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Old 02-15-2018, 01:36 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Llorgon View Post
Haven't given fish too much thought yet. I guess I should. I like flame angels, wife says there has to be a clown fish. I think I would go with a few larger fish with some smaller schooling fish. Along with a clown fish or two. I should give this more thought.

For budget I have about 3k set aside for new reef tank. That might change depending on if I can get more freelance projects.
Ok, your budget is reasonable (provided that is equipment only), so if you stick with the 75-gallon you're planning on you can get all the bells and whistles as long as you don't spend too much on a stand. By bells and whistles I mean a freshwater auto top off system, a good quality protein skimmer, etc. However, that is not enough budget to get good quality LED lights if that's what your heart is set on. Personally, I don't like LED as the main light source anyway, so I don't see this as a drawback. I highly recommend the ATI brand T5 fixtures. They are the best ones on the market and will grow any coral you want. Your budget is also not big enough for a custom cube tank with stand and custom sump.

Also, I think the 75-gallon tank is a great size to start with. The dimensions are really nice. I like the more "square from the side" dimensions because the tank is easier to aquascape. Tanks that are taller than they are wide, such as 90-gallon tanks, are more difficult to aquascape, and usually allow less swimming room for the fish between the front glass and the rocks. I like to see the fish a lot, so I like there to be lots of space between the rocks and the front glass.

Random comments on your fish choices...there are some reef-safe Angelfish (such as Watanabei), but they all get too large for a 75-gallon tank. Any of the Dwarf Angelfish (such as the Flame Angel) would be suitable for your tank size, however they are not 100% reef-safe. There are some individuals that are totally reef-safe, but most of them will bite corals causing various amounts of damage. Sometimes they only bother one type of coral, sometimes they bite everything. Lots of people say they are 50/50 reef-safe, but in my experiences it is more like 80/20 that they will bite corals.

Also, there are few fish that actually "school" in a home-sized aquarium. The reason they shoal in the wild is that there is danger being alone, so they shoal up - safety in numbers. At home they realize nothing will hurt them, so they stop shoaling. There are a few that have strong shoaling behavior though, and tend to mainly stick together. These are some of the Cardinalfish such as the Blue Eye Cardinals and Red Spot Cardinals.
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