400 Gallon Reef Tank Fish List

tobes3

Hi everyone, this is my fish list:

1 Blue Tang (Paracanthurus hepatus)
1 Powder Blue Tang
1 Yellow Tang
1 Sohal Tang
1 Desjardini Sailfin Tang
1 Purple Tang
1 Six Line Wrasse
1 McCosker’s Flasher Wrasse, Male
1 White Spotted Tamarin Wrasse
1 Green Manderin
1 Blue Dot Jawfish
1 Orange Stripe Prawn Goby
1 Painted Spiny Blue Lobster (Panulirus vesicolor)
1 Moorish Idol
1 Copperband Butterflyfish
1 Bright Red Sea Star
6 Blue/Green Reef Chromis
4 Bartlett's Anthias
4 Lyretail Anthias (1x Male, 3x Female)

I just want to get peoples opinion on what order these fish should be introduced. Thanks!

Pasfur

The Copperband Butterfly should be introduced before the Tangs, as should the Moorish Idol. The Sohal Tang should be introduced last. Otherwise, you can pretty much do whatever you want with this list.

Give some details of your setup and we can help a lot further. 400 gallons! wow.

tobes3

Thanks. Should I maybe add 3 fish a week or so?

fish5

I have no idea what order they should be put in but I just looked at all of those fish on google images and they all look soooo cool. Especially the green mandarin. Really cool fish

Pasfur

Ahhh..... you just asked a question that you did not know you asked!

The answer is no. Because you NEED to have a quarantine tank and all fish need to be quarantined for 3 weeks or longer prior to being added to the display. Depending on the size of your Q tank, you may be able to quarantine more than one fish at a time. However, a Q tank is not an option, it is necessary for success.

Cody

1) Fine.
2) I am no expert with tangs, but I thought I read somewhere that you cannot keep two species of tangs that are similar of size in a tank with each other. That may bee small tanks, though. All tanks are small for tangs if you really want to get into it.
3) Fine.
4) Fine.
5) Fine.
6) See #2
7) Fine. Mystery wrasses are better.
8) I love wrasses.
9) Again.
10) Good luck. I wouldn't. Make sure it eats frozen before you get one, and that the tank is 12+ months old.
11) I love YSJF.
12) Fine.
13) No.
14) This is the hardest fish to keep in a home aquarium. Don't do it.
15) Risky with a lot of corals.
16) Fine.
17) They will kill each other. Enough said.
18) I love Anthias
19) Again.

onefish2fish

i wanted to also comment on the idol.

by far a beautiful fish but i think its difficulty passes its beauty IMO. i have read statistics somewhere of documented deaths and off the top of my head ill just make up numbers so you get the idea but these are not exact ( nor im sure the ones i read were because of un-charted deaths but you get the idea )
idols keep alive for:
a few days: 3,500
a week: 4,000
a month: 5,000
a few months: 2,000
a year: 200
greater then 5 years: 30

again, numbers were made up but it was along those lines. notice how the numbers climb within a few months then drop. i doubt this is because they are living and not dying but rather dying fast and no one can keep them to claim "success"
at the very least please invest much more research on the fishes care before even considering this fish.


if you like the look of an idol, check out long finned banner fish.

tobes3

What size quarantine tank would you recommend? Also, why not the spiny blue lobster? Yeah, yeah.... I'm aware of the Moorish Idol's history, but I've done lots of research and will feed it endless things until it eats.

onefish2fish

this doesnt guarentee the fish will eat any of the foods you offer, and the only person ive heard of keeping this fish for a decent ammount of time has a i believe 1,000 gallon display, as well as a seperate tank to grow sponges.

Pasfur

The size of quarantine depends on what you can handle. I use a 38 gallon Q tank for my 180 display tank. I think the fish acclimate to captive life easier when you give them space to swim, and the 38 accomplishes this goal. You may even consider using 2 Q tanks, so that you can add fish to your system at a greater pace.

By the way, on the subject of the Morish Idol, I will tell you that this fish is not only difficult, it is statistically impossible to keep alive in home aquariums. By purchasing this species, you are putting all of your other livestock at risk, as the Morish Idol is extremely prone to disease and infection. Even if you get past the Q stage, and have this fish in your display, you have almost no hope of keeping it alive. However, if you are determined, stubborn, pigheaded, etc, then at least purchase an individual collected out of Hawaii, as these seem to adjust best.