Stock this FO Tank

bettachris4

bettachris4

Member
This aquarium is my first aquarium that someone has asked me to design and maintain so we are looking at a 150 or 180 or 200 gallon aquarium.
I plan on it being a Fish only aquarium with reef inserts. I need ideas on filtration, i have never used sump filtration before and worried about flooding.
Since we arent housing corals or live rock, i plan on using just very basic florcent lighting for viewing.
Since this is my first non reef tank i could also use some suggestions on substrate, not live sand.
And finally the fish... We want to go with not alot of fish but colorful and peaceful...
This is what i was thinking:
-Start the aquarium with 6 Green chormis to cycle.
-after the tank is cycled, add 4 ocellaris clowns
-wait about 3 weeks and add 4 Heniocas or striped banner fish
-another 3 weeks and a emperor angelfish and prehaps a queen angelfish
Would this be too many fish for lets say a 200 gallon aquarium.
Please let me know of any ideas or suggestions.
 
crypt keeper

crypt keeper

Active Member
First. Do not cycle your tank with fish. There is no reason too.
Second. You have zero natural filtration which is the best.
Third. Your fish list is okay and not a huge bioload for a 200 gallon tank.
Fourth. Some person asked you design something you know nothing about and you are doing it about as wrong as you possibly can.
 
oceansidefish

oceansidefish

Active Member
Agreed, why would you NOT use LR and LS in a tank??? Also why have you never done a setup with a sump? Why would you cycle with Chromis and why not more variety.
I would do the biggest I could so say a 200 drilled w overflow... Use a 75 for the sump. Use 2 eheim 1262's for the return... and a nice skimmer, say a WM research AS 350. Since its a FO i would probably run a UV since I would want some tangs.
I would put in the tank.
Snow flake eel
Pair of Maroon clowns
one of the larger tangs
An angel or two
one of the larger wrasses, lunare or leopard
cuban hogfish
squirelfish
 
hlcroghan

hlcroghan

Active Member
Definitely do not cycle your tank with chromis. The ammonia burns them and although they are hardy fish, they can also be super aggressive (think pirahnas of the ocean). It is better to cycle with a dead salad shrimp. You throw it in there and then as it deteriorates it causes the cycle to begin. Aso nicer to the live animals...

You should definitely have live sand and live rock. Easier to maintain the tank with the natural filtration. It also looks better.
Last do not add 4 clowns into the tank. If you want more than one, buy a mated pair. Less likely they will kill each other. You probably would want a maroon clown if you are going to have a large angel. They are bigger, more aggressive and can hold their own with that type of fish.
The reason they asked if you were a troll is because these are very very basic questions. They are surprised that someone does not already know these things. I would spend a lot of time on here before you even think about starting up a tank. And remember, there is no way to speed up the process. Patience will save you heartache and lots of money.
 
ilovemytank

ilovemytank

Member
I don't think this thread is for real. Anyone who or could be paid to set up a tank for someone would know these basics ! Troll !
 
bettachris4

bettachris4

Member
i have nano reefs but im asking to double check as this is my first large saltwater setup.
It isnt a customer, but my father has asked me to put a 200 gallon aquarium into a new office in orlando.
The reason why i dont want to go LS and LR is i will not be able to care for this aquarium every week. From what i learned from LA fishguys jim recommends not adding LR or LS to a FO tank becuase when your going to add medications if something goes wrong, then copper meds will end up killing everything anyway.
My home tanks use HOB filtration and canister for both fresh and saltwater, never had the need to use a sump filter.
Not a big fan of a fishless cycle though i do understand how it is done. So i should go without the chormis. What is another good small schooling fish to add. Anthias?
And for the rudeness. Ive been working with aquariums for 13 years with 2 years in saltwater. I dont consider myself an expert by any means just that my family member has asked me to set up an aquarium and rather than highering someone else to do it, i would like to take a shot at a larger aquarium setup. I go to school in tampa so im not going to orlando every week to service the aquarium.
 
rotarymagic

rotarymagic

Active Member
Do this then... get you a 55 gallon tank for hypo...
Add sand and rock to the 200gallon tank... cycle it..
then while the tank is cycling, hypo some fish in the 55 for 4 weeks@1.008 SG to kill any possible parasites..
When the tank is cycled, the fish will be ready to go in... parasite free..
This way you don't have to worry about medicating with copper because the parasites will be all dead and their eggs too..
How ingenious is that???
With the sump... make sure you have a sump that is at least 1/3 volume of the display tank and run check valves on your returns... this will prevent flooding..you will be able to hide all the ugly heaters and stuff in the sump and run a refugium and skimmer there to keep nutrient levels down.
Also... don't waste such a large tank on clowns and crap like that... even chromis would be a waste... if you want schoolers, get anthias (with automatic feeder) since they're much brighter colored anyway. Some nice active wrasses would be nice too...
 
oceansidefish

oceansidefish

Active Member
The person might want to get a service to come in if they don't know anything about tanks anyways it sounds like. It will still need to be topped off and such. Also if you QT fish there wont be a worry about any problems. I used to have a 240 where I worked with CC (ooohhh) and LR. There were NO problems in that tank. We had a large tang, hawkfish, puffer and several damsels...
 
hlcroghan

hlcroghan

Active Member
Originally Posted by Rotarymagic
http:///forum/post/2923042
Do this then... get you a 55 gallon tank for hypo...
Add sand and rock to the 200gallon tank... cycle it..
then while the tank is cycling, hypo some fish in the 55 for 4 weeks@1.008 SG to kill any possible parasites..
When the tank is cycled, the fish will be ready to go in... parasite free..
This way you don't have to worry about medicating with copper because the parasites will be all dead and their eggs too..
How ingenious is that???
With the sump... make sure you have a sump that is at least 1/3 volume of the display tank and run check valves on your returns... this will prevent flooding..you will be able to hide all the ugly heaters and stuff in the sump and run a refugium and skimmer there to keep nutrient levels down.
Also... don't waste such a large tank on clowns and crap like that... even chromis would be a waste... if you want schoolers, get anthias (with automatic feeder) since they're much brighter colored anyway. Some nice active wrasses would be nice too...
Nice response!!
+1 on the anthias.....
With a 200 gallon you could have some amazing fish in there. Really when you have LS and LR there is a lot less chance that you will have as many disease problems......something to think about.
 
bettachris4

bettachris4

Member
thanks for the reply.
and on my reef tanks i do have LS and LR i understand the use of it but im just saying for a FO LAfishguy says your better off with non of that as it is more experience. Point being that since im not checking on this tank everyday in case a parasite got introduced into the aquarium it would just make it a waste. The UV idea is a good thing i didnt even think of.
So remove the smaller fish and go bigger? maybe a golden moray?
 
hlcroghan

hlcroghan

Active Member
Originally Posted by bettachris4
http:///forum/post/2923085
thanks for the reply.
and on my reef tanks i do have LS and LR i understand the use of it but im just saying for a FO LAfishguy says your better off with non of that as it is more experience. Point being that since im not checking on this tank everyday in case a parasite got introduced into the aquarium it would just make it a waste. The UV idea is a good thing i didnt even think of.
So remove the smaller fish and go bigger? maybe a golden moray?
Yes that would be beautiful. A lot of people do go with glass bottom tanks......I still really think you should reconsider the LR and LS. If you quarantine all the of the fish then nothing can get "introduced" anyway. It will have been killed off in the first place. Contrary to popular belief, fish do not just have bugs in them from birth. They have to catch it just like any other animal. That is why do the hypo and copper in the quarantine tank before ever putting them in your tank. They you have no worries...:)
 
crypt keeper

crypt keeper

Active Member
Also Salt water tanks take a little elbow grease. You are asking for more issues and maintenance without the correct filtartion. If you just do mechanical filtration they will need to cleaned more often than without natural filtration.
 
ilovemytank

ilovemytank

Member
I'm sorry if you think I was being rude to you but I was. There are alot of people who post threads to purposely get a rise or start members arguing. Yours definately seemed like one. So I offer you an apology. Now I have a couple of questions and statements. Are the people in your dad's office willing to assign someone to check on and do the daily maintenance on your tank ( for example; replace evaporated water ) ? 2nd: You keep quoting the laguys ( forgive me if I got that wrong ) as not advising live rock and live sand in case you have to medicine your tank.; I'm not putting these guys down or declaring what they say as wrong but there are a ton of members on this board with tons of experience and I'm not sure you will find any that recommend you not putting in live rock for that reason. You should Quaruntee the fish or hypo them and make sure there isn't any parasites on them before you put them in. The live rock and live sand is the # 1 most important thing for your fish's health. Its a massive filteration as well as provides huge comfort for the fish ( for hiding and escaping to ) so they don't stress which can cause a fish to get sick. You can put fake stuff in for hiding spots for the fish but you will most likely have algea problems. You should never plan on using medications to get you out of a bind but plan before hand so you never need them. The only medicine I have used in the past five years was once for cyno bacteria. Also most medicines that contain copper are deadly to most all inverts, which means your clean up crew. You will have algea and nitrate problems with out them and the sand or you will be doing alot more water changes and maitenance frequently. Tanks that are large like th one you want can be run on canisters but that adds even more maintenance to it. As for the not cycling with fish, I'm glad you retracted that. :
now about having anthias; They are beautiful fish and great mid range swimming schooling fish. They require two to three ( should be three ) feedings a day because of the size of their stomachs and metabolism. They are considered a higher maintenance fish because of that. Lets say you put a timer feeder on the tank. You must use flake ( not frozen obviously ) in them. That dumps the food on the top layer of your water. the anthias will feed on the flake as some sinks ( so will most other fish ) the problem is if you use an overflow box then a large portion of food will go into it before it sinks. This will cause your filter pad to fill up quickly. Then the food sits in the water breaking down into nitrates. Lets say you use hang on the back filters or canister. They will suck up alot of the food as it sinks and have do the same thing. Canisters are so efficient that they will suck up alot. This will require much more detailed cleaning more often or you will have health issues. If I were you I would ask your dad if there is somebody in the office that is willing to take on the responsibilaty of the tank instead of you being so far away. I do wish you good luck and the anthias are beautifull if someone is willing to take time every couple of days and get their hands wet.
 
rotarymagic

rotarymagic

Active Member
nothing says cheap and a waste of money like an empty tank... people would stop doing business at your dad's place if there was an empty "hospital" lookin tank up there..
Do you want a display or an eye sore? think about it.. a bunch of fish in a bare tank reminds me of a QT lol...
 
bettachris4

bettachris4

Member
certainly understand im on Y!A all day and get frustrated with members there.
Here's a little more info, it is a carwash so we have unlimited access to RO DI water, my father is use to changing filter media and knows a thing or two about aquariums so he can feed.
I was orginially planning a reef tank with 20K metal halides but after thinking i will not be able to check levels and adjust every week, but i will be able everyother week to check up on the aquarium.
if we QT the fish first, it would make sense that a parasite would not enter the aquarium. i use pink fiji sand in my aquariums now, so im thinking of continuing with this, i do want to go with the plastic inserts for the color and easier maintance. LR for the biological filtration is good but i dont know if it is worth putting it behind the plastic inserts as we plan to put the inserts in the middle of the tank.
Ok back to the fish, is the general rule the larger fish the later they should be put in?
Like the emperor angelfish should be last?
 
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