I'm bringing back FOWLR. Join the movement

[funkyrxman]

Hey Aquatic homies. Here's the plan. I've been upgrading my fallow 450g tank after suffering a velvet wipeout in November. I got cocky with stocking after previous lucky runs with fish. So I figured I'll post my stocking list, to get input and advice, and I'll chronicle my progress on here in hopes of inspiring a FOWLR revolution. [emoji851].
So some background on the tank: 450 gallon DT running for 12 years. Converted wetdry to make a 60 to 70 gallon sump. 300 ish pounds of live rock. I'm shooting for FOWLR with reef parameters to maximize likelihood of success. Equipment: big Reef octopus ext300 skimmer, rollermat, 1 hp chiller, ozone reactor with Red Sea ozone gen, 35 gallon chaeto chamber, 150 watt UV, Apex
For flow: hammerhead return, 3 other pumps to run a closed loop and all the stuff, 4 mp60's.
Tank is L shaped. 4.5 ft x 3.5 ft x 4 ft high.
29 gallon Qt. Planning full quarantine with chloroquine. Fabricating acclimation box for introductions to DT. Stocking plan is constantly being tweaked because I don't want to take too many chances. I know the list is likely 3 or 4 fish too many, and I might adjust as I go.

Maculosus or asfur angel
Navarchus Angel
Emperor Angel
French Angel
Blue face Angel
Queen Angel
Picasso trigger
Maybe a pair of blue throat triggers, or another Rhinecanthus trigger
Yellow Tang
Blonde Naso
Orange shoulder Tang
Atlantic blue Tang
Flame Angel
Coral beauty
Magnificent foxface
Harlequin tusk
Maybe a pair of bird wrasses
Maybe a puffer

I'm planning 50 gallon water change weekly. If I pull it off, it could be amazing. FOWLR needs a comeback. Wish me luck!

 

[NeuroticAquatics]

The only thing that would worry me is that many large Angels. I've seen so many stories of issues with putting Angels together. I plan to try two in my 240g but am not certain it will work.

Following along to see how it goes and wishing you luck this time around.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I would agree about that being too many large angels. Stick to 1 or 2. But everything else looks good.

 

[timrocks311]

Good luck! I've always liked and wanted a big FOWLR tank for the fish you can't have in a reef. Angels and Triggers are some of the best fish. The bummer is lack of coral can look bare, and fake coral looks dumb, so you almost need to overstock. I'd recommend some smaller fish to fill in the bottom and in between rocks. If you have sand, maybe a diamond goby or something. Maybe a hawkfish to perch on the rocks.

Also, just a thought...do you need so much flow for FO? you might get by just with the powerheads and return. Just thinking if you don't need the closed loop, it's one less thing to worry about.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I've found that high flow helps diffuse aggression.

 

[funkyrxman]

Do you think a change in the Angel lineup would help? I like goldflakes ands scribbleds. I skewed to the bigger rugged (cheaper) angels like the French and the queen thinking that given the stretch for any group of large angels, maybe the hardiness factor increases likelihood of success. I could be wrong. Like the hawkfish idea.

 

[Bluecbs]

You can check out buttterflies too, especially the non reef safe ones,...but not the obligate corallivores (though they are the awesomest)

 

[eatbreakfast]

Do you think a change in the Angel lineup would help? I like goldflakes ands scribbleds. I skewed to the bigger rugged (cheaper) angels like the French and the queen thinking that given the stretch for any group of large angels, maybe the hardiness factor increases likelihood of success. I could be wrong. Like the hawkfish idea.

More peaceful species will help, but I still wouldn't recommend 6 lg angels together.

 

[funkyrxman]

So far so good. Moved a bird wrasse and a flame angel from qt to dt. I was at the LFS locking up a yellow Tang and a coral beauty because I'm a simple guy when I looked at these cheap GSP polyps and pulsing Xenia, and I thought : "Surely even I can keep that alive, maybe. Even if it gets chomped on by something, any presence in the tank is better than nothing. It would look so cool." And so I killed my FOWLR movement before it began and became just another struggling reefer. You jerk faces finally got me, with all your reefapalooza videos and awesomely named zoanthids. Curse you all. [emoji851]