Need some help here!

[fishfood]

I posted this in -- and had no replies. So maybe someone here will help out.
"I have posted twice now asking advise on stocking with my 125. The first time I was told, by most people, that these fish would be ok together. snowflake eel, spotfin lion, blue face angel, purple tang and a blue jaw trigger. Then in another post i listed the fish again but this time it was asking about invert that I could add and was told by some of the same people that those fish wouldn't be good together, specifically the trigger and lionfish, or the trigger because of the possibility of him going off on the other fish once they are at adault size. I have come to realize that skipping the trigger might be the best idea. I would also like to maybe consider one more fish in its place. I might go with a zebra lion in place of the spotfin and keep the others(eel, angel and tang). Would a butterfly or Anthius fit in with this mix, or should i just stick with those 4?"
I have also been getting feedback that the Angel will pick on a lion, but I've seen compatability charts that say they could be together.
Any Ideas?

 

[fishfood]

JW-
Thanks for the reply. I was afraid of the fact that some of these fish being shy and wanting to hide. I plan to have the tank shoot out 6 ft from a wall dividing the living room and dinning room. They will probably have less chance to hide in a tank like this. Would that stress the Angel? The one fish I am for sure about is the Purple Tang. He needs out of my 55 tub. He is still small but when I finally get set up with this 125 he will need to move. As far as Filtration. I'm going to run two rubbermaid containers under the tank. One as a wet-dry type filter that feeds to the other one which will be a fuge. I'm estimating two 30 to 40 gal tubs depending what fits. Throw in about 75-100 lbs of LR and a Euro-Reef type skimmer and i would hope that would be sufficient. I have less running on my 55 gal reef. All top off water will be RODI. I really wanted an angel and lionfish, but do not want to get them and have the angel kill the lionfish. I also wanted some movement in the tank. The tang will provide that but more would be nice. Would the blue jaw trigger be better in the situation than the angel? That would elminate the largest fish in the tank and give the trigger more room with just a tang and possibly a butterfly fish. I'm thinking of downgrading to a zebra lion as well, so it will also be a bit smaller as an adult. So I would be looking at a 9 inch trigger, 8 inch lion, not sure about the tang, and 2 foot eel with something like a 7 inch butterfly, VS the 10-12 inch lion with the 15 inch angel.
Drew

 

[fishfood]

JW-
I planned on adding the tang and angel at the same time - probably about 6 months after set up. I can't add anything to my 55 tank because of the tang. He has killed 2 fish I think. I plan on going with about 75lb of dry base rock and then 25 lbs of lr. I'll most likely let the thing cycle for 2 months adding the eel and lion somewhere along that timeframe. Plus i wanted to get some zoo, shrooms and polyps going before i put an angel in. I know they will pick but was hoping that with enough in the tank it wouldn't be a problem. I intend to run pvc pipe under the sand in the main tank for the eel which i've heard that they enjoy. I'll probably go with a semi dsb in the main tank as well. Was hoping to put some clean up critters in here with that mix of fish minus the trigger, and even some with the trigger. Anyway I figure the lion and eel will be in the tank about 4 to 5 months before anything else is put in the tank. Set up will only take place sometime in late december early jan so I have a good 8 or 9 months before I'd even get an angel. That is where my decision will come in. I don't want to crowd the tank with a large angel and trigger. It will be one or the other, but I also want the lion and do not want to have to get another tank to house the lion or angel should something go wrong. I'll check out the other angels in that family and see if there is anything that stays smaller and is still as attractive of a fish. You got any suggestions? Anyone have an Angel and a Lion together with little or no problems.
I never thought an aggressive/ semi fish only tank would be as difficult to plan as a sps reef tank

 

[jp0379]

On this board you'll see LOTS of different experiences. You'll see "never" do this or that, and "never" isnt' a word that ought to be used. I know there are still those that say as soon as your tank is established, take out the damsels. I never have, and out of all my damsels I've had one who had an attitude and had to be removed.
My LFS, which I've been dealing with for years, has the policy that if your fish doesn't get along with the other fish in the tank, you can bring it back for a credit within 10 days. Talk to the people are your store and see if they will do the same.
Also, as I said, there are lots of examples of people who have had fish swimming together, day after day, with no problems, while some others who have had the same fish had to separate 'em. Good luck, and let us know how it goes. We all learn from each other.