New to this. Please help

[StartingInUtah]

Hello,

I recently got a 75 gallon tall aquarium and when I research things out I get so much conflicting advice that I could really use some help. I am a planner and I am trying to plan things out so that I can be successful. Any help would be great. I am planning on doing a FOWLR aquarium for now and maybe coral later.

So right now I have my tank set up and it has just finished the cycle. I am now ready to add other things. I know I should start with invertebrates but what exactly should I start with and how many?

I also have picked out some fish and I am not sure if I am on the right track or how many of them I can add in this tank. I also do not know what order I would add them in. Here are the ones I am looking at.

I was thinking of starting with 3 green chromis. The other fish I would like are a four striped damsel, a clownfish, a six-line wrasse, a flame angel, a coral beauty angel, a copperband butterflyfish, a foxface and a sailfin tang.

Any help would be great. Thank you.

 

[Macscale]

That's too many fish. First of all, you can only have one Dwarf angel in that tank. Second, too small for a Salfin. Third, butterfly fish are hard to keep. That and they need a 125. JMO On the butterfly's though.

Only a one spot foxface will work for a 75.

You should add the fish in order of least aggressive to most.

 

[bribo12]

I agree with macscale your tank is to small for the sailfin. Copperbands are almost impossible to keep, so I'd scratch that as well. A dwarf angel will work and possibly the foxface

 

[54seaweed]

first off avoid the damsels trust me you don't need or want those lil demons
agree with bribo , no sailfin or copperband

 

[StartingInUtah]

Thank you

Thank you for your advice and help. This is exactly why I posted on here. I am a planner and am trying to figure out exactly what to do with my tank. I am getting so much advice that it is hard to sort out and figure out what to do and what is best.

How many fish would you recommend? What makes the butterflyfish so hard to take care of and what makes the damsels such a pain? I have been told by a lot of people that if I added the two dwarf angels in at the same time they would be fine, what makes them so that they are not able to coexist? Also, if (in the future) I were to get a larger tank (say a 125 gallon) would I be able to *** the other fish on my list if I wanted to? If I dropped the sailfin, one of the dwarf angels, the butterflyfish and the damselfish that would leave me with one dwarf angel (probably the coral beauty), a clownfish, a foxface, a six-line wrasse and three green chromis. That seems pretty sparse and not extremely colorful for a 75 gallon tank. Does anyone have any other recommendations of what would be good to add or would I be at my limit with only those? I was also thinking of also adding a bengal cardinalfish (which doesn't really add much color either but is interesting to me) and a couple starfish. I also love the green mandarin but I know that that is not something that I can add for a very long time. Are those good options with the other fish and would my tank support them? What other fish would any of you recommend with that mix?

Thank you again for any help you can give me. This is really helpful to me as I am setting this tank up.

 

[StartingInUtah]

Sorry. I forgot one more thing. What kind of snails and crabs (or is there something else I should get) do I need for this tank and how many?

Thank you again for all your help.

 

[mr_X]

Butterflies are hard to get to eat prepared foods. They generally starve in closed systems. 2 angels will probably fight each other.
You don't need any snails or crabs if you don't want them. Whatever you add to this tank must have food, and unless you don't have the specific algae or food for them, they will starve. If you like to look at them, a couple snails and perhaps an emerald crab or two would be fine. Arrow crabs are also interesting to watch. Hermits will kill your snails, so be aware of this before purchase. They do so out of instinct, and not out of necessity.
some starfish are fine to add (providing you have food for them) and others are extremely difficult and usually die after a short time. Chances are the starfish you like are the ones that don't live. Linckia stars and Fromia stars are both very difficult. Serpent stars are more resilient and have a better success rate.

 

[bribo12]

If you were to upgrade to the 125 I still wouldn't do the sailfin as they get massive but you could do another tang species. And yeah what mr. X said.

 

[StartingInUtah]

So how do I keep things clean without snails and crabs? I have been told by most people to have one of each per gallon. That has always seemed kind of ridiculous to me. Why is that recommended? I guess I am just kind of confused. My wife really does not want the crabs or snails but I was told they were a necessity so I was just going with that.

The 125 gallon aquarium is not something I am doing now. That is something that might come in the future. Right now I want to figure out the 75 gallon setup that will be right for me. I want to start with fish and possibly add coral int he future.

Does anyone have any advice on how many fish I can have in my aquarium and have any recommendations of fish that would go with the mix I am looking at? As a review, because of the original mix I was looking into being too much, here is now what I want to build off of. I would like about 3 green chromis, a Bengal cardinalfish, a clownfish (not sure what kind, any recommendations?), a six-line wrasse, a one spot foxface, a coral beauty angelfish, eventually a green mandarin (way in the future) and possibly a couple starfish (if I can find any that I like that will not die easily). Any othre ideas or recommendations?

I am so glad I posted to this site. I feel like I am finally getting the advice I need and help on figuring out a good aquarium for me.

Thank you everyone for your help.

 

[mr_X]

That number of snails and crabs is absurd. It's recommended because that's how they sell livestock. They also recommend "recharging" your "clean up crew" every so often...do you know why? Because most of them starve to death and/or kill each other.
Your tank can be kept clean by keeping adequate flow, which will keep uneaten food and fish poop from settling before it can be removed by your filter(s). your glass will be cleaned by you- you are a far better cleaner than a snail, or 75 snails for that matter. Buy yourself a mag float.

the number of fish depends on the fish, and their size.
I would get a pair of clowns that stay smaller, like ocellaris or percula. Everyone likes Nemo.
Skip the chromis and get 3 Bangaii Cardinals. They stay together in a school.
If you have to have the Chromis, I would get the Blue Reef Chromis, and not the blue-green type.
You can never have a mandarin if you get any type of fairy wrasse (the wrasse will easily out-compete the mandarin for food), so depending on how much you want the mandarin, you may want to re-think the 6 line.
The Coral Beauty should be fine, as is the Foxface rabbit, though you will have to find a bigger home for the Rabbit down the road. A single Tang that's shaped like a Yellow or Purple should be ok also. Perhaps a Scopus or Purple.
how about some sort of Blennie? Something that perches instead of swims the water column...Maybe a lawnmower Blennie?

 

[StartingInUtah]

Thank you for your advice and help again. This is really helping me feel like I am getting a plan together. Can you tell me why no chromis or why the blue reef chromis vs the blue/green type? Also, do the Bengaii Cardinals do better in a school or does it matter? Also, someone told me to stay away from the four striped damsel because they are little demons. What do they do that makes them such a bad fish to keep?

Sorry for my lack of knowledge. I am trying to figure out my best options so I can figure out what fish I want and so that I don't miss out on the order and not be able to add something I want in the future due to the aggression of the other fish.

Thank you again for all your help. This is great and I really appreciate the feedback from everyone in here. I feel like I am getting better advice now than I have in the past few months of research.

 

[Str8edgejedi]

Another fish you could try is a hawkfish.. Several different variations, the flame hawk is especially nice.. I've kept them on and off throughout the years, and they are amusing to watch..

As for the chromis question, I used to always use blue/green chromis to cycle my tanks, back before live rock became popular to cycle, and no matter how much you start out with (I've started out with 3,5,8) they always end up killing each other.. Not sure on the blue reef, I've never kept one..

Striped damsels along with most damsels get very aggressive.. They'll chase other fish, nip at them, stuff like that..

Cardinals do better in schools, I have 3 currently in my tank.. Swim together when I have the moonlight on..

If u do keep clowns, they can get aggressive, it really depends on the fish, more so when they get older as well..

I'd start off with the cardinalfish, maybe a royal gramma or firefish..

Good luck

 

[Str8edgejedi]

A side note on crabs and snails.. Make sure you do your research on species.. Some hermits can be bad, such as Halloween, others can be good such as zebras (I have about 14 zebras in my tank right now).. Some snails can be bad, move around rocks and decor, such as turbos, others like trochus snails can be great.. The above poster is right though, if they don't have food they'll starve.. One thing I like to do is use the dried seaweed sheets I give my tangs, I'll cut a small strip off and put it under a rock every two days.. The hermits and snails flock to it at night..

 

[mr_X]

I like the blue reef chromis better because they live. I don't think the blue/green chromis kill each other, because I never see any aggression out of them, but they do tend to die off for some reason. Damsels in general can be very aggressive.