300 Gal - Which Sea Life Do You Recommend?

[holloway]

I have a 300G Reef tank recently set up on 6/12/03. I put in 12 Damsels and 2 inverts/coral ???? today (6/15/03): (2) Domino, (2) Yellow Tail Blue, (2) Striped, (2) Reticulate dascylus, (4) Blue Green Chromis, (1) Green Polyp, (1) Feather Duster.
I need to know what you can recommend to a beginner with a saltwater tank. Ideally I would like to create a community tank that has crustaceans, inverts, fish and coral all living peacefully. I understand certain fish like to eat certain corals and certain crustaceans will eat certain fish. I would like to know from you experts with a tank that size, what fish would be suitable to try and establish an environment that is beautiful, colorful and peaceful. I really like the odd sea creatures (ex: Striped Mandarin, Pinnate Bat Fish, shrimp, coral, etc…). I know this is quite an open playing field but I am looking for a popular opinion on what is practical and vigorous for someone who has limited experience with a saltwater setup.

 

[gene52569]

I am new to salt water fish myself and can only recommend from my own mistakes. Be sure to research before you buy. Dont put a trigger or a puffer in a reef tank. They will eat almost anything they can get in thier mouth. I have seen my puffer suck up hermit crabs and try to crush thier shells. They like to eat shrimp as well.
Stay away from choc. chip starfish, They will eat fish that sleep on the bottom such as royal grammas, who are a great addition to a reaf tank. cc starfish will eat soft corrals also.
For a newbie such as myself mushrooms and ricordia corral are a great addition, mine are doing well and are growing rapidly.
Tangs are reef safe from what I understand but if you have plants tangs will eat them.
If you want crabs such as sally lightfoots then you cant have an eel. My eel made a snack out of one as soon as the crab hit the bottom of the tank.
Serpant starfish are great for reef tanks.
I ended up with 2 tanks. 1 reef and 1 for the reef-unsafe.
Blue Damsals are reef safe but when you put them in they may think they own the entire tank. Mine do, they harass and nip at the other fish, regardless on size.
Beware of advise from your local fish store, they may give advise only with a $ sale $ in mind.

 

[marinefish]

if i were you i let the tank cycle first before you buy anything living. your tank will crash if u dont let it mature first. good luck.

 

[fishy88]

did you cycle?

 

[holloway]

Thanks for all the great advice for potential candidates for my tank. As far as cycling goes, the rock and the sand were all prepped before the installation at my LFS. The water is straight from Catalina. They advised me to put the Damsels in to help cycle the tank and based on their estimations, the tank should be stable in about a week. I do intend to check the water. My LFS recommends that I pick out all the fish at once and they will corral them all together in a holding tank there for about a week and we should introduce them to my tank all at the same time. What are your opinions?

 

[timo]

Keep in mind that the bacteria that stabilizes the tank during cycling can support the waste of a minimal amount of fish. Adding fish slowly, seperating between fish some weeks, ensures the natural filtration process can keep up. When adding fish, start with a general plan...Add the least aggressive and territorial fish first, working towards the "meaner" ones.
With a tank that large, you're looking at a long process. One I wish I were on!!
HTH
Tim

 

[chef jaysen]

I just curious did you say you are starting a 300 gallon reef? If so am I mistaken that you only have 280 watts of light. Thats less than 1 watt per gallon. You need to be much closer to 4-6 watts to start a reef. As for fish, I hope all those damsels die so you dont have to worry about them being teritorial and attacking your expensive fish when you put them in. As for fish choices. Couple tangs of your liking, few percs and some blennies. Keep the traffic low cause the real beauty will be the corals. Good luck.

 

[flamehawk]

Agree w/ Timo...add slowly. Also agree to wait 4-6 weeks then get rid of the damsels if you can catch them. Also agree need much more lighting if doing reef. Ok if doing FOWLR. Pinnate bat is too sensitive for my taste. Look around...won't see many in tanks...the reason is because they don't last.
WE'll if you get rid of damsels, you'll have lots of options. Get a good book and sit down and ollan your fish additons, Again go slow. I personally woiuld fo FOWLR tank because I like fish better then corals and this tyoe tank really opens up the fish possibilities. I would have a field day w/ this size tank.
Emperor or blue face angel, Sohal or Powder blue, Yellow tang, hippo, pair of percs, flame hawk, etc.etc. By the way I have all of these fish devided amongst 4 tanks! Good luck!

 

[holloway]

bump

 

[jumpfrog]

So many options at this point. While you're waiting for the tank to settle this is a good time to research. Two books I can recommend are Bob Fenner's The Conscientious Marine Aquarist and Scott Michael's Marine Fishes. Some time spent with those books will help you plan your future tank inhabitants.
Good Luck!
A 300 built in will go in our new house in a couple years. I figure it will take me that long to figure out a stocking plan.

 

[tony detroit]

Say no to batfish! Resist the urge