Need help stocking a 120G tank.

Lion fishh

New Member
Hi, I just moved over from fresh water fish to saltwater fish . I'm thinking about getting a 120G tank and need help with stocking the tank
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Welcome. Before we get into recommending livestock, tell us a little about your tank, and what your interested in. One thing your will find is that species compatibility can be a lot more complex compared to FW.

Whit a tank that size, you have a lot of options.
 

PSU4ME

JoePa lives on!!!
Staff member
PREMIUM
Congrats on the 120! As Dave said, let us know more about your setup and maintenance plans - that’ll go a long way towards helping you get the right fish.
 

Lion fishh

New Member
Yes, I am looking for a fish only tank,but if there is a type of pufferfish that is reef safe,I gladly will have a reef tank
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
I don't know of any puffer fish that is completely reef safe. They tend to eat any crabs, shrimp, and some corals. You might want to consider not getting a puffer fish and choose something else. You have a lot of options with SW fish and often you can find something with similar colors.
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
It's not too small, but most triggers are extremely aggressive. Niger triggers and blue throat triggers are not too bad but caution adding. Undulated triggers are among the worst and often will kill anything else you try to add to the tank. All triggers will eat crabs, shrimp and the like. They usually leave corals alone. Most triggers are sold as juveniles and it's when they mature they get aggressive, so it might start out fine and then turn bad.

On the plus side triggers can be extremely colorful and are just about indestructible as far as a SW fish goes. They also have a lot of personality and love to "redecorate" you tank by digging and dragging around any rocks or corals they can pick up.

The bottom line here is do you want to devote your tank to possibly a single fish and will this still be interesting to you in a year or two?
 

Lion fishh

New Member
I don't think I could devote my tank to a single fish ,so I won't be getting a triggerfish.What do you think the Best type of eel for my tank is.
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Most of the eels kept in SW tanks are species of moral eels. Unfortunately I can't help you too much in this area, because I have never owned one. I will tell you that they are usually not considered a beginner fish, so I recommend you put off getting one until the tank is well established.

You seem to be interested in some of the larger, colorful fish. I suggest you check out the various species of SW angelfish, species of butterflys and species of tangs. You do need to be a little careful since some of the angles and butterflys have some tricky feeding requirements, and many will eat corals. Another good thing about these fish is that they are often compatible with fins like clowns, dottybacks and similar fish.

One final item to think about. You'll come across many rare and expensive fish that you can get, but only someone involved with that hobby is going to know what sort of fish it is. Typically, most of the people viewing the tank that are not in the hobby will be just as impressed by fairly common less expensive fish. Often these are a better choice.
 

PSU4ME

JoePa lives on!!!
Staff member
PREMIUM
Best way is to not get it! Do you have it now? There are no in tank treatments that work. You would need to go fallow for 70+ days and treat the fish in a separate tank to clear the Ich (with copper).

tell us a bit more and check out humble fish, his website is all about QT and how to work with diseases.
 

Lion fishh

New Member
No luckily none of the fish have Ich .I was just asking in case any of them get Ich and I'll make sure to check out that website.
 

Lion fishh

New Member
Are copper banded butterfly fish easy to take care of?my local fish store says there a great starter fish , but things I see online say that they are horrible for starter fish and they will die with in a month.
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
One thing your going to quickly learn is the many LFS outright lie or don't really have any knowledge about SW systems. As for copperband butterfly they have a very long narrow mouth. It's made for poking about about a reef finding small things to eat. This can make them difficult to get them to start feeding. I'd not call it a difficult fish, but I'd not recommend it as something to start with.

I have posted this many times before, but I think you'll find it useful -

Standard Lecture #1 – Advice for people new to the hobby

The very first thing you want to do, before you spend any money on equipment or livestock, is get yourself a few good books on state of the art reef systems. Then read and study them, so you have some idea about what your are doing.

Here are two to start with -

The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner
The New Marine Aquarium by Michael Paleta <---This book has an especially good section on fish suited to someone starting off in the hobby.

A note on the books. You can often find used copies at much lower prices at places like Amazon. In most cases these are going to be as good as new copies, especially when your first learning.

This is information that you can not easily obtain from the net. While it's out there, it's all over the place, and there is a massive volume of information. There is also a lot of bad information out there.

Once you get that done, plan or rethink your system. What do you want to keep? Do you have the necessary equipment? Do you have the knowledge to keep the livestock you want? Do you have the time to dedicate to keeping a system and it's livestock?

Many salt water fish, corals and inverts often have very specific requirements. Some are extremely difficult to keep alive, even if you do everything right. Before you get anything, research it, and be sure it will work out in your system.

Lastly, you will find that most LFS people are clueless when it comes to SW systems. Verify their advice, until they prove otherwise.
 
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