The Escaped Ape
In The Canopy
As the title says, I'm about to set up a tank in the tropics - in Sri Lanka. It'll be my first reef for three years and things have clearly moved on while I've been out of the hobby. Bubble shrooms, filter media back in fashion, a completely different set of must have equipment and, in my case, to cap it all, a completely new country to try and set up a tank in. My mind's reeling a bit.
I've already bought much of my equipment (2 MP40s, 2 AI HD26s, Reef Octopus 150-S skimmer, Fluval SP2 return pump, a couple of 40lb boxes of Caribsea South Seas base rock, DD DC300 chiller) or own it already (RO/DI, Tunze Osmolator, the surviving Tunze Nano Stream from my last tank, a couple of basic acrylic reactors). All a bit old school maybe, but when I had my last tank I'd dreamt of owning MP40s, knew now I needed to try LEDs and loved my old Reef Octopus. Hopefully still a good package of kit to start with.
I bought it all before I ordered my tank because I decided that I'd get my new equipment before leaving the UK, to avoid having to import or rely on the limited range available locally. So I had the broad dimensions of a tank in mind while shopping, but not 100% fixed. Importing the tank would have been impossible, but luckily there's someone locally who can make a decent overflow tank for me (with a Bean overflow).
Some local context "“ despite being surrounded by tropical seas, it is illegal to sell Sri Lankan coral here. As a result, though there are lots of wholesalers exporting, they've historically only exported fish and are only just now starting to include coral in their stock lists "“ but all trans-shipped stuff from e.g. Indonesia). They also refuse to sell retail, so not an option for me. The sole LFS I've found which can supply marine tanks is also looking to source some imported Indonesian coral, possibly only soft coral, or maybe hard too if he can get his CITES permit. But it's sure to get snapped up quickly.
So I've been planning on the basis that I'll be lucky to get coral (probably just a few small pieces) and should focus my planning on the two things you can get rather more easily here: beautiful fish (either local or imported) and anemones.
My current thinking is a 40"L x 30"D x 22"H tank, on the basis that my last tank (36" x 24" x 18") always felt just that little bit lacking in every dimension, but I don't want to take on a huge amount more volume (bearing in mind water changes, space in apartment etc). Any thoughts on those dimensions?
In terms of stocking, I want to have several different BTA morphs as the main non-fish source of interest in the tank (after three years out of the hobby I'm not ready to attempt carpets). In terms of fish, I want to aim for a relatively peaceful mix, but nothing too delicate. Here is the candidate list (based on looking at what the wholesalers here have on their for sale list):
Scarlet Skunk Cleaner shrimp x 2
Nemateleotris decora (Purple Firefish)
Amphiprion percula (True Percula) x 2;
Paracheilinus filamentosus (Filamented Flasher Wrasse)
Halichoeres melanurus (Hoeven's wrasse)
One (or two?) of:
Cirrhilabrus solorensis (Red Head Solon Fairy Wrasse)
Cirrhilabrus rubeus (Ruby Longfin Fairy Wrasse)
Cirrhilabrus rubrimarginatus (Pink Margin Fairy Wrasse)
Cirrhilabrus rubrisquamis (Red Velvet Fairy Wrasse)
Zebrasoma flavescens (Yellow Tang); or
Ctenochaetus strigosus (Kole Tang)
Could I also add a Dwarf Angel? I love them, but know they can be hit and miss. But without many corals, maybe a good option? What do people think of these options, apparently available here?
Centropyge potteri (Potter's Angelfish)
Centropyge flavissimus (Lemonpeel Angelfish)
Centropyge eibli (Eibli's Angelfish)
I'm not intending to get all of these, particularly not all the wrasses!, but would be interested in people's comments about combinations. I'm thinking one (or is two possible?) of the Fairy Wrasses, the Hoeven's and one of the Tangs. Plus a Dwarf Angel? Am I right in thinking the red coloration of the Flasher Wrasse might mean there are clashes if I get any three of the C.rub... Fairy Wrasses?
I'm also conscious that I have a lot of red, pink, purple and orange fish listed there - any suggestions how I can broaden my color palette? :artist:
Sorry, that was a massive download, but I've been thinking about this for ages! Any thoughts on any bit of this would be very welcome!
I've already bought much of my equipment (2 MP40s, 2 AI HD26s, Reef Octopus 150-S skimmer, Fluval SP2 return pump, a couple of 40lb boxes of Caribsea South Seas base rock, DD DC300 chiller) or own it already (RO/DI, Tunze Osmolator, the surviving Tunze Nano Stream from my last tank, a couple of basic acrylic reactors). All a bit old school maybe, but when I had my last tank I'd dreamt of owning MP40s, knew now I needed to try LEDs and loved my old Reef Octopus. Hopefully still a good package of kit to start with.
I bought it all before I ordered my tank because I decided that I'd get my new equipment before leaving the UK, to avoid having to import or rely on the limited range available locally. So I had the broad dimensions of a tank in mind while shopping, but not 100% fixed. Importing the tank would have been impossible, but luckily there's someone locally who can make a decent overflow tank for me (with a Bean overflow).
Some local context "“ despite being surrounded by tropical seas, it is illegal to sell Sri Lankan coral here. As a result, though there are lots of wholesalers exporting, they've historically only exported fish and are only just now starting to include coral in their stock lists "“ but all trans-shipped stuff from e.g. Indonesia). They also refuse to sell retail, so not an option for me. The sole LFS I've found which can supply marine tanks is also looking to source some imported Indonesian coral, possibly only soft coral, or maybe hard too if he can get his CITES permit. But it's sure to get snapped up quickly.
So I've been planning on the basis that I'll be lucky to get coral (probably just a few small pieces) and should focus my planning on the two things you can get rather more easily here: beautiful fish (either local or imported) and anemones.
My current thinking is a 40"L x 30"D x 22"H tank, on the basis that my last tank (36" x 24" x 18") always felt just that little bit lacking in every dimension, but I don't want to take on a huge amount more volume (bearing in mind water changes, space in apartment etc). Any thoughts on those dimensions?
In terms of stocking, I want to have several different BTA morphs as the main non-fish source of interest in the tank (after three years out of the hobby I'm not ready to attempt carpets). In terms of fish, I want to aim for a relatively peaceful mix, but nothing too delicate. Here is the candidate list (based on looking at what the wholesalers here have on their for sale list):
Scarlet Skunk Cleaner shrimp x 2
Nemateleotris decora (Purple Firefish)
Amphiprion percula (True Percula) x 2;
Paracheilinus filamentosus (Filamented Flasher Wrasse)
Halichoeres melanurus (Hoeven's wrasse)
One (or two?) of:
Cirrhilabrus solorensis (Red Head Solon Fairy Wrasse)
Cirrhilabrus rubeus (Ruby Longfin Fairy Wrasse)
Cirrhilabrus rubrimarginatus (Pink Margin Fairy Wrasse)
Cirrhilabrus rubrisquamis (Red Velvet Fairy Wrasse)
Zebrasoma flavescens (Yellow Tang); or
Ctenochaetus strigosus (Kole Tang)
Could I also add a Dwarf Angel? I love them, but know they can be hit and miss. But without many corals, maybe a good option? What do people think of these options, apparently available here?
Centropyge potteri (Potter's Angelfish)
Centropyge flavissimus (Lemonpeel Angelfish)
Centropyge eibli (Eibli's Angelfish)
I'm not intending to get all of these, particularly not all the wrasses!, but would be interested in people's comments about combinations. I'm thinking one (or is two possible?) of the Fairy Wrasses, the Hoeven's and one of the Tangs. Plus a Dwarf Angel? Am I right in thinking the red coloration of the Flasher Wrasse might mean there are clashes if I get any three of the C.rub... Fairy Wrasses?
I'm also conscious that I have a lot of red, pink, purple and orange fish listed there - any suggestions how I can broaden my color palette? :artist:
Sorry, that was a massive download, but I've been thinking about this for ages! Any thoughts on any bit of this would be very welcome!
