Experts - Can this setup work? Fish already selected etc.

[GuOD]

Hi everyone,

I've decided to go ahead with a FO tank and I've pretty much finalized my setup and I'm looking to see if my fish selection will work.

Setup:
125g 4x2x2
Fluval FX5
2x 300w heater
some protein skimmer planned (see below for details)
powerhead???????
geosystem substrate+crushed coral
dead coral/rock/fake plants at bottom
coralife light (thin bulbs but VERY bright, 1white/1blue inside) 4'

As for protein skimmer: I am looking at the coralife super skimmer 125. I live in Canada and the price is $280 CDN here, or $140 US on ebay, so I'm considering purchasing one from ebay. I don't know how warranties work or how reliable these things are so I was looking for some input.

The fluval FX5 pushes water pretty well but I don't know whether or not I need a powerhead for a FO tank. I don't mind getting one if it's recommended/required.

The tank has been cycling for a week as freshwater with goldfish. It's now been converted to salt water and has some mollys (though not enough to do anything) In a week or two I will add a few damsels if the tank tests ok but none of the below fish will be added until January so it will be ready for sure.

The GOOD PART!! The fish:

Blue Tang (Dorie from Finding Nemo)
Zebra Moray Eel (or some other kind if I cannot find a zebra)
Panther Grouper
Picasso Trigger
Emperor Angelfish
Lastly - either a damsel if he survives after cycling, a boxfish, or a niger trigger or nothing at all!

I really like all of these fish and I'm hoping I can create a community for them

I've also attached pictures of my tank here!





Thanks for all the advice!!

[austinsdad]

Only thing I'd advise is sand instead of crushed coral/cc if it's not too late. CC can hold lots of leftover food from those messy eaters you're intending. Nitrate factory IMO. You might be very sorry later on.

Also, look at the Aqua C EV (maybe 180) skimmers. I haven't used the Coralife, just that I'm liking mine. Go bigger too.

Also ditch the damsels and consider cycling with fresh, raw shrimp instead.
BTW, welcome to AA!

[Sadielynn]

Lastly - either a damsel if he survives after cycling, a boxfish, or a niger trigger or nothing at all!

Please do not use a fish to cycle .....this is painfull for them as they burn thier little gills . A table shrimp from the market works just as well .
The tang may be bullied with those fish as they are a bit more agressive. Power head will also help keep stuff suspended to be picked up buy the filtration.... As for the CC I agree with Austinsdad on that one . Sorry I couldnt be of more help maybe some one else will chime in

[Hara]

You need to do some research on the individuals in your fish list. THe grouper will become way too large, the picasso trigger will create havoc with its tankmates. Along those same lines, your cleanup crew will be toast which will increase the work level on you in a major way. Some of the fish listed really need ALOT of liverock to be happy. Your tank doesnt have that. Please research a bit more.

[melosu58]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articl...q=2&fldAuto=15

Here is the first place you can research. Also as Lisa said you really do need to check out some of your fish choices. Also I totally agree with using sand instead of CC but I think it is too late on that one. Welcome to AA

[GuOD]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

As I said before, I won't be adding any fish until January and I'm certain that I know what I'm doing. I'm doing some really early research I only added 1 bag of crushed coral (20 lbs or so), the rest of that is geosystem fine substrate by Hagen. A couple follow-up qs:

1. Read the link. I'll get some shrimp.

2. I will look into the Aqua C EV 180 - Are these things reliable? Reliable enough to purchase over the internet without assured warranty?

3. As for my fish selection, I've based it mostly on the fish I've seen available at my LFS. I'm a big fan of the look of the picasso trigger and assumed a 12-15" grouper could fit into my tank. If you were to cut out some fish from that list which ones would it be? I don't mind dropping the eel as it's probably quite boring. I really prefer colorful/neat looking fish (no lionfish) as that's why I decided on salt water. I do not want metal halide lighting.

4. Cleanup crew - I know these are the gobies/crabs/snails etc. I just know nothing about them yet. Which ones should I get? Without an eel would it only be the grouper/trigger going after them?

Thanks!!

[melosu58]

1) Yes just an ordinary small cocktail shrimp.

3) just ordinary lighting will work in your tank if your not having corals. No MH`s are needed.

4) yes

[austinsdad]

I'd consider a couple of tangs, angels, and any of the wide variety of gobies, blennies, chromis, crabs, shrimps, snails. If you're looking for action, there are plenty of fish that don't eat others or inverts that are cool IMO. Also the feeding factor for tigers, groupers, and eels is such that you'll be always battling nitrates (not to mention that crushed coral - not too late to get it out maybe???).

OK, how about:

* Blue tang (near last after 3-4 months when you got the tank settled quite a bit)
* Yellow tang (absolutely last - cause they can be mean to newcomers)
* or, purple tang
* 2 (mated pair) percula or ocellaris clowns
* a blenny (plenty to choose from)
* couple of gobies (maybe a pistol shrimp too)
* 3-5 blue green chromis
* (after one year and maybe 100-1550 lbs of live rock) a mandarin
* 3 cleaner shrimp
* assorted hermits
* assorted snails
* brittle and or serpent starfish

Much easier tank to mantain also IMO.

Those fake plants and rocks are gonna get covered in junk/algae/etc, so I'd also recommend going with live and base (that becomes live) rock. Better natural filtration too.

My 2 cents.

[GuOD]

**Edited to be more clear**

Thanks for the above stocking suggestion. It does sound quite interesting! It's just that in my head I see all those little critters in a coral setup so I didn't think it'd work well. I will investigate all of the fish in the above setup and see how it looks! See above for my consideration on liverock transportation. It is also $10 CDN/lb so it's quite expensive. If it's worth having some for now.. say 10 lbs, I could go get some and add it =) The rocks in there are dead coral. Is dead coral and 1 regular rock ok to keep? Also, the fake plants will go they are just there temporarily because it was going to be a FW tank originally. I could get some liverock later today if it's not too early to add it in.

It's hard getting so excited for something so far away.

I will head to the store later today to get some cocktail shrimp

If I were to only get 3 fish - Picasso Trigger, Panther Grouper, and Emperor Angel without having a cleanup crew (since they will just be killed) would that work?

It seems to me that it's impossible to have the really beautiful fish in combination with the clean-up crew etc. If not - what is an example stock that includes some of the interesting fish I've mentioned? Liverock/more rock making better hiding places maybe? Ultimately, I'd like to have a tank I really enjoy - if it means purchasing a bunch of liverock/regular rock so I can have the fish I like then it's a possibility.

---

I've looked at the protein skimmers by Aqua-C and they are just out of my price range. I've seen some recommendations for the Coralife 125 and believe I will order that. I'm also looking at powerheads. Which powerhead would nicely complement my Fluval FX5 for a 4x2x2 tank FO/FOWLR? I am seeing a SEIO 820 or 620 seems to be a good bet?

[roka64]

I love the Seios. I have 2 620s in my 55G and have 3 820s sitting waiting for my 125G stand.
Trigger will move your LR.
Grouper will eat anything it can get in it's mouth.
If you are loooking to save some money, go with a lot of base rock, I found this place and will be ordering about 150Lbs from him:
http://marcorocks.com/
Mix that with LR and you should be good to go.
I used to have CC/LS and it was a pain to take it out. I switched to sand because the CC sat on the top and was a real pain to keep clean.