What fish to stock with?

Question

I just bought a 75 gallon tank and after it is done cycling i was wondering what to stock it with. There are about 5 or 6 fish that i have always wanted but i dont know if they would all get along or even fit in that size tank. The main fish I would like to have are a lionfish, bursa trigger, heniochus butterfly, coral beauty, and blue hippo tang. I would like to have some of these to use as the center peice of the tank with other smaller fish to fill in the tank. Please let me know what would be the best choices and which ones would get along because I am very sure that they dont all get along.

Answer 1

You have a bit of a mix in the species between peaceful and aggressive, and you'd be better off sticking to fish that have similar temperments. Most (with the exception of the coral beauty) will get rather large, so all you list will be a few to many for a 75 gallon tank.

The primary one that I would suggest to leave out is the trigger, as it's the most aggressive, and will be likely to injure the others. The hippo is a more peaceful fish, but at a 12 inch length and being an active swimmer, it would probably do better in a larger tank. A 75 would be the very minimum size I would use for one as an adult, and with other fish, it may be overcrowded.

Apart from those, the others should get along if introduced when they are small and grow up together, as long as plenty of hiding spots are available and the fish are able to establish their own territories. You don't mention a species for your lion, but I would recommend looking at some of the dwarf species if you plan to get any "small" fish, as they will eat anything that can fit into their mouths. Lions can also be difficult for some kepers, because they feed them improperly - if you plan to use feeders, only give then goldfish, rosy reds, or other freshwater species on a very limited basis - these have a different type of fat than saltwater fish will produce, and the buildup of the improper fats in the lion's livers often leads to a very premature death. Try to get them on frozen foods as soon as possible, and use silversides, shrimp, or other food of marine origin for them.

You might want to consider a yellow tang, or larger clownfish (such as a tomato or cinnamon clown) if you get the dwarf lion. If you chose a full-sized lion, I'd stay with the lion, bannerfish, and angel. With a lion getting 10-15", and a bannerfish getting to 10", a 4" angel, and rock with hiding places for these, you may not have much room left in the tank.

Answer 2

Since you don't say what type of lionfish, I can't help you with specifics, but I do have this snippet about Lionfish-
This is from a nano tank forum, and yours is not a nano tank, so I deleted non-pertinent info.
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74703
"I would suggest keeping lions in a species only tank. Again as they are super carnivores they need a high protein diet, which may include larger frozen foods and sometimes live feeder fish or shrimp. Generally I recommend trying to get them onto a frozen food like krill or silversides. Some suggest training them on frozen food rather than live, may make them less likely to kill smaller fish. I don’t know if this is true or not, but I suggest frozen anyway as live food can be a pain to deal with and get spendy. I also personally don’t like torturing feeder fish, but that’s for another thread. Keep in mind because of their diet, lionfish add quite a bit to the bioload. Extra efforts will need to be taken to keep your tank clean. This may require use of additional live rock, additional/more frequent water changes, and definite use of a protein skimmer. The minimum size for most dwarf lions is going to be in the 20g+ range. Some lions can get upwards of 15 inches though. Don’t forget that Lionfish are venomous. Their stingers are typically in the top/front region and look like antennae. First few dorsal spikes are also venom ready. Although venomous, lions are generally peaceful and will not try to sting you. Usually when people get stung it is by accident during maintenance or by spooking the fish causing it to jet out of the way and nail you while trying to get away. If you are ever stung by a lionfish, run the area of injury under the warmest water you can stand w/ out burning yourself for a good 10-15 minutes. You may feel a stinging pain in the area of injury that should go away after a while. If the injury starts to swell up, or you feel dizzy, light headed, have trouble breathing, or feel abnormal in anyway besides minor stinging at the injury site, you should head to the emergency room just to be safe. That shouldn’t scare you away from keeping a lionfish , but just something to be aware of and prepared for just in case."
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The Bursa Trigger - needs a minimum of 100 gallons.
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/bursa-trigger---rhinecanthus-verrucosus-fish--triggers.html
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The butterfly you want needs a minimum of 80 gallons.
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/black-and-white-heniochus-butterfly---heniochus-acuminatus-fish--butterflys.html
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The Coral Beauty needs 40 gallons
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/coral-beauty-angel---centropyge-bispinosus-fish--angels--dwarf-.html
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The Tang needs at least 100 gallons
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/blue-tang---paracanthurus-hepatus-fish--tangs.html
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So, you could keep the lionfish, maybe 2 in a species tank if you get a small enough breed.

Or, you could keep 2 dwarf angels.

All the other fish are too large.


Keep up the research, would be my advice.

I suggest you ask your questions here-
http://www.reefcentral.com/
or here-
http://www.petfish.net/forum/index.php/board,15.0.html

Along with the above, here are some links to help you with your research-

So, you want to start a Marine tank… by Hennie Landman
This is page 1 of 9-
http://www.reefcentral.com/modules.php?s=d0454f6eff128411bbf4d16dc13eb60e&name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=1

Salt Corner Animal Library
(for info on the different fish)
http://www.saltcorner.com/sections/zoo/zoointro.htm

Answer 3

You should not buy any saltwater/reef/marine fish since you are new with fish you should start with a freshwater aquarium my favorite kinds are planted and african cichlid tanks. planted tanks require co2 so you have to buy a co2 machine. some great fish for your sized aquarium is angel fish, red-tailed shark, clown loaches, (dwarf) american cichlids, tetras, kooli loaches, small plecos (the bristle nose pleco is my favorite), ottos, cory catfish, red clawed shrimp. thats what i have in my 72 gal. planted tank if you want africna cichlids you should try the frontosa they are so beutiful, you can can get 2 and let them breed

Answer 4

sure it is in basic terms a sort of powdered fish inventory, you upload warm water to it. yet once you should probable replace it with the different fish inventory which you hit upon in a interior sight food market :)

Answer 5

I am not sure myself but I would direct you toward wetwebmedia.com and their forums. They have a wealth of info on most anything aquatic related archived in the site and have helped me numerous times in the past.

Answer 6

i had fish 4 ten yrs. will help how i can ?

Answer 7

get a shark,they are a blast...........