Starting up a 135 gallon FOWLR tank. Need advise

[sean A.]

I'm thinkin about converting my 135 gallon freshwater tank to a FOWLR tank. What would be better, live sand, ground up coral or something else? As far as livestock goes. I would have a Niger
Trigger n it and would like advise on what else to add to it.

 

[RoastReef]

I'm a reef guy so not so much help on tankmates. As far as substrate, I would go with "dead/dry" sand. It's much cheaper and your live rock will seed the sand with beneficial critters (you can also add a cup full of live sand from an established tank to get it going).

 

[sean A.]

Thank you. I will look into that.

 

[DamnPepShrimp]

You could always run bare bottom. I run BB in my FO tank since I have messy eaters and its easy to just vacuum out the detrius.

 

[sean A.]

I thought about that but I would like to have something down

 

[snorvich]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15076316#post15076316 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DamnPepShrimp
You could always run bare bottom. I run BB in my FO tank since I have messy eaters and its easy to just vacuum out the detrius.

Maintenance wise, this is great advise.

 

[DamnPepShrimp]

I'll admit, it doesn't look good, but your main focus is the fish. I never even notice I have BB anymore since I am staring at 6 fish and an eel that are all right at my face begging for food! I have seen some tanks that were BB that looked amazing though.

 

[sean A.]

Do u have any PICS of your tank so I can see how it looks. With BB can u still use live Rock too

 

[LisaD]

with BB, you SHOULD use live rock.

 

[sean A.]

Now as far as livestock goes. I'll b building my tank around a Niger Trigger. I would like to have some real nice colorfull fish in there. What would u guys recommend

 

[kfkphisig762]

The Niger is a great fish. Mine has alot of personality. I made the mistake of thinking mine was different from what other posters on here have said because of this. However, he is OK with the fish he grew up with, but that is it. I could not add any other fish or he would systematically destroy them. Once the triggers get bigger it is tough to have suitable tankmates. He is however much nicer than my Undulated trigger that I gave a chance to be friendly. I think maybe a puffer that would stay smaller would work or anything that will not try to infiltrate his caves that he will make out of your live rock and sand would be OK.

 

[sevendigitcake]

with the niger trigger i would think you could add angels, tangs, wrasses, and puffers.
if i were you i would stock:
1. niger trigger
2. pinkface wrasse
3. purple tang
4. flame angel
5. emperor angel
I dont know the dimensions of your tank so the emperor might be questionable

 

[sean A.]

My tank Dimensions are 6 feet long, 18 inches wide & 24 inches deep. Now what about a Dog Face puffer.

 

[MatthewLaw]

dogface puffer should be ok. might get a little tight when the puffer get to full adult size since it can be 12"+

 

[sean A.]

Now I was reading a thread that said you need to Qt all fish before you put them into your main tank. So does that mean that I need to get another tank for the QT & which fish should I do first.

 

[MatthewLaw]

i agree QT all the fish BEFORE putting them in the main tank.

I would add the least aggressive fish first.

 

[unleashed13]

remember your starting your tank with a trigger this could become an issue as to adding new fish.. triggers are very territorial and aggressive ... he should be the last fish introduced to the display tank... adding him first will higher his rank for territory making him more apt to attack new comers to maintain his rank. as for substrate the use of arganite is your best bet this type help maintain water quality far better than silicate sands as a buffering agent.... as for bare bottoms.. I have seen a few up close.. personally I don't like how they look .. without continuous bottom cleaning ,the tank becomes covered with fecal matter and just looks gross.. substrate also harbors many critters that break down this matter that bare bottom tanks lack.

 

[sean A.]

Well rite now the niger Trigger is only about 3-4 inches long.

 

[sean A.]

As far as the QT Tank goes. Should that tank be completely empty?

 

[anbosu]

You can add some PVC pipe to give the fish someplace to hide, but generally you shouldn't have much in there in case you need to treat the fish with some sort of medicine.