Potential Stocking List

[Cougra]

I've been toying with the idea of changing my 75Gallon (48"x18"x21") freshwater tank into a saltwater fish/invert tank. I don't want to spend a lot of money on this setup and will be using just 4x NO flourecent lighting (48" tubes) for the coraline and possibly macro algae. I MAY consider adding some mushroom corals to the tank but those would be the only corals, end of story. I'll be using the AquaC Remora skimmer on the tank as well as a couple canistor filters and powerheads for chemical filtration or water movement. The canistors wont be used for biological filtration (meaning no sponges or splintered glass media etc.) I'll be using dead base rock and transfering the live rock I currently have in the 30 Gal tank to seed the base rock.


Potential Stocking List:
1x Shrimp/Goby Pair (Whatever is available)
2x Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellatus)
2x Engineer Goby (Pholidichthys leucotaenia)
1x Red Sea Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma Desjardinii or Z. scopas)
3-5x Threadfin Cardinalfish (Apogon leptacanthus)
1x Royal Gramma (Gramma loreto)
1x Long Nose Hawkfish (Oxycirrhites typus )
1x Dwarf Angelfish (Centropyge potteri or C. eilbi)
1x Six-line Wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia )
5x Blue Chromis (Cromis cyanea)
MAYBE a blenny of some sort but haven't decided on that one yet.
plus various inverts such as snails, crabs, featherdusters and possibly some small shrimp such as peppermints or camels.

Do you think the mix will work?
Is there any other fish you would recommend?
Do I have too many fish on the list? I know the inches rule and I know the adult size of all the fish I listed will go way over that but I think I chose fish that are reasonably compatible and peaceful. Also there is a wide variety of fish that occupy different niches within the tank such as rock dwelling, bottom dwelling and open water swimmers, as well as nocturnal and dirunal fish.

Remember this is a NOT a reef tank so I'm not over concerned about slightly higher nitrates in the water and will be doing frequent water changes to keep water quality up!

One last thing, due to the nature of the tank (NOT going to be a reef tank)I'm going to go against convention as well and add macro algae to the main display and let it get established before adding the herbivores. I plan on having the tang and angelfish there to help control the macro but I'm not worried if it wants to take over the rocks and I'm willing to harvest it as well if there is anything left after the herbivores are done with it.

 

[Warnberg]

I don't see any issues, I would use peppermint shrimp rather than camel's and add your tang last....

 

[BrothaWolf]

Will a pistol shrimp kill off your ornamental shrimp? I thought I read somewhere that they might...

 

[Cougra]

Any particular reason you recommend the peppermint over the camels? The Camel shrimp are generally more readily availible but if there are serious issues with them then I'll reconsider.

 

[saltyfishtanks]

good luck on not spending much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

unfortunately as we all know, the performance of your new tank will greatly depend on the thickness of your wallet

go for the purple tang not the scopas the RS purple tang is much nicer to look at

 

[Warnberg]

Camel shrimp a very agressive, they will eat snails that have fallen and can not upright themselves very very quickly. Peppermint shrimp will do the same, however they do not move in nearly as quick and I found that the snail is usually dead by the time the peppermint shrimp go after it.

 

[BrothaWolf]

The camels are also known to eat corals although I dont think they will bother your shrooms but you know how the hobby goes. You will start with shrooms and have a full blown reef before you know it.

 

[Cougra]

...but you know how the hobby goes. You will start with shrooms and have a full blown reef before you know it.

No, BrothaWolf, I wont be setting up a reef tank. I've already done the reef thing and don't plan on going back for a while. I had a softy reef tank for over 5 years and have been considering getting out of it for about a year or so as I realised that I wasn't really interested in the corals. I am more interested in the fish part of the hobby and the corals were restricting me from getting the fish that I liked since I was afraid of polluting the water too much. Three and a half months ago I lost over $1000 worth of corals while I was away on vacation. This wasn't the way I expected or wanted to get away from corals, however it did speed up the process.

I have zero interest in SPS or LPS corals, the only ones the catch my attention are the softies however I don't have the money to get the lighting system required if I do change over to my 75 Gal tank.

The beauty of keeping it a fish only tank is that I can take as much time as I want to introduce all the fish and in fact it'll be better to introduce them slowly over time anyways.

I don't have one of those "Certified Reef Addict" logos in my siggy for a reason. I think corals are facsinating creatures and I will continue to learn more about them whenever I can, but they are not for me. I'm a "Certified FISH Addict" though and I am finally taking the steps to get back to the part of this hobby that I truly love the most. It was a Psuedochromis fredmani (Orchid dottyback) that lured me into starting up a saltwater tank and it's the fish that have kept my interest for the past 7 years I've had my tank. Until now I have been content with my 30Gal tank and even if I don't change over to the 75 Gallon one, I'll still be content once I get a few more fish added to it.

I've spent the past three and a half months doing some serious soul searching about this hobby, what I love about, what I don't like about, what it'll take to keep me in it and ultimately what I want from it. I've done lots of planning and thinking about this setup and am confident that this is the route I wish to go. I'm not longer a reefer but I know that sometime in the unforseeable future I may revisit the reef tank, but for now that part of me has been satisfied.

good luck on not spending much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

unfortunately as we all know, the performance of your new tank will greatly depend on the thickness of your wallet

go for the purple tang not the scopas the RS purple tang is much nicer to look at

I realise that the fish list I have will add up to a lot once everyone is in there, however I'll be spreading these purchases out over a long period of time so it wont urt my budget a lot. I strongly believe that I can set up a easily maintained, reasonably inexpensive fish/invert tank without breaking the bank. I already have the lighting I think I'll need, the tank, stand, canopy, heater, powerheads, canister filters for water movement, nets, and other misc. equipment, some well cured rock, salt and skimmer (although it's now probably undersized but it'll be better then nothing). I don't really need much else besides the baserock and livestock.

 

[BrothaWolf]

With your fish list it looks like its gonna be an awesome tank! Go for it!

 

[Cougra]

I've started buying up some fish for the tank. I now have three blue chromis and one A. ocellaris. I also have started getting some snails and red-legged hermit crabs for the clean up crew. I'll probably get two peppermint shrimp for the tank next week.

See this thread for pictures of a Blue Chromis:
Fish Focus - Blue Chromis - Chromis cyanea

I've added a skimmer to the tank as well so I have a bit more water flow as well as something to give me better water quality which I'll need with a larger fish bioload.

Well I've found another little survivor in my tank that made it through the melt down! This little mushroom is about 1cm in diameter but it's survived some pretty tough times! I'm really pleased to see it starting to come out!

PS: Yes I know I still have some cyano in that area. I'm still working at clearing all that up since the disaster.

 

[Witfull]

engineer goby, notorious diggers
i love scopas tangs,,,much more passive than purples.
sailfin will quickly outgrow a 75
everthing else looks good, you will fall in love with the LN hawk~

 

[Cougra]

Thanks for the input Dave. I know about the Engineers being really good diggers. I have all the rock on the bottom of the tank and the sand poored in around them to avoid any sort of rock slides.

I didn't realise that the Sailfin Tang would grow that large, I think I'll change that to the Scopas Tang or possibly even the common Yellow tang instead then. I'm not a huge fan of the purple tang myself.

 

[lcstorc]

I can't wait to see this tank progress. Personally I got bit with the reef bug badly, but would love to also set up a FOWLR to keep some of the fish I cannot have in the reef.

 

[Woodstock]

Nice fish selection!

I saw some blue chromis at the lfs yesterday and they were SO pretty.

 

[pmac90]

I just got a scopas... very beautiful fish! Really get down and check out the colors. awesome!