125 new to salt need help with compatability and cycling

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scubasteve06

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Jan 10, 2008
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I have recently acquired a 125 I believe (60x18x20). I was going to use it for a SA/CA cichlid tank, but since I already have a 90 with light stock (7" Gold Sev, 5" Albino Tiger O, 3.5" Keyhole, 2" JD) I am going to leave it be unless the the dempsey O and Sev don't get along which probably won't happen. Anyway, I still haven't built the stand for the 125 which will start this weekend maybe next monday or mid week depending on my work schedule and my father's schedule as he will be helping me with most of the carpentry. My questions are, about corals, cycling, compatible fish with corals, live rock, what fish are compatible with live rock since it is what I'd like to have, and fish that are compatible with each other. So far I'd like to have 1 Picasso Trigger, One Blue Tang or Powder Brown, I really want a Zebra Moray but I feel that a 125 would be too small unless you experts say my 6' length will provide otherwise, I like the Wolf Eel and Snowflake Eels also but the nocturnal activity of the Snowflake makes me shy away from it. If Eels aren't a good choice for a beginner like me then I'm sure puffers probably wouldn't be either but I do like the blue spotted puffers. Angelfish as the Regal interest me also. How many of these fish can I keep in this tank? What corals would be best? I know this is a lot of information to ask of you all but all the help in the world from the great MFK community would be much obliged to get me through my decision making process to jump to SW!!!

Added: Also what about clownfish can I have say two and hope for a pair with these species I mentioed earlier or would the eal, tang, or trigger make a quick meal out of the two...?
 
no one?
 
I went to two of my lfs today. One is a reptile/bird/hamster/fish store the other is strictly saltwater. Got a ton of great info from those guys at the SW store. I am going to start with 50 pounds of live sand. And 35 pounds of man made cultured rock and 20 pounds of live rock. There manmade rock has been in the same 300 gallon rubbermaid with the live rock for over a month now so the manmade should have some nice bacteria already on it and the 20 pounds of live rock I add should help to start the cycle and to colonize the man made. I am going to get one 720lph power head for now its one of the newer designs that doesn't have a directional jet but goes in a tornado style motion and utilizes a magnet to place it on the wall of the tank instead of a suction cup, and a rena xp3 and a cheap 75 gallon rated skimmer for now until I can afford a better set-up. I already have a ok nova T5 fixture (48") that I am going to put new bulbs in one will be a 18k or 20k blue tint bulb and the other will be actinic bulb not sure on the k as of yet I will go with their input. After about a week or 2 I will slowly start to add some fish probably a wrasse or if my lfs still has them two big cinnamon clowns to start. The coolest thing about the all SW LFS is that they have a separate QT display that runs off its own sump, skimmer, and refugium. They get fish every two weeks and at the end of the two weeks the QT'd fish go into the other display tanks. You can buy out of the QT but there is no guarantee. By doing this QT system they offer a 10 day guarantee on all saltwater fish up to 200 dollars and even if your 200 dollar lion fish or moray dies they will still comp you for 1/2 the purchase price which is the only store I have ever seen to do this. Its called Sandlapper Aquatics a very great store very knowledgeable and they have tons of super cool fish and corals and tons of live rock.
 
Did you get a test kit? It is very important. Make sure your cycle has compleated before you add fish. It took most of my tanks about a month before they finnished to cycle
 
By having a weak bio filter, weak skimmer, and large messy fish (eels, triggers, etc) you're setting up for trouble. Around 1 lb per gallon is a good number for live rock, many people use 1.5 or 2 lbs but it's probably overkill. You don't necessarily need a skimmer, but you'll be doing more frequent and larger water changes without one (or at least you should be if you care about your fish). You might as well spend the money on the skimmer now instead of spending it on salt and water and doing a lot more work.

Regarding the coral, usually those types of fish are kept in fish only tanks. Noxious corals like frogspawn and hammer corals are ok around most triggers and large angels.. anything else is likely going to become a meal for somebody.
 
clowns are not a good idea at all if you get the other fish. I kept Lions, puffers, eels, triggers, and catfish. Most get along except for the triggers and silver tipped cat / shark. Triggers are very aggressive so buy them small and last. One trigger will be plenty for a tank that size. They will fight if crowded. A trigger may also go after a slow moving puffer.
 
I have not purchased anything yet I just have my tank and stand. I also messed up on the measurments its a 72x18x20. I will not have all these fish at once and I will add the trigger last I am also thinking of a Niger or Pink Tail instead. I think with the 60 pounds of live rock and a 150 gallon rated skimmer, and 40-50 pounds of live sand I will not need a actual filter. I am going to add more live rock one day for a total of probably 75 lbs. I think the 1 to 1 1/2 pound rule is to get you to buy more. The Eel, and trigger will be the last things on my mind right now. I need sand, rock, skimmer, and salt and RO water. Then a good powerhead or two, and then later on more filtration if needed if deemed by my API saltwater test kit that I did order the other day from Dr. Foster and Smith while it was on sale for 29.99.
 
Why will this site not allow attachments anymore NEO WHAT HAVE THO ART DONE?!?!?!?!?
 
Corals aren't something I would add for a couple of months maybe three or four until the water chemistry stabilizes. If you do want to add something earlier you should start with mushroom corals or button polyps. Moving to the fish...a zebra moray would be fine in a 125 of course larger would be better they are not very active eels.
They are generally not fish eaters as well. Either of the tangs would be good. The regal angel is not exactly coral safe but do best in reef tanks as they are very sensitive fish and many times do not acclimate to captivity. I would not recommend you try this fish until you get a year or two of experience. Regals from the red sea do better. If you intend to put a moray in your reef tank the tank must be completely covered and the best clowns with fish like this are maroon clowns as they are the largest clowns. Also make sure your rocks are stable and corals are secure with morays.

James
 
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