Heres my plan Part 2

[bonerfortuna]

Ok thanks to all for your guidance so far. Based on your suggestions Im gonna use a CC base instead of DSB for my agressive tank. Ill plan to use an external filter to support my vacuuming activity as well on a weekly basis . The live rock is gonna be purchased in Florida while I drive thru in March so if you have any suggested places Im all ears. At this point Im looking at Reeferrocks in Edgewater. Any other suggstions are appreciated. Plans for livestock include a trigger of some sort as well as a tang both yet undecided. I want a dragon wrasse , a smaller lion if possible and I would love to be able to get a few green chromis to school around in my flat back hex 110. I still would love to have some sort of cleanup crew on the floor if I can but that seems pretty iffy. I welcome your thoughts on round two of my plans . Thanks Peter

 

[Tarasco]

Sounds good so far. I know that Tampa Bay Saltwater is out in Florida, and that people that get rock from them are generally pleased, so you may want to check it out. I know they have a website.

I think that your livestock choice can be dramatically effected by your choice of a trigger. If you get one of the more peaceful triggers, you could possibly get away with a lion and a chromis school. But most triggers will pick on a lion to death, and chase around the chromis until it kills them. Undulates and clowns are definite no-no's. Pinktail is a possibility.

Additionally, some of your livestock choices get pretty big. Dragon wrasses, tangs, triggers and most lions get over 7 inches in length. Be aware that a 110 may end up being a little cramped for all these guys. If you narrow the tang and trigger down to a specific species, I'm sure that people here could give you more detailed info.

 

[bonerfortuna]

Thanks Tarasco,The Undulate is my favorite but clearly too agressive. I would likely get a huma or most likely a niger as they are growing on me and seem least pesty.For the tang Im thinking Sailfin . The dragon wrasse is a must do for me as I love them . I might substitute the lion with a panther grouper if that is a better option. Do I need to stck to the 5 gallon per inch rule to a T in this case ?

 

[fidojoe]

No panther grouper IMO, they get up to 24", and I was advised to forget the idea for when I eventually (being the key word) set up a 150.

I have seen a 90 gallon with a picasso (wich i think is the same as a huma), a small voltain lion, a porky puffer, and a couple yellowtail damsels, and all seems to be going well in there. Before he had a niger trigger, the picasso, and an eel, but the eel jumped and died and the niger went shortly after (not sure of the cause). The tank was well covered, but I beleive that the eel went trough the overflow or something.

With a 110, you would probably be fine with the list you have, except for the grouper, and it would probably help if you add the least aggressive fish first, like the chromis. HTH

 

[Tarasco]

So if I undertand you, your stock list for your 110 looks a little something like this:

Dragon Wrasse
Humu trigger or Niger trigger
Sailfin Tang
Lion or Panther Grouper
Small school of chromis

I'm going to be making my comments in light of each of these fish aat full adult size.

First, there's no way that a chromis will survive in this tank. They would eventually be food, period.

Realizing that the dragon is your centerpiece, expect him to get to about 11 inches long, and aggressive. Both of the triggers you're looking at get to close to the same size, and can possibly work with these tank mates. (There are reports of individuals hating everything in their tank with them, so watch out) Sailfin, about the same size, and may or may not get the fins munched by either trigger. The grouper is definitley too big for this tank, and the lion wouldn't survive either trigger, they seem to be very good at avoiding any lion's sting.

I think that the dragon, trigger and tang are probably enough for your tank at full adult sizes. If you buy each of these guys as smaller fish (say about 4 inches or less) then you may be able to add another smaller aggressive fish that can hold their own, like an arc eye hawkfish or something, that the big guys will get used to and not bother.

You mention the five inch rule, but this is sort of a "guidline." What you really have to look at is each fish species individually. With the bad boys you're talking about as well, they eat a lot and are very messy. Water quality is an issue, so you aren't going to want 4 large guys in your size tank. 3 should be enough. Just my opinion.

 

[bonerfortuna]

Very helpful,thanks guys. How long will it typically take for these fish to reach full adult size in a tank like this ? The arc-eye looks and sounds pretty interesting .

 

[Tarasco]

These guys will probably get to full size within 2 years, with the grouper getting HUGE fast.

Another aggressive guy you could put in there is the freckled hawkfish, Paracirrhites forsteri.

 

[jks1]

I agree with comments above however I have kept a Niger trigger, Volitan lion, dogface puffer, and a large female maroon clown in y 240g. Never saw the trigger give the lion a second look but maybe I was just lucky! HTH

 

[cheeks69]

Originally posted by jks1
I agree with comments above however I have kept a Niger trigger, Volitan lion, dogface puffer, and a large female maroon clown in y 240g. Never saw the trigger give the lion a second look but maybe I was just lucky! HTH

I don't think it was luck I think the key is the size of the tank. If the tank is small and a 110 is small for the type of fish you want to keep then their will be agression JMHO

 

[Tarasco]

Oh yeah, Maroon clowns, didn't think of those. I bet they could handle it in there too.

Niger triggers are supposed to have one of two personalities: They're either puppy dogs that are almost reef safe, or they are unholy terrors that are almost as bad as undulates. Sounds like John got a nice one, or maybe made it nice by giving it extra room.

 

[Melissa]

I ordered online from Reefer Rocks and they were great. I would definately recommend them. I also ordered base rock from them. As of right now...everything in the tank has coraline all over it. It's a very pretty purple color too. Check out my coral pic, in the background is all my Reefer Rocks. And that was under a 45 Watt light without adding anything to the water.

 

[dwall174]

Congratulations on setting up an aggressive tank I also would like to be able to set up one someday. As for the Live Rock I have heard good remarks about Gulf View

 

[Brucey]

Good luck with the new setup ..... sounds awesome
Brucey

 

[mgregory]

Good luck!! Sound like your getting great advise!! I'm learning right along with you, Thanks!