Suggestions for a 46 gal office fish only tank

stang5_o

stang5_o

Member
Im going to set up my 46 gallon bowfront in my office. I dont want to go with a reef because of all the extra equipment and maintenance. Id like to have some stocking ideas and maybe some aquascapes from a tank roughly this size. Small colorful fish that are active would be my preference plus it would be more entertaining for the customers. Any ideas on schooling, small, colorful, active fish?
Thanks!
 
halamaya

halamaya

Member
Sooo many cool fish. Purple Firefish, Yellow Assesar, neon cleaner gobies (blue and yellow,) Green clown Goby (nice Christmas colors,) red headed blue sided fairy wrasse, target dragonet (not for atleast 6 months though,) dwarf angel (should be added close to last,) Anthias if you have enough rock. Only special equipment a reef needs that a FOWLR doesn't is high powered lights. PS. the plastic strip lights are not made for saltwater. If your not planning on great equipment, make sure you have atleast 60 lbs sand, and 30 lbs or more live rock. Also two or three nice powerheads, Koralia's are great. Hope this helps you.
 
stang5_o

stang5_o

Member
Lighting is the main thing I dont want to have to purchase lol. I already have a cheap light, a skimmer, 40-50lb live rock, big bag of sand, several powerheads of different sizes and a large hob filter that I may set up to run carbon if needed.
Was considering gong barebottom but I'm not sure... Any thoughts? Is it ok to go bb in a fish only tank? I've had reefs but never fish only so I'm not sure of the differences
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
I do just want to ask...
Do you have complete control over this office, as in you control the A/C, heating and cleaning of the office?
If you do not control these, I would ask a lot of questions before setting it up. There are a lot of stories of people mysteriously losing fish in an office environment, and it is, for example, because they turn the a/c off over the weekend, or the cleaning crew goes free wheeling with lysol.
 
stang5_o

stang5_o

Member
Good point. Yes I do have complete control. It's a family owned car dealership. The tank would be in the main office/lobby which is where I am all day
 
cedarreef

cedarreef

Member
I would definitely get a pair of clowns, maybe a pair or firefish, a pygmy angel such as a flame or coral beauty angel and a pair of cleaner shrimp... yes, i'm partial to pairs but it looks nice! =D
 
halamaya

halamaya

Member
tried to do a bare bottom thought i could clean it easier and well i was trying nopt to spend money. Did not work at all, really need the sand. 60 lbs if your filter isn't any good.
 
skate020

skate020

Member
no point going bb, only looks good in a reef when its covered in coraline algae, which will look odd in the fish only, and i think, pair of clowns deff:D
flame or bi-color angel, pair of banggaii cardinals, couple of bi color damsels to school:D
that should make the office look alot more lively and nice:D
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
I would agree on the bare bottom - it actually shows a fair amount of detritus, IMO, and just doesn't quite look complete to non-tank folk I think.
If this is to please the public, then you must have "nemo" in there. When I worked at an aquarium, that was the big thing, along with a bicolor or skunk pseudo which people thoughts was cool.
You can forget the fancy expensive subtle fish...they won't be appreciated LOL. In this huge 3500g reef the public saw the nemos and those pseudos. Meanwhile there was a $$$$ helfrichi firefish in front of the tank. Completely overlooked.
Pair of clowns, flame angel, pseudo or gramma...dare I say maybe some yellow tail damsels...
 
V

vinnyraptor

Guest
i go with easy, hardy, interesting, and colorful in that order. that means chromis/damsels, clowns, anthias, etc. i would stay away from dwarf angels. if it were me i'd get 3 blue/green chromis, 2 small clowns, a sixline wrasse, and or a flame hawkfish.
 
skate020

skate020

Member
no chromis, they'll kill each other untill theres one left, not really a pleasing sight, chromis having ago at eachother.
a dwarf angel IMO would be fine, bi-color is probably the biggest you wanna go, they get about 6" long, and are beautiful. clowns deffffinately, they are amazing, could mabe go for a B/W clowns for a change, sixlines, no no no, they are weirddd creatures, one wil be a god send, another will be the devil, i've had one who just went about eating all my cleaner shrimp, and if you want a manderin 6 months down the road, the sixline will kill it.
damsels will be ok actually, the yellow tails.
if you have a stocklist like say,
1x bi-color angel
2x clowns
4x damsels
that'll be nice:D very active, the bi-color gets to a reasonable size, and the damsels will school, could get a manderin later too.
 
V

vinnyraptor

Guest
Originally Posted by skate020
http:///forum/post/3180634
no chromis, they'll kill each other untill theres one left, not really a pleasing sight, chromis having ago at eachother.
a dwarf angel IMO would be fine, bi-color is probably the biggest you wanna go, they get about 6" long, and are beautiful. clowns deffffinately, they are amazing, could mabe go for a B/W clowns for a change, sixlines, no no no, they are weirddd creatures, one wil be a god send, another will be the devil, i've had one who just went about eating all my cleaner shrimp, and if you want a manderin 6 months down the road, the sixline will kill it.
damsels will be ok actually, the yellow tails.
if you have a stocklist like say,
1x bi-color angel
2x clowns
4x damsels
that'll be nice:D very active, the bi-color gets to a reasonable size, and the damsels will school, could get a manderin later too.
ive had the same three chromis for over a year, they are a peaceful schooling fish. damsels are far more likely to kill eachother over territory and food. NOT COOL to get a Mandarin without a sump and plenty of pods. DUDE stop giving bad advice. a sixline may go after shrimp but i never told him to mix the two.
 
small triggers

small triggers

Active Member
Im agreeing with Ophiura...so my vote, a pair of clowns,,,, a smaller dwarf angel like a flame or cherub , some kind of Pseudochromis or the royal gramma,, and maybe a goby or a midas blenny I agree with Ophiura mainly, cept i hate damsels with clowns, makes me worried...
 
skate020

skate020

Member
Originally Posted by VinnyRaptor
http:///forum/post/3180741
ive had the same three chromis for over a year, they are a peaceful schooling fish. damsels are far more likely to kill eachother over territory and food. NOT COOL to get a Mandarin without a sump and plenty of pods. DUDE stop giving bad advice. a sixline may go after shrimp but i never told him to mix the two.
General rulefor chromis are they eventually kill each other till theres one left, and i said get a manderin later, as in 6 months,because then the tank will be able to support one, so im not the one giving out bad advise. and a sixline, if it'll go for a cleaner shrimp then it shows a aggresive nature, so it wont be good in such a peaceful tank,
and damsels may be a worse fish then chromis but they are alot prettier and wont kill each other if treated correctly, wich i assume they will.
so DUDE stop being stubborn
 
small triggers

small triggers

Active Member
actually Skate, if you look at his equipment list, hes gonna have an HOB ,, so there is no where for pods to repopulate,,,, they would dwindle down to nothing in a quick minute in a 46g tank..
and chromis' may kill each other being a damsel themselves,,, but it is less likely in a tank where there is not alot of competition....
as far as damsels and sixlines being aggressive its hit or miss, i personally hate damsels, but would and did have a 6line in my 12g and he did fine...
 
skate020

skate020

Member
HOB filter depending on size can replace some material with some LR rubble and a lil bit of cheato and a clip on light, can act as a small fuge, worked for me for ages:D
 
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