290 Gallon Stocking Advise

[dusty16]

Is it ok to have different types of anthias? Like 3 of barletts and 3 lyretale?

[George]

Originally Posted by dusty16

Is it ok to have different types of anthias? Like 3 of barletts and 3 lyretale?

Normally it's not ok to mix lyretail and bartlett because they are somewhat aggressive for anthias. But you should be ok given your tank size.

[Piscez]

There's also an order and timing of adding fish you'll need to abide by to increase your odds of success, best to check back when you have your list narrowed down. Have you considered a Majestic Angel my fav, I have a 220 gal with a purple, yellow, white cheek, hippo and Naso tangs along with coral beauty, Emporer and Majestic angel ( soon to be adding a Flame angel). A malarenus wrasse, fox face , copperband, purple dotty back, air of clowns and a pair of scooter blenny's. Most of my issues have been with the tangs bullying each other especially the purple but throwing him in the sump for a couple of weeks adjusts his attitude and brings him down a couple of notches in turn allowing the other tangs to settle in. It's a real juggling act.

[dusty16]

I love your tank Piscez. It looks great. I thought that the Majestic Angel wasnt reef safe though.

Here is what I know I want for sure.
I have 2 clowns and a foxface already
Blue Hippo
Yellow Tang
Purple Tang
Powder Blue Tang
Regal Angel
Flame Angel
Copperband butterfly
And now possibly a zebra moray eel.
Debated a naso tang for a while but they seem too big.

That takes care of the bigger fish more or less. Now I just need something smaller. Anthias seem like the best option. I wanted something cheap like damsels/chromis but Ive read that they just kill themselves off.

[dusty16]

Also want something that stays in or around the sand. Some sand sifting dude.

[Piscez]

Originally Posted by dusty16

I love your tank Piscez. It looks great. I thought that the Majestic Angel wasnt reef safe though.

Here is what I know I want for sure.
I have 2 clowns and a foxface already
Blue Hippo
Yellow Tang
Purple Tang
Powder Blue Tang
Regal Angel
Flame Angel
Copperband butterfly
And now possibly a zebra moray eel.
Debated a naso tang for a while but they seem too big.

That takes care of the bigger fish more or less. Now I just need something smaller. Anthias seem like the best option. I wanted something cheap like damsels/chromis but Ive read that they just kill themselves off.

Thanks a few things changed I think I should post some updated pics as I lost few fish, but regarding reef safe, my majestic ate my Zoa's but leaves the rest of my softies alone and I don't have any SPS so not an issue.

Orange spotted gobys are great for sand cleaning but a PITA to keep in the tank, big jumpers, even when I put a mesh on they would jump out of the hole where my auto feeder was. After losing 6 I gave up and now rely on conches and Cerith snails

[rishu_pepper]

Regarding anthias, Albert is spot on about their feeding regiment. If they feed pellets/flakes, you're in, but if not, you're gonna have a bad time.

Recently I lost a really beautiful specimen of a male squareback anthias, we were crushed, unreal colours; it was eating well at LFS and in the first few days, but eventually stopped and withered away. I also had a pair of lyretails about half a year ago doing the same thing. Only one female lyretail remains now, healthy as ever, but definitely make sure you get good ones that eat well.

Triggers are pretty cool, have you considered them?

[dusty16]

Originally Posted by rishu_pepper

Regarding anthias, Albert is spot on about their feeding regiment. If they feed pellets/flakes, you're in, but if not, you're gonna have a bad time.

Recently I lost a really beautiful specimen of a male squareback anthias, we were crushed, unreal colours; it was eating well at LFS and in the first few days, but eventually stopped and withered away. I also had a pair of lyretails about half a year ago doing the same thing. Only one female lyretail remains now, healthy as ever, but definitely make sure you get good ones that eat well.

Triggers are pretty cool, have you considered them?

I always thought triggers were cool but just thought they would be too aggressive or eat the corals. Which ones would be a good fit?

[rishu_pepper]

Originally Posted by dusty16

I always thought triggers were cool but just thought they would be too aggressive or eat the corals. Which ones would be a good fit?

The Xanthichthys genus (blue throats, crosshatch, sargassum, etc.) are known to be more docile and relatively reef safe. My limited experience with my blue throats is they are really shy but easy to get feeding. They haven't shown any aggression at all to other fish in the tank, big or small, and haven't touched coral and CUC. YMMV.

Also with the damsel topic, some damsels are definitely fine for a big tank like yours, my yellowtail just does his own thing. Some are meaner than others of course.

[ponokareefer]

Originally Posted by dusty16

I always thought triggers were cool but just thought they would be too aggressive or eat the corals. Which ones would be a good fit?

As was pointed out, the Xanthichthys genus of triggerfish are known to be more reef safe and more docile, for triggerfish. They can get quite large though. As they get quite large, they typically become more aggressive to the point of them bullying. My personal experience with a blue throat triggerfish was that initially at 2 inches in length, she was scared of her own shadow, but then at 6 inches in length, was eating parts of the tails off my tangs that were bigger and being very aggressive to any fish during feeding time. I had thought my experience was out of the norm but when I researched more, I found more people had difficulties with Xanthichthys triggers when they got large.

As was stated though, fish are like cats and each has its own personality.