120 FOWLR advice

johnanddawn · Aug 1, 2015

I'm setting up a 120 FOWLR and am building a fish wish list and would like some advise from the fish people;

I already have;
Yellow tang
Passer angel
A pair of clowns
Bangai Cardinal

Wish list;

Blue throat trigger (the only trigger I would consider)
Kole tang (I lost my chevron in the tank crash)
Thalassoma Wrasse (T. quinquevittatum or T. lutescens)
Flame angel (or other dwarf)
Cirrhilabrus wrasse ( C. jordani or something similar)
Leopard wrasse (not sure on this one or which species are hardy)
Wetmorela wrasse (or mystery)
Shrimp goby (Amblyeleotris randalli or something similar)

Any one see a problem with this list or think something is missing?
Oh yeah and if your worried about bio load, I have a huge cryptic sump in the basement and an ok skimmer (at least 90 extra gallons of water/filtering in the sump system)

4FordFamily · Aug 1, 2015

johnanddawn said:
I'm setting up a 120 FOWLR and am building a fish wish list and would like some advise from the fish people;

I already have;
Yellow tang
Passer angel
A pair of clowns
Bangai Cardinal

Wish list;

Blue throat trigger (the only trigger I would consider)
Kole tang (I lost my chevron in the tank crash)
Thalassoma Wrasse (T. quinquevittatum or T. lutescens)
Flame angel (or other dwarf)
Cirrhilabrus wrasse ( C. jordani or something similar)
Leopard wrasse (not sure on this one or which species are hardy)
Wetmorela wrasse (or mystery)
Shrimp goby (Amblyeleotris randalli or something similar)

Any one see a problem with this list or think something is missing?
Oh yeah and if your worried about bio load, I have a huge cryptic sump in the basement and an ok skimmer (at least 90 extra gallons of water/filtering in the sump system)

Passer Angels are pretty aggressive, and a 120 isn't big enough for them.

A flame wrasse is way too timid for that mix, especially with the other wrasses mentioned - mystery in particular but any large wrasse like lunare wrasse will have that problem as well.

If you do the possum wrasse it will get beat on.

Shrimp goby will probably get eaten or bullied to death also.

A leopard wrasse will have the same problem.

You MAY be ok if you ditched the passer angel and thalassoma wrasse. If your passer is a juvenile it may work for a small amount of time but with so many very timid fish on your list I wouldn't risk it.

I'm not going to touch the bioload conservation, I can't really say anything lol

johnanddawn · Aug 1, 2015

Hey thanks,

The passer is a juv but he's the perfect gentleman for now at least, spends all day just picking at the rock. He doesn't even notice the other fish let alone bother them, but of course I know this could change. And yeah I know one day he'll get big, but I've got a long time before I need to worry about that.

So with the wrasses If I skip the lunar and the mystery I should be ok with the rest, that's a dilemma.
I've always wanted a Thalosomma wrasse, but not if its going to limit everything else

I really wanted some sort of sand dwelling gobies, hmmm, this is the first tank I put sand in in 10 years just for that reason...

4FordFamily · Aug 1, 2015

My passer is 5" and a terror - the only reason I don't have issues is because I have so many other large Angels.

Switch to 720p HD

johnanddawn · Aug 1, 2015

You must have a female, they say the females are more aggressive

Wow that's a lot of fish in that tank, kinda the look I'm going for, but way more fish then I was even thinking

I've been a reefer for 20 some years, this is my first true FOWLR, I want to have all those fish that I've never been able to have before...
And a tank full of them like yours

Obviously I'm keeping the fish I have including the passer, and I want color and motion, and I put the sand in for a reason, wrasses and gobies
So what would you suggest?

4FordFamily · Aug 1, 2015

johnanddawn said:
You must have a female, they say the females are more aggressive

Wow that's a lot of fish in that tank, kinda the look I'm going for, but way more fish then I was even thinking

I've been a reefer for 20 some years, this is my first true FOWLR, I want to have all those fish that I've never been able to have before...
And a tank full of them like yours

Obviously I'm keeping the fish I have including the passer, and I want color and motion, and I put the sand in for a reason, wrasses and gobies
So what would you suggest?

Keep away from the lunare and similar wrasse if you wish to keep those is my .02.

Tank that stocked is a lot of work! Skimming for 450 gallons and lots of WC lol!

johnanddawn · Aug 1, 2015

Sounds like good advice, no lunare, bummer but there are so many others to choose from...

Like I said I have a nice skimmer and a 40g sump and a 90g cryptic fuge full of live rock tied to this system in the basement, bio load will not be an issue, but compatibility will

Thanks a lot
Time to start watching divers den for some cool fishes...

eatbreakfast · Aug 1, 2015

Stay away from any Thalassoma wrasse ifyou want the fairy, leopard, and Wetmorella, though I do like Thalassoma wrasses for FOWLR systems they are not good with the reef safe weasses.

johnanddawn · Aug 2, 2015

Thanks
Seems to be the consensus

I'm going to start with a pair of sand gobies first (shrimp, watchman or sleeper)

Then I want a bristletooth tang

After that well, I want to do pairs if possible of the smaller species and we ll see where divers den leads me...

evolved · Aug 3, 2015

Another vote for Thalassoma being incompatible with other wrasses. They're a neat choice for a FOWLR, but not if you want some of those others.

johnanddawn · Aug 3, 2015

Thanks
It is a bummer though cause that is one genera I've always wanted but couldn't put in a a bb reef, and now I can't have one because it limits so many fish as well....

Who knows though maybe I'll decide to go more toward the aggressive end and knock some of the smaller more peaceful ones off the list

4FordFamily · Aug 4, 2015

johnanddawn said:
Thanks
It is a bummer though cause that is one genera I've always wanted but couldn't put in a a bb reef, and now I can't have one because it limits so many fish as well....

Who knows though maybe I'll decide to go more toward the aggressive end and knock some of the smaller more peaceful ones off the list

With a tank that size IMO you're better off with the less aggressive fish stock.

johnanddawn · Aug 20, 2015

Started adding fish, I'm starting to like this whole idea of going fowler and skipping the corals

The flame I could never have because of the nipper potential

The wrasse I could never have because I didn't want a closed top

A chevy to replace the one I lost in the tank failure

evolved · Aug 20, 2015

johnanddawn said:
The wrasse I could never have because I didn't want a closed top

I'm not sure what gave you that idea, but this one will be short lived unless the tank is completely covered. All wrasses jump and require such.

johnanddawn · Aug 20, 2015

Sorry I confused you because you don't know the back story

I've kept reef tanks for over 20 years and than last month I had a tank seam blowout and lost almost everything
I almost decided to get out but instead my wife and i bought this 120 to go Fowler thinking we could get all those fish we never could have before in our reef tank for one reason or another
The tank does have a full glass top

evolved · Aug 20, 2015

Aaaah, gotcha. Glass tops do present a bit of an injury hazard if they're jumped into with some force (it can, and does, happen). You might want to consider a 1/4" mesh top as an alternative.

johnanddawn · Aug 20, 2015

Yep, understand your point but I tried a screen cover on my 135 cube and hated it. I'm going to try the glass for a while and see ???

Question is what else and what next?

I've been watching divers den for a pair of sleepers (yeah I understand they should have come first but....) and they haven't had any for a while, but I'll jump when they do.

I also want a couple more (maybe a pair or separate species males) flashers of fairies ... Open to suggestions but again availability on dd will dictate some decisions. This order from zoacollector was awesome and would consider doing it again, but dd is local so no shipping required.

Also still considering a blue throat trigger, I know triggers can be iffy but everything I've read puts them at the top of the list. Of course this one is way off and very last on the list.