What to put in 225 Gallon tank!

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mebaldwin310

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Nov 6, 2006
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I recently took over a 225 gallon SW tank! It had been running for about 4 years and the my neighbor was moving so he sold it to me for a great deal. I sold all his fish and eel back to the LFS. After the move, the tank has been running for a couple of weeks, I added a wet/dry filter set up for tanks of 200 gallons and kept 2 of his 3 330b Penguins off the back. There is about 100lbs of live rock and 200lbs of live sand. I also have my water running through a 15 watt UV Sterilizer on the return from the wet/dry filter. Any concerns in the set-up? Anything that would make it better as far as filtration and self-cleaning purposes? All the water in the tank came from a pure flo 2 Reverse Osmosis system, and i have 50 more gallons waiting for a water change.

Now the question is what do i put in the tank! Part of my excitment of getting such a seemingly large tank was i can put all kinds of things in it. As i read up on so many things it seems i may have been mistaken. Everywhere i read says you can't pu this with that and if you have this you cant have that. Is this all true? I really like Clown triggers, it seems i cant really put anything with them, no clowns, angels, tangs! am i mistaken? I also was thinking of some shrimp, hermet crabs, sea cucumber! Does this mean i cant keep a ray in the tank? I want the tank to be very colorful with something pretty rare and cool for most aquarist like a ray? So what should i put in the tank???

Can i try to mix Angels, Clown Trigger, Percula Clowns, Blue Tang -with yellow tail....forget the name, sea cucumbers, hermit crabs, shrimp and a ray? or is there no chance? If not what are some good combinations for my goal of colorful and something amazing like a ray preferrably?
 

Max

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Jan 26, 2004
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Hello and welcome to ac!
Taeniura lymma, the blue spotted ray would be a pretty good choice. You wouldn't be able to keep crabs, molusks, shrimp etc though. I also wouldn't attempt the clown trigger in that tank they can be very aggresive towards other fish. You should be safe with most non sand dwelling fish ,"it probabaly wouldn't eat them either but, better safe than sorry."

Sounds like it's going to be a pretty neat tank. Let us know what you decide. I really don't know much about ray's so hopefully someone with more knowledge will see this.
hth
Max
 

Max

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Also just wanted to add that you might consider adding more live rock to your tank. If it's unstocked you might want ta add another 100-125 lbs that will greatly assist you in keeping your water quality up . I know you have the deep sand bed to assist. You could also add the same amount of base rock and cycle the tank.

This is all under the assumption that the tank is empty if not never add uncurred live rock or cycle.
Max
 

mebaldwin310

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Nov 6, 2006
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Thanks for the input! I was actually going to add some more live rock, as I built up my rock walls and caves I realized I needed a little bit more for decoration purposes. So if i added the ray, It would be pointless for me to get a "Cleaner Crew" as the ray would take them all out, right? Is there even a need for a cleaner crew with the UV sterilizer?

What about Starfish or long spine sea urchins with the ray?

Thanks for the help and look forward to learning more! I spent all day reading others posts and related materials, i have learned so much over the last week and i can see that the rabbit hole goes infinitely deep!
 

Brenden

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Nov 12, 2006
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You are going to have lots of fun with your 225. This size tank opens up all sorts of possibilites. If I was you I would definatly put in some Clowns those are a must! Blue Hippo Tangs and Yellow Tangs are very nice. How about a Lionfish? Butterfly and Angels are very colour, tend to be expensive though $100-$200. Clown Triggers are great fish, but arent good tankmates. Not sure of the exact name put my LFS has some blue triggers which are beautiful and are very compatible with other fish. Bannerfish? Foxface Rabbit Fish? I could keep going. Rays are great pets, but I perfer sharks! Go get your self a Brown Banded Bamboo it will be able to live nicley in 225 for probable 5 years. Make sure you do your research though sharks and ray need lots of care! Goodluck
 

jojo22

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Sep 21, 2006
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I would do a reef! Can we see pics please?
 

mebaldwin310

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Nov 6, 2006
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I will post some pics pretty soon, In the last week i added quite a bit more Live Rock, i am up to just about 200lbs. I put in about 45 pounds of this Marshall Island Live Rock that looks awesome. I also just put in a sand sifting starfish, 10 red leg and 10 blue leg hermit crabs, 10 turbo snails, 2 cleaner shrimp, a coral banded shrimp, and 4 queen conchs. My water is testing nicely. I am getting ready to add a Protein Skimmer and am between a Pacific Coast Import 3000 model, a Berlin Turbo XL, and a ASM G4, any thoughts on which is best.

Also thanks for the ideas on all those great fish, but from what i have been reading it sounds like i couldn't really mix those, my clowns would turn into food! :sad:
 
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