Can't decide...

[Cogus]

Have a 75 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump that i am redoing. I am adding a carbon reactor and a bio pellet reactor. Also i am changing all lights to leds. The only issue i have is i cant decide if i want a predator tank or a community tank. I dont want a reef so either one will be a FOWLR. I like being able to have inverts but i also really like a lot of the predator fish so i figured i would ask you guys to break the tie. All suggestions would be appreciated and stock list ideas would be awesome. Thanks in advanced!!

 

[alco1]

I personally would go community tank. when I first started into marine tanks I went FOLWR predator tank, had a bamboo shark, lion fish, lunar wrasse, triggerfish, aussie tuskfish, moray eel and a few tang. this tank was great having all this but for a nitrate factor it was nothing but problem. too many big meat eaters that kept creating heaps of pollution nitrate problems. unless you do lots of regular water changes, it really wont last. i found it's sooooo much more costly on food and on maintenance. To give you an idea, I did a water change 1 per fortnight and my nitrate was on 80+ and wouldn't budge.

I now have a community FOWLR tank, barely do much maintenance, I barely do water changes and majority of the time when I test the water everything is normally on 0 and the bonus side to all this, you can buy lots of different marine fish without be afraid if it's going to get eaten within 30 seconds.

That my personal experience lol.

 

[MarinaClown]

Wouldn't your fish selection be somewhat, if not very, limited with predator tank? Community sounds a little better to me.

 

[Mebbid]

If you want a predator tank I would say go for it! Lion fish, marine betta, and a snowflake eel would be a good stocking if not particularly active. They are also all reef safe if you ever changed your mind.

 

[TheTodd]

Or mix it up... I plan to have a Volitan Lion, Snowflake Eel, Porcupine Puffer , Blue Jaw Trigger, a couple of large Angels , a couple Dwarf Angels, a Tang or two and a few others. I might rehome the Lion if he starts to get out of hand , but for now he seems okay. He 'a been in a 45g holding tank the last few weeks with a Green Chromis and Singapore Angels with no issues.

 

[Katfish22]

Personally, I have a reef tank and a 90 gallon predictor tank and I love them both. In my 90 gallon I have a blue damsel, coral beauty angel, a Bangui cardinal, Valentini Toby puffer, blue dot Toby puffer, a 6 line wrasse, huma huma trigger, two rabbit fish, a maroon clown, a paddlefin wrasse, sailfin tang, a diamond watchman goby, porcupine puffer, a ghost ribbon eel and a snowflake eel. In the reef tank I have a flame angel, a blue dot jawfish, a candy cane prawn goby, three Bartlett's anthias, a Christmas wrasse blue legged and red legged hermits a pistol shrimp and an urchin

 

[Cogus]

Katfish you have basically all the fish that made me want the predator tank the puffer and the trigger i also want a dwarf lion fish. Do the rabbit fish and other less aggressive fish do okay with these guys? Ive heard for the most part as long as they are to big to eat it should be okay. Also is it better to add the aggressive fish like the puffer and trigger last?

 

[Cogus]

I forgot to add the way im upgrading my filter setup it should be able to handle about 160-180 gallons so the messy eaters shouldn't be too big a problem.

 

[Katfish22]

I would deff inanely recommend adding the most aggressive fish last any triggers or puffers should be added last. Everyone gets along well. I made the mistake of adding a porcupine puffer early in my tank and every time I added a new fish I had to release the new fish at the bottom of the tank with the light off and sometimes would have to net the puffer.

 

[Cogus]

Dose any one have a good stick list for a 75 predator tank? Would a porcupine puffer be able to live in a 75?

 

[alco1]

put a couple of hammerheads in there... maybe add a great white or 2. that should make thing quite aggressive

 

[Katfish22]

I have a porcupine in a 90 gallon and was told he will outgrow the tank. They get 20''

 

[TheTodd]

I think porcs get closer to a foot max. There might be some kind that gets larger? Even at that, a foot long fish in a 18"'wide tank isn't going to work.