Bigger, showy fish for 75G?

[snorvich]

Ummm. Yes, yes I can lol! I am 16, Steve missed my birthday lol!

Sorry. Happy Birthday a bit late.

 

[snorvich]

I personally like having a plan on my stocking. I simply looked at online vendor sites to find fish I like and narrow it down to what will fit in my tank and what fish are my favorite. Also, you may decide down the road that you want a fish that will get picked on if you have some more aggressive fish in the tank...

I agree. Order can be very, very important at times. In general, least aggressive fish first.

 

[snorvich]

The longer I do this the more inclined I am to stick to medium-to-small fish, even in my larger tanks. I would consider groups of fish like wrasses or anthias that are very colorful and will occupy the tank without being individually crowded. I think you would be very pleased.

After 25+ years I have come to the same point. medium-to-small fish can be more interesting than larger fish. They perceive their territories differently than large fish and act closer to their "natural, in the ocean behavior". I have spent thousands of hours watching fish in the ocean and that is what originally motivated me to establish reef tanks.

Maybe you could do a dwarf angel or two if you want a "centerpiece" fish. They max out at about 4-6 inches but are bold and visible.

 

[snorvich]

By the way, there is nothing wrong with being 16. Reefing Newbie (Kyle) is a very quick study and has some good ideas.

 

[NatureNerd]

After 25 years of reef tanks, I too prefer small to mid-sized fish. More relaxing to watch, more peaceful, less compatibility issues, and easier to get reef safe.

If I could restart my 75, I would love to do a tank based on pairs. I have mated pairs of neon gobies, occ clowns, cleaner shrimp, and I used to have a pair of purple firefish.

I would like every fish to be part of a pair bond. I would get a pair of B. cardinals, a pair of helfrichi firefish, and a pair of pipefish. Add that to my pairs of clownfish and gobies and I would be thrilled.

Why? Because it is really interesting to observe the behaviors and I love how the two fish stay in close contact while swimming around the tank. Yes, a small school would be even cooler but, that is much harder to achieve long term.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

By the way, there is nothing wrong with being 16. Reefing Newbie (Kyle) is a very quick study and has some good ideas.

Thanks Steve! I really appretiate it from a newbie standpoint. I really just want to thank you as you have given me at least 80% of my knowledge in this hobby as well as some of the other pros that helped me in the "New to the Hobby" forum.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

I love small and medium fish, but I feel like there is a huge gap missing without something to offset the lots of small fish IMO. I also like the idea of pairs, but something would seem odd to me to see all of the fish in my tank set up as a pair. Adding a few pairs of small fish, a trio or two of flasher or fairy wrasses, and a larger sized fish maybe 6"-8" and you would be golden in my eye!

 

[NatureNerd]

I love small and medium fish, but I feel like there is a huge gap missing without something to offset the lots of small fish IMO. I also like the idea of pairs, but something would seem odd to me to see all of the fish in my tank set up as a pair. Adding a few pairs of small fish, a trio or two of flasher or fairy wrasses, and a larger sized fish maybe 6"-8" and you would be golden in my eye!

Perhaps you are right as I have one bigger fish (bristle tooth tang) and it does draw a lot of attention when people view my tank.

The stocking level suggested above would be a bit too much in my opinion for a 75 but that is probably because I have always had light bio-load tanks with lots of corals. An 8" fish would seem to cramped to me.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

I don't have experience with smaller tanks, so that is my bad and I was just merely giving an example for my personal taste. Yes an 8" fish would be cramped, but it was essentially just a size range to reference larger. My bad on such a large fish lol.

Revised:
1-2 pairs of fish
1-2 trios of flasher or fairy wrasses(I don't say antias because a group likes more room)
1 Larger fish(5"-6", 7" if it is a very fat and lazy fish who doesn't swim unless getting food lol(don't let your fish get to that point, not a good sign))

 

[small alien]

+1 for the nerd of nature.

 

[snorvich]

+1 for the nerd of nature.

Likewise. I have always preferred smaller fish no matter what tank size.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

You can fit more smaller fish in any tank as compared to larger ones. Larger fish like tangs are constantly grazing therefor are probably creating lots of waste. This makes their bioload much greater than other fish, compared to a gigantic flasher wrasse lol.