need ideas for fish only or FOWLR systems

[zoebeaglezoe]

just in the beginning stage of a fish only set up got 150 gal acrylic

either going with a asm g4x or an octopus 200 nw skimmer

tank was curious how you guys are setting them up

substrate, b.b ect.

pictures would be great!!!

my wish list right now is (not all together just ideas)

unicorn tang harlequin tush Australia

set pair crosshatch triggers golden puffer

how many fish do you think I can keep in this tank

150 gallon 3 ft tall x 4 foot long x 20" deep

I know some of the fish on my list get big and when the time

comes I am fully prepared to up grade to a much larger tank

any ideas would be great I will post pics of the set as it

progresses

 

[Edward Smith]

Save the money on the ASM G4x. Great skimmer buy I have a G3 on my 210g and it works fantastic.

150 gallon 3 ft tall x 4 foot long x 20" deep: this tank is great for a reef tank and will work fine for a fish only, although a 6 footer (125g) provides a nice strech for fish to swim.

Is it reef ready or drilled?

 

[Pufferpunk]

That list sounds a bit overstocked already. Many of those fish are aggressive & territorial--also messy! Take into consideration the adult sizes of all your fish:

Crosshatch triggers 12" x2
Unicorn tang up to 30" (depending on species)--also a schooling fish
Harlequin tusk 10"
Golden puffer 19"

Edit: Oops, just saw that you're willing to upgrade.
That tang still sounds like a bad idea though, as it's a schooling fish. Difficult to find too.

 

[Doubledown]

FWIW - I run my 180 (72x24x24) FOWLR with the following specs:

Reeflo Snapper return pump (2500 gph for 98 watts)
All-glass Megaflow Sump #4
ASM G3 (skims a full cup every 3-4 days)
25 watt UV sterilizer
2x175 MH + 330 w VHO actinics
Shallow sand bed (1" or so)
150+ lbs LR

Standard FO really doesn't need the high lighting that I run, but I had them already from a prior reef. For 36 inch deep, I would look into 175s to get to the bottom and light the whole tank - 2 should be fine and with a bluer bulb (14k Hamillton) you wouldn't need actinics. You could also just run some standard bulbs or maybe T5s and see how you like the color and brightness, personally I like the brighter tank and the nice purple coraline likes the light as well (warning: so does all the other algaes).

With those tank dimensions, can I talk you into butterflies and angels? Tangs (particularly the Naso family) and triggers require more horizontal swim space and as mentioned get very large. There are a great many butterflies and angels that stay in the under 6" catagory and will fill the height of the tank (especially if you can pile your LR higher up the back) much better. Plus, you could keep a clean up crew in the tank - I have a porcupine puffer in my tank that loves to pick snails off the sides, chew on then for a while and spit them out (don't even think about keeping hermit crabs with a puffer ).

 

[goat585]

I have a 125 gallon FOWLR. I currently have a ASM G-3 running it, 440 watts of VHO lighting and a custom made 55 gallon sump with a refugim. I have a 2 inch sand bed. I currently have a pair of melanpus clowfish, purple tang, blue tang and a humu humu trigger in there. Everything has been running fine and I plan on adding a small queen angelfish at some point. At some point in the future I am planning a 300+ tank for them when they get to big. I agree a 6ft tank is the way to go with tangs and triggers. Mine fish swim the whole length of the tank all the time. I do think a 4ft tank would work for a while until they start getting 5+ inches

Thanks

Tom