aggressive fish

[dittmerj]

i havent got my tank set up yet, im in the planning/funding stage(you know...bake sales, car washes, or anything to make some money) but i like a lot of the fish that are aggressive and cosidered not reef safe. my tank is 300 gallons, can i house agressive fish together along with non aggressive fish if they have that much space and cover. also do these reef unsafe fish eat the corals or what? for those who have a fish only aquariums, how cool do they look? i like the looks of the reefs because they provide structure for the fish, what kind of structure does a fish only tank have.

 

[HoopsGuru]

You can still add liverock, just not the corals that traditionally make it a "reef" tank. Thus, you would still have the structures that are appealing to you.

can i house agressive fish together along with non aggressive fish if they have that much space and cover

I wouldn't, the less aggressive fish would still have to hide all the time and you stand a good chance at losing a few.

also do these reef unsafe fish eat the corals or what?

It really depends on each species, some will eat corals while others will nip at and/or eat other inverts like snails, crabs, etc.

 

[Guest]

Get lots of live rock, it makes the tank look way better IMHO, as well as great biological filtration. With a tank that size for aggresive fish you have a lot of options, just keep large bold fish. You could do small shoal of regal tangs 3 would look good. Then maybe some of the larger wrasse and a grouper, or soapfish. Take it slow, and when you see fish you like remember the name and do some research to make sure it's easy to care for, and will be ok with your other fish. Don't mix the fish, regals arent aggresive, but are large and can hold their own.
Best of luck

 

[dittmerj]

thanks

i see what your saying. i've still got some time to decide what i want and i guess in the future there would be nothing stoping me from going to a reef system.

 

[Guest]

Just take it slow the worst thing that has happeend to me is you rush it, and then you will see something you want, but can't get because its not compatible with certain fish or inverts. So don't impulse buy, buy what you want to keep long term. You could even do a large queen angel, and a harlequin wrasse, as well as a few dwarf angels would even work in a tank that size. I need a bigger tank......

 

[HoopsGuru]

i guess in the future there would be nothing stoping me from going to a reef system.

I may be misreading you here, but it seems that you interpret lots of liverock as being a "reef" system. A reef system has to do with having corals, specialized lighting, etc. Liverock is not the deciding factor and won't require anything special (other than buying it). You could even go with the bulk of it being base rock from somewhere like www.hirocks.com . All it will provide is more surface area for bacteria and a natural looking system (and hiding places as mentioned).