Stocking Suggestion for a 375g

stevem.ceo

Feeder Fish
Sep 7, 2009
3
0
1
california
So I'm setting up a aquarium for a client (I'm a contractor building his library). I have experience building tanks but not much experience in saltwater fish stocking. Ive researched and have a decent amount of knowledge on saltwater. The tank is 375g with a 100g sump Fish only. 96"X24"X36"tall Tank filtered with algae scrubber.


Ok well as far as fish go The porcupine puffer is the one fish they cant live without.

Main fish interested in:

Porcupine Puffer 1
Tangs2-4
Triggers2-4
Panther Grouper 1 "Not sure if hes to big"
Angels2-4

Any advice would be appreciated. How many fish? Whats doable and whats a no no. Feel free to tell me I'm way off base, I'm asking for advice for a reason. :)
 

TheCanuck

Piranha
MFK Member
Nov 9, 2009
3,056
60
81
32
DALLAS TEXAS
Well will you be responsible for the fish's death? Will the cash of replacing fish come from your pocket? That will be a big factor in stocking. Yea maybe on trigger might work, then maybe it could slaughter the whole tank. If i was you i would really stick with a less aggressive predator tank. Triggers are okay, but there are some species of triggers to avoid. I wouldn't do the grouper, they just get so big, and the hunger is even more. I could write you up a decent list for the tank if you'd like


Also with a predator tank, it would be wise to have filtration, and the algae filter as a back up. You need something to convert the amonia and nitrite to nitrate. The scrubber does amazing things for reefs and communites, but i would never trust it not even nearly a lone with a predator tank. I just see it crashing ...
 

TheCanuck

Piranha
MFK Member
Nov 9, 2009
3,056
60
81
32
DALLAS TEXAS
Well also i have a couple other questions about the filtration. Are you only going to use a scrubber? Like i said above i don't think thats the safest idea, especially with a puffer in the system. Also with the scrubber you know that you need an exact number of square inches per gallon? Also you will need a certain number of watts hitting that scrubber. Around the 800-1000. Which would make the persons electricity bill crazy high. That would be almost 60-80$ a month for that scrubber. Not to mention the extra pump to run the scrubber. You would also need another pump to pump the water back into the tank. You would need 2 pumps, or maybe even three because you couldn't hook up the scrubber to the overflow because of the exact flow rate you need. And i wouldn't go any lower than 1800gph on this size tank, and thats far to much for the scrubber. So with three extra pumps, a huge electricity bill, and a possibly failing system, i think your better off with another form of filtration.

Don't get me wrong, scrubbers are amazing, but you really need to know what your doing if you actually plan on executing this
 

Weylin

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Sep 15, 2007
3,132
1
313
34
Inside a Bottle
Well i would suggest 2 big scrubbers and a good skimmer.. that way if one fails you have another and if that fails too you have the skimmer as a backup...
 

TheCanuck

Piranha
MFK Member
Nov 9, 2009
3,056
60
81
32
DALLAS TEXAS
Weylin;4313634; said:
Well i would suggest 2 big scrubbers and a good skimmer.. that way if one fails you have another and if that fails too you have the skimmer as a backup...
bro by failing i am talking about bio load wise. So basically he would have 2 useless pieces of filtration relying on a skimmer. You know that people make scrubbers to replace skimmers, so that would be defeating the purpose:confused:

He does have a good point, what if the scrubber does fail? Having to run 2x skimmers and then have another pump and MORE lights. Man that bill is going to be insane!
 

stevem.ceo

Feeder Fish
Sep 7, 2009
3
0
1
california
TheCanuck;4313550; said:
Well will you be responsible for the fish's death? Will the cash of replacing fish come from your pocket? That will be a big factor in stocking. Yea maybe on trigger might work, then maybe it could slaughter the whole tank. If i was you i would really stick with a less aggressive predator tank. Triggers are okay, but there are some species of triggers to avoid. I wouldn't do the grouper, they just get so big, and the hunger is even more. I could write you up a decent list for the tank if you'd like


Also with a predator tank, it would be wise to have filtration, and the algae filter as a back up. You need something to convert the amonia and nitrite to nitrate. The scrubber does amazing things for reefs and communites, but i would never trust it not even nearly a lone with a predator tank. I just see it crashing ...

Triggers were my main concern, I will not be responsible for fish death but I would like to keep stock realistic for the customer. If you could give me some fish stock suggestion that would be awesome. Ultimately the customer gets final say but i wanna guide them in the right direction.

I have a lot of experience in freshwater DIY filtration but have done a lot of research on algae scrubbers your the first Ive seen really voice concern on its reliability or proneness to failing, everything Ive read has said the exact opposite but definitely will make me reevaluate filtration . Would live sand in say the sump be a sufficient backup filtration along with a scrubber?
 

TheCanuck

Piranha
MFK Member
Nov 9, 2009
3,056
60
81
32
DALLAS TEXAS
stevem.ceo;4313847; said:
Triggers were my main concern, I will not be responsible for fish death but I would like to keep stock realistic for the customer. If you could give me some fish stock suggestion that would be awesome. Ultimately the customer gets final say but i wanna guide them in the right direction.

I have a lot of experience in freshwater DIY filtration but have done a lot of research on algae scrubbers your the first Ive seen really voice concern on its reliability or proneness to failing, everything Ive read has said the exact opposite but definitely will make me reevaluate filtration . Would live sand in say the sump be a sufficient backup filtration along with a scrubber?
reliability is actually my last concern. The concern is mostly the terrible thought of the algae filter not being enough to keep the tank biologically stable. As well as the huge electricity bill each month. I think you should turn that sump into a refugium. That will do the same thing as an algae scrubber and be free to run, except one small light. Then i would stuff the rest of the sump with 10Litres of ceramic bio media, in high flow areas. Then i would still use a protein skimmer. The pump i would use would probably be around 3,200gph that way at head height it would be around 2000 or more. I would also use a filter sock, as it sounds like this is going to be a nice display tank it needs to be micron filtered, and stunning every day. I can get you a stock list by tonight and a diagram of the sump i have in mind. Just let me know
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store