First Fish Recommendations for a 115 Gallon Reef Tank

[optimisticdingo]

After having our 40-gallon breeder for almost 8 months now my wife and I have decided it is time to upgrade and go with our dream tank. A lady is selling her RedSea Reefer 450 setup for a really good price so it looks like we will be going from a 40 gallon to a 115 gallon pretty soon. Our 40-gallon is currently sitting fallow for 76 days after an ICH/Velvet outbreak caused most of our fish to die. We currently have a Royal Gramma and an Engineer Goby that are living in my 10 gallon QT tank for the time being until they finish their copper treatment and quarantine period. Those fish won't be done with QT by the time our new tank cycles most likely so we are looking for recommendations for a first fish for the new tank. My wife and I are currently thinking of doing a Foxface to start the tank but wanted to know of some other suggestions for good hardy starter fish, other than Clownfish and Damsels. What are your guys' thoughts?

 

[Fish Think Pink]

After having our 40-gallon breeder for almost 8 months now my wife and I have decided it is time to upgrade and go with our dream tank. A lady is selling her RedSea Reefer 450 setup for a really good price so it looks like we will be going from a 40 gallon to a 115 gallon pretty soon. Our 40-gallon is currently sitting fallow for 76 days after an ICH/Velvet outbreak caused most of our fish to die. We currently have a Royal Gramma and an Engineer Goby that are living in my 10 gallon QT tank for the time being until they finish their copper treatment and quarantine period. Those fish won't be done with QT by the time our new tank cycles most likely so we are looking for recommendations for a first fish for the new tank. My wife and I are currently thinking of doing a Foxface to start the tank but wanted to know of some other suggestions for good hardy starter fish, other than Clownfish and Damsels. What are your guys' thoughts?

Aren't Foxfaces related to Tangs? IMO that is not hardy starter fish stock.

My advice, go slow. Plan your fish list then associated aquascape for fish sleeping. Introduce 1 at a time from least aggressive to most aggressive (like breeds may have to be exception due to aggression)

Defer to others... you are bound to get lots of opinions on this <wink>

 

[Storm Trooper Reefer]

Utility, Utility, Utility. Seen some good result with putting the algae Utility crew (foxface, tangs, etc) in first, before lights and corals.

 

[optimisticdingo]

Utility, Utility, Utility. Seen some good result with putting the algae Utility crew (foxface, tangs, etc) in first, before lights and corals.

Corals won't be going into the tank until the Fourth of July. All of our coral that is currently in the 40-Breeder is potentially contaminated with ICH/Velvet. The tank that we are buying currently has a ton of algae in it, however, I will be bleaching the tank and starting fresh to avoid possible parasite contamination so there won't be much algae for a Foxface to eat. I wouldn't mind just keeping a bunch of seaweed in the tank though for it to nip on. I've also got Chaeto from one of my refugiums that I could feed it too if it would eat it.

 

[optimisticdingo]

Aren't Foxfaces related to Tangs? IMO that is not hardy starter fish stock.

My advice, go slow. Plan your fish list then associated aquascape for fish sleeping. Introduce 1 at a time from least aggressive to most aggressive (like breeds may have to be exception due to aggression)

Defer to others... you are bound to get lots of opinions on this <wink>

From what I've read Foxfaces are rather hardy. Not sure if they're related to tangs or not

 

[BeardedDragon21]

My first thought was something smaller like a sailfin blenny or 2 to minimize potential ammonia spikes while maintaining utility of a cuc

 

[optimisticdingo]

My first thought was something smaller like a sailfin blenny or 2 to minimize potential ammonia spikes while maintaining utility of a cuc

I thought you couldn't keep multiple sailfin blennies together? However, that was in a 40 gallon. Is there enough room in a 115 to keep 2?

 

[arking_mark]

Freshwater Mollies = perfect starter fish for all tanks.
1. Drip acclimate to saltwater
2. Since they come from freshwater, no need to quarantine as diseases don't come over
3. Awesome utilitarian fish that clean everything
4. Cheap
5. Colorful

 

[BeardedDragon21]

I thought you couldn't keep multiple sailfin blennies together? However, that was in a 40 gallon. Is there enough room in a 115 to keep 2?

If you can find a mated pair you can do tanks in that 100+ range... Especially if you have a large amount of Rockwork to keep them from encountering each other too often... But yes use caution and your best judgement with their behavior