What fish in 75g tank? help??

[reefmaniac]

i've got a 75 gallon tank, (yet to be filled with water)
i am planning to put in a yellow-headed jawfish, an' a yellow tang, for alage. im also plannin' to get a 75g reef relief (r)
package from ffexpress. i'd like to get some blennys (barnacle??), and tons of other fish, but im gonna try to keep the fish to a minimum. what fish would you reccommend?

thanks a bunch:)
:bum:

ps how do you cycle your tank w/ live rock, w/ out the life forms on it dying? add half, wait, then the premium half?

pss since everyone is a fan of ffexpress, check out petwarehouse (http://www.petwarehouse.com)

[BrianD]

Hi Reef,

If you are first setting up your 75 gallon tank, and are considering adding a jawfish, one thing to keep in mind is that the jawfish needs a deep substrate in order to flourish. It will dig a hole in the sandbed for its home. A finer grained sand is best (oolitic). In any case, the finer grain size is better for most critters in the sandbed.

As for cycling your tank, if you buy fully cured live rock, you shouldn't have much cycle, and most life on the rock should survive. You can get more detailed information on cycling from whichever vendor you buy the rock from. Briefly, you need to add the rock to the tank first, than the substrate. If the rock is uncured or pre-cured, you will have a cycle period of 30 days or more. If it is fully cured, the cycle should take less than that. Some advocate using dead shrimp to assist in the cycle. You might do a search, or check the archives. I am sure there are several threads on these topics.

As for fish, you would be better served to wait until your tank has matured somewhat before thinking of fish. A yellow tang will be ok in a 75, but you need to structure your rockwork so he has open areas to swim and plenty of hiding places. However, you won't be ready to add fish to your tank for a few months.

HTH

Brian