180 gallon aggressive tank questions?

[hughes07]

i was thinking of starting up a 180 gallon aggressive tank. I want a clown trigger, a yellow or blue tang, a picasso trigger, maybe a dogface puffer. those are the fish i am considering to house. a couple questions however.
1.)is this the best size tank for all these fish (maybe a couple more) or am i just stupid and need to forget about the whole thing? i'm pretty much just throwing the number "180 gallons" out there. i haven't purchased anything yet so give me ur best opinions
2.)ive seen a compatability chart on the internet and all of these fish seem to be pretty compatable but it says there are some exceptions. are these fish good with each other?
3.)this is my final question. what would the best equipment be for a large aggressive tank?
thank you
john

 

[aquaman]

Clown triggers are too aggressive to house with other fish, also it’s generally accepted that you do not house triggers together, and this goes with most puffers. As for equipment you would need good filtration for an aggressive set up as most aggressive fish (and lager fish) are messy eaters, and poop a lot because they eat a lot. Do some more research, and do not give up on your ideas, just make some adjustments.

 

[cubfan]

If you want a 180, go for it!!! It may take a bit longer and be more expensive, but you'll most likely be happier if you wait for what you want. I waited about 6 months for my 150 (upgraded from a 55) and I'm very pleased. Do lots of research and ask lots of questions. There are some pretty smart people on these boards. Also use the search feature on this site to find more info. Good luck.

 

[g-reef]

i have a clown trigger and a titan trigger as wel as a queen trigger and a black dog face.
they all do well except at feeding time the titan trigger gets possesive over the food. keep in mind if you do this type of tank have a lot of live rock about 100 plus pounds with caves and hiding places.
love my tank the trigger i believe are natural clowns my titan will come up to the glass and start spinning.
my opinion it would be fine

 

[hughes07]

thanks. i have no idea where to even begin to start on this project. i just want a big enough tank to put some pretty sweet fish in there (preferably big) however i don't want a tank over 200. i'm 15 and i want to put this in my basement. ive made quite a few things in my parents house for them and i'm thinking this would be an awesome addition to our basement. i already have a 38 gallon saltwater (maroon clown, 2 damsels) and a 20 gallon freshwater (started with 5 guppies, now i have to many to count) so i'm thinking about making the 20 gallon a reef tank for my room, selling the 38 or making it a refugium for the bigger tank. where would i start besides research.

 

[aquaman]

Originally posted by hughes07
where would i start besides research.
Save lots of money, get a job to make money, do odd and end work to get money. The biggest downside to this hobby is if you are going to do it properly, its going to cost ya. BTW if you can learn to DIY then you can save quite a bit too.

 

[hughes07]

i'm going to probably get either a 150 or a 180 gallon tank. and put a diy skimmer box to put the skimmer, filter, heater, and pretty much everything else in the tank so that you can't see any of it. then im going to make a diy refugium out of the 38 gallon. then buy the lighting, new filter, skimmer, lr, ls, and whatnot.

 

[unleashed]

best way to do it is research find a compaibilty chart and see whos compatible with whom.if you havent purchased your tank yet find out each fish you like the looks of and what the tank requirements are for each species and decide tank size from that.next purchase your tank and set up cycle everything before you purchase your fish but research as much as possible .find out everything you need to know and you will have good luck with your tank.this is not a hobby to just ask your local fish store they tend to not realy care if your tank survives. theer are exeptions to that rule some do care.and some even know what they are talking about.but unfortunalty the novist doesnt know the difference.dont trust hear say if you ask for advice use that as a reference but always do your own research.find out as much as you can.good luck and im sure you will have a great set up

 

[offshore80]

Just remember you have to do water changes on a grander scale. I have a 180 with a 50 gal fuge, 25 gal sump and 300 lbs of live rock. I only have 7 large fish in there but still must do a weekly 30 gallon water change to keep the nitrates down below 50ppm. 2 triggers, 1 puffer, 2 tangs, 1 large maroon clown and 1 Lunar wrasse.

 

[undulate*]

Originally posted by Aquaman
Clown triggers are too aggressive to house with other fish, also it’s generally accepted that you do not house triggers together, and this goes with most puffers. As for equipment you would need good filtration for an aggressive set up as most aggressive fish (and lager fish) are messy eaters, and poop a lot because they eat a lot. Do some more research, and do not give up on your ideas, just make some adjustments. [/QUOTE
Not to Say your wrong or anything cause you probly know a lot more than me but i dont think clowns are to aggresive to go with anything else because i have seen them with picasso trigger, Niger Trigger and a porky Puffer. As a matter of fact the Picasso was the dominant eater.

 

[offshore80]

You can put them all together in a soup of aggressive fish. But, as they mature over the years the clowns, Queens & Undulated triggers tend to get very aggressive as they mature. A friend of mine has a 150 which was a community tank with a host of aggressive fish. Over the past 5 years he's down to 1 very large (11") Queen trigger. Eventually, they all succumbed to either starvation or body damage of some sort. Some made it back to the LFS if he could catch them. The Queen was so aggressive at feeding time the others just stopped eating. He was biting everything and anything that got in his way of food you would of thought it was a paranah.
So what seems right today could be a mistake years down the road.
I have a 12" puffer that catches hell at feeding time. He's so slow he could never eat if I didn't hand feed him nightly. Unfortunately, the Humma usually gets at least one bite on him. It usually heals over night. This behavior just seemed to start about a year ago. There is such competition for food that they just go into a freenzy.