A ~19,000 Gallon Aquarium

Sohals are mean fish. While you could probably get away with a few of them in a system that size I would add those a little later for aggression issues.

I know exactly what you mean. Once while diving in a usual place where dozens of sohals are around, they kept threatening me. Actually the dive site is called "Shark Island" and I was hoping to see some sharks but it seems sohals were aggressive enough for that dive.. :)
 
Well the Yellow Tail tang is known as Purple Tang and it is a fish of Red Sea, this is awesome you have these beautiful fishes there :)
 
While the Sohal is arguably the most aggressive of the tangs/surgeon fish, you will have fewer aggression issues in such a large tank compared to typical hobby tanks. They, along with clown tangs (lineatus) and a few others are called "comb tooth tangs" due to their dentation (teeth). They have developed specialized teeth for scraping/combing slime algae off of rocks. They usually don't bother much with filamentous (hair) algae. Rabbitfish, as you mentioned, are filament algae specialist surgeons. Be careful with Sohals & Clown tangs as they have a toxic spine (scalpel) at the base of the tail (caudal peduncle). It is not only poisonous, but extremely sharp, thus the name "surgeon fish". Rabbitfish also have a toxic defense mechanism, but in the dorsal spines. Both groups of fish are about as toxic as lionfish.
 
Be careful with Sohals & Clown tangs as they have a toxic spine (scalpel) at the base of the tail (caudal peduncle). It is not only poisonous, but extremely sharp, thus the name "surgeon fish". Rabbitfish also have a toxic defense mechanism, but in the dorsal spines. Both groups of fish are about as toxic as lionfish.

And yet we had been hit so many times with rabbitfish I think we are immune :D. I remember catching them when I was 12 - 13 and being stuck but that never stopped me from fishing :D
 
Hey nahham..it was a pleasure meeting you.Did you manage to get the rocks into the tank

The pleasure was all mine. I'm planning to start getting them in tomorrow. Sprayed them with vinegar and will wash tomorrow and hopefully be able to pile a few. I couldn't find hydrochloric acid anywhere.
 
My past couple of dives didn't go very well; the weather was terrible. Since everyone was pointing out that there is no corals in my photos, I've decided to concentrate on shooting corals in this dive. I've managed to get some decent photographs (at least I think so). You can find it here. I have no idea what I photographed though and any IDs will be great. I have a book called "Reef Corals and Coral Reefs of the Gulf of Oman" which I'm trying to read through, but I'm not that good at it. :)
 
Wow, those blue gorgonians are nice. I also saw lots of dendronephthya. You had a goniopora in one shot (it looks like a brain coral with long daisy-like tentacles). A long tentacle anemone with a school of domino damsels looks better than a clownfish & anemone. They are aggressive but your tank is so big, it may not matter. Whoa re they going to bother, the Sohal :) The niger triggers are nice. They don't eat coral, just like any other planktivore in the group (smaller, turned up mouth).

The longspine (diadema) urchins will make short work of your hair algae. Just don't get stung. The blue boxfish and its yellow wife are always a fun addition.
 
Wow, those blue gorgonians are nice. I also saw lots of dendronephthya. You had a goniopora in one shot (it looks like a brain coral with long daisy-like tentacles). A long tentacle anemone with a school of domino damsels looks better than a clownfish & anemone. They are aggressive but your tank is so big, it may not matter. Whoa re they going to bother, the Sohal :) The niger triggers are nice. They don't eat coral, just like any other planktivore in the group (smaller, turned up mouth).

The longspine (diadema) urchins will make short work of your hair algae. Just don't get stung. The blue boxfish and its yellow wife are always a fun addition.

That about covers the identifications. I will need to learn some of these names. I've seen a couple of long tentacle anemones with damsels and clownfishs. I think I have a video of it. I'll try to find and upload it. I just LOVE the ****** triggers, the way the swim and the colour is just amazing. We caught a few but had to release because the tank wasn't ready; they need rocks and I don't want what happened to my trigger to happen to them.

The diadema urchins are available in abundant around here. I didn't know they eat algae. I'll probably get them soon then. I've been stung by them so many times now it doesn't really matter anymore. It usually happens when I'm trying to get a good shot and do not concentrate on where my knees are going. I also don't wear a wetsuit which it makes it even worse. When I asked a friend doctor about it he said to use vinegar and the spikes are full of calcium so it is good :D

They say that the boxfish is really hard to keep. Does anyone have experience with them?
 
I don't think most boxfish are hard to keep. They need a varied diet (like everything else ;) ) and less aggressive tankmates. The problem with keeping them in your typical home aquarium is that when stressed or dying several species of boxfish can release a toxin that, due to limited water volume and filtration, will kill everything in the tank including themselves. Somehow, I don't think you'll have to worry about that though!
 
I don't think most boxfish are hard to keep. They need a varied diet (like everything else ;) ) and less aggressive tankmates. The problem with keeping them in your typical home aquarium is that when stressed or dying several species of boxfish can release a toxin that, due to limited water volume and filtration, will kill everything in the tank including themselves. Somehow, I don't think you'll have to worry about that though!

The toxin is what is worrying me :). I don't mind it dying if it must (which is a possibility with any fish) but killing other fish I had a hard time bringing is something I cannot tolerate. They look super cute though. Maybe a later addition?
 
A long tentacle anemone with a school of domino damsels looks better than a clownfish & anemone.

Found you the video I shoot a while back of a long tentable anemone with domino damsels and clownfish (make sure to watch it in HD):

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Updates 2010.07.17

Updates 2010.07.17

I decided to take some photos (and a video) from inside the tank. As I said I've piled some rocks and am planning to add some more soon. It is hard work though; some of the rocks we had three people carrying to the tank. I am planning to have 2 crescent shapes on either side of the aquarium with a pile of rock in the middle section. Do you think I need more rocks in the crescents?

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A photo from the back wall towards the glass.

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The walls was totally covered with hair algae and it was 4 - 5 inches long. It is disappearing now.

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Another photo of the rocks from the front towards the back of the tank.

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I decided to pile some rocks under the seating area and see what will happen there. This is not done yet.

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A photo of the rocks towards the side wall.

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Another photo of the rocks towards the side wall.


I'll post a link to the video soon..
 
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