Help to decide what direction to take this 275...keep going back in forth.

[Devaji]

Thinking out loud here and wanted to discuss my future tank plans with others who "get it"

SO I am currently setting up 2 tanks that I have wanted to do for ever.

the 1st is a 80 gallon seahorse tank with softies and gorges. been on my wish list for 8+ years. pretty excited about it. build thread going.

the 2nd is a 275 gallon system 200 gal. DT w/ 75 gallon sump. the plan was/is a FOWLR all tho I bit smaller than i would like for a FO tank i decided to go with it. tank dims are 71x 30X22
I wanted to go bigger but this will be above an unfinished basement I do have 6x6 beams for support but if I was to go bigger I would have wanted to beef up my floor supports even more. that is above my skill level to to it right and in my area its very hard to find help with house stuff. ( been on the plumbers list for 4.5 months now)

anyway I decided the 200 peninsula would be a nice size tank for most of what i want/could do for years to come. reef. FOWLR or even a planted FW.

the plan is a butterfly dom. FO with angels and a tang or two.
here is my proposed stocking list:

large angels
Regal angelfish- captive bread
emp. angel. ( would have to re-home it at some point when it gets above 10+"

Dwarf angels:
Flame
Coral Beauty

(all introduced at the same time )


maybe 1-2 smaller wrasses


Large tang:
Blue/regal Tang OR power blue

smaller tang
1 zerbasoma - yellow, Kole or purple

Butterflies:
Copperband
Yellow Longnose
Pearlscale
Latticed
Sunset
Raccoon

However I LOVE wrasses one might even say I am a wrasse guy.
I had a RS 650P that was supposed to be wrasse dom. system before I had to take it down.
I do fancy the idea of a lot of beautiful smaller fishes (wrasses and other floating around my reef.
if I do a wrasse system I could add corals if I like I am a huge fan of LPS meats are my fav. but OMG $$$$$$

in a perfect world I would have a larger tank for FO and nice size reef as well as the SH tank. but that's not gonna happen anytime soon.

i had my heart set on the angel and butterfly FOWLR but man I sure do love me some wrasses.
I guess I could mix in 5-6 wrasses and take out a cpl of the fish? that is always an option. something to consider for sure.

so my questions are:
1. with the above tanks size at what point would I need to re-home the emp. angel. love this fish and one reason why i wanted to go with a FOWLR system. from the research i have done I am guessing i would get 4-5 years before I felt it needed a large home.

2. wrasses or butterflies what are more commonly available QTed from our Qt vendors?

3. in your option what looks better to go. more smaller fishes or less larger ones. I tend to lean toward more smaller fishes, gives me the illusion of being on the reef. that said man i do love the look of the larger angels.

4. in bio-load/stocking terms if i skipped the emp. angle ( sad ) how many smaller flasher/fairy wrasses would = the emp.? I am thinking at least 4 maybe 5??

5. anyone have experience with the captive breed regal angels eating LPS? just curious

Hope everyone is having a great day.

 

[Devaji]

one option is skilpthe emp. angel and add 4-5 wrasses flashers, fairies & leopards.
but then i might want corals.
I already took a cpl dream FOWLR fish off the list the a porky puffer & harlequin tuskfish so not having the emperor I fill like its not a true FO set up...

 

[Devaji]

anyone have any thoughts? if fun to talk this out with fellow reefers

 

[nuxx]

Thinking out loud here and wanted to discuss my future tank plans with others who "get it"

I think if you start small with the Angel you'll get some serious time with it before needing to rehome.

I'm a fan of more smaller fish with a few showcase larger fish. TBH besides my Gem and Black Tangs, all my other tangs and angels stayed small for years.

 

[Devaji]

I think if you start small with the Angel you'll get some serious time with it before needing to rehome.

I'm a fan of more smaller fish with a few showcase larger fish. TBH besides my Gem and Black Tangs, all my other tangs and angels stayed small for years.

that was my thoughts too. I thinking I could get 4-5 years if I go a juvi. and that what I want to experience. that said if I skip the emp. angel I can have more smaller wrasses.
1st world problem here. lol but i'll be honest I have invest more mental energy in to it than I care to admit.

edit! your 120" tank ! now we are talking be dreaming of a 10'er for the last decade.

 

[nuxx]

that was my thoughts too. I thinking I could get 4-5 years if I go a juvi. and that what I want to experience. that said if I skip the emp. angel I can have more smaller wrasses.
1st world problem here. lol but i'll be honest I have invest more mental energy in to it than I care to admit.

edit! your 120" tank ! now we are talking be dreaming of a 10'er for the last decade.

Feel a lot of people that have a tank your size and stay in the hobby for 5+ years are right on the fringe of getting a bigger tank as well...

Thanks! Was a great tank, but really became a boat anchor to our lives

 

[Devaji]

Feel a lot of people that have a tank your size and stay in the hobby for 5+ years are right on the fringe of getting a bigger tank as well...

Thanks! Was a great tank, but really became a boat anchor to our lives

i know that is the problem when you dive deep in to the hobby. even with smaller tanks it a tome suck.

 

[nuxx]

i know that is the problem when you dive deep in to the hobby. even with smaller tanks it a tome suck.

Yup started with a 55, then a 135 and 240 I never got wet, then then 470 LOL

I'd imagine a lot of people get burned out with big tanks like when I started having mysterious deaths.

Personally everyone I know in town with big tanks let them go after a few years.

 

[Devaji]

Yup started with a 55, then a 135 and 240 I never got wet, then then 470 LOL

I'd imagine a lot of people get burned out with big tanks like when I started having mysterious deaths.

Personally everyone I know in town with big tanks let them go after a few years.

good to know. one reason why I went with the 200/75 sump as it was big but not to big.

that said I keep going back n forth on if I should do the emp. angel or not.

 

[nuxx]

good to know. one reason why I went with the 200/75 sump as it was big but not to big.

that said I keep going back n forth on if I should do the emp. angel or not.

Get a small one

We have small ones

Emperor Angelfish

The Emperor Angelfish is one of the most sought after Angelfish in the hobby. With a maximum size of around 15 inches, the Emperor Angel will be the showpiece fish in any aquarium it inhabits. Also with such a large size, the Emperor Angelfish requires an aquarium of at least 180 gallons to be...

www.tankstop.com

 

[dennis romano]

I think that we are related. One of my tanks is a 27 yo reef with soft corals, gorgonians and sponges. The main fish are blue stripe pipefish, banded pipe and yellow assessor. My other tank is a 125 FOWLR with 9 butterflies, a Navarchus angel and three wrasses. The majority of my butterflies are eating savages. I had a four inch regal in this tank but it was way too slow and couldn't keep up with the butterflies. Chose the Navarchus over emperor and Chrysurus because it grew slower and won't outgrow the 125. I purposely left out pygmies and tangs. I had issues with them with aggression and decided against them. I have found that getting small and large butterflies doesn't work. If a small doesn't eat immediately, it has no body weight and is gone in less than a week. Larger ones, a lot of time, just don't acclimate well. Three inch ones, I found, do best. I bought over time four butterflies that came QT'd and all did awful. The wrasses are pintail, Red Sea eightline and a Caribbean creole. There is no interaction between wrasses and other fish. Hope this info helps.