Planning what to do...

[Pwr]

Hi all! I'm a college student studying behavioral biology in Boston and as of 2 days ago have a 75 gallon tank I plan on getting a ceph in in a few months! I've been working in a marine biology lab for about a year and a half and find myself pretty comfortable with water maintenance. I recently got a pair of clownfish as my first critters in the tank and was looking into snails and an anemone (for the clownfish) however I very abruptly remembered that this is terrible planning assuming i'm going to find an octo down the road. Do you all have any advice? I've set up live rock that i'm hoping will grow well and I'm looking into corals and some frags but I'm feeling mixed about getting fish because well.... they'll end up snacks way down the road.
-Pwr

 

[cuttlegirl]

Yeah, I would skip the fish. You can get some really cool inverts in the meantime.

 

[DWhatley]

Please don't consider the fish snacks, consider finding them new homes. I am a strong opponent of any fish in an aquarium with an octopus. Either the fish will pick on the octo or it will intimidate it and cause stress (fatal at worst, not ever seeing it at best). They rarely eat fish but will kill them if the fish becomes too annoying or insists on a den site the octopus has chosen.

 

[Pwr]

Thanks for the input! I'll avoid getting more fish and move the little clownfish I have out once the time comes. So should i just get corals/shrimp/snails and other inverts? Advice on what I can get to have my tank not be barren while I wait?

 

[DWhatley]

I know just the right post(s)! There is a collection of new keeper discussions, arranged by topic (what works and what doesn't is one of them) linked here.