Am I overstocked?
 

Hi,

I've got a 120 gallon tank with aprox 130lbs of live rock. I'm trying for a mixed reef tank. I was wondering if I'm overstocked? I currently have the following fish.

2 false percs
3 Anthia - not sure which ones they came with the tank
1 shrimp goby
1 tiger shrimp
1 yasha hasha
1 yellow tang
1 female blue throat trigger
1 red sea sail fin tang
1 coral beauty
2 cleaner shrimp
1 tiger tail sea cucumber
1 tuxedo urchin
number of snails

I've also got small colonies of digi, acropora, millies, crocea clam, green bubble tip, torches, hammer.

If I'm not overstocked how many more fish can I add and which types? I would like to add a fish that spends most of it's time swimming in the water column. I was hoping to add a juv and watch it grow also..

I would like to add the following...

1. Some kind of sand sifting goby...preferably one that eats hair algea
2. Another tang? Powder brown, or male blue throat trigger or possibly some kind of angel? Any suggestions for other species of fish?

If you have a good skimmer then you should have a few more fishes.

If your 120 is a 6 footer go with the powder brown tang A. japonica. Make sure it is the one with orange on it as they are often mislabeled.
Do not get A. nigercans (gold rim tang) as they are very difficult to keep.

Most angels require very large tanks. Yours is also too active IMO.

If you have a serious hair algae problem borrow a sea hare from another reefer or buy one but make sure when the algae is almost gone you return it to the LFS or it will die of starvation unless you start feeding it algae.

I saw one at Ocean Aquatics over the weekend.
Good luck and thanks for asking for opinions before you buy.

You will get alot of mixed reviews on this, personally I think you are fine if you have good skimmers, etc.

Some will base it on so many inches of fish per total gallons of water... I base things on the overall happiness of the tank, parameters, skimmers and any other hardware to help keep things in check.

Keep on top of your parameters, they will always tell you when things are starting to go in the wrong direction.

The Red Sea Sailfin will eventually grow into a very large fish, so unless you're planning to upgrade, I would NOT be adding another tang or angel into this system. I've seen these fish in my friends' tanks and they were dessert plate size & bigger. They also seem to be one of the faster growing tangs commonly kept by aquarists.

If you do add another fish/tang for algae control, look at the bristlemouths (like Kole tang), since they stay reasonably small and are constantly grazing algae in their natural environment. If the hair algae is bad, get a sea hare, as already advised.

The other thing to consider is that with 2 tangs already in the 120g, and hair algae present, this seems to indicate that your nutrient levels are elevated and feeding the hair algae faster than the tangs can eat or your skimmer/water changes can keep up with. Adding another good sized fish will only ascerbate the problem, IMO.

How big a sump & skimmer do you have on this system?

I have a 4' 120g with a 90g sump/seahorse refugium that is heavily stocked, but its got a skimmer rated for 250g so no hair algae, especially not in the display tank.

Anthony

The skimmer I am currently running (kz Revolution S skimmer) is rated for 1500L which I believe is 400 gallons and sits in a 30 gallon (aprox) sump. I don't have bad hair algae just on 2 rocks (which already had hair algae growing on it from my old 30 gallon system).

Both the yellow and sailfin do not appear to be grazing on the hair algae.. (I didn't remove the hair algae from the rocks because I thought it would be good for the tangs to graze on).

One of the things I haven't done yet, but should is setup a refugium for nutrient export.

Thanks for the suggestions so far... are there any other suggested fishes that look pretty but not necessarily functional?

How long has the tank been setup? How long was it setup before you bought it? How big are the current fish (the tangs, and trigger)? What skimmer do you have?

The Sailfin Tang will outgrow your 120g, so I would think of rehoming him before adding any more fish. They grow fast too. Is your tank a 4' or 6' 120? If it is a 6' you could consider adding another smaller tang, maybe some reef-safe wrasses (some are big some are small). I wouldn't risk an Angel (coral pickers). If your tank is a 4', consider adding smaller fish (under 5").

The tank owner previous had the tank setup for about a year and I've been running it for about 3months. The current size of the tangs & trigger is about 4inches - 5inches. The tank came with a kz Revolution S skimmer. The tank is a 4 footer.

It sounds like I should consider moving the sail fin out, which could make room for more fish?

Absolutely. A four footer is too small for any tang species with the exception of the kole tang.
The reason is tangs are swimmers and need the swimming space longer tanks provide.
Smaller tanks don't allow the the change to motor up and swim.

If you like tangs consider moving up to a 6 footer.

^ Agreed. I have a Kole tang in my 4' 90 gallon. I wouldn't want another tang in there, anf the Kole is still only 2" long.