're on the right track. I would expect some nitrates if you used live sand and bacteria. If you haven't seen any seen a reduction in ammonia or an increase in nitrates by week 4 then the bacteria population could be low. Before bottled bacteria was widely available, the books used to recommend adding a cup of sand from an existing tank. Truthfully, you don't need to add sand because there is bacteria in the water column. A cup of water from your tank would be just as good. Good luck!

[Wade]

The guy said he can see brown algae growing on the bottom - diatoms:) A good sign it's cycling. I plan to go by today and bring some flake food and a couple of test kits just to see where I'm at.

[Wade]

So I went by and checked his tank today. I can a very light dusting of diatoms here and there. No measurable nitrates. The water looks great. It's been six weeks so I'm thinking it's cycled. I went ahead and added a couple of capfuls of Microbacter and added a small pinch of flake food. I left the nitrate test kit with him and showed him how to use it. If he checks the water tomorrow and still nitrates would that indicate it's cycled? Also, would a fox face be hardy enough to add it now?

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[Sascha D.]

It sounds like you've done a good job on it! I think everyone is different from this point on. If it were me, then I would start ghost feeding for a week and then begin adding inverts. You could probably add the foxface, but he should test daily. The bacteria will only populate to consume the available nutrients during the cycle. Cycling dry rock doesn't provide a lot of ammonia for the bacteria to consume and you may not have a big population. Sometimes what happens is the fish adds more waste than the bacteria level can handle. It won't be a problem if he's vigilant. If he notices an increase in nitrates, then do a water change. Nature will catch up.

[Wade]

Ghost feeding - once daily or how often?

So ok to add pods now? What inverts to start with? If there's no waste, then a cleanup crew isn't needed just yet, so just the pods then?

[Sascha D.]

Ghost feed what two fish would eat, once daily, for a week and monitor.

Pods are a giant waste of money and largely unneeded. Is there algae growing on the glass? I consider algae growth a good indicator of water quality. You could add a few snails or crabs if your friend wants to have those. Everyone is different. I haven't stocked a crab since 2006. I consider myself fairly conservative and I hate losing fish. If you guys want to take a chance then jump in and add a fish. Just make sure to test and act accordingly.

[Wade]

No algae on the glass or anything else yet. So what inverts were you referring to then in your previous post? I think the only thing my friend really cares about if fish. He's not in a hurry at all so we can take as much time as it takes. So during the week of ghost feeding, what am I looking for?

[Sascha D.]

If someone wanted invertebrates in their system, then I would suggest adding them before adding the fish. This gives them a chance to get settled in and you're more likely to successfully introduce them without fish. An established fish population might think that everything that goes into the system is food, especially wrasses. Now that $20 shrimp that you just brought home is a 20 second snack! However, if the shrimp is introduced first and the fish after, then they are less likely to have problems. If your friend doesn't want anything like that, then I wouldn't worry about it.

Adding too many things at once could max out the biological capacity and cause some serious problems. I like to think of it like drinking glasses. Live rock is like a shot glass. The water in the glass rises when you add inhabitants to the aquarium. The biological filtration that comes with LR can only support so much life before the tank gets foul. Adding a protein skimmer increase the glass size to a drinking glass and you can support more inhabitants. The new glass holds more but it still has it's limits. The water overflows the glass when you add too much. The excess nutrients that can't be removed by your filtration will cause problems like Cyanobacteria blooms, Dinoflagellates and Green Hair Algae . Episodes like this can take months to work out as the system comes into balance again. It's best to avoid them altogether if you can.

Dry rock is cheaper than live rock, but it takes a good six months to two years to turn "live" again. Ghost feeding the aquarium gives the bacteria an ammonia source without putting any fish at risk. Think of it like priming the engine. The purpose of ghost feeding is to build or maintain a biological level so that you aren't dropping a gallon of water into a shot glass when it's time to add fish. Whether you add fish or another ammonia source to the tank, you should keep test the water and make sure the ammonia or nitrates aren't elevating. Water changes are a powerful tool that can be used to dilute the concentration of ammonia, nitrates, and phosphates to an acceptable level. A proper water change can cure almost any bad mood. It's like a shot of butterfly kisses and rainbow hugs delivered straight to the heart!

There is no perfect way of starting an aquarium. There is only the way that you're comfortable with and adjusting from there. Everyone makes mistakes, but the difference between a nice aquarium and a hot mess is how the hobbyists reacts to changes within the aquarium.

[Wade]

Great information. It's been at least 14 years since I started up my tank and I used live rock then so all your advice is very beneficial and appreciated. I'll plan to bring him an ammonia test kit tomorrow and have him ghost feed and test daily and log results. If the bacteria is doing its job, then there should be a rise in nitrates each day since there's currently no means of export. The ammonia should be negligible or non-existent if the tank has cycled and there's enough bacteria to handle the load, correct? If there’s a slight rise in ammonia each day, then it’s not quite there yet and making progress. When it gets to the point that ghost feeding is just causing a rise in nitrates and no change in ammonia then I should be good to go with adding a single fish (maybe another month from now if all goes well). There should be some algae growth by then too. I’ll plan to do a water change a couple of weeks into the ghost feeding, maybe sooner if the nitrates rise sharply.

Does all that sound correct?

[Sascha D.]

Sounds good. Really, the test kit isn't sensitive enough to see a daily register. I would say test it once at the end of the week.

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[Wade]

good call:)

[Wade]

So after a week of ghost feeding, here's the picture he sent me of tonight's Nitrate test. Looks like maybe 5ppm if that. I didn't see his text until just now so it's too late to reply to see if there's any algae growth yet. I would have thought the results would be higher unless he does have algae absorbing the nitrates. I'l check with him tomorrow on that. I'll have him continue the ghost feeding and test again in a week.

Thoughts?

[Wade]

So no algae yet. I told him to just keep feeding for another week and we'll check it again next Saturday.

[Wade]

Things have progressed nicely. I went by and checked on the tank yesterday and a nice film of diatoms on the substrate and a thin film of algae on the glass. Still no measurable nitrates, but with the algae consuming what little is being produced by the sporadic ghost feeding (I don't think he;s been vigilant in the feedings) I think the tank is ready for a single fish. We went ahead and did a small 5 gallon water change (enough to vacuum the diatoms off the substrate). I've put in my order for a 3" - 4" foxface. That should arrive within a few days at the LFS and then they're going to hold it for a few days to make sure it eats and looks healthy. I'll plan to introduce it to the tank sometime next week. I'll monitor it for the next two or three weeks and if all is copacetic, then I'll look at adding another one or two small fish

[Wade]

Well, I finally got his first two fish put yesterday.  Took forever to get them locally.  I started with a foxface and a Kole Eye.  I'll see how they do over the next month and then add a couple more.  His granddaughter wants a "blue" fish which means Dory.  I told him Dory won't make it in his tank, but I'll find him another blue fish of some sort or another.  Thanks again for all your help and guidance:) 

[Sascha D.]

Congrats on getting fish in the tank! Pretty exciting!

I've been keeping damselfish the last couple of years with good success. I had five Allen's Damselfish together for a while. They had a pecking order in QT but never bothered each other or neighbors in the display. I haven't kept Springer's Damselfish before, but during my research many people reported low aggression with them. The same is true for the Azure Damselfish. I bought my first one this week to try out before adding more. 

Blue Grudgeon also come to mind. They're peaceful and you can keep them in schools. I'm not sure if you can really consider him blue, but Chalk Bass are fun fish if you can get one. 

[Wade]

Well the foxface and kole eye tang are doing just fine.  They're still a bit shy, but come out to eat seaweed in a clip eagerly.  I'm ready to add a couple more fish I think.  His granddaughter wants some blue fish in there so I'm thinking of adding three Blue Reef Chromis.  That should provide a lot of movement in the tank and it's said that they'll bring shyer fish out of hiding.  He's also asked about a clown/anemone pair.  I don't think he's quite ready for an anemone yet.  He's gone from a FOWLR spec to wanting an anemone after seeing mine.  I think his tank will need to mature a bit before that's possible.  Thoughts?  

[Wade]

We decided on the Blue Reef Chromis.  The foxface and kole eye I added earlier have been really shy about coming out and schooling fish like the chromis are said to bring out shy fish.  Seems to be working and the vibrant blue has brightened his tank.  I also added a banded coral shrimp that seems to be doing well so far as well.  He wants to add a pair of clowns and an anemone.  He saw how my clown and nem are doing and added those to the top of his list.  We've got the largest global breeder of clown fish just 45 minutes down the road and they usually have breeding pairs for sale at a reasonable price.  I thinks it's safer to just get a breeding pair that're already buddy buddy then buy two random clowns and end up with two males and have one get killed off.  I plan to wait about a month and then add the clowns/nem.  I may also throw a few small mushrooms or random zoas in there.  He doesn't have a high end light, but I think what he has will support softies just fine.