Dream Tanks?

[kangadrew]

Hey guys, I though I'd make a thread with a little survey - if you could only have 5 tanks again ever (fresh or salt), what would they be? (I know that some people only have one, lol. But assume you get to build 5 tanks now and never get to build another one again). Mine would be:
-29g BioCube or equivalent - for a pair of snowflake clowns, a red firefish, fromia starfish, green clown goby, maybe a royal gramma, and some bad [proanity] zoanthids
-1,200 gallon custom tank for freshwater monster fish (oscars, gars, pacu, silver dollars, peacock bass, fire eels, etc)
-60-75 gallon hexagon in a wall, with a divider down the middle - one side for macroalgae, and one side a ricordea/gorgonian reef, both with seahorses, along with a pipefish, and easy to keep blennies, gobies, and peaceful inverts
-500-600g aggressive saltwater setup FOWLR(with basic corals) - triggers, tangs, angels (both large and small), harlequin tusk, other wrasses, puffers, butterflies, moorish idol, epaulette shark, panther grouper, zebra eel, filler fish (damsels, clowns, royal gramma, starry blenny, firefish, chromis, hawkfish), starfish, a huge anemone, a huge tridacna clam (maybe even one of the giant clams), and a few corals (gorgonian, elegance coral, octobubble, hammer coral, acros, and montis)
-210g GPO setup - self explanatory, bigger if I could get it (~450 gallons)

Of course, I would love a larger reef too, it's just not high up on my list of things. However eventually I want to upgrade my 75 to a 300. Anyone else?

 

[SoloChromis]

You've opened a can of worms my friend :bum: I love these kind of threads, great to hear what keeps people in the hobby :beer:

* 40g Shallow Rimless Peacock Mantis Tank w/ Bonsai Mangrove Tree. Tank would also house a male (orangetail) blue damsel (Chrysiptera cyanea), just as my current 20g mantis tank does, as well as several softies, photosynthetic gorgonians, and assorted macro algae

* 60-80g Temperate Reef (the *only* acrylic tank I'd ever own :lmao. Cold water tanks are too often a very misunderstood and overlooked direction you can take in this hobby, and an endlessly fascinating one The tank would house echinoderms like Vermilion stars (Mediaster aequalis), colonies of strawberry anemones (Corynactis californica), various clingfish and sculpins, bizarre crustaceans, and possibly a monkeyface prickleback (Cebidichthys violaceus).

* 100g+ Amazon Themed Rimless Paludarium. If you've ever had the pleasure of seeing a well executed paludarium in person you'd be hard pressed to not at least consider setting one up for yourself. The tank would house a huge assortment of Amazonian flora, aquatic & terrestrial, as well as several species of tree frog, dart frogs, small South American geckos and lizards, as well as a mixed community of Amazonian shoaling fish, such as neon tetras and hatchets.

* 350g Starphire Peninsula Reef, dominated by decorative macro algae, photosynthetic gorgonians, tridacna clams, some softies and a community of mostly small, peaceful fish - basslets, blennies, gobies, jawfish, benign damsels, longspine cardinals (Zoramia leptacantha), filefish, pipefish, leopard, pencil, and possum wrasses, pair of margined butterflies, and a moorish idol as the showpiece, as there would be little competition for food and nobody to really pester him. Macro algae tanks are kind of pushed to the side in favor of candy colored SPS tanks etc. but I can't get enough of the unique, natural beauty of them, as well as the somewhat self sufficiency (as close as you can come with SW tanks anyways :frog

* The 5th would either be a 300g+ aggressive reef, with a golden arothron puffer, harlequin tusk, and saddleback butterfly, or a 5,000g+ outdoor garden koi pond (probably the latter). There are few things as calming as a thriving outdoor koi pond :beer: Just the thought of sitting in a rocking chair sipping some wine while tossing pellets into the pond watching the koi pop out from the surface to scarf down the food makes me want to go out and buy a lottery ticket :lmao:

... Again great idea for a thread, had fun in fantasy land :bum:

 

[kangadrew]

Holy crap, those tanks sound awesome! My lists so far that I need to get rolling on are:
-A GPO tank (currently have the caribbean reef octopus, octopus briareus)
-A peacock mantis shrimp tank - your idea sounds AWESOME
-A 60 gallon hex seahorse tank with the divider down the middle - one side for reef, one for macroalgae (like you said)
-A 20 gallon long zoanthid garden - scaped like a real garden with zoas for the lawn, staghorn acropora for the trees, maybe a nem for roses, I could go on all day with this!
-Upgrade the 300 FOWLR to something like a 450 (add a few more tangs including a unicorn)

But for now, I'll have to live with my 15 freshwater setups, 9 saltwater setups, 31 lizards, 39 snakes, 6 turtles, 1 tortoise, 1 crocodile, 1 caiman, 60 bugs, 19 amphibians, 6 birds, 1 fox, 1 zebra, and of course the cat

 

[kangadrew]

* 40g Shallow Rimless Peacock Mantis Tank w/ Bonsai Mangrove Tree. Tank would also house a male (orangetail) blue damsel (Chrysiptera cyanea), just as my current 20g mantis tank does, as well as several softies, photosynthetic gorgonians, and assorted macro algae

Do you have a build thread? I'd love to see this thing. This might be my new favorite idea

 

[ThRoewer]

...- if you could only have 5 tanks again ever (fresh or salt), ...

... I would quit the hobby!

 

[kangadrew]

... I would quit the hobby!

Lol!:lolspin:

 

[kangadrew]

Question, how close can you put zoas together to get a "lawn" effect? Would placing acrylic barriers do anything? Asking because I want to create one of these for my next build the 20 long coral garden.

 

[zooman72]

Only 5 tanks - I already have 8 "reefs" between the home and office!

 

[SoloChromis]

Do you have a build thread? I'd love to see this thing. This might be my new favorite idea

Thanks :beer: It's only an idea for now, maybe once my mantis gets larger and if I feel the 20g is too small to house him I'll look into a custom Reef Savvy tank, or maybe a Mr. Aqua. I'm in the process of setting up a 4.3g rimless cube which will satisfy my itch for a bonsai mangrove tank, with some macro, some xenia, and possibly a yasha goby & pistol shrimp pair

 

[SoloChromis]

Holy crap, those tanks sound awesome! My lists so far that I need to get rolling on are:
-A GPO tank (currently have the caribbean reef octopus, octopus briareus)
-A peacock mantis shrimp tank - your idea sounds AWESOME
-A 60 gallon hex seahorse tank with the divider down the middle - one side for reef, one for macroalgae (like you said)
-A 20 gallon long zoanthid garden - scaped like a real garden with zoas for the lawn, staghorn acropora for the trees, maybe a nem for roses, I could go on all day with this!
-Upgrade the 300 FOWLR to something like a 450 (add a few more tangs including a unicorn)

But for now, I'll have to live with my 15 freshwater setups, 9 saltwater setups, 31 lizards, 39 snakes, 6 turtles, 1 tortoise, 1 crocodile, 1 caiman, 60 bugs, 19 amphibians, 6 birds, 1 fox, 1 zebra, and of course the cat

Holy crap!!! :eek1: What kind of set up do you have for the croc & caiman? Sound's like you've got quite the family

 

[ThRoewer]

Holy crap!!! :eek1: What kind of set up do you have for the croc & caiman? Sound's like you've got quite the family

You seem to have overlooked the Zebra!!!!!

 

[kangadrew]

You seem to have overlooked the Zebra!!!!!

That's usually the response. Not the nicest animal I own and definitely not a horse.

 

[kangadrew]

Holy crap!!! :eek1: What kind of set up do you have for the croc & caiman? Sound's like you've got quite the family

I'm in NC, so they're outdoors. Lol NC is great there are barely any laws on keeping exotics - none on keeping reptiles

The caiman is a 6' spectacled that lives in a 30x22 pen and the nile is a 7 footer that lives in a 75x58 pen. They both have their own big concrete ponds, their own sheds to go into (though the caiman's is much tinier and in the cage - crocodile one is the third side of the enclosure), and plants outside the water. Any noobs reading this thread - DO NOT GET ANY CROCODILIAN AS A PET. OR PRETTY MUCH ANYBODY READING THIS. MINE WERE RESCUES THAT WERE THROWN ON ME AND NOBODY ELSE WANTED. THEY ARE DANGEROUS WILD ANIMALS AND NEED TO BE TREATED AS SUCH. That being said I have loved my 2 tho

 

[kangadrew]

Thanks :beer: It's only an idea for now, maybe once my mantis gets larger and if I feel the 20g is too small to house him I'll look into a custom Reef Savvy tank, or maybe a Mr. Aqua. I'm in the process of setting up a 4.3g rimless cube which will satisfy my itch for a bonsai mangrove tank, with some macro, some xenia, and possibly a yasha goby & pistol shrimp pair

Ohh, ok. Is there one for your 20 gallon mantis shrimp tank? Also I'm not seeing anything for the "bonsai mangrove" you're talking about - what would that be?

 

[kangadrew]

I'm really considering setting up a new mantis display tank now. I used to have one in my fuge for a while but it jumped out. I'm thinking the Mr. Aqua 48 gallon rimless - I want to try something other than the normal rimmed tanks from Petco and the ones form glasscages.com. Its 3 feet long so I think I'll be fine to keep a peacock in there. $400 though... not cheap!

 

[Reefstarter2]

Hmm 5 tanks,..... I would like to have a 1500-2000 g reef, mantis tank , seahorse only tank big fish only. Honestly just one big reef would be enough

 

[kangadrew]

Have you ever seen the episode of fish tank kings with that huge snorkeling lagoon? That thing would be a dream come true if I could get that. Wonder how they afford it 8|

 

[SoloChromis]

Ohh, ok. Is there one for your 20 gallon mantis shrimp tank? Also I'm not seeing anything for the "bonsai mangrove" you're talking about - what would that be?

I haven't had any build threads so far, mainly due to a lack of any decent camera, but I do plan on buying a nice DSLR in the near future, so things may be changing :dance: When I refer to a "bonsai mangrove", I'm just referring to keeping a small mangrove tree, and pruning it here and there to have it look a certain way, as you would a bonsai tree. Julian Sprung, who keeps 2 of my favorite tanks, has a small display refugium with a "bonsai mangrove". I've taken great inspiration from this, and I'd highly recommend you check out his personal tanks, they're the epitome of natural beauty in the saltwater aquarium world. I really like his approach to reef keeping, which is keeping things as simple as possible, not jumping from fad to fad, and looking into more natural routes to combat and prevent potential issues, not to mention, a very humble and knowledgable guy :thumbsup:

 

[SoloChromis]

Ohh, ok. Is there one for your 20 gallon mantis shrimp tank? Also I'm not seeing anything for the "bonsai mangrove" you're talking about - what would that be?

If you'd like a rundown of my mantis tank...

Equipment :
* 20g tall Deep Blue tank
* 12k Reef Torch LED fixture (silver)
* Hydor Slim Skim Nano protein skimmer
* Hydor Koralia Evolution pump
* Tunze Care Magnet Nano
* 36 lbs of mixed Nature's Ocean Live Sand & Reef Substrate
* 10 lbs of live rock
* Custom grey stand & canopy combo
* Titan Eze metal double stand

Livestock :
* Peacock Mantis Shrimp
* Male (Orangetail) Blue Damsel
* Dragon's Breath Algae
* Red Frilly Sponge
* Halimeda Plants
* Mermaid's Fan Plant
* Duncan Coral
* White Feather Duster Worm
* Photosynthetic Gorgonian (not sure the species)
* "Purple Ball" Algae (again, not certain on the species )

... As far as additions, I'm always on the lookout for interesting macro and plants, and I plan on hooking up a Tunze Osmolator Nano pretty soon, and will be replacing the Koralia with a Jebao WP10. I actually took inspiration for the "theme" from the 1965 Aston Martin DB5 for this tank. This doesn't mean I have a James Bond action figure wedged between some live rock :lmao: I just utilized a lot of silver/grey, and the stand & canopy was made to give off a bit of a '60s vibe.

 

[SoloChromis]

Have you ever seen the episode of fish tank kings with that huge snorkeling lagoon? That thing would be a dream come true if I could get that. Wonder how they afford it 8|

When I worked at a LFS my coworker helped a man convert his swimming pool into a full blown coral reef, and the maintenance was supposedly minimal, as the guy lived on an estuary, so clean water was constantly being cycled through the reef. One of the perks of being a reef nut in Florida :bum: