615L / 162g 3ft marine aquarium stocking

[MasonJ19]

It's a long while off they said 10 weeks but have ordered a marine aquarium it's a lot of volume 820 litres system volume including sump, 615 display. But I'm wondering what sort of fish I could stock it with. Places only really recommend fish by gallons and not aquarium length and that. For example I was looking at yellow tangs. Its 36" x 30 x 36 so 2 ft long and 2ft depth.

[BigBen]

36" is 3ft. Have I read that wrong?

[MasonJ19]

36" is 3ft. Have I read that wrong?

Sorry yes your right 3ft! Me converting wrong.

[fr499y]

3ft is not long enough for tangs really. A yellow you could get away with as they are a smaller species of tang. I’d be inclined to stock it with a couple of wrasse and a few smaller fish.

What corals are you planning to keep? LPS, SPS, Softies?

[MasonJ19]

I'm not sure what the difference between those corals are, this will be my first marine tank so have to use the time to do my research really. I will have a look at those fish. I will probably be asking quite a few questions on here for advice as searching online they only give you recommended gallons.

[fr499y]

LPS/SPS are long and short polyp corals of the 'hard' nature ( skeleton based )
Softies are exactly that, soft corals such as toadstools, zoas, mushrooms etc ( no hard skeleton )
Softies are the easiest type to keep as they tend to perfer a more 'dirty' tank ( as in not all 0's across the board!! )

As its your first marine tank, I'd highly recommend softies but be careful with handling zoas and palys as they contain palytoxin. Always wear gloves and goggles when handling them, and wash your hands fully after!! It's rare that anything will happen with them, but better to be safe than sorry.

Oh and remember to take things SLOOOOOW! Never stock quickly! With marines, it takes time to get a tank to look lovely, stock it heavy and watch it fail.

[MasonJ19]

Thank you for that I will take a look in to those and see what I like the look of. Are there certain fish that like certain corals? Like clown fish with anemones. Or the opposite. Also with equipment what is i would need in addition to sump and skimmer. I see people with like calcium reactors and refugiums. Are these necessary or are they just like when you would add uv or certain chemical media to tropical they are basically just additional beneficial equipment.

[fr499y]

On my mixed reef, the only things i had running were lights, heater, skimmer, return pump, wave maker. You would only need reactors and other bits if you are keeping SPS corals and are foregoing weekly water changes.

Clown fish will call anything their home, from heaters to rocks or even a certain corner of the tank!! so I wouldn't worry about getting a certain coral just for the fish in question.

[MasonJ19]

Oh and any recommendation on lights for the tank given my tank dimensions will I need 2 light bars for full coverage or will one be enough? And any reasonablely priced options would be good. I was looking at fluval sea marine 3.0 for the bluetooth but they are expensive especially if I would need 2.

[fr499y]

Still hard to beat T5 for a marine if your keeping costs low!
A 4 tube T5 controller should do the job nicely. If so, i used 2x blue plus, 1x purple and 1x 10,000k which gave the corals a really nice pop without being overly blue.

I could reel off loads of lights, but what budget did you have set for the light? personally the fluval sea isn't worth it for marines ( imo ) but a couple of hydras or multiple primes would be most peoples choice ( but at £380 a pop for the hydras and £250 the prime HD, it gets expensive!! )