Help with fish selection ??

[Sharky]

I dont know what to do ,I have went through the cycle , now its fish time I have a sand bed of about 2 inchs , and about 15 pound of marshal iland LR . The thing is the fish I like , Triggers , large angels , lion fish , groupers stuff like that < I cant really have a clean up crew ,snails hermits , crabs , because these fish will eat them , is this right ? If thats the case how are you supposed to keep you sand bed stirred up , and cleaned of left over food ? :? All yeah this is a 180 gal. tank So can I have these kinda fish with alot of LR and cleaners , I guess that what I was getting at

 

[reefrunner69]

Triggers , large angels , lion fish , groupers stuff like that < I cant really have a clean up crew ,snails hermits , crabs , because these fish will eat them

IMO, the only one that is a danger to the crew mentioned is the trigger.

If thats the case how are you supposed to keep you sand bed stirred up , and cleaned of left over food ?

Well you can do it manually. Either do waterchanges cleaning the sand with a vacuum, or simply stir the sandbed with a stick a couple or three times per week.

and about 15 pound of marshal iland LR .

What are you gonna use for filtration? 15lbs isn't nearly enough to biologically filter 180g tank.

All yeah this is a 180 gal. tank So can I have these kinda fish with alot of LR and cleaners , I guess that what I was getting at

Yes and no....see above.

 

[Sharky]

I have a wet/dry filter not sure how big it is but its huge , 3' long 18" tall 12" wide I have a aqua clear protien skimmer , back to the fish, the trigger is the one I like the most , some people say the niger mite be alright , but I really like the picasso too. Do you think it woud be worth a try ? I plan on getting alot more live rock like about 200 pounds or so .

 

[craque]

I had a picasso and had to take it out because once he saw the snails he went right after them. I really don't think you will find any trigger that won't go after your cleaning crew. But if you do and you decide you have to get him out of the tank you better find out right away. When I had to get my trigger out I praticuly had to tear the entire tank down to catch him. Good luck!

 

[reefrunner69]

I agree with craque, most triggers are not compatable with most of the members of a cleanup crew...

 

[loganj]

One other point...if you're going to add another 200 lbs of LR, are you getting completely cured LR from another tank? Or will it be ordered in from an online dealer? If it's coming from an online source, your tank will go through another cycle as the rock cures. You might want to consider adding the rock before the fish and letting it cure out. Adding uncured LR with fish in the tank will put the fish in danger and cause you a lot of work keeping the ammonia/nitrite from reaching lethal levels. Something to think about.
Logan J

 

[reefrunner69]

 

[Sharky]

Well Im taking the plunge , I decided to go with a fish only tank , Im going to try some hermits , mabe 50 pounds of base rock and 50 pounds LR . I guess this will be a high maintenance tank with out the clean up crew that I should have , but at least I'll have the fish that I want . I just really like the triggers , I bought 2 saterday 1 Picasso , and 1 Niger , And I have 3 Blue Damsels , thier all doing great so far , eating really good , and thier so fun to watch ,


Heres what I plan on adding

2 Volitian Lions

1 Emperor Angelfish

1 Snowflake Moray eel

1 Twinspot wrasse

1 Foxface Rabbitfish

 

[reefrunner69]

1 Picasso

Approx 12"

1 Niger

Approx 12"

2 Volitian Lions

Approx 12"- 16" each

1 Emperor Angelfish

Approx 12"- 14"

1 Snowflake Moray eel

Approx 24" - 30"

1 Twinspot wrasse

Not sure how big this fish gets, prob close to 12"

1 Foxface Rabbitfish

Approx 12" - 14"

Figuring conservatively...that is 108" of fish. Even if we discount the general rule of 1" per 5g, the proposed list will be overcrowding that tank. Most of the fish mentioned are very messy eaters, which will put a bigger strain on the bioload. If this were my tank, I would remove 2-3 fish from the proposed list. I would remove the Emperor (I think they are a bit delicate for the high nitrates that are inherant in a predator tank), one of the Lions (since you propose two), and the twin spot wrasse (it is fairly likely it would end up food for the lion anyway).

 

[Sharky]

That sounds good I will remove those fish from my list thanks for the input !!!!