common salt water fish for tank

Question
Hello Ma'am,

  I'm trying to start a saltwater tank setup. Looking to obtain Black Fish, Fluke, Flounder, Sea Bass, Sea Robbins, Ling, Porgys, Snappers, Trigger, and blue claw crabs. I'm looking for babies or smallest posible. Can you tell me where I can purchase these or some of them?

thanks

Answer
Hi Teddy. Some of the fish you are looking for may not be sold in the aquarium trade business. Some blackfish can reach up to 25 lbs! What do you want with a fish that large? Blackfish, flukes,some sea robins and flounders are more commonly found in colder waters where your lings, tangs and snappers are commonly found in warmer waters. Most of these fish are game fish. Lings would need a tank of about 500 gallons themselves! The largest one ever caught was off the Florida coast weighing in at about 103 lbs. You are going to have to have a very large tank to house even a few of these fish! These fish may not be sold for the pet trade industry and I could not tell you where to get them! If you are handy with a fishing rod that would probably be your best bet! There are certain snappers and tangs that are sold in the pet trade industry as well as some sea basses. The rest are primarily sport fish and not typically sold for pets.