Tank mates.....little help

[Cujo#31]

I have a very large aquarium (500 gallons) that had originally been destined to be reef. Thank god I haven't invested thousands into crazy reef madness because work is taking new direction and no way I would be able to properly maintain reef, family and work.....I'd never get any sleep.
What I currently run is a 120 with an 8" volitan, an 18" bamboo shark and a 30" snowflake. In my 90 I have some LPS, percs, sailfin, hippo,and yellow tang, a coral angel, a melanarus wrasse, a couple gobies and a little bastard yellow tail damsel.
My plan is to divide the aquarium (12' long) into 8 foot and 4 foot. Keep corals and small guys in 4 foot side, and rest of fish in larger side. The question is what other tank mates would make good choices in large side......obviously "fit in the mouth" size ruled out)

[BackPackHunter]

Emperor angel
French angel
Clown trigger

3 of my favourites

[Cujo#31]

I think I have my list down now. Before evryone goes WAY TO MANY FISH!!! I am doing this in a 12 foot long aquarium.....
Tangs
Hippo Tang
Sailfin Tang
Yellow Tang
Blonde Nasso Tang
Unicorn Tang

Angels
Coral Beauty
Heraldi
Flagfin
Lemmonpeel
Emporer

Misc fishies
Percula pair
a couple wrasses
a few gobies/ Blennies
a small school of Chromis.

Your thoughts?????

[kien]

Curious as to why you want to split your tank ? I'd put all your fish into the one 500g :-). That would make a kick ass mixed reef.

[belzebuth]

Let me know if you are looking for an Emperor angel. I have one that will need to find a new home very soon. :biggrin:

[Cujo#31]

U folks are bloody awesome. Like my grandpa said "great minds think alike and fools rarely differ. Yes there is a slightly sinister method to my fish selection madness.
First I have completely abandoned any type of split in the aquarium. Adding the Unicorn and Emporer to the mix quickly made me decide to open as much realestate as possible.
And yes, I would LOVE to reef the hell out of that tank and that is actually my end-game. 3 things are in the way of that right now. First is the tank will need considerable time to mature. Second is right now between the demands of my job and my young family do not give me the "free time" absolutely necessary to properly maintain a full blown reef. Right now with a FOWLR and some softies and easy corals, if the real world forces me to be a less than model tank owner it's inhabitants will be able to withstand a certain degree of irresponsibility.3rd. I will have to undergo significant lighting, skimming,dosing, and reactor upgrades that will be very expensive. So right now I have a few restrictions which I have imposed upon myself.
All is not lost, and long term I agree a tank that size is a waste as FOWLR. I may be doing FOWLR, but there is still enough REEFER in the soul that to have a tank with beautiful fish and just a pile of rock is.....Criminal

[NIVLEM09]

If I had a 500 gallon fish tank,i'd fill it with corals(mostly SPS) and a few show piece fish.

[Cujo#31]

If I had a 500 gallon fish tank,i'd fill it with corals(mostly SPS) and a few show piece fish.
Believe me...the reefer "twitch" keeps pulling me there. Sadly right now the job keeps me going from 4:00 am until 5:30 pm most days, and my kids and wife eat up the rest of my "free time" so I have to stay relatively simple and low maintenance for a while by stocking with inhabitants that can withstand the odd bouts of less than stellar tank management that many of the SPS require almost daily. Once the demands of my "real world" have taken me to where I can be a good, sensible heavily stocked reef owner I am going there......Ba ha ha ha (pathetic attempt at evil laugh)