Best fish for top view only tank?

[Deadliestviper7]

Me and my sons have always admired these in when we come across them in a LFS, but they are supposed to be pretty aggressive right? I generally try to avoid fish that need an entire tank dedicated to themselves.

I've been lucky though - I've got a big ol' zebra tilapia (buttikoferi) named buddha that is living peacefully in my cichlid community tank and they have a pretty mean reputation. I've failed more often than I've been successful in getting mean fish to get along, I've had to trade away quite a few flower horns in my attempts to get a peaceful one.

Maybe one day I'll consider a lionfish

Lionfish are predatory, not aggressive, I've kept them with tangs, surgeonfish, triggerfish and snowflake eels

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Me and my sons have always admired these in when we come across them in a LFS, but they are supposed to be pretty aggressive right? I generally try to avoid fish that need an entire tank dedicated to themselves.

I've been lucky though - I've got a big ol' zebra tilapia (buttikoferi) named buddha that is living peacefully in my cichlid community tank and they have a pretty mean reputation. I've failed more often than I've been successful in getting mean fish to get along, I've had to trade away quite a few flower horns in my attempts to get a peaceful one.

Maybe one day I'll consider a lionfish

Lionfish are predatory, not aggressive, I've kept them with tangs, surgeonfish, triggerfish and snowflake eels

 

[Backfromthedead]

Sweet tank. I second the lionfish idea. There are plenty of smaller varieties too like mombasa that would work well in that tank. Plenty of tankmate options too. Just nothing small of course.

 

[djohnson3]

So the consensus seems to be that I should go with a dwarf lionfish
I still want the banded serpent star because it's awesome.
And the saddle puffer is also really cool.
I know I could Google it, but are they all compatible?
I really want an eel too, but from reading it looks like they escape as much as freshwater eels, so that is out of the question with an open tank.
Going to get some mushroom corals and Kenya trees.
The dragon gobys are cool, but I'm going to have to read it they are escape artists too.
I like the pencil urchins they look cool, and bonus if they don't sting.

If I had all of that, would you guys consider it fully stocked? I'm not sure how much life I can cram into 100 gallons of salt water lol.

 

[J. H.]

Wow. Beautiful. They get really big, though. You catch 'em when fishing for blues, and they can be over 2'.

I looked online. They say they don't grow over 16". Everything is bigger when you catch it on a line

 

[Deadliestviper7]

So the consensus seems to be that I should go with a dwarf lionfish
I still want the banded serpent star because it's awesome.
And the saddle puffer is also really cool.
I know I could Google it, but are they all compatible?
I really want an eel too, but from reading it looks like they escape as much as freshwater eels, so that is out of the question with an open tank.
Going to get some mushroom corals and Kenya trees.
The dragon gobys are cool, but I'm going to have to read it they are escape artists too.
I like the pencil urchins they look cool, and bonus if they don't sting.

If I had all of that, would you guys consider it fully stocked? I'm not sure how much life I can cram into 100 gallons of salt water lol.

Saddleback may kill your stars.
All lionfish will kill your damsels.

Pencil urchins don't sting.
Perhaps look into a butterfly gurnard or eyed gurnard as a lionfish substitute

 

[Backfromthedead]

I looked online. They say they don't grow over 16". Everything is bigger when you catch it on a line

While they may not get 2' long, i would say the pec spines on the larger lions can easily span 2'. One of those fish thats actually wider than it is long.

But theres definitely a lot of smaller varieties.

And to the op, nothing half the size or smaller will work with a lion. Theyre sneaky nocturnal ambushers with big mouths.

 

[FESHMAN]

I suggest a blue spotted ribbontail ray, they are pretty and from what I've read they don't get huge.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

I suggest a blue spotted ribbontail ray, they are pretty and from what I've read they don't get huge.

They are very sensitive, I wouldn't recommend them at all