Compatibility?

E

Expensive Sushi

New member
Hello all, I’m new to the forum. I’m in the planning stages of a Fanci-wl-Rabbit.

Or otherwise known as -
Fish and non-coral invertebrates with live rock and bio-balls included too. I’m completely green to salt water. I have a 72 tank with about 160 total water volume. Are these animals all compatible?

Percula Clown
Yellow Tang
Blue Tang
Horned cowfish
Banggai Cardinal
Pennant Butterfly
Mandarin
Sea Urchin
Cleaner shrimp
Crabs?
 
You may want to think about a larger tank if you plan on keeping those Tangs. 72 gallons is not going to be big enough for their long term sucess. How big are the tangs now?
You also may want to be careful with the cowfish. I have personally never kept one but I believe they can wipe out an entire tank if they die due to a toxin that they can release. I honestly do not know how easily this happens since I have never observed it first hand so maybe someone will chime in about that.
By the way, have you already set this up with these fish or are you in the process? If so where are you buying all of this from?
 
Totally in-process. I have no fish or even water for that matter. I just have the tank and did the plumbing for the 160 water volume. I had fresh before.

Where should I get my fish? LFS or do you have any you're looking to unload?
 
If you have not set the tank up then I would recommend that you not get any tangs for this tank. If you have not done so already, you should pick up one of Scott Michaeal's books on marine fish husbandry (available at most stores that sell marine fish and corals). It details the care of many reef fish that are available and also notes the minimum tank size for each fish. You will find many appealing fish that will be more suitable than tangs for your size tank.
Do you have any books on keeping saltwater tanks?
I would stop by Fish and Other Ichthy Stuff in Oldsmar. This is pretty much considered the best store for livestock in the area.
There are also many experienced hobbyists that scan and post in this forum so don't be affraid to ask questions through out the setup process.
 
Hi Sushi,
Here's a web site that has a comparability chart: http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/compatibility_chart.cfm

The Mandarin is a very slow eater and with the larger fish it will starve to death. Also your tank needs to be at least 6 months old before even thinking about the Mandarin - they are not easy. Here's some web sites on these:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/mandcompfaqs.htm

http://www.simplifiedreefkeeping.com/reef_archive/mandaringobysnowflakeeelproblems.html

And if you go to marine fish forum here on RC you'll get lots of advice.

Have fun!
 
I agree - the tangs grow fast. I'd caution about too many fish. Go slow. If you ever want to have corals, the growing fish waste production will cause endless algae problems that requires lots of devices to correct -such as a refugium..etc. If you feed the fish-they will grow...and grow fairly fast. I got a quarter sized saifin tang and 18 months later hes (she?) is easily 4" in dia. I alos got a female bird wrasse that was 2" long and in the course of 2 years turned into a brilliantly colored male (in 72hours) and has grown to a length of 5". However, if you have some fish that can be territorial, get them all at the same time so that you dont introduce some to a habitat thats already established and the exisiting fish will want to protect their 'turf'.
 
Also make sur the tank is fully cycled before adding any fish. It will save you alot of headaches and los of fish. And add fish slowly to help prevent spikes in ammonia, etc.
 
And do a lot of reading about bio-balls. That's probably not the best method of biological filtration. What about a skimmer???
 
Yes, I do know about cycling, thanks though.

Bio-balls - Hmmm, well, I actual have read quite a bit about SW already and about bio-balls. I am not convinced one way or the other. I am kinda leaning towards them. Here's my thoughts -aerobic bugs purely convert ammonia and nitrite to nitrate, right? Anaerobic bugs (in the LR, sand) are using the nitrate and making N2 (to a small degree I would guess). So why not have a nitrite to nitrate converter (bio-balls). I don't see how it hurts anything. On the plus side, I don't have an O2 meter to check, but, I imagine that the water flowing through those balls helps get O2 dissolved in the water pretty well, I would think better than just surface water.
 
Yea, the bio-balls has been completely tested and is old school as far as salt water. Lots has been written about this and bottom line it is not a good way to go, but as always to each his own. I know that fresh water I guess it works and even they are getting away from the general "Ball" form. I really hadn't looked into the problems with the salt water tanks usage of it but I would say very, very few now use them. It has now progressed to refugiums and keeping and growing plants and creatures in that area- just like another tank but you can let it get dirty. I'd hate for you to have problems in the future with the bio-balls but who knows, it might work out for you. Are you going bare bottom or sand?
 
you could try a Kole tang. they dont get very big.. maybe 5". if your not going corals and will just have fish bio balls will be ok.. they are good at breaking down the waste but lake denitrifying properties. jmo
 
I can see how refugiums (plants) are good for O2 as well. I'm not sure how the plumbing works in setting one up. Does the water flow through it just like a sump. Never mind, don't reply on that, I can look that up. I already have a 60 gallon drum, a 32 gallon garbage can, and a sump. What's one more, right? But then I need lighting.

Kole tang looks kinda cool - maybe...I have some time to think about. But a yellow only gets that big too, maybe 6 inches.
 
Bio Balls can have the same negative effect as deep sand beds that do not get overturned enough and that is they can trap large amounts of detritus and will occasionally lead to huge spikes in ammonia, nitrites and nitrates as these organics disolve and are released into the tank. Many tank crashes have been attributed to this.
If you can afford it, I recommend that you maximize the amount of live rock in the system to increase the surface area for the bacteria to grow on instead of using bio balls.
 
Hi Sushi,
I just created my reef tank and to get started I wanted to put my money in the important items tank, live rock, live sand, lighting and the most important protein skimmer. So I decided to make my sump/refugium using containers. Here's a look at it:
132223DIY_Sump_and_RefugiumContai.jpg


Here it is finished and hooked up:
132223DIY-Sump-and-Refugium.jpg


Here's a diagram with all the plumbing and everything completed:
132223RefugiumSumpTank2web.jpg


This is from someone that knows nothing about plumbing and I made some mistakes, but it works great and all my readings have been wonderful so I feel it must be doing it's job. I proably would have added a SCWD to vary the water action - but it does it's job at this stage. This is only some ideas for you, please do not think I'm pushing you in any direction. I'm just learning so the conversion we are having with you is really helping me understand some of the history.
 
Very, very nice. Thanks reefArtist. I'm sure there's is plenty to read about it but if you have time tell me. What are all the good reasons to have one? What do you have in yours now? Safe heaven for things? Or for water chemistry?
 
They are great for storing everything from heaters, skimmers, any monitoring device. I have one temp gauge located in the refugium and one in the tank -make sure everything is working normal. In general the live rock and sand provides a variety of micro and macro organisms a place to live and grow, it's part of the biological filtration system. The protein skimmer removes the dissolved organic nutrients before they break down and really keeps the tank nutrient poor. The refugium removes the remaining dissolved wastes that the protein skimmer is unable to extract. Water motion is also very critical within the tank to keep the food and waste moving and to give the creatures a more natural environment. Thats kind of it in a nut shell, some of the more experienced reefers might be able to add to this. I hope this helps.
 
Reefartist,

Have you noticed any leaks the the large rubbermaid container? I bought two of those and both leaked water once the I got about 4" of water in them. I bought them to cure some LR but had to go with a beefier container.
 
Hi Trigger,
No I haven't had any problems at all. I was concerned with leaks where I added the connectors and that's the reason I added the larger container (50 gal). It's come in handy when I've messed around with the flow and walked away for a few minutes :eek:
 
Expensive Sushi,

just wanted to give you credit for asking first and doing your research before stocking your tank
:)

gatorolsen
 
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