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Stocking a 500 litre reef tank


damiem

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So I'm new to the saltwater community, this is going to be my first tank. The tank is (L)140cm by (H)60 by (W)60  with a sump that is 120cm by 50cm by 45cm. The tank is going to be a reef tank, for stocking im going to have 2 clowns, 3-5 chromis, 1 copperband butterflyfish, 1 kole tang. What other tangs can I keep with the kole tang, I was thinking maybe a purple tang but they're a bit on the pricey side, what tangs would you recommend??

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Hi again :)

When I started out I was told that if you get a group of chromis they will eventually pick each other off until none remain.  So I got two and eight months later I still have two. Occasionally the slightly larger one nips the smaller one, a lot of chasing also goes on but they are doing well.  Copperbands need to go in a more mature tank - 9 months onwards unless you know they are eating frozen foods or mussels/clams.  They like to pick in the rocks for pods which take a long time to establish and will also pick off feather fans, bristleworms, brittle stars and hopefully aptasia which is the pest anemone.

With a tank that size you have most tangs as an option and there are a few currently available in the country.  There are also two type of Kole Tang (blue eye and Hawaiian/Red Sea which is a yellow eye).  When you do add them try and get similar sized ones and add together as this will decrease the chance of aggression.  Love the purple tangs - the ones around currently are stunning fish. :)

The best bit of advice I ever got - which you seem to be doing anyway - is work out what fish you want before you buy a single one.  That way you can add them to the tank in an order which is likely to improve the chance of survival and lower aggression.  Good work.

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I'm leaning towards having 3 tangs, kole tang, mimic lemon peel tang and a sailfin tang. Would they be fine together I'm just not sure if the sailfin will outgrow the tank. I'm already planning to get a bigger tank within the next year or so, the bigger tank will be 240cm by 90cm by 76cm. I might make it a bit smaller on the height and potentially on the width but I really like the 3ft width. 

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Width being front to back?  That is something I really wish my tank had as it is only 51cm and therefore I can't get the impression of a real reef.  They should be fine together with enough hiding places and if added at the same time.  Like humans, not all fish get along so just have a back up option if it goes wrong.

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So would the those 3 tangs most likely get along in the 500 litre tank. I've done a bit of plying around with the rock work so I'll try to get a photo up of that. For the big tank build I dicided if the tank is going on my room it would only be 180 in length by 70cm in height and 80 cm front to back otherwise I can fit it through my door so I'll have to remove my window which I'm worried will cost a lot considering I'm only 14 years old. Tonight when my mum gets back I'm going to try to convince her to let me set up a large tank in the lounge? Probably 240 x 90 x 70 

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I don't really blame your mum for not being keen.  Marine tanks are a lot more power heavy to run than freshwater and more expensive to maintain.  Then there is trying to arrange the furniture around the tank :)  With a marine tank you will likely go through a lot of rearranging of the rock to fit corals in with the look you want as well.

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