Need some suggestions....

08-15-2006, 06:43 PM

Well, after giving it much thought, i am seriously considering switching over my fw Amazon themed tank to a large-fish sw tank. The main reason being that my snowy grouper has outgrown his tank and i am too attached to give him up. He's my baby, and has the personality of a puppy....the most personality in any fish i have ever owned thorughout my years of keeping fish.
This will be a big step for me because I will have to give up some fish i love, such as a 12" silver aro...and also have no more room for freshwater fish, as my only other fw tank will be a 30 gallon, already inhabited by yellow labidochromis. This will also be the largest saltwater setup ive ever had, at 150 gallons.
Now, I've been brainstorming and i've been figuring out things such as tank maintenance with such a larger saltwater setup, but im pretty sure ive got it covered.
I'm posting now, beause i need some suggestions on fish stock...I may not get any fish for a while after i set it up for my grouper, but for future referance i would like to have some ideas on other tank inhabitants.

My grouper is currently hitting the 8-9 inch mark, which poses a problem with new fish because of his mouth size...so getting marine fishes his size or larger will be tricky, and will carry a heavy price tag. So my main concern is getting something that will fit perfectly with him for a price i can afford.
Although he is not an aggressive fish, my grouper has a large mouth and will try to eat anything he considers food. I have observed him, and he seems to be okay with fish larger than him.
Now im coming here looking for a list of possible future tank mates. I am looking for something reasonably priced, although i understand it may still be up there and i am also looking for something a bit hardier. I was thinking about angels, but i haven't been able to find anything less than $200....i know i probably wont, but it's worth a shoutout to my fishforums friends. I was also thinking about a harlequin tusk, but i fear they stay too small....any opinions on this?
Any suggestions you can make on fish selection and even general information on large sw setups would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much.
-Scuba

gdwb10101 · 08-15-2006, 07:03 PM

Personally, I love tangs and I would love to own a full sized naso or sohal tang. They aren't very small, nor huge, but are beautiful.

**Fishfirst** · 08-16-2006, 10:11 AM

actually nasos and sohals get fairly large as far as tangs go. And a large sohal could be fairly aggressive toward your grouper. A naso would need bigger digs sooner or later, but for now, if you got a 7-8 inch naso you'd be fine for quite a while.

gdwb10101 · 08-16-2006, 10:43 AM

I agree. I personally have never owned a sohal, but I love my naso. I have a juvenile that I will keep for about 1 year before he grows too large. Then hopefully I will upgrade to a large, 200g, FOWLR tank and keep my other for reef.

But simply stated the naso has been a great addition to my tank. My naso is very peaceful and a great tankmate to my clown.

leveldrummer · 08-16-2006, 01:46 PM

should be pretty easy to find a nice angel that has out grown its owners tank. check with you local reef club, or one in the general area, people buy lots of angels and other fish that quickly out grow their small tanks, a niger trigger or picasso would be a great addition. maybe a nice eel?

08-16-2006, 02:10 PM

Not too sure i want to a tang, but i was considering maybe a nice French Angel and some kind of moray. Possibly a snowflake or a zebra moray (are zebras pricey?). I was also considering a picasso trigger, but ive read that those can be very aggressive. Is this true, because i would love a picasso trigger. i know most triggers can be aggressive, but how are pinktails? I've heard they are pretty docile.
Also, any ideas on a certain type of angel that would be good? (hardy, affordable, easy to find?)

Thank you very much for the feedback guys. It's very appreciated.

flamingo · 08-16-2006, 08:11 PM

Zebra moray eels can SOMETIMES be very expensive, depending on where you get them from. But don't expect to buy one for like 50 bucks. I've heard they are pretty mellow in most cases, just sticking to they're cave. Other moray eels are also great additions to a grouper tank.

Some triggers can be very territorial, like the clown trigger which needs large spaces to claim it's own. I really don't know much about the agression with other ones. Of course expect them to turn into a possible fin nipper, they'll even pick off lionfish fins.

That's pretty much all I can think of right now lol.

leveldrummer · 08-16-2006, 09:07 PM

ive heard of picassos getting pretty mean, but i have no experience myself. and like i said before, to find a larger angel, check into your local reef club, someone is bound to be gettin rid of it, and you can ask about its personality then.

**Fishfirst** · 08-17-2006, 12:15 PM

The least aggressive triggers that I would recommend would be blue throats and pink tails.

08-17-2006, 12:57 PM

Thanks FF, I've heard pinktails were a good choice.
Thanks everyone for the input. I really appreciate the help!

I have a question about a protein skimmer though. What would be a decent protein skimmer for a 150 gallon for an affordable price? I was planning on running my two eheim canisters (each rated for up to 160 gallons) along with a skimmer, obviously. So any reccomendations for a skimmer?