So I recently decided to start a saltwater tank for the first time after a freind offered to sell me his tank and two unused filters (filstar xp3 175 gallon and fluval 40 gallon) After deciding i wanted charecter over quantity, I decided to go with a predator tank with as much live rock as 200$ could buy. After several months of research and two visits to some LFSs, i decided made a list of my favorite fish and narrowed it down to this list based of care requiremnets and compatibility:
Picasso Trigger
Niger Trigger
Snowflake eel
Dwarf fuzzy Lionfish
A Tang? If there is room?
A regularly restocked cleanup crew
So, in a nutshell, is this overstocked? If it are there any steps I could take to allow me to keep all these fish (short of a bigger aquarium)? I understand I would have to add the triggers at the same time, and even then they may occasionally spar. I was also worried about them bothering the lionfish. I have heard a dozen conflicting accounts about them getting along with triggers, but in general, it seemed like a clown trigger was the problem. I also remember reading somewhere that you could design the live rock in such a way that it would encourage the fish to form their own territories? Does that just mean piling up live rock to keep them apart? Sorry, I don't have a source on that. I was also wondering about some inverts i found on Live Aquaria:
Saltwater Aquarium Crabs for Marine Aquariums: Emerald Crab
Hermit Crab with Anemone
Saltwater Aquarium Invertebrates for Marine Reef Aquariums: Sally Lightfoot Crab
After these caught my eye, I did some research that said they were all actually very aggresive, enough so to bully some fish. Does that mean they could hold their own in my theoretical well fed tank? Sorry if any of these are really stupid questions.
Picasso Trigger
Niger Trigger
Snowflake eel
Dwarf fuzzy Lionfish
A Tang? If there is room?
A regularly restocked cleanup crew
So, in a nutshell, is this overstocked? If it are there any steps I could take to allow me to keep all these fish (short of a bigger aquarium)? I understand I would have to add the triggers at the same time, and even then they may occasionally spar. I was also worried about them bothering the lionfish. I have heard a dozen conflicting accounts about them getting along with triggers, but in general, it seemed like a clown trigger was the problem. I also remember reading somewhere that you could design the live rock in such a way that it would encourage the fish to form their own territories? Does that just mean piling up live rock to keep them apart? Sorry, I don't have a source on that. I was also wondering about some inverts i found on Live Aquaria:
Saltwater Aquarium Crabs for Marine Aquariums: Emerald Crab
Hermit Crab with Anemone
Saltwater Aquarium Invertebrates for Marine Reef Aquariums: Sally Lightfoot Crab
After these caught my eye, I did some research that said they were all actually very aggresive, enough so to bully some fish. Does that mean they could hold their own in my theoretical well fed tank? Sorry if any of these are really stupid questions.