New to Fowlr but not reef tanks.looking for some tips.

[Smoke-Town]

Been on and off this site for the passed 12 or so years and first time in the fowlr section!

So we have 3 reef tanks in our house and the gf and I have been trying with the idea of starting a fowlr. She's sent me a few listing on fb so I figured I should get ahead of the curve here in case I come home from work one day and there are 10 bags of fish and a glass box on the floor. I like to plan. She's a bit more...spontaneous.

A friend of mine has been trying to give me this old dual overflow 6ft 200g for years now. If it's in good shape I'll get it, if not, that's about the size we want anyway.

So... I'm here looking for some tips or pitfalls that I may not have had to think about with peaceful reef tanks. Are there any fish that are just the worst no matter what?

My stocking plan is basically every cool fish I can't have in my reef tanks. Lol. Typical first time fowlr guy thoughts I'm sure... but I want triggers and angels, powder and clown tangs, definitely groupers and lions, dragon eel, harlequin tusk, a puffer, some damsels maybe, etc. So tell me why I shouldn't if I shouldn't. The only obvious thing I'm thinking of is that obviously the smallest fish need to be added first and once I have big fish in there I can only add big fish.

Next is treatments... I know the great thing about fowlrs is being able to add copper to the tank... I'd like to not do that if possible... I'd like to add the most finicky ich prone fish first like the tangs. If I add a bunch of fish at once and treat the whole system with copper of some sort, can I then drain it and fill it again and be copper free and then add sand and rock or will the copper be in my glass and pipes still?

My plan is to build some really cool rock structures and just cover them in gsp and pulsing xenia as in my experience nothing eats that stuff anyway and it's pretty resilient to dirty water and chemicals compared to most other corals.

Lastly is filtration. I know that in recent years there has been a push to use skimmers rated for smaller systems then actual. Does that hold true with fowlrs also? Or are they just so dirty with messy eaters that I should have one rated for my total water volume?
Will be using socks/roller and probably a refugium also depending on what end up with as a sump.

Thanks for any input!

 

[vetteguy53081]

As long as you don’t have that one aggressive fish that will cause havoc- you’re off to a good start
Consider when introducing which can be aggressive and enter the least aggressive first
Consider also growth and size and what they will become

 

[Devaji]

Hey how it go? did you lady come home with a glass box and bags of fishes?

I kinda in the same boat except it's me how has a reef bit wants a FOWLR and the GF does NOT.
anyway I have dreamed of a large FOWLR for years.

here are my thoughts from a long time dreamer.

go as big as you can from the get go. with in reason, altho have you seen tho mega cement tanks??

my min, FOWLR tank size would be a 240 gallon 8x2x2 but hey a free 200 is not bag either just know it will fill up fast.

I like the 310 gallons 96"x30" x25" fint a good but used 5' 125 for the sump that would give you another 75-100 gallons. so around 400ish total volume.
for ME* that would be pretty much perfect. big enough to have all the my fav. FOWLR fish but not crazy big where I cant keep up with maintenance.

anyway I am just blabbing here.
keep us posted man so we can live through you. haha

 

[Smoke-Town]

Appreciate the replies. Yes this tank may or may not be good enough and honestly there is a good chance of buying a new tank depending on prices. I would love an 8ft tank. I agree 300 plus display is ideal for fowlr... but my biggest issue is I have the location for the tank. I have 6 ft from wall to window.

Here is a pic of the room. The tank will go in that corner where all the plants are out to the window edge.

So it needs to be 72 inches. I see plenty of 72x2x2 ish tanks out there... that only nets me 180 gallons... I'm trying to find some 72inch tanks that are 30-36" wide and 28-34" deep... that range would net me 260g on the low end and 360g on the bigger end. I'm not trying to pay 10 grand for a custom cut tank.

Is anyone aware of reasonably priced tanks that fit in this spec range?

 

[Devaji]

Appreciate the replies. Yes this tank may or may not be good enough and honestly there is a good chance of buying a new tank depending on prices. I would love an 8ft tank. I agree 300 plus display is ideal for fowlr... but my biggest issue is I have the location for the tank. I have 6 ft from wall to window.

Here is a pic of the room. The tank will go in that corner where all the plants are out to the window edge.

So it needs to be 72 inches. I see plenty of 72x2x2 ish tanks out there... that only nets me 180 gallons... I'm trying to find some 72inch tanks that are 30-36" wide and 28-34" deep... that range would net me 260g on the low end and 360g on the bigger end. I'm not trying to pay 10 grand for a custom cut tank.

Is anyone aware of reasonably priced tanks that fit in this spec range?

nice room! sad to see the plants go but for a FOWLR I totally understand.

ok so working with your 72" max length do do have a few options.

waterbox did a redesign of there LX models there 30" deep and 24" there biggest is a 320 72" x30x24 nice tank comes with a metal stand but gonna run you around 7.5K there out of stock right now as they decided to add euro bracing to them.

if you can push it up to 79" there is the red sea XXL 900 there is a nice FLOWR on here.

if you want to go custom price out and tank to @joe@glasscages great guy I have talked to him many times.

here is a link to there build prices:

Price Calculator | Glass Cages

good luck!

 

[Devaji]

oh another options....can you move the whisky reef bar to the spot where you are thinking of adding the FOWLR?

 

[Smoke-Town]

Appreciate those suggestions! We won't do red sea tanks in this house with the nonstop issues I've heard from them. I'm sure they're great now but their prices don't match the negatives I've seen and even if I liked them... not gonna waste my time selling the idea that they've fixed their issues to my gf. No need to.


Glass cages is an amazing company and they have been for a decade since ive heard of them but they're at a premium. I came up to $3,500 on that calculator for just a basic glass box. Too rich for my blood.

This waterbox you mentioned though. Now that actually has competitive pricing and features. I like the 30 inch width... if it was 30 inches tall I think that would be the winner but it's 72x24x24 193 gallons.

This pro star tank is the current winner at 72x26x24 is 180 gallons. This size is too similar to justify the $2,000 price difference... and we have the smaller 5ft 160g v1 pro star in the living room so we know the quality and build. Also our lfs can get us a better price than this... we got the v1 for a steal at $2,300 tank, stand, sump, plumbing... hard to compete with that.

I'm trying not to be cheap and to explore more expensive options but it doesn't look like there is anyone offering anything appealing. I didn't realize choices on large 6ft tanks were so limited.

 

[Smoke-Town]

oh another options....can you move the whisky reef bar to the spot where you are thinking of adding the FOWLR?

No. It goes into a corner walla so it isn't finished on the opposite side so if anything it could go to the opposite corner wall where the Jameson barrel stack is. I hadn't thought of that and I don't truly want to do that, but that is a doable option if I decide I must ha e an 8ft tank... which looki g at my limited 6ft options... may be the case. Again though I'd have to find a great deal to go that direction but large 8ft tanks have been around forever so maybe I can find a decent deal there. I'm not opposed to used tanks so long as they're in good condition. I'll take some measurements when I get home from work to entertain that option

 

[Devaji]

No. It goes into a corner walla so it isn't finished on the opposite side so if anything it could go to the opposite corner wall where the Jameson barrel stack is. I hadn't thought of that and I don't truly want to do that, but that is a doable option if I decide I must ha e an 8ft tank... which looki g at my limited 6ft options... may be the case. Again though I'd have to find a great deal to go that direction but large 8ft tanks have been around forever so maybe I can find a decent deal there. I'm not opposed to used tanks so long as they're in good condition. I'll take some measurements when I get home from work to entertain that option

years ago I had a glass cages acrylic tank I bought used. loved it. but that was before all the low iron glass. but you know what I loved about it the most?? two guys could move it!

so yeah sometimes you can find some great deals on used tanks.

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

i run ozone, uv, and aggressive skimming on my predator tank.
depending how much and what you will be feeding is part of having the right filtration.
it also has more mechanical filtration than my reef tanks.

 

[Devaji]

Did you find a tank? no rush just curious as it pop up in my alerts.

 

[hrdneglcry]

If you do a FOWLR you should get some larger cleanup crew. Dardanus Megistos or just some bigger white striped hermits. They can eats snails but they cleanup well after larger fish. The fish are up to you. 200 is a nice size tank. Gives you options but not all that big. You are looking at a lot of fish. So the cleanup crew is important. The tank health. One grouper is all I'd suggest. Not sure about the Eel. You have a lot of options with a 200. A lot of room for error and good space for most of the fish that you want. I'd be careful not to overstock. No huge rush. A tank that size is forgiving on a lot of things.

 

[Smoke-Town]

Appreciate all the input guys. It's all helpful. No I haven't decided yet on a tank. I have a few months to hopefully come across a screaming deal... and finances are going towards house projects until summer is done so there is no fish tank money for a few months anyway. But I'm about 95 percent going with the prostar v2 if I have to buy from a company as no one else is even close to being competitive in pricing nore have unique dimensions available in the standard overpriced systems so there really isn't much to compare unfortunately.

But maybe there will be sales or more options by August or September. Idk.

I'm also wondering there is a list somewhere of gsp eating fish... I'd like to have it be a predator gsp tank. Maybe I need to post a separate thread getting peoples experiences with fish that eat it so I can avoid them. I'm well aware that any fish can break the norms and start eating it. I'm just looking to stack the deck in my favor and hope for the best.

 

[Devaji]

any updates on this @Smoke-Town? did you buid a FOWLR system?