Suggestions on new FOWLR

psusocr

Active member
Hello everyone,
After taking a little break during a recent move I am getting back into the hobby with a FOWLR although I do want to add a RBT in the future . Looking for some input if anyone sees any conflict in the fish selection I have or any suggestions. The tank is 48x36x25 (190 gallons) so it will have plenty of space and room for roaming. I am using all premium live rock for the tank, no dry stuff . My list is as follows, but please critique anything you see that can be a potential problem. I have all of my equipment skimmers, lighting, calcium rector etc. well oversized to handle then bioload.

All fish will be very small (smallest possible)so I can watch them grow over the next 5-7 years and will also be transferred to my 450 gallon tank in 16 months when my new home is finished being built .


Fish

Snowflake eel
Queen or Annularis angel
porcupine puffer
Blonde naso tang
yellow belly blue tang
Unicorn tang
Rainbow wrasse
Red coris wrasse
Strawberry dottyback
Orchid dotty back
engineer gobie
Fu man chu lion fish or dwarf lion fish

Maroon clownfish with bubble tip anemone ( added later in time)

Red Knob starfish amd a chocolate chip star ( will they bother the nem eventually? If so I won't add them.

Thanks in advance for the help and suggestions! :bounce2:
 
I would say be prepared to lose fish. Lionfish are devoted piscevores, so any smaller fish will eventually become snacks. Porcupine Puffers also have a reputation for randomly picking off tankmates, although usually it's just the CUC that disappears from most tanks. The one that scares me the most, because I'm dealing with it right now, is the Maroon clown that eventually turns into a tank bully and would aggressively defend half your tank.
 
I would recommend against any of the dwarf lionfish, they would not be able to compete for food in that tank. Most times you get them eating live food only and sometimes don't train to dead food. If you were able to train the lion to dead food it would be difficult to get him enough in a tank with aggressive eaters. I feed my lions live food in a species tank and have found people not have much suggest trying to put them in tanks as you are planning.
 
Thanks guys!!!

Yes I agree I had a gold stripe maroon for awhile in my last aggressive tank and he was a bully, I'm going to hold off in any clown until later anyway , but what other clowns would you suggest that are larger and can hold here own in an aggressive tank?

I also had a huge volition and russels in my last tank and they did Very well with eating all dead food and I never had a problem with any tank mates since they were all larger , but maybe I'll hold off for awhile on getting one until all of my fish are large enough. That's why I wanted to see if I can get a dwarf lion or the fu man chu since they are much smaller , this way I can keep all the other fish larger so they won't be meals .

Here are some shots of my last aggressive tank






 
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The dwarf species are much more tricky to feed than the larger varieties. If you are good and patient at target feeding maybe. I've been keeping dwarf species for years and many times when I talk to people at the lfs that can't keep them. The main reason is difficulty in feeding.
 
Thanks for the heads up cougar , I won't buy the species unless I see it feeding at the lfs, this way it ensures he is already eating before I put him in the tank
 
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