75 Gallon FOWLR beginner tank (build thread)

McCarrick

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Also, its a thought, not a full list
What I recommend is searching "75 fowlr stock" and see what other people are putting in their tanks for some inspiration and so you also know the limits of your tank. Saltwater is not like freshwater with the "inch per gallon" (even though that doesn't even really work with fresh either) you need to take into account the swimming territory of each type of fish, and their individual temperments.
 

McCarrick

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This one has some good ideas
 
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L0L_Z

L0L_Z

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Ok im shortening the list.
Foxface
regal angelfish
gold head sleeper goby
elibi angelfish
Longnose butterfly or sunset butterfly
coral croucher
candy hogfish
second dwarf angel possibly (coral beauty or rusty)
 

McCarrick

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Ok im shortening the list.
Foxface
regal angelfish
gold head sleeper goby
elibi angelfish
Longnose butterfly or sunset butterfly
coral croucher
candy hogfish
second dwarf angel possibly (coral beauty or rusty)
The regals and the longnose butterfly are 125+ gallon.... I really think this one is a bad idea. What is your goal? Color? Activity? You change up your list so frequently and randomly that I can't track what your goal is.
 
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L0L_Z

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uniqueness and movement i guess. The regal is basically the only fish my parents want so i might give away once grown. Sources recommend 75 gallons, but I understand. The difference between the 125 gallon is 6 inches in width an height.
 
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L0L_Z

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also considering changing a 5 gallon to saltwater rn to get the hang of stuff. There will be nothing but a few crabs and a small fish. This will be temporary. Thinking about a coral croucher, citron goby or mandarin.
 
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L0L_Z

L0L_Z

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reevealuating the stock list again i guess

Sunset butterfly
regal angel
foxface (one spot)
fairy wrasse (naokos most likely)
midas blenny
coral croucher
Candy hogfish
eibli angel
mandarin
javanese blue streak damsel or a tomini tang or none of these
long nose hawkfish
 

McCarrick

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uniqueness and movement i guess. The regal is basically the only fish my parents want so i might give away once grown. Sources recommend 75 gallons, but I understand. The difference between the 125 gallon is 6 inches in width an height.
I hope that you understand that it's not all about gallons. It also has to do with the tank dimensions. For example- I have a 65 gallon tank. A tomini tang can "technically" fit into my tank. However it is only a 3 foot tank (.9 m). A tang of any sort should really be in a 4 ft tank. Now, you could have a 4 ft tank with that holds 65 gallons and it would change other dimensions obviously. I have no idea where you're seeing 75 gallons- the fish gets to 10 inches (25.4 cm). I did a quick google search and saw that one site said at least 75 gallons while the next smallest number I saw was 100 gallons. As I have stated before, we aren't aiming for the minimum. Especially when the "minimum" might be a 10 inch fish in a 75 gallon. Especially with "might give it away"- might isn't really going to work. You're going to have to explain the needs of that fish to your parents and either they can get a larger tank, or show them other fish that could work. It's like people getting into the hobby because of Finding Nemo, and then purchasing a hippo tang and throwing it into a 10 gallon tank because "it's cute" and not taking into account the needs of the fish. You really need to make sure that you're looking for the correct answer, rather than the answer you want. I saw someone with a bicolor angelfish in a 13.5 gallon tank once- did the fish "fit"? Well, technically because it was "small" at the time.... but I think we can all agree that it's not right.


On the topic of the 5 gallon- it's great that you want to get the hang of things but I honestly wouldn't really recommend this. Nano tanks are more difficult to maintain (I started with a 10 gallon and it was rough to say the least). I would "get the hang of things" by literally just researching, making a plan, and NOT RUSHING. I especially woud not put a mandarin in a 5 gallon. If you really want to try, get a handful of cuc and something like a black ray goby. They're fun and they stay small.
 
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L0L_Z

L0L_Z

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Yea sure. No regal angel I guess :(. Any other good recommendations that are relatively cheap (under 150 aud), similarly coloured and are NOT small gobies, blennies or really really agressive.

As for the 5 gallon, I was a bit skeptical abt the dragonet anyways. Only CUC (snails, a crab and maybe a choclate chip star) for a month then will be moved over. Maybe even keep a small goby or a barnacle blenny
 

McCarrick

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Yea sure. No regal angel I guess :(. Any other good recommendations that are relatively cheap (under 150 aud), similarly coloured and are NOT small gobies, blennies or really really agressive.

As for the 5 gallon, I was a bit skeptical abt the dragonet anyways. Only CUC (snails, a crab and maybe a choclate chip star) for a month then will be moved over. Maybe even keep a small goby or a barnacle blenny
Look into any of the dwarf angels. Flame angelfish have the bright colors as well as stripes, the misbar angelfish is also stripy with some yellow. The purple asked angelfish is also neat looking. You could look into some larger wrasses- the pink face wrasse is neat. You can do a tomini tang, bristlenose or kole tang. A marine betta could be a really neat centerpiece fish. If you don't mind feeding frequently, schools of anthias or chromis could be neat. You could also do a school of cardinals- there are tons of options that aren't huge fish.
 
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L0L_Z

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The eibli angel is what i like, and id love a purple masked and flame but they are 350 aud+. A tang is interesting. No chromis or anthia. Too much bioload tbh. Marine bettas are expensive too. Im cnfused, can 2 dwarf angels co exist? And what about watanabei angels? They are really small in terms of angels although im confused if they are dwarf angels or not. Arent dwarf angels angelfish under 8 inches? MUltibars and singapore angelfish are also considerations.
 

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Your setup looks fine and will work well, but with the bio media in the sump, be prepared for high nitrate levels once the tank gets well-established. I know you said you were going to use minimal live rock in the tank, but maybe try to set it up so the bio media can be easily removed later to help reduce nitrate levels once the tank gets well established. Or maybe removed in stages.

Also, I've never needed a heater in any of my setups. You're probably looking at ~25-50W of waste heat coming from your pump that's continuously on. Lights add heat too. In fact, my setups (even FOWLR) all have chillers to maintain 78-79F. Otherwise, the tanks get into the low 80's as a static average... even worse in summer. Nonetheless, having the heater in there will do no harm.
 
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L0L_Z

L0L_Z

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Your setup looks fine and will work well, but with the bio media in the sump, be prepared for high nitrate levels once the tank gets well-established. I know you said you were going to use minimal live rock in the tank, but maybe try to set it up so the bio media can be easily removed later to help reduce nitrate levels once the tank gets well established. Or maybe removed in stages.

Also, I've never needed a heater in any of my setups. You're probably looking at ~25-50W of waste heat coming from your pump that's continuously on. Lights add heat too. In fact, my setups (even FOWLR) all have chillers to maintain 78-79F. Otherwise, the tanks get into the low 80's as a static average... even worse in summer. Nonetheless, having the heater in there will do no harm.
alright
 
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L0L_Z

L0L_Z

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an update on the stocking

Cream angelfish or multibar angelfish
Eibli angelfish
foxface
a bristletooth (tomini or kole) or scopas (idk on this, way too many conflicting opinions)
A butterfly (blackback, auriga, sunset or pakistan)
coral croucher
sleeper head goby
exquisite wrasse
midas blenny
Candy hogfish
mandarin
long nose hawk
 

McCarrick

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I think you're getting ahead of yourself on the number of fish gain. I'd stick to one angelfish, and one more large fish (either the butterfly or tang). The other's aren't huge (besides the foxface) so it could work. Make sure you add your smaller fish first so they can get established.
 
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L0L_Z

L0L_Z

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SO that means
Cream or eibli or multibar angel
Tomini tang
Foxface
coral croucher
sleeper head goby
exquisite wrasse
midas blenny
Candy hogfish
mandarin
long nose hawk
pj cardinal
 

McCarrick

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SO that means
Cream or eibli or multibar angel
Tomini tang
Foxface
coral croucher
sleeper head goby
exquisite wrasse
midas blenny
Candy hogfish
mandarin
long nose hawk
pj cardinal
This is a list that makes sense to me
 

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