Setting Up a New Aquarium

DiloHunter · Sep 12, 2022

I recently got a 75 gallon aqueon tank at the petco doller per gallon sale. I need ideas for rockwork, fish lists, and how I can start having coral.
Key Things
I have never kept corals so I'm 100% sure my tank will be LPS/Soft coral dominated. However, I do not want mushroom corals because they look really dull.

I know my inverts but not my fish so here are the inverts:
Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
Trochus snails
Sand conch
Blue tuxedo urchin
Tiger pistol shrimp

I have a tank list but I want more than what's on here so here's what I got:
2 ocellaris clowns
Yellow watchman goby
Royal Gramma
2 engineer gobies
Tang or Rabbitfish (IDK whether to get a rabbitfish or a tang or what kind of rabbitfish/tang)
Midas Blenny
Flame Hawkfish
1-3 fairy wrasse (Again, IDK what kind)
A mandarin dragonet (when tank is established)

I have no idea how to set up my rockwork for coral.

blaxsun · Sep 12, 2022

I'd swap the tang for a dwarf angelfish instead.

fishski13 · Sep 12, 2022

For your aquascape I would just look here for inspiration for different designs and features. Look for build threads with similar tank size to yours that also do softies and lps for some inspiration or just go onto google and search up what you like. After you see something, you like can follow it. I would just make sure you have enough arches and crevices for fish as well as different heights and depths for coral to be mounted.

Some other things for coral, you will need to get alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, nitrate, and phosphate test kits. This is something you should test normally to make sure you levels are stable for coral.

I would also determine what your budget for lighting is to determine what kind of lights you can go for.

Make sure you have flow and a plan to keep nitrates down for coral.

For your fish list I personally would cut down to about 6-8 fish in the beginning as this is your first stint with corals. The more fish you have the harder it is to keep nutrient levels stable and in check in the beginning. I wouldnt go with the foxface for this size tank as they grow quite big, but instead with a tomini tang or a similar sized bristletooth or a dwarf angel.

Overall there is a lot of info that is too much for me to write in a single post, you just have to make sure you do your research about corals and everything you need to know about them like placement, requirements, potential cons, and problems you may encounter. This is something you need to do if you want to succeed. You can even do research on here to see what other people's experience are with certain things and what they recommend with corals.