some cuc added-when to add fish and stocking idea

DYHamazon

I added yesterday-
10 bublebee snails
10 dwarf blue leg hermits
3 turbos
2 peppermint shrimp.
All are still doing fine.
How long after you start adding the CUC can you start adding fish?

We have a 90 gal tank with reef octopus bh800 s hang on skimmer, phos reactor with phosban and carbon, 3 powerheads, 48" t5's (4), 4" sandbed and about 12lbs live rock, 75 lbs marco rocks.
My nitrites are 0, calcium is 450 and alk is 10.

I havent researched many of these-I know some will probablly eat the shrimp and some might be bothered by the hermits-

we like:
Maroon clowns (2) with a bubbletip anenome-not sure if these do ok under t5's and Ive heard you need your tank up for at least a yr..

Yellow Tang
fu manchu lionfish-have heard mixed reviews on this
bird wrasse-thinking this will eat inverts and get too big
longnose hawkfish
yellow stripe clingfish-worried about other fish eating this one
some sort of watchman goby
flame or Bicolor Angelfish
spotted cardinal

-of course we like the madarin but I know i won't be able to keep one of these from what I've read. Out of these fish-what will go together? Should the Yellow Tang be the only open water fish? I know some are out of the question- so just help me get my list down. =)
Thanks

Pasfur

I don't think you need to narrow your list down. I think the numbers of fish are fine, although you would be best to not keep a Lionfish at all in this tank size.

I will give you a few tidbits of experience. Bird Wrasses are generally rather difficult to keep, only because of the crazy abuse they experience in shipping. Most die in a few short weeks in the home aquarium, rarely making it out of quarantine. If they do acclimate, they are sturdy. But they rarely reach this point. I would consider a Fairy or Carpenter Wrasse species instead.

The Yellow Tang is a great fish, but very prone to ich. Be certain to quarantine for 3 to 5 weeks. They are also very territorial to newly added fish in aquariums under 6' in length, so add the Yellow Tang as the last fish to your tank. Otherwise they are extremely hardy and a great beginner fish.

Longnose Hawk - great choice. Easy easy easy.
The Spotted Cardinal might do best in pairs.

The BiColor Angel is extremely tough to keep. They just don't do well in the collecting and shipping process. Most have internal damage that doesn't show up for several weeks and they just stop eating altogether. You would be better off to consider a different Centropyge angelfish species, or perhaps just skip an angelfish altogether, given that you have tight space for a Zebrasoma Tang and Centropyge Angel to attempt to get along. If you do pick an angelfish, look at the Coral Beauty, Flame, Eibli, or Vroliki as alternatives. I think the Vroliki is the best alternative to a BiColor, having basically the same pattern, just different colors. All 4 are great aquarium fish, and do wonderful in pairs if you so desire.

Oh yes, be careful with the Maroon Clowns. They get rather large and territorial. I'd rather see you go with tank raised Percs or Skunks.

I have an overall feeling of caution on your selections. Any one of the these fish alone would not really present a problem, but you are taking several chances. Mixing a Zebrasoma with a Centropyge is a chances. Adding a Zebrasoma to a 90 gallon tank is a chance. Keeping a pair of Maroon Clown simply ups the aggression. As we put all of this together, I can see some aggression developing. I think the stocking order will be critical, with the Clownfish going in first, then the Centropyge angel, then the Yellow Tang. The other fish should all go in prior to any of these.

DYHamazon

Thanks for the reply.
The only thing we're set on (well..I'm set on) is the Yellow Tang. We know we want one-and will use a quarantine tank for all the fish.
The angels...I can skip those. I'm not too fond of them anyways.
My husband and I both really like the bird wrasse. I didn't know they existed until we saw one at the lfs that was already big. I'm curious to see if it's still there next time I go back-but i guess I'd never know for sure if they actually sold it or it died.
From what I've read I think it would have eaten all the hermits anyways.

We like the color of the maroon clowns. Would adding just 1 instead of two lower the agression?
Thanks for the tips =)

wake49

Since clowns pair up, adding one or two is almost the same thing. Aggression will be a little higher with two in the tank, but for a different reason. They do not get aggressive towards each other, but will protect the area that they are hosting. The only additive in the aggression is the "authority in numbers" factor. I would opt for a smaller version of clown, as your stocking list is heavy with larger fish.

The best way to keep aggression down in a tank is to provide each fish with an area to call "home". This is accomplished by creating a large reef structure with various hiding places. But by doing this you are limiting free swimming area, again affecting the type and number of "larger" fish you can successfully keep.

I agree with the opinions of Pasfur in his reply. If the Yellow Tang is going to be your "centerpiece" fish, then construct your other fish selections around him. If the Maroon Clowns are, then you will probably have to nix the Tang and think of smaller tank mates.

DYHamazon

Thanks Wake.
We'll drop the maroon clowns then.I just looked them up on live aquaria and didn't realize they got that big. Anyone had any experience with tomato clowns? We're wanting something that's a different color than plain old nemo.
I understand what your saying about the tang and the sizes. The tang will probablly be the biggest thing in the tank-so we should go with smaller fish that will work around him like you said.
I do have alot of caves and hiding places in my scaping- but I'm thinking I need to make the rocks lower for the tang to have enough swimming room.
Anyone have any ideas for a good first fish to put in?