- Joined
- Feb 20, 2020
- Messages
- 239
- Reaction score
- 212
Ahoy all, I'm in way over my head. I jumped on the IM 150g EXT (48x36x20ish) when I saw the made to order sale priced it roughly at that of a Red Sea Reefer 30ish gallon tank. Part of the deal was that it wouldn't ship for 4-6 months, no big deal time for me to research fish I'd never dreamed of, equipment I've never heard of, and various options I'd never considered. Two days after ordering I got the email that it's shipped.
The largest tank I've ever owned was 50 gallons and currently have a Red Sea Reefer 170 that Ill be upgrading from with a pair of clowns and a zebra dartfish. Any fish that requires a tank larger than 70 gallons or so, I've never really learned about as it was never a consideration. I know next to nothing about tangs besides yellows. Next to nothing about wrasse that aren't the small halichores. Absolutely nothing about angelfish. All of the things I'm excited to be able to house I have no idea about. I'm not going to just jump out there and get 20 tangs, but I'm sort of spinning looking at my options and reading people's stocking lists. So let me ask everyone, what is your favorite fish that would be happy in the 48x36x20ish footprint? I can sort out compatibility and stocking order, and I'm not in a reckless rush to do anything, I just want to get some thoughts organized as my three fish might get lost when their tank footprint gets 5x larger.
Here are my current thoughts. I have a mixed reef, but nothing crazy rare/expensive that I'd melt down about if something nipped at. I'd rather not have any non reef safe fish, but I'm willing to gamble on reef safe with caution if I have reasonable odds.
I'm working on building the rock scape and will do my best to make it interesting with lots of hiding spots and will have ~1.5 inches of sand by current estimates. I can increase or decrease this as needed, but sand sifters/sleepers are generally in mind.
I love utility fish that are also interesting. Radiant/yellow wrasse have been that window shopping fish I drool looking at but can't get due to tank size constraints. I love wrasse, they're so active and pest hunters to boot. I think the tank is large enough to keep one small-medium tang? A whitetail bristletooth was the first one that caught my eye that I believe should be ok size and aggressionwise? Copperband would be awesome as I think they're so cool and I hate aiptasia, but I don't know that they're a great fit as docile finicky eaters. And finally I fell in love and then experienced heartbreak upon learning about Potters Angelfish... I don't want to talk about it.
thanks all, any brainstorming you help with is much appreciated.
The largest tank I've ever owned was 50 gallons and currently have a Red Sea Reefer 170 that Ill be upgrading from with a pair of clowns and a zebra dartfish. Any fish that requires a tank larger than 70 gallons or so, I've never really learned about as it was never a consideration. I know next to nothing about tangs besides yellows. Next to nothing about wrasse that aren't the small halichores. Absolutely nothing about angelfish. All of the things I'm excited to be able to house I have no idea about. I'm not going to just jump out there and get 20 tangs, but I'm sort of spinning looking at my options and reading people's stocking lists. So let me ask everyone, what is your favorite fish that would be happy in the 48x36x20ish footprint? I can sort out compatibility and stocking order, and I'm not in a reckless rush to do anything, I just want to get some thoughts organized as my three fish might get lost when their tank footprint gets 5x larger.
Here are my current thoughts. I have a mixed reef, but nothing crazy rare/expensive that I'd melt down about if something nipped at. I'd rather not have any non reef safe fish, but I'm willing to gamble on reef safe with caution if I have reasonable odds.
I'm working on building the rock scape and will do my best to make it interesting with lots of hiding spots and will have ~1.5 inches of sand by current estimates. I can increase or decrease this as needed, but sand sifters/sleepers are generally in mind.
I love utility fish that are also interesting. Radiant/yellow wrasse have been that window shopping fish I drool looking at but can't get due to tank size constraints. I love wrasse, they're so active and pest hunters to boot. I think the tank is large enough to keep one small-medium tang? A whitetail bristletooth was the first one that caught my eye that I believe should be ok size and aggressionwise? Copperband would be awesome as I think they're so cool and I hate aiptasia, but I don't know that they're a great fit as docile finicky eaters. And finally I fell in love and then experienced heartbreak upon learning about Potters Angelfish... I don't want to talk about it.
thanks all, any brainstorming you help with is much appreciated.