Help with 150 fowlr from the beginning

[Vlrm23]

We already have a 60g reef tank with hydras and all but we want to start a 150 fowlr for fish that are not reef safe. What suggestions can we get for lighting? Can we put together our own? As far as a stand... we are going to build it. And structural suggestions? What kind of filtration system is ideal? We are trying to keep it cheap... (I know, lol) any input is appreciated!

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[Andrew McFadden]

I dont know what cheap is to you but you can look into current usa t5 lighting or try to find something cheaper on ebay. The best filter to use would be a sump and of course you cant skip out on the skimmer especially with some heavy hitters. Youll have to remember if trying to make a predator tank they are sloppy. Id go for making your own sump

 

[Vlrm23]

We will definitely get another skimmer. Most likely eshopps because we really like our in sump skimmer for the reef. And we have a used homemade sump from a friend that owned a shop. We got a pretty sweet deal from him. as far as a predator tank, we don't need fancy lighting? Like for the corals right? How often do you have to change t5 bulbs? Do you recommend a phosban reactor? Or, is that more beneficial for coral? How much flow is required for a 150 fowlr? Thanks for your help!

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[mr_X]

A FOWLR is a "fish only with live rock"- no corals are present. You are describing an aggressive reef. T5 lamps should be changed every 9 months or so if you have photosynthetic creatures, if not, you can leave them as long as they are still working.

you will need enough water movement to keep detritus suspended in the water column until your filtration can remove it. For a 6' tank I would use three 1500 gph power heads or so.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

We will definitely get another skimmer. Most likely eshopps because we really like our in sump skimmer for the reef. And we have a used homemade sump from a friend that owned a shop. We got a pretty sweet deal from him. as far as a predator tank, we don't need fancy lighting? Like for the corals right? How often do you have to change t5 bulbs? Do you recommend a phosban reactor? Or, is that more beneficial for coral? How much flow is required for a 150 fowlr? Thanks for your help!

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With just fish you don't need fancy lighting. You could just go to led lighting that would last longer. Without corals you won't need anything real high powered. T5 bulbs are suppose to be replaced once a year I believe, that's all I ever did. You may still want a phosban but you can always add it later if problems start to occur

 

[Vlrm23]

I meant we don't need fancy lighting like for the corals we have in our 60 gallon reef. We aren't going to put corals in this one... I think we may go without a phosban. So all we need are a couple power heads, regular t5's, a hob filter, a skimmer, and media for our sump? That already sounds cheaper than the reef! Lol!

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[Andrew McFadden]

Yea a lot cheaper than a reef lol. You may be able to go to t8 lights since they won't be growing anything. They are cheaper then t5.

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[mr_X]

There are plenty of cheap freshwater LED fixtures out there also, which use very little electricity, and will make everything look nice with no bulb replacement, ever.
Aquarium Lighting & LED Lights: Marineland LED Double Bright Lighting System

Satellite Freshwater LED Light Fixture - 1800PetSupplies.com

 

[Vlrm23]

AWESOME! Thanks for all your help! I'm so much more excited that we don't have to buy $800 worth of lights. OH! One more question, how many fish would you put in a 150 fowlr? I definitely want a couple fancy fish like a dalmatian puffer maybe a moorish idol, a few chromis, some kind of angelfish, a magnificent foxface, maybe an eel.... not saying all but these are ones we like. We still have to research compatibility. All those have minimum tank size of 150 or smaller on live aquaria.

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[Vlrm23]

It's not super predator, more of a semi aggressive "fish we wish we can have in a reef tank" tank.

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[mr_X]

Research the adult sizes and behavior of these fish, as well as the care req's. Those puffers need a steady diet of hard shelled creatures like snails to wear down their teeth. Moorish idols are hard to keep. Make sure you see it eat prepared foods before you buy it.
Chromis aren't going to work with eels. Foxface and angels are fine.

 

[Vlrm23]

I was just browsing and found that too, but I really want one and we have a dead coral collection from when we got a rtn outbreak. but it said we can put those in there for the puffer to help with his growing teeth problem. That is the one fish that I would do anything for. I've always wanted one. And with the moorish idol... maybe we'll look into similar looking butterflies. are there any small schooling type fish that would be okay with an eel? We just want to fill in empty space if we only get a couple big fish. Haha, or would the chromis be fine with everything minus an eel?

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[mr_X]

Nothing small is going to work with an eel. Yes, you could keep smaller fish without the eel. Just make sure you understand that as large as you may think it is, a 150 gallon tank is still limited. A hand full of adult fish and you have a large bio load for that tank. Don't worry about empty areas, for the big fish will be constantly moving and will not leave any area empty for long
Besides, folks don't focus on empty areas, they focus on fish with personality, like the puffer.

 

[Vlrm23]

Cooool! I think I'll have to go without the small fish, we can put them in our reef. I'm excited and we haven't even started building the stand.

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[mr_X]

RTN outbreak? RTN is not a disease that's contagious. It's what happens to a coral when it's under less than ideal conditions for too long. It's just another way of saying "my coral is dying very quickly".
That said, I don't see puffers eating coral skeletons too often. They eat the snails for food, and just happen to have to break through the hard shells. I don't see them chomping down on empty snail shells either...just ones with live snails inside. Just be aware that you may have to purchase snails for this purpose.
As for the moorish idol, if you can't find one of them that eats prepared foods, you might be able to find a heniochus that does.

 

[Vlrm23]

Every person that we have talked to that has had rtn said it killed all of their acros or sps... we even looked and looked for a solution because our tank was stable parameters lights and all. .. and we found that it is caused by an unknown reason... but either way, we lost a lot, all at once. I could arrange to buy him snail treats.

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[mr_X]

Sorry I'm just responding, but RTN can happen to a single coral that's not happy, without effecting anything else in the tank. It's definitely not contagious. Again, less than ideal conditions may effect the entire acropora population, and in many cases, it does. This is what's probably happening to the folks you talked to. What I've seen was mainly alkalinity issues.

 

[bribo12]

RTN is just a hobby grade term. Something happened in your tank and your corals went downhill. Probably a swing of some sort. On fish I wouldn't put any big angel in a tank that size.

 

[Vlrm23]

We'll probably just put smaller angels.

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[bribo12]

We'll probably just put smaller angels.

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The dwarfs would be excellent