Biopellets and stocking list

[MMacro]

Ok,
Let me start of with saying that the tank in question is a 155 gallon (48"x31"x24"). I will be running a vertex alpha 170, a refugium, filter socks, carbon, GFO, and an ATS a few months after the tank has been running if needed. I am also planning on doing 20% water changes once a week. With that being said, is it still worth running biopellets? I will be running either pukani rock or real reef rock. If I do run the real reef rock which is not as porous should I buy a large block of marinepure to put in my sump?

Also, here is my rough stocking list. I just want to double check by running it past some of you guys to see if I missed some potential aggression issues.
The temp of the tank will be around 76-77 degrees. I will be feeding the tank small amounts of food 3 times a day with an automatic feeder (Mix of small to large pellet foods and decapsulated brine shrimp eggs) and once to twice a day with frozen food. The tank will have Medium-High flow and high lighting.

x2 Clownfish - I’m not exactly sure what type yet but it definitely not going to be a maroon or anything else that aggressive

x1 Green Chromis

x1 Midas Blenny

x3 Wrasse; Red head solon fairy wrasse, Lineatus fairy wrasse, Labout's Fairy Wrasse or Flame wrasse

x2 Helfrichi Firefish

x3 Dispar Anthias; 1 Male, 2 Females

x1 Borbonous anthias

x2 Mated pair of Synchiropus cf splendidus OR a mated pair of blue star leopard wrasses (After the tank has been setup for over a year)

x2 Mated pair of Gobies. Im not completely sure what kind yet as there are so many to choose from and gobies are one of my favorite fish. I don’t find it fair that they can’t coexist together very well in our tanks :mad2: haha. It will most likely be a type of watchman goby. (I will also have a 3-5” sand bed)

x1 Blue spotted jawfish or Chinstrap jawfish or Black cap jawfish (I am aware of this guys feeding requirements as well, however im not sure if he will coexist with the gobies and blenny. I will make a series of burrows out of PVC for this guy)

x1 Purple tang (I will be feeding seaweed daily for all of the herbivores in my tank)

This list is not set in stone and is open to suggestions. If anyone has any suggestions on other fish I would greatly appreciate them.

 

[scooter31707]

IMO, I would not do the Purple Tang in a 4ft tank. Also I would put the Redhead Solon Wrasse in last for as the wrasses go. I would be watchful of the Jawfish and the pair of Gobies. That might not end well.

 

[MMacro]

IMO, I would not do the Purple Tang in a 4ft tank. Also I would put the Redhead Solon Wrasse in last for as the wrasses go. I would be watchful of the Jawfish and the pair of Gobies. That might not end well.

Yeah, the Purple Tang was going to be more of a pity buy if he was still at my LFS. He doesn't look too good and has been that way for a few months. I was hoping to nurse him back to health and make sure he falls into the right hands via my local forum. I will probably just go with a yellow tang then. I think I am going to pass on the blue spotted jawfish as they are going to need lower temperatures than I would be able to provide. If anyone has any experience on keeping gobies and jawfish together let me know!

 

[MMacro]

New list
Again, still not set in stone and still open to suggestions

x2 Clownfish - I’m not exactly sure what type yet but it definitely not going to be a maroon or anything else that aggressive

x1 Green Chromis

x1 Midas Blenny

x3 Wrasse; Red head solon fairy wrasse, Lineatus fairy wrasse, Flame wrasse

x2 Helfrichi Firefish

x3 Dispar Anthias; 1 Male, 3 Females

x2 Borbonous anthias

x2 Mated pair of blue star leopard wrasses (After the tank has been setup for over a year)

x2 Mated pair of Gobies. Im not completely sure what kind yet as there are so many to choose from and gobies are one of my favorite fish. I don’t find it fair that they can’t coexist together very well in our tanks :mad2: haha. It will most likely be a type of watchman goby. (I will also have a 3-5” sand bed)

x1 Flame Hawkfish

 

[mcgyvr]

With that being said, is it still worth running biopellets?

There is nothing wrong with "planning" to have the ability to run everything and the kitchen sink..
But please only do so when needed..

A successful ATS should not need biopellets or any other form of carbon dosing.
A system with biopellets should not need an ATS..
GFO is dangerous in the hands of the inexperienced and should only be used when there is a known phosphate issue that you want to quickly cover up... (notice I said "cover up" and not "fix the main reason")
You don't need an ATS or biopellets or GFO or refugium to have a successful system.. And its a mistake IMO as a new user to see all methods that are used and just say.. "Heck.. I'll just do it all and that must be better right"... wrong

 

[MMacro]

There is nothing wrong with "planning" to have the ability to run everything and the kitchen sink..
But please only do so when needed..

A successful ATS should not need biopellets or any other form of carbon dosing.
A system with biopellets should not need an ATS..
GFO is dangerous in the hands of the inexperienced and should only be used when there is a known phosphate issue that you want to quickly cover up... (notice I said "cover up" and not "fix the main reason")
You don't need an ATS or biopellets or GFO or refugium to have a successful system.. And its a mistake IMO as a new user to see all methods that are used and just say.. "Heck.. I'll just do it all and that must be better right"... wrong

I will be running small amounts of GFO as a preventative for high phosphates when I am away from home and cannot do waterchanges. I also feed fairly heavily. I guess I will ditch the ATS and BioPellets for now and set them up if I see problems in the future. I have had bad hair algae issues in the past and would not like for that to happen again, so I guess thats why I am so paranoid. I don't particularly think that it would be a bad thing to run heavy filtration. I have seen people do it in the past with no ill effects.

 

[mcgyvr]

I don't particularly think that it would be a bad thing to run heavy filtration. I have seen people do it in the past with no ill effects.

Its a bad thing when you go crazy with GFO and strip the phosphates out of the tank.. There are quite a few people who needed to remove their GFO and start overfeeding or dosing nitrates/phosphates just to keep their corals alive/growing well.. Some level of N/P is needed for life..
There can absolutely be too much "filtration"..

Its no different than the grass in your front yard.. Never add fertilizer and your dirt can become stripped of nutrients and your grass dies.. Go crazy with fertilizer and you burn/kill the grass too.. Get the right amount and that grass grows green/healthy..

 

[MMacro]

Its a bad thing when you go crazy with GFO and strip the phosphates out of the tank.. There are quite a few people who needed to remove their GFO and start overfeeding or dosing nitrates/phosphates just to keep their corals alive/growing well.. Some level of N/P is needed for life..
There can absolutely be too much "filtration"..

Its no different than the grass in your front yard.. Never add fertilizer and your dirt can become stripped of nutrients and your grass dies.. Go crazy with fertilizer and you burn/kill the grass too.. Get the right amount and that grass grows green/healthy..

As I mentioned before I will only be running a small amount of high capacity GFO which removes phosphates at a much slower pace. I also have many fish that need to be fed multiple times a day. I understand that corals need some amount of phosphates to live. I will be testing for phos/nitrates weekly.

 

[MMacro]

Bump

 

[hartin461]

So how does it go? Build in progress?

 

[rjjr1963]

I started using GFO for slightly elevated phosphate. My phosphate fell to .009 and some of the corals are suffering.

How are you checking for phosphates? The best way I found was using the Hannah Phosphorus ULR checker then converting the number to phosphates. If I ever use GFO again I'll monitor it daily.