Ideas for my new fowlr tank

I apologize first off if I have chosen the wrong forum. Please let me know if there is a better one
So, I used to have a 100 gallon reef, for reasons I won't get into here, I no longer do.
I have now bought a 60 gallon with thoughts of a dwarf lionfish as my attraction fish. (Truly I want a porcupine puffer named "yoda" but realize my tank is too small)
I would like a "cool" fish with great personality for my main fish(again, like the porcupine). I have given thought to sea horses as we'll....but I don't think I will go that way
Can you offer advice on what fish I could perhaps use, it doesn't have to be the lionfish, it is just one thought...I also really like a box fish, but to my knowledge they are a difficult fish to keep.
Also suggestions of a couple of other, more minor fish would be appreciated. I love the yellow wrasse, engineer gobies and (despite his unexceptional appearance) a blue spot watchman.
Thanks! Sorry this is was so lengthy, I'm just excited

 

We're excited for you! hmmmm......a showcase fish - a dwarf lion would work in a 60 gallon I'm pretty sure. You may want to check out some fish on the lionfish lair website. They have some very cool, unique fish in their set ups. You probably can google them. Their names are Greg and Renee'.

 

You could actually keep some pretty interesting fishes in a 60 gal setup. We've kept multiple dwarf lionfishes, small species scorps, and waspfishes in a std. 60 in the past...it was a pretty interesting setup.

Dwarf lionfishes, particularly the fuzzy dwarf (Dendrochirus brachypterus) are really great fishes, and can be kept as singles, M-F pairs, or M-F-F trios. The will always be there to greet "the food god", and come in different color morphs (brown, red, yellow, and any combo thereof). Fuzzies are hardy, and are one of the easiest lions to feed. I recommend the fuzzy as a first lionfish.

If you want something a bit larger, you could go with one of the medium-bodied Pterois species: P. mombassae (Mombasa lionfish), P. radiata (clearfin lionfish), P. antennata (antenna lionfish), or P. sphex (Hawaiian lionfish).

Give this article a read...it should help a bit regarding lionfishes:

Lions, and Turkeys, and Devils, Oh My! Lionfish in the Home Aquarium

You can get quick species info here:

LL's Quick Stats

 

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm not even as disappointed about my porcupine anymore. I think I will look at the M-F, possibly the M-F-F. I am going to check out the website for more details before I bombard you with all the questions I have.
I am curious about the dwarf lionfish personality, I have read that they will hide all day. Any thoughts?
Thanks again!

 

I just checked out lionfish lair. It was very helpful in giving me ideas!
I love the leaf scorpionfish and liked the look of the weedy scorpion, although have yet to look up any info on him.
So I am thinking a male and female dwarf fuzzy lionfish (the write up on them was very helpful-they sound exactly like what I am looking for) and a leafy scorpion (or two?) . I was not able to open the waspfish link, so I have to research them a bit.
Are there any cleaners I can keep with these guys? I assume the fish will make a meal of most if not all?
I can't wait to get started on all of this! It's gonna be another little bit though, I'm not setting the tank up until after Christmas and then I am estimating a 6 week cycle. But at least I can start my aquascaping once I set it up.
Ideally I would like to do bare bottom for the tank, but I know I won't. I like the look of substrate. Maybe a 1-2 inch bottom?
Thank you so much again for the advice.

 

I like to keep my substrate at about 1-2 inches....easy to keep clean and no real chances of the ugly stuff building up in a shallower bed.

 

Ah, you must mean the Waspfish/Stingfish Care article...there is indeed one that has been in the works, but it currently resides with the nano pred article on our network HDD, which decided to go "blooey". We haven't gotten around to attempting to recover all of the data on it yet, as we've been dealing with quite a few RL issues for the past year, it seems.

However, the Quick Stat pages for the waspfishes are working, and they have brief descriptions of each of the included species, and of course, we're around to help.

I would, however, recommend a cockatoo waspfish over the leaf scorps. They are much more "personable", have smaller mouths, and hold their own at feeding time. This species is actually my fave waspfish by far.

 

Welcome! You know, I would also like a porcupine puffer named "yoda". Ah, but I digress... Some of the smaller puffers, such as valentini puffers can be really neat fish in person, they do have personality like a porcupine IME. The other fish mentioned are cool too though.

 

That cockatoo wasp fish looks awesome. I may have to change my plan just out of curiosity, how easy are these fish, and the fuzzy dwarf lions, to find? I haven't had a chance to check out my LFS yet, I am hoping that there is a good one here. I don't want to decide what I want, only to find they are unavailable for me to buy. I, sadly, am very childish in some respects. Being disappointed when I can't have what I want is one of those ways

M2434, I have considered the valentini. But my childish attitude shone brightly. It's not the puffer I wanted
Yoda really is a name that fits those fish though hey? My friend back home owned a beautiful fish store. He had one there whom I fell in love with. I had already committed to a reef tank to the tune of a several thousand dollars at the time though. *sigh, maybe when my husband retires,I will have my dream tank(s).

 

Fuzzies are pretty common, depending on what you're looking for. Finding specific color morphs or sex can take a bit longer.

Cockatoos can be more difficult, but not impossible. They're often mis-ID'd with longspine/wispy waspfishes tho, so make sure you're getting the right fish.