Planned 240 Gallon Fish Only Tank

[Doomgape]

I introduced myself in the "introduce yourself" thread, but hopefully this gets more notice and response.

I'm moving in a few months and my plan (over the course of the next year or so) is to set up a 240 gallon salt water, fish only (perhaps incorporating live rock) in the basement man cave.

Fish wise, my plan is to have a few large (or potentially large) specimens. A dog faced puffer fish, clown trigger fish, lionfish or two, and possibly an eel of some sort and maybe another smaller trigger fish (a picasso trigger, perhaps) is my general goal- though I recognize the fish temperament may or may not allow this to become a reality.

I've been a fishkeeper for nearly 30 years and have kept many varieties of fresh water tanks and I've had two salt water tanks. One of my salt water tanks would be deemed a success and was only shut down because I went to college. That tank had a handful of hardy salt water fish- tomato clown, picasso trigger, a damsel or two, and a wrasse of some sort. My second attempt was unsuccessful- I tried to keep a lone juvenile Clown trigger, but it died after a few weeks in my tank.

I will be doing a lot of reading and refreshing my memory on salt water fish keeping over the next few months. I also recognize that different techniques and technologies in the salt water realm may have changed since I last kept salt water fish, so I am looking for any help.

My general questions include:

1. Does my general outline of fish stock for a 240 gallon tank look doable? Again, I recognize that various fish have various temperaments. If my plan doesn't look like it would work, what would be some suggestions along the same lines for fish that would work?

2. If my plan does look like it would work, what would be a good species of eel to research for possible inclusion?

3. Recommended filtration levels for a tank of this size? Last time I kept salt water tanks, I believe the recommendation was 10 times the size of the tank cycled per hour- so a 240 gallon tank would require 2400 gallons cycled per hour. Is this still the norm?

4. How about protein skimming? Is it necessary for this sort of setup?

5. Lighting recommendations?

6. I know very little about live rock. If I decide to go that direction, what do I need to know?

Thanks for reading. Any recommendations on books, links to appropriate articles, or other helpful insights and experiences are appreciated!

Thanks,

Matt

 

[Titans_Reef]

1. For a fish only, the fish you want in your tank should do fine. I wouldnt get fish smaller then the lion fish since they might try to eat them and have a expensive meal.

2. If you decide on getting an eel, make sure you get a tight fitting lid since they will escape. My LFS had an eel from the tv show "Fear Factor" in one of their tanks that was about 4' long. It escaped and luckly they found it before it died, which a week later it jumped out again and this time it was dried up when they found it.

3. You do not need a turnover rate of 10X since its only going to be fish only. For a reef tank then yes but since it is a fish only, you can add 2 pumps rated for around 1200gph and just dial it down. 2 pumps is better then 1 in my opinion since if you have 1 pump fail, you still have water circulating inside the tank and sump. Inside the tank itself you do not need powerheads or wave makers unless you truely want some. In my 125g reef, I have a turnover rate of around 8x which everything is doing fine and its up and running for almost 2 years now.

4. I would recommend a protein skimmer since it is one way to remove nitrates from your water and excess nutrients which in a predator tank, their will be a lot.

5. Lighting is up to you since you can just get away with a 2 bulb fixture or some cheap LED lights. Fish do not need strong lighting but if you plan to someday make it into a reef tank, then I would get lights for a reef tank and just use it less then half ways.

6. LR is basically rock containing life. They have benificial bacteria that is great for saltwater tanks to aid in filtration. You do not need to buy all LR. When I set up my 125g, I bought only about 15-20lbs of LR and used 120lbs of dry rock which is cheaper. Dry rock is around $1.5-3 per lb vs LR being $5-8 per lb. I would just get enough LR to make caves for the fish. You do not need 240lbs+ of rock inside the tank unless you like how it looks.

On books, no joke, my first book I got and only book was "Saltwater aquarium for dummies". I read and read it to make sure I knew the basics of starting a saltwater tank. You can go to http://www.LiveAquaria.com to see what fish you want and the recommended tank size for your fish. In a fish only tank, you can have your nitrates higher then a reef tank since fish tolerate nitrates more then corals and inverts do.