clsanchez77
Member
Hey all, I have been out of the hobby since Hurricane Gustav. My 90 was converted to a brackish setup. I have since married, bought a house and had a son.
Im now itchin' to get back into the hobby...
Wait what? twins? This summer?
Oh well, at least I can keep planning for my next tank. Caution! This is a long and detailed post.
My last tank was unique in that I tried to replicate a flower garden reef. If featured a single species of Montastrea fraged into 11 pieces as well as a few other similar coral heads. I had a school of 11 Blue Chromis and a Reef Butterflyfish. I had sponge and corraline growing everywhere. Everything died during the power outage in Gustav.
For my next tank, I want to go big. I have always liked the Queen Angel, but never attempted it as Queen Angels were always FOWLR and I like corals too. Inspried by the January TOTM, I wanted to also give this a try.
First, this tank I will try to simulate the Sonnier Banks. The banks have little coral growth but instead features a Millepora-Sponge reef.
The tank would have to be custom built bowfront or "flatback hexagon". My target is 250 to 300 gallons. Tank would be 7' long and would fill the breakfast area wall from kitchen cabinets to bay windows. I like a deep tank and will spring the cost for a full 36" deep tank.
For aquascaping, I am thinking one large reef structure occuping maybe a third of the tank, toward the right, not centered. The other two thirds of the tank would remain open; may be some sand with a "rubble zone" or elevated sand bed in between.
For fish stocking, I would like to use the fish in this list below. The fish are generally in the order I would want them. So if two fish are in conflict, I would nix the one lower in the list.
The Queen Angel would be the star of the tank, so anything not compatable with the Queen would go.
The hogfish 'should' be ok. These are typically regarded as not reef safe, but nothing indicates they will harm corals, just the mobile inverts.
The bluehead is another one I really like, but is not regarded as reef safe. Again, from what I can see, this fish is a 'planktivore 'in the wild'. Maybe in a larger tank I will be ok.
People generally dont like damsels. I know they get pretty mean, but I actually have a place for them in my heart. But then Ive been told my heart is cold and black. Anyway, this damsel defends a small territory and should be ok in a larger tank with larger fish. I remember reading somewhere that they typically defend a four foot square area.
I am not sure about the spotted goatfish. Goatfish seem to be relatively new to the hobby and success with them has not been good. From what I have read, they need to eat quite a bit and primarly feed out of the sandbed. It may be a case where are tanks are just too sterile for them or we dont have the right kind of stock in our sandbeds. Right now, I would not get this fish. But since Im a few years out, I will be watching to see if we develop some additional information on these. They are quite beautiful and supposeldy have a remarkable personality.
Reeffish and Chromis. I would like a large school of chromis in the tanks. It would look very natural. Im not sure if I can house these in an aquarium with a hogfish. From what I have read, the hogfish should leave them alone. In the confines of an aquarium, I understand things are not always what we understand. So I would leave these as questionsbale but would like some input. Im not sure how many I would stock if I do get them, but I would like to stock them on a 3:1 from one fish to the next. So a Yellowtail Reefish for every three Purple Reeffish, a Blue Chromis for every three yellowtails. Probably will not include the sunshinefish. The target was about 40 chromis total. The larger fish should cause the chromis to preserve some natural schooling behavior. But if they are garaunteed to be snackfood in the tank, I dont want to sentence them to death. Any thoughts?
I will keep neon gobies if they will not be a snack for the hogfish.
The redspotted hawkfish seems pretty cool. I would get this if I dont do the goatfish as they are both bottom dwellers and both eat crustaceons. While not much is known on the goatfish, I see mixing these as a potential conflict.
Im on the fence about flamefish. They are really cool and I would hope to retain the nocturnal patterns of these fish with nightime feedings. However I read that "Cardinals" dont do well housed with agressive fish. Im not sure if Flamefish would hold there own or if they fall in with the other Cardinals. If they remained hidden during the day and only came out at night, then there should not be a problem. Also not sure if they would be ok with a hogfish. Should I include these? None, One, Two or Three?
Finally I would like to include either a wrasse bass or a peppermint basslet. Not sure how either would fair in the tank. The wrasse bass gets a little bigger and would probably be ok. The peppermint basslet is prettier. Since they are primarly cave dwellers, they should be pretty safe from harrassment. Again, maybe I will preserve some natural behavior in the tank or maybe its a bad idea. What do you think?
For inverts, I would like the tank to be primarily Millipora fire coral and sponge growth. I would keep the Millipora at the top to encurst the "crest". I will use some Haitian Lettuce Coral rock to make some formations on the crest to encourage some blade patterns. I had very good success with sponge on my last tank. I had five different types and it was growing everywhere, all from the rock. Im confident I can reporduce this. I may include a few other corals to represent Atlantic hard corals that would litter a Gulf Patch Reef site but I would have to keep these away from the fire coral and again, few and scattered. I probably will not keep any shrimp or crabs. I will keep snails if the final fish list is "snail friendly".
The attached PDF shows my inspiration for the tank. I look forward to your input.
So overall what do you think? Would this be too many fish assuming a 250g or 300g? What would you cut out?
Also, if you add anything to the list, try to keep it limited to this list here:
Geographic Zone Report - Sonnier Banks
Im now itchin' to get back into the hobby...
Wait what? twins? This summer?
Oh well, at least I can keep planning for my next tank. Caution! This is a long and detailed post.
My last tank was unique in that I tried to replicate a flower garden reef. If featured a single species of Montastrea fraged into 11 pieces as well as a few other similar coral heads. I had a school of 11 Blue Chromis and a Reef Butterflyfish. I had sponge and corraline growing everywhere. Everything died during the power outage in Gustav.
For my next tank, I want to go big. I have always liked the Queen Angel, but never attempted it as Queen Angels were always FOWLR and I like corals too. Inspried by the January TOTM, I wanted to also give this a try.
First, this tank I will try to simulate the Sonnier Banks. The banks have little coral growth but instead features a Millepora-Sponge reef.
The tank would have to be custom built bowfront or "flatback hexagon". My target is 250 to 300 gallons. Tank would be 7' long and would fill the breakfast area wall from kitchen cabinets to bay windows. I like a deep tank and will spring the cost for a full 36" deep tank.
For aquascaping, I am thinking one large reef structure occuping maybe a third of the tank, toward the right, not centered. The other two thirds of the tank would remain open; may be some sand with a "rubble zone" or elevated sand bed in between.
For fish stocking, I would like to use the fish in this list below. The fish are generally in the order I would want them. So if two fish are in conflict, I would nix the one lower in the list.
- Queen Angel
- Spanish Hogfish
- Bluehead (Wrasse)
- Cocoa Damselfish
- Spotted Goatfish (maybe)
- Purple Reeffish
- Neon Goby
- Yellowtail Reeffish
- Redspotted Hawkfish (maybe)
- Flamefish (maybe)
- Blue Chromis (maybe)
- Sunshinefish (maybe)
- Wrasse Bass/Peppermint Basslet
The Queen Angel would be the star of the tank, so anything not compatable with the Queen would go.
The hogfish 'should' be ok. These are typically regarded as not reef safe, but nothing indicates they will harm corals, just the mobile inverts.
The bluehead is another one I really like, but is not regarded as reef safe. Again, from what I can see, this fish is a 'planktivore 'in the wild'. Maybe in a larger tank I will be ok.
People generally dont like damsels. I know they get pretty mean, but I actually have a place for them in my heart. But then Ive been told my heart is cold and black. Anyway, this damsel defends a small territory and should be ok in a larger tank with larger fish. I remember reading somewhere that they typically defend a four foot square area.
I am not sure about the spotted goatfish. Goatfish seem to be relatively new to the hobby and success with them has not been good. From what I have read, they need to eat quite a bit and primarly feed out of the sandbed. It may be a case where are tanks are just too sterile for them or we dont have the right kind of stock in our sandbeds. Right now, I would not get this fish. But since Im a few years out, I will be watching to see if we develop some additional information on these. They are quite beautiful and supposeldy have a remarkable personality.
Reeffish and Chromis. I would like a large school of chromis in the tanks. It would look very natural. Im not sure if I can house these in an aquarium with a hogfish. From what I have read, the hogfish should leave them alone. In the confines of an aquarium, I understand things are not always what we understand. So I would leave these as questionsbale but would like some input. Im not sure how many I would stock if I do get them, but I would like to stock them on a 3:1 from one fish to the next. So a Yellowtail Reefish for every three Purple Reeffish, a Blue Chromis for every three yellowtails. Probably will not include the sunshinefish. The target was about 40 chromis total. The larger fish should cause the chromis to preserve some natural schooling behavior. But if they are garaunteed to be snackfood in the tank, I dont want to sentence them to death. Any thoughts?
I will keep neon gobies if they will not be a snack for the hogfish.
The redspotted hawkfish seems pretty cool. I would get this if I dont do the goatfish as they are both bottom dwellers and both eat crustaceons. While not much is known on the goatfish, I see mixing these as a potential conflict.
Im on the fence about flamefish. They are really cool and I would hope to retain the nocturnal patterns of these fish with nightime feedings. However I read that "Cardinals" dont do well housed with agressive fish. Im not sure if Flamefish would hold there own or if they fall in with the other Cardinals. If they remained hidden during the day and only came out at night, then there should not be a problem. Also not sure if they would be ok with a hogfish. Should I include these? None, One, Two or Three?
Finally I would like to include either a wrasse bass or a peppermint basslet. Not sure how either would fair in the tank. The wrasse bass gets a little bigger and would probably be ok. The peppermint basslet is prettier. Since they are primarly cave dwellers, they should be pretty safe from harrassment. Again, maybe I will preserve some natural behavior in the tank or maybe its a bad idea. What do you think?
For inverts, I would like the tank to be primarily Millipora fire coral and sponge growth. I would keep the Millipora at the top to encurst the "crest". I will use some Haitian Lettuce Coral rock to make some formations on the crest to encourage some blade patterns. I had very good success with sponge on my last tank. I had five different types and it was growing everywhere, all from the rock. Im confident I can reporduce this. I may include a few other corals to represent Atlantic hard corals that would litter a Gulf Patch Reef site but I would have to keep these away from the fire coral and again, few and scattered. I probably will not keep any shrimp or crabs. I will keep snails if the final fish list is "snail friendly".
The attached PDF shows my inspiration for the tank. I look forward to your input.
So overall what do you think? Would this be too many fish assuming a 250g or 300g? What would you cut out?
Also, if you add anything to the list, try to keep it limited to this list here:
Geographic Zone Report - Sonnier Banks
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