125/g Fowlr stocking

[SteveJakubiec]

How would you stock a 125g FOWLR? I need some ideas. The skimmer I would be running would be a EURO Reef 250CS Skimmer w/30-50g Sump and a 10-20g Fuge along w/ Phosban Reactor/ one w/ phosban and another with carbon.Also about 140lbs of Live Rock in the Display and 40+ in the Sump/Fuge

Thanks in Advance,
Steve

 

[Mike5252]

1 Clown Trigger.

 

[kirkaz]

What would I do....

Male and Female Bluethroat Triggers
Flame Angel
Black Velvet Angel
Purple Tang
Harlequin Tusk

 

[rozzzna]

a pair of dragon wrasses (rockmover wrasse).. saw this amazing fish today in my lfs.. wow

 

[SaltyMember]

I am currently in the process of stocking a 125g FOWLR. I am planning on a bluejaw trigger, tang (not sure which one), flame angel, tomato clown and trying to decide between a dogface puff or porcupine puffer (might be too big though).

 

[LisaD]

Steve,

Sounds like a nice set-up. I would stock:

-Australian harlequin tuskfish
-Dogface puffer
-Mimic tang
-a medium sized angel (not sure what is a hardy "right sized" species or pair of Genicanthus angels


SaltyMember,

I think you could keep your list if you have plenty of live rock, good filtration (like Steve's set-up). Make sure you keep a smaller tang (kole, yellow, mimic, etc.), and stay with the dogface puffer. IMO even the "smaller" porcs get massively thick. I'm not sure my 210 will be big enough for my porc when it reaches adult size.

 

[SteveJakubiec]

1-Either Sargassum or Blue Jaw Trigger (Male)
1-Scribbled Angelfish
5-Chromis
1-Eel (I need a suggestion, preferably not a Dragon.)
1-Powder Blue or Powder Brown Tang


Need some more suggestions please.

 

[LisaD]

eel - goldentail, zebra, or snowflake

If it were me, I'd keep a different tang, both of those are known to have relatively poor survival. There are a lot of hardier choices.

I haven't tried to keep a school of chromis, but my understanding is that they usually don't make it as a school. Maybe try some species of schooling cardinal fish. Do firefish school? I've seen them kept together as multiples before...

Are you interested in any of the wrasses? While I'm partial to harlequin tuskfish, there are a lot of different wrasses to choose from, some are good community tank fish.

 

[SteveJakubiec]

Scribbled Angelfish
Zebra Moray Eel
Niger Trigger


If it is possible, I'd like to build around that stocklist.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[SaltyMember]

I think you could keep your list if you have plenty of live rock, good filtration (like Steve's set-up). Make sure you keep a smaller tang (kole, yellow, mimic, etc.), and stay with the dogface puffer. IMO even the "smaller" porcs get massively thick. I'm not sure my 210 will be big enough for my porc when it reaches adult size.

Thanks for the info Lisa.

 

[LisaD]

that's a nice list.

niger triggers are cool fish. I don't know how fast they grow, but I'd start with a smaller one. If you have one that eventually grows even 2/3 adult size (20+ inches) it will be too big for the tank - though I have never seen one even close to 20".

To your list, I'd add one of the following:

-Australian harlequin tusk,
-moderate sized hogfish,
-mimic tang,
OR
-foxface lo or other moderate (10" or less) rabbitfish, and call it good

you might be able to add another moderate sized fish, but I'd leave it at four for a while. if you add any other fish, I suggest they be on the smaller size, 6 inches or less (e.g., dwarf butterflies, clowns, sharpnose puffer).

and make sure you QT. one sick fish (or one too many) could wipe out your tank.

my zebra moray is over 3.5 feet - it was around 2 feet or less when I got it several years ago. so start with the smallest one you can get...

do you want to stock that tank with fish that will live out their lives in it, or do you see an upgrade to at least a 180 in a few years?

 

[kirkaz]

I would stick with the Sargassum or Bluethroat over the Niger Steve...Niger's are great fish, but they get very large and much more aggressive as adults than the other 2. Nigers make great juvi's in medium sized tanks but nasty adults that need larger homes to keep aggression down when they start to get up past 8 inches or so.

 

[LisaD]

Kirkaz, good point. I have only kept a small one - started out about 2 inches long, have been growing it out in a 55 and nearly ready to move it to the 210. I don't have experience with larger nigers. I do know that sargassum and blue throat triggers stay pretty mellow even as larger specimens, and don't get too huge.

 

[JustinReef]

My Niger is about 6" now and no aggression yet. Hes growing very, very fast though. I have seen one at around 16" or so in a local tank. its big and very, very active.

Blue Throats need a much bigger tank than a 125G IMO. One may be ok but its just the narrow width of the 125 I don't like. Much better choice though as they should stay under a foot for sure.

 

[SteveJakubiec]

I've decided to take the scribbled angelfish off of the list because I don't think that I'd be able to find one at a small size. Beautiful creature though.

-Zebra Moray Eel
-Large Marine Angel
-Aussie Harlequin Tusk
-Tang

I don't really like the pictures of mimic tangs I have seen, so do any of you possibly have any pictures of your mimic tangs, harlequin tusks? I am still not sure on the mimic or large angel.


I am still not sure, because I have heard some boring things about the personality of the harlequin tusk. Also I have no experience with tangs whatsoever. I'd also like to implement a trigger somewhere but I don't know what are good species, preferably ones that stay smaller.

 

[SteveJakubiec]

Let me check something.


Would it be better for a FOWLR w/ these measurements:

48"x24"x25" (120g)

or

This:

60"x18"x25" (125 Tall)

 

[Recty]

Kind of a toss up, depends what fish you end up keeping.

Longer is better so the fish have more room to swim, but 18" is a pretty small turning radius for some of the larger fish.

If you're going to be keeping fish that are 6-8" max size, then I'd go with the 125 tall for sure.

If you're going to be keeping fish that are 8+ inches, I wouldnt get either, I'd get something 6' x 24" x 24" at least.

 

[SteveJakubiec]

Hmm...how many gallons is 72 "x24"x24", around 180g?

 

[SteveJakubiec]

Alrighty then, it turns out that I'll be getting a 180g. Do any new possibilities open?

-Zebra Moray Eel
-Large Marine Angel
-Aussie Harlequin Tusk
-Some sort of tang
-Some sort of Trigger
- Some sort ofPuffer
- some sort of yet againButterfly fish(es)



Still need advice, thanks.

Would my Euro Reef CS250 Skimmer still be adequate?

I'm going to be going with a 45g Sump and a 40g Fuge. 2xTLF's Phosban reactors one for carbon and one for phosban. 200# Live Rock in the Display, and around 100# In Sump/Fuge.

Any other EQ would I be missing that is necessary?

 

[Recty]

Euroreef is pretty accurate on their guestimates on how much water they can handle. I'm not aware of what the CS250 is rated for, but if Euroreef says it can handle 180 gallons, I'd say you're good to go as far as skimmers go. Of course, 45 more for your sump and 40 more for your fuge, so that's a total of 265 gallons. But then you've got 200# of live rock in your display which probably displaces 40-50 gallons, so really more like somewhere in the area of a total of 210-220 gallons total water volume. So I'd makes sure your skimmer can handle that, if you dont have the information that came with it, you can just check their web site.

If you're going to have a high bioload, you want a oversized skimmer

You're asking about equipment necessary, you didnt list any lights/heaters in this last post and I'm not sure if you've talked abot them during the thread at all? You may or may not need a heater depending where you are, you might need a chiller. You probably know already, but large temperature fluctuations will stress your fish out, so do what you can to stabilize temps.

Lighting isnt so important on a FOWLR, but your fish will look better with a good light shining down.

Then I'm assuming you already have a return pump and what not since you are planning on a sump/fuge? If not, you'll need that as well!