Semi new, goin big

[Betty Anderson]

So its been a while since I've worked with saltwater. But life threw us a curve ball and our nano tanks went bye-bye. Now my husband and I are getting back into the game and going bigger with a 112-120 gallon acrylic tank, that was in a LFS. It had a large snake in it for a while, so I need to sanitize, buff, and just do a lot of care on it before I even add tap water to check for leaks! I also recieved a nice glass 55 gallon which will be our sump for the acrylic. I was going to make a thread on us fixing this baby up, but the updates would be so far apart, I don't think it would be entertaining.

We are planning on a volitan lion, a snowflake eel, and I would love a pair of yellow tangs but will be happy with just one, if I can't have pair. I was thinking about adding them all at the same time, with them all about the same size, except the eel, I doubt he'd be the same size as the fish. We also plan on adding coral later on.

I been doing research on these 3 species as tank mates and they seem to be compatible as long as there is enough food, hiding places, and swimming room. However I have a few questions...

What size skimmer would be good for this size tank?
Do I need a current?
Can I have a pair of yellow tangs or should I stick with just one?
With the threat to shrimp and crabs, what kind of CUC can I have?
Any suggestion on the sump build, such as blue prints or pics?
Can he add more fish if he wants to?
What about anenomes way later on?

Actually any advice would be appreciated, especially from anyone with these 3 in there tank!

Thank you for reading this.

 

[Northstar24]

You want a skimmer rated for at least the size of your tank, larger would be even better (some people would say to get a skimmer rated for twice your water volume. With heavy eaters such as a lion and a snowflake, this would be even more true in your case)

If by current you mean water movement, yes, you would need some. You'd want somewhere between 10x - 40x your volume an hour in flow, towards the lower end for fish only tanks, towards the higher end for reef tanks (so for a 100 gallon tank, you'd want powerheads capable of 1000-4000 gallons an hour)

In a tank that size, a pair of yellow tangs may be problematic, the tank is small enough that there may be aggression issues. The general rule here is one tang per family, there are five different families of tangs. If you add them both at once you may be okay, but i would be prepared to re-home one of them if there are aggression issues

With a lion and an eel, you'll be pretty limited with a CUC. In fact, I probably wouldn't even bother. It will be more important for regular water changes and to have a big old skimmer

You can find all sorts of DIY plans for a sump, but they basically consist of three sections, your drain, your refugium, and your return. The refugium is optional and not technically required

General rule for stocking is 1 fish per 10 gallons or so, but opinions on this will vary. With only 4 fish in a 125 gallon, you certianly have room for some additonal fish. You could consider a trigger or perhaps an angel, you'll want fish a little more on the aggressive side due to the other fish you already plan on keeping

Anemone's are not for beginners, and need stable tank. If you're dead set on going reef, you may want to re-consider your plan to keep an eel and a lion, as many of the fish that would normally be kept with them would not be considered reef safe. Aneomones need stable water conditions, and very strong, high quality reef lighting to thrive

Welcome to the site!

 

[Betty Anderson]

Thank you for the advice. Anenome isn't a definite, just something I really wanted. We are still thinking of the coral going into the tank. It's still all up in the planning stages. I just want as much input as possible before we spend money on things we won't need, or are harmful to our main 3. Once again thank you.

 

[Marinne13]

are you dead set on an eel and lion? maybe just go with a peaceful reef/semi-aggressive and get 2 different tangs, clowns, goby and much more of a variety??

you could also have cool inverts like shrimp and crabs

 

[Betty Anderson]

Yeah, we are pretty set on the eel and lion. :-)

 

[Marinne13]

I would just do the two then and skip the tangs...they are both with caution on a reef so might have to do a fish only

also you will need a solid top because snowflake eels are escape artists

 

[Betty Anderson]

We are pretty set on the 3. We've been studying up on line, chatting with people who have these 3 in a tank, and reading books we can get our hands on. The tank is till a long way away from put fish in, so we might change our minds on what we want, everyone knows how that goes. As for the coral we've been discussing this a lot lately, and decided to risk it. Everything in this hobby is a risk, the way we see it, as with so many other hobbies. I been reading about how the eel is a "carpet surfler" and I'm working with the LFS on designing lids to keep him in the tank. I appreciate all the feed back, and it gave me and my husband a lot to discuss. Thank you again for replying, much respect to you all. I have also been talking with my local LFS and they are willing to take any of the 3, if it don't work out. We will continue to research, and look everything over before our final choice. However we will continue to base our tank around the 3.

 

[Marinne13]

Glad to hear you are doing research, that is a good start