Who Gives A Fish Forums

ive recently started a small 2ft tank for coflakes, so i'm thinking of going for a fowlr setup in my 5 footer, which is a rio 400.

first off, i'll go over the equipment i've got -

a v2 400 skimmer (do i really need this if i'm just keeping fish and some inverts?)
a serifill 1300 external filter with lr rubble in it
a 300w heater
powerheads that give me 103x turnover an hour
120w of lighting (guess that's not too important, though)
and a 400 or 600 uv unit

now, my current stock is:

1 4-inch maroon with yellow striped clown
1 3-4 inch yellow tang
1 1-2 inch common file fish
1 2-inch electric blue damsel
1 2-inch yellow damsel
1 12-inch engineer goby

also got a few turbo and about 20 algae hermits

thinking of adding:

a porky puffer (but would he eat my small fish and inverts?)
a trigger fish (same concern, really)
and a cleaner wrasse

any thoughts or suggestions would be great, thanks for the help, appreciated.

I think using the skimmer on your 5ft tank would be a good idea, helps keep nitrates and other stuff under control.

If you're dead set on a triggerfish, I'd say go for a Niger Trigger - they're less aggressive than some other types, like the Picclyasso trigger. They might eat some of the hermits and other inverts, but they won't bother the fish. Cleaner wrasses are super tough to keep, they hardly ever eat prepared food. Your maroon clownfish is a great choice, lots of personality and really hardy.

I've always been a fan of lionfish, if I had a 5ft tank I'd totally go for a Radiata or Antennata Lionfish. Some other fish you might want to consider are butterflyfish, surgeonfish (just not another Zebrasoma since you've already got a yellow tang), and some of the less aggressive triggerfish like Sargassum or Blue Jaw. Rabbitfish and hawkfish are also pretty cool, just be aware that some hawkfish might eat inverts depending on the species.

You should check out liveaquaria and thatfishplace, they've got a pretty comprehensive list of species that are commonly available.

Also, what's the gallonage on your 5ft tank?

Hi, just a quick update - been thinking about my tanks and I've recently set up a 2ft cube reef, which I'm really enjoying. I'm now considering a change for my 5 footer, thinking of switching it to freshwater and keeping the 2ft as my only reef tank. Not 100% decided yet, but if I do go for it, it'll probably be after Christmas that I make the switch.