A 75-gallon tank is a nearly perfect size for saltwater fish, allowing enough room to care for all but the largest saltwater fish.
You can keep all the fish species recommended for smaller tanks, and the added volume in a 75-gallon tank unlocks the following fish types:
- A few of the smallest tang types
- Several dwarf angelfish species
- Graceful Anthias species
- One-spot Rabbitfish
- Soldierfish
Here is a list of the 82 Best saltwater fish for a 75 gallon tank:
- Tangs: Kole, Tomini, Two-spot Bristletooth, Squaretail Bristletooth,
- Dwarf Angelfish: Flame angel, Coral Beauty, Bi-color, Pygmy/Cherub, Flameback, Lemonpeel, Rusty, Red Stripe,
- Antias: Lyretail
- Reef safe wrasses: Carpenter’s, Lubbock’s Fairy, Melanurus, Yellow Coris, McCosker’s, Sixline
- Marine betta
- Dwarf lionfish: Fuzzy dwarf, Dwarf zebra, Fu Manchu, or Monbasa
- Filefish: Aiptasia-eating
- Blenny: Tailspot, Two spot, Canary, Midas, Striped, Harptail or Smith’s
- Cardinalfish: Banggai, Yellow, Pajama, or Longfin
- Cleaner goby: Neon, Yellow line, Shark nose, or Hybrid
- Clownfish: Tomato, Cinnamon, Maroon, Clarkii, Spotcinctus, Ocellaris, Percula, Orange skunk or Pink skunk
- Chromis: Blue-green or Blue Reef
- Dartfish: Firefish, Purple firefish, Zebra, Scissortail orHelfrichi
- Dottyback: Orchid or Neon
- Fairy Basslet: Royal gramma, Blackcap or Chalk basslet
- Fancy goby: Clown, Two spot, Yasha or Court jester
- Hawkfish: Flame, Longnose, or Falco
- Puffer: Saddle Valenti (if fish only)
- Soldierfish: Squirrelfish
- Damselfish: Azure, Blue, Blue Devil, Bluefin, Blue Velvet, Domino, Three-stripe, Four-stripe, Yellowtail
The Best Saltwater Fish for a 75 gallon tank Table
Best Saltwater Fish 75-G | Options: | ||||||||
Tangs | Yellow Eye Kole | Tomini | Squaretail Bristletooth | Two-spot Bristletooth | |||||
Dwarf Angels | Flame | Coral Beauty | Bi-color | Cherub | Flameback | Lemonpeel | Rusty | Red Stripe | |
Anthias | Lyretail | ||||||||
Reef safe wrasses | Carpenter’s | Lubbock’s Fairy | McCosker’s | 6 Line | Melanurus | Yellow Coris | |||
Rabbitfish | One-spot | ||||||||
Marine Bettas | |||||||||
Dwarf lionfish | Fuzzy | Zebra | Fu Manchu | Monbasa | |||||
Filefish | Aiptasia-eating | ||||||||
Blenny | Tailspot | 2 Spot | Canary | Midas | Striped | Harptail | Smith’s | ||
Cardinalfish | Banggai | Yellow | PJ | Longfin | |||||
Cleaner goby | Neon | Yellowline | Sharknose | Hybrid | |||||
Clownfish | Maroon | Tomato | Cinnamon | Clarkii | Spotcintus | Ocellaris | Percula | O. Skunk | P. Skunk |
Chromis | Blue-green | Blue reef | |||||||
Dartfish | Firefish | Purple | Helfrichi | Zebra | Scissortail | ||||
Dottyback | Neon | Orchid | |||||||
Fairy Basslet | Royal Gramma | Blackcap | Chalk | ||||||
Fancy goby | Clown | Two-spot | Yasha | Court Jester | Yellow Watchman | ||||
Hawkfish | Longnose | Flame | Falco | ||||||
Pufferfish | Valenti | ||||||||
Soldierfish | |||||||||
Damselfish | Blue | Blue devil | Blue velvet | Domino | Azure | 3 stripe | 4 stripe | Yellow tail | Blue fin |
Typical 75-gallon tank dimensions
A 75-gallon tank is typically 48 inches long x 18 inches wide x 21 inches deep.
It is the exact size of my very first Saltwater Aquarium. For years, I had kept freshwater fish in a 20-gallon high style aquarium, but when I transitioned to saltwater, the 75-gallon tank was what I went for, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to you.
Sidebar, but I just thought I’d share, for your amusement, that my first version of that sentence above read, “whole heartily”. Hah
How many of the best saltwater fish for a 75-gallon tank should you have?
The total number of saltwater fish you should keep in a 75-gallon tank is 21 or less. Restricting the number to 10-15 will reduce maintenance and increase your chance of success with corals and other invertebrates.
See the list below for recommendations about how many of each type of fish:
- 1 Small Tang: Yellow Eye Kole, Tomini, Squaretail or Two-spot Bristletooth
- 1 Dwarf Angelfish: Flame angel, Coral Beauty, Bi-color, Pygmy/Cherub, Flameback, Lemon peel
- 1 Anthias: Lyretail
- 3-5 Flasher or Fairy wrasses: Reef safe wrasses: Carpenter’s, McCosker’s
- 1 Reef Safe Wrasse: Six line, Melanurus, Yellow Coris
- 1 One-spot Rabbitfish
- 1 Marine betta
- 1 Blenny: Tailspot, Two spot, Canary, Midas, Striped, Harptail or Smith’s
- 1-5 Cardinalfish: Banggai, Yellow, Pajama, or Longfin
- 1 Cleaner goby: Neon, Yellow line, Shark nose, or Hybrid
- 2 Clownfish: Tomato, Cinnamon, Maroon, Clarkii, Spotcinctus, Ocellaris, Percula, Orange skunk, Pink skunk
- 1-5 Chromis: Blue-green or Blue reef
- 1 Dartfish*: Firefish, Purple firefish, Zebra, or Scissortail, Helfrichi
- 1 Dottyback: Orchid or Neon
- 1 Fairy Basslet: Royal gramma, or Blackcap, Chalk basslet
- 1 Fancy goby: Clown, Two spot, Yasha or Court jester
- 1 Hawkfish:Flame, Longnose, or Falco
- 1 Filefish: Aiptasia-eating
- 1 Saddle Valenti puffer (if fish only)
- 1 Soldierfish: Squirrelfish
Or if you want to keep a predator:
- 1 Dwarf lionfish: Fuzzy dwarf, Dwarf zebra, Fu Manchu, Monbasa
- 1 Moray eel: Snowflake, Blue ribbon,
A few compatibility notes and caveats
There are a few caveats to the recommendations above.
- Pick either a Fairy Basslet or a Dottyback, not both
- Dartfish are very mild-mannered, may not work with bold tank mates, best to be an early tank addition
- Select either the Flasher or Fairy or Reef Safe wrasses, don’t mix
- In my own personal experience, it is challenging to keep a shoal (>1) chromis alive
- Soldierfish and Hawkfish may not be compatible with your mobile invertebrates
Equipment needed for a 75-gallon tank
- Heater – 200 watts may be sufficient, I recommend 300-watts to be sure
- Protein skimmer – I recommend the Red Sea Skimmer. Read more here
- Reef tank lights —Aqua Illumination is a good place to start
- Lid – Several of the saltwater fish listed here will jump out of tanks when startled. A tight-fitting lid is key
- Powerhead – to create the proper water flow in the tank, you’ll want a powerhead, like a GYRE style pump
- Test kits – Water quality is so important—it pays to have the right test kits
A few important related topics to consider
Here are a few other very important articles to help you have success with your new saltwater tank:
- Learn how to make saltwater
- Which reef salt mix is best?
- Step by step aquarium set up instructions
- See how much live rock do you need?
- The 9 Most important water parameters
Other stocking options
Fish are possibly the easiest and most readily available animals you can keep in your 75-gallon saltwater tank, here are a few other non-fish recommendations:
Looking for a different size
If you’re not quite sold on the 75-gallon saltwater tank as the right aquarium for you, check out these stocking guides for these other great tanks to see if they’re a better fit for the space in your home, apartment, or budget.
- 10-gallon tank: best saltwater fish and stocking guide
- 20-gallon tank: best saltwater fish and stocking guide
- 30-gallon tank guide
- 40-gallon tank: find the best fish and how many
- 50-gallon tank
- 55-gallon tank guide for stocking saltwater fish
- 90 gallon tank
Share your plans and leave a comment
After reading this article, what are your plans for your aquarium? Have you identified your livestock yet? Please leave a comment and let me know which of the 82 best saltwater fish for a 75-gallon tank you’re thinking about.
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