155 fish only tank

craig110768

Member
Just bought a 155 gallow salt water tank. Looking for a nice fish only setup to start with. Any suggestions on what to add to the tank based on the size.
I have added a pocupine puffer, Angel fish - Rock Beauty, a small Cardinal and 2 small clown fish.
Starting to get some live rock in there now.
Little experience at the moment- still learning.
Thinking of Triggers - any suggestions!
 

marty

Member
Slow down. If you just bought it means within the last week or two or less, you really need to slow down. Let the tank mature some more before even thinking about adding anything more.
Do some reading (here and books and magazines). Enjoy what you have for awhile. It will grow over time to be much more than what you add right now.
Hope this helps. And welcome to the wonderful boards here at SWF.com
 

craig110768

Member
I have had the tank over 2 months now. Its already cycled. I used damsels for that.
Just looking for some nice fish-only system. I have just lost one of the Clown fish, not sure which fish ate it, and a small part of the fin from the Rock Beauty. Possibly the Puffer. I'm feeding them well, so can't understand why.
Any suggestions!!
 

craig110768

Member
I would prefer a community setup as opposed to very aggressive fish. However, I want large fish, but most large fish I found seem aggressive - so looking for large but peaceful. I have been doing some research, and now looking at a Lion, Blue Tang, Powder Blue, Tomato Clown, wrasse, and possibly an snowflake eel maybe later. I'm not sure weather the puffer fish is narrowing my selection of fish, as I don't want WW-3 in there. I'm thinking about taking him back, but he is so cool.
I have 40 pounds of live rock, 40 reg rock. 40 pounds of live sand. Wet and Dry system and Protein Skimmer. Twin-tube lighting at the moment.
Anybody, got any suggestions.
 

justnu

Member
Haven't set-up my tank yet,(still holding baby koi until pond is ready.) but having being doing my homework ALL fall AND WINTER. We have the same size tank, and from all of the helpful people on this board , this is what I have come up with.
Huma huma (picasso trigger)
Powder Blue Tang
Purple Tang
Annularis Angel
Foxface
The Picasso trigger stays a nice size and doesn't sound as though he will be AS MUCH of a bully as say, a clown. And has quite the interesting colors. I can't wait!
As for other fish you may want to look at , checkout a Maniatus Grouper (look at 2-3 pics some are good pics others aren't, this is a very striking fish) and a Harlequin Tuskfish (wrasse).
 

jakepilot

Member
what type of filtration are you putting on it, that is important to know what type of fish to recomend..also, make sure you go slow, and qt every fish you put in there, if you dump them all in, i would hate for one fish to get ick and spoil the whole gang of them, go slow enjoy it, its a hobby that takes time.."slow and steady...fast and fragile" is what the best advise i can give
 

nm reef

Active Member
I have only one piece of advice.....please carefully consider it and follow thru on it in detail.........
You can not keep that tank!!!!!
Send it to me.....pay the shipping and send it here asap.
*sigh*.....sounds like a very nice plan you are developing ....seriously wish it were mine. I'd go with the huma huma.....a few tangs....possibly a lion(I have a dwarf)....some schooling fish.....DSB and LR for filtration. Then I'd look at adding a few other fish to complete the system. Man that is a truely nice set of options you have. Best bet is to carefully consider what "you" want....research and slowly build it to the level "you" want.
Please follow my origional advice.....*_*
 

krux

Member
A large tomato clown will be one of the most territorial and agressive fish you will see. I would rocommend against it if you plan to have some smaller doscile fish in your tank. They really do not take well to newer additions once they have established a section of the tank as their turf.
As for humas, I have wanted one forever as well, but from talking to people who have had them, while they are on the less aggressive side as far as triggers go, I was told that they can easily snap as they grow and take out everything. I guess thats the trouble with triggers though.
For your size tank, I would recommend some of the medium to larger sized wrasses.... there are a number of really nice ones that have a lot of character. I have seen in larger tanks with lots of rock work some huge ones, but be advised that most of them will be carniverous, so dont plan any small gobies and what not as hey might be mistaken for food.
There are some really nice books available that have photos of fish, their size categories, heir aggression levels, and what they do and do not get along with. I would buy one of those and go through it page by page looking for things in the size you want, and making sure that their dietary and living space requirements can be met.
If you like to save cash for fish like I do just go read it at Barnes and Noble or Borders, or maybe ask a relative to get one for you from here for an upcoming special occasion.
GL
Just thought of one more thing..... you can get a school of dithering fish to help ease aggression.... many people use green chromis for that purpose. The larger school of fish provides a lot of targets for territory squabbles and makes a larger target for things to pick on than say, a newly added angel. As an added bonus you get a nice schooling effect near the mid to top of your tank, a region normally not enhabited by most fish. The best part is they are only 3 or 4 dollars each, so on a big tank like yours you can afford to get 10 or 15 and let them think that they are still in the ocean with all their buddies.
 

karvis

Member
just wait, mine turned cloudy this week and when i woke up, all the fish were dead it has only been up for 4 weeks. i transfered my mollies over and did a 50% water change... dont turn out like me!
 

tallyho

Member
I have 150 show with the following listed in
order of size"
1 Catalina Goby
2 Yellow Tail Blue Damsels
1 Domino
1 Yellow wrasse
1 Gold Maroon Clown
1 Niger Trigger
1 Heniochus Singularis
1 Yellow Tang
If I ever catch the Domino I will add a Koran Angel, the Domino does not bother the other fish
I currently have but killed a pyramid butterfly
I had.I am afraid he might stress out the Koran.
The fish I have all get along well, last 3 in list are close in size. The Maroon and Wrasse are smaller but more then hold their own.The Catalina has several areas he can "dart" to but
the others do not pressure him.
None of them seem to bother my pink and green or knobby cucumbers.Snails and crabs are ok also.
Regards
 

von_rahvin

Member
I would try and figure out where you want to go. Do you want to go aggressive?? (triggers, lions eels etc) or more firendly?? with a 155 you can do all kinds of really cool stuff, but before you went much farther, i would sit down and ask yourself where you want to be. Where would i want to go?? I am plannoing on setting up a 200+ gall aggressive. cause they are really cool. Now are my ideas of cool the same as yours? I doubt it. I would also recommend against trying to mix the ideas, (that being aggressive and a commune tank) lots of fish have the ability to die and then you are an unhappy/ on your way to be broke from buying fish fish keeper.
 

bklynz00

Member
Hey !! Great size tank, I have a 155 gallon bow, and the options you have are tremendous. Just have to research and most importantly.. Take your time..Iam slowly adding fish my self..But, not going to add any more until I get my chiller.. Have you considered on how to keep your tank cool in the summer months yet ? Cause that's a nice sized tank..... "Good-Luck"
 
Top