Hello

[MrMoses]

Hello,

I have a 72 gallon tank that I am about to set up, tell me what you think about my fish list. I won't be adding these all at the same time.

1) 2 Ocellaris Clowns -OR- 2 tank raised maroons (too aggressive?) liveaquaria says the tank raised maroons are semi-aggressive compared to the wild.

2) Powder brown tang.

3) green mandarin dragonette

Is there any problems with what you see?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

I see 3 problems

1. Maroons are nice but unpredictable. They can do fine for a while and then suddenly turn on tankmates and kill them all. A guy in my Reef Club has a female Maroon and it killed everything in his tank, including his Powder Blue Tang.

2. Powder Brown Tangs are notoriously Ich prone and should be in at least a 6' tank.

3. The Mandarin is not an easy critter to feed. You are going to need a large amount of live rock, and the addition of a refugium to breed pods is also a very good idea, but still no guarantee that you will get it to survive long. Also, they should not be added until your tank is well established, at least 12-18 months.

[MrMoses]

I see 3 problems

1. Maroons are nice but unpredictable. They can do fine for a while and then suddenly turn on tankmates and kill them all. A guy in my Reef Club has a female Maroon and it killed everything in his tank, including his Powder Blue Tang.

2. Powder Brown Tangs are notoriously Ich prone and should be in at least a 6' tank.

3. The Mandarin is not an easy critter to feed. You are going to need a large amount of live rock, and the addition of a refugium to breed pods is also a very good idea, but still no guarantee that you will get it to survive long. Also, they should not be added until your tank is well established, at least 12-18 months.

So maroons might be a bad idea, perhaps I will stick with the peacful clowns. Do you think that a blue yellow hippo tang would be a good choice? I would like to have a mandarin at some point but not until I have had the tank for a while.

[labnjab]

Any tang really should be in a 5-6 foot tank

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

A Blue Hippo Tang would be an even worse choice for a 72gal since it is even larger then the Powder Brown. For your tank, have a look at the Yellow Eye Kole Tang.

[MrMoses]

A Blue Hippo Tang would be an even worse choice for a 72gal since it is even larger then the Powder Brown. For your tank, have a look at the Yellow Eye Kole Tang.

Are hippo tangs as prone to ick as powder brown?

[unleashed]

Nearly all Acanthurus/Paracanthus sp. tangs are very ich prone

I would not attempt any tang other than the Ctenochaetus sp. tangs in a 72g tank

[kaybee]

So maroons might be a bad idea, perhaps I will stick with the peacful clowns.

Maroons may be a bad idea for the tank mates you're considering. With more aggressive tank mates they fit right in.

Even when going with more 'peaceful' clowns, I recommend adding clownfsh last if the tankmates are of the peaceful type.