stocking for fowlr

[Nano]

So heres the deal, since we will be buying a house in the spring, we want to do a larger system, 2 DTs sharing one sump most likely but the details are still up in the air. i want a 120g reef and the Mrs wants a predator tank. I was thinking of using the current cube for the predator tank, but this would really limit options for fish. so I'm now looking at 75-100g for this one.

she loves dog faced puffers, but I see they get quite large 1' + and porcupine puffers are the same requiring a large tank.

I have suggested so far,

-The dog faced puffer, get a young one and once he gets a little bigger trade him off to a bigger tank
-A selection of angels
-maybe some eels or something
-boxfish again til it outgrows to trade out
-triggers

pretty basic really, but am I missing anything? I am trying to coax her into researching this one on her own and possibly signing up here, but in the mean time thought I'd educate myself a bit.

what are some other options, i know there are lots of wrasses and others. main thing is she wants the weird looking ones, but as said most get quite large :P

thanks in advance guys, I'm starting to figure out reefing but as far as non reef safe fish go, I'm clueless once again.:lol:

[Nano]

also since there are 2 DTs one reef one just LR is there any point in sharing a sump as the fowlr just needs sea salt not reef crystals? would I be better off to to the fowlr with a smaller sump with a skimmer and just call it even? or is it going to be easier to share the system? btw, the reef would be set up first so tapping after would be kind of dumb imo

[Enigma]

I think I would keep them both separate. That way, if one crashes, the other won't go with it. In the event one crashed, the other might be useful for the emergency storing of some livestock (with a tank divider, or something).

Personally, I really like spiny box puffers and lionfish.

Edit: Sea Goblins are very interesting, too. And, One local shop has a frilly rhinopius right now . . . Which is insane (with a crazy price tag to match).

[badfish!]

I've got a predator tank and a mixed reef, I wouldn't share the sump between them (more convenient for maintenance, but if one crashes they both do, but also, my pred tank won't sustain sps, softies do great in there, but the water is too dirty for sps)

As for stocking, lionfish are great, I've got a fuzzy dwarf in mine, but once you get into things like sea goblins, it greatly limits what else you can get (mostly because most fish will just get eaten). Even my fuzzy (he's still small at 4 or 5") eats fish if he can catch him (even though hes really well fed).

[silentcivilian]

Ya, like its been said.. keep the seperate.. your predator tank will create alot of waste that will directly impede the coral tank..

This was just my experiance.. be careful having inactive fish like scorpions with active swimers like the puffer.. they make it a challenge to feed the inactive ones.. my puffer was a garbarator that made it a hair pulling challenge to feed my inactive guys.. My eel got along well with my scorp... and my scorp ate everything else that did or didnt fit in his mouth.. ask badfish haha.. but just look around.. im not a big fan of getting a fish till it out grows your setup.. it seems cruel.. more so for puffers because so few people can actually house large puffers. Im guilty of doing it once.. and wont do it again.

Id be happy to answer questions if ya have any to send me too!

[Simons]

some types of Triggers can go well with lion fish if introduced last in the tank. My plan for my 250 predator is triggers, lion fish, puffers and tangs. Was thinking about a grouper but they can also get pretty big.

[swill]

We've got a Bird Wrasse, Pink Tail Trigger, Clown Trigger, Unicorn Tang, Moray Eel, Panther grouper, Pink Squirrel Fish, chocolate chip star fish, and a Lionfish. We also have a Banded Cat Shark Egg that will eventually go in the tank

I'm not sure if all of these would do well in your size tank (especially the Panter Grouper) but they might give you some ideas of what you can keep.

We've tried to keep puffer fish in the past but they die within a few months for some reason so we gave up after 2 porcupine and 2 dog face puffers.

I like the Fu Man Chu LionFish for a smaller FOWLR and I would love to get a Niger Trigger.