150gal Nursing Home Tank - Stocking?

[joeyasaurusrex]

Hello,
I'm new to the hobby, but not to aquariums in general I've never done a reef tank, and I've worked only little with saltwater tanks. The nursing home I work at wanted an aquarium for the residents to enjoy, and by putting some feelers out to the local saltwater community, I found someone willing to donate a 150gal reef ready tank, sump, refugium, and a boatload of rock (dry).
I've already informed my bosses that this is something of a slow process, and is more expensive than freshwater, but in my opinion, worth it! (I couldn't justify NOT doing a saltwater reef tank, given the amount of equipment we were donated!) I'm totally pumped (pun intended) about getting the green light on a saltwater reef tank!!
I've got the tank with around 120 lbs of rock cycling currently, no fish, with a few established rocks in the mix to prime the ones that were dry.

I have a few questions...

1.) I need a reasonable stock list, including some bright colored large fish (for visually impaired), as well as some smaller bright colored fish.

I'm especially interested in any symbiotic relationship type stuff (cleaner shrimps, clowns/anemones, etc) as I think the residents would thoroughly enjoy this! I plan to have tons of hermit crabs, because I want to do an activity with the residents, having them decorate crab shells to put in the tank for the hermit crabs (I'll be sure to use reef-safe glues and decorations)

2.) Keeping this tank sparkling clean will be very important, so any tips there would be great! I've got a 30 gallon sump, and a 30gal to make into a refugium, also have a couple of large protein skimmers, a phosphate binder, and a UV sterilizer. An RO/DI system was donated too. I plan to use regular old Instant Ocean reef salt, the kind for corals (won't be adding those until later

3.)I haven't chosen a substrate yet, cost is a concern of course, as this is a not-for-profit organization, but if something is worth investing in, I can talk to the powers that be!

If regular beach sand is a viable option, I can get tons of it for free, I live right by Lake Michigan, and I can get a few 5gal buckets of very clean sand. (I've always used this in my freshwater tanks with great success, but again, I've never done a reef tank!


Aaaaanyways, that about sums it up, sorry for talking your ears off! Attached are a couple pictures of the setup from the previous owner, mine does not look so fancy yet :/

 

[CarrieB]

What a great project!


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[jraker]

This looks like a really nice build.

For fish, I would definetly try to get a regal angel, very colorful fish. Also a harem of wrasses.

For filtration, if you want to keep everything super clean, look into the zeovit system.

For sand, I would do a shallow sandbed of Carib-sea special grade sand. Won't blow around much.

 

[CStrickland]

Great project!

I wonder about accessibility. It would be great if it were low enough that people could wheel up to it, and little kids that visit could see in easy. Maybe move some of the stuff underneath to another place, like put the tank against a wall and the sump is on the other side. Or put a ramp in front.

Also, sometimes you hear about people regretting this sort of thing because they wind up working for free, or their coworkers resent them doing the tank instead of work stuff. Not to be a wet blanket, but it may be a good idea to budget like 10 hours a week in the beginning, and 5 hours after a couple months. So everyone's on the same expectations.

What kind of lights did you get?

 

[joeyasaurusrex]

This will be done as seperate hours, basically like I'm a service they're hiring for it.

LED lighting, supposedly coral capable, but may need to find more too.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

KISS sir, Keep It Simple Stupid.
Basic fluorescent lighting to minimize algae, or run the led's low. You can use plastic plants if you want to. Shallow sand bed, you don't need a deep one to worry about. Skimmer for sure. If there is a canopy an auto feeder, this alone will save your butt.
Stock with hardy fish, Royal Grammar, Flame Hawk, Foxface, Rusty Angel are a few suggestions. Get a book, Scott Michael's soft cover book of saltwater fishes is a good one to pick from. A reef while nice is a tough one when you are not there all the time.
I serviced one of these & it was nice. Beware of the fact that roaches can be a concern in this scenario.