Livestock options?

[Willster]

I am building a 20g Reef for my senior project and I am about to the point in time to pick livestock.

I will have LED lighting (14x 3 watt LEDs, 7 royal blue, 7 cool white) I would like to have a few SPS, and some LPS. The only thing I have my heart set on getting are some open brains, and a frogspawn. I need help knowing what else to get... Any suggestions?:spin3:

 

[Jamie9169]

Duncans are always a nice choice. Maybe some Acans or a nice Hammer.

 

[Willster]

What would you suggest with things like fish or inverts??

 

[teddyzaper]

i like gobies and blennys a lot. Sexy shrimp, cleaner shrimp, bumblebee shrimp. So many choice.

 

[JJIM]

For fish- so many choices. I would suggest a mix that inhabit different areas of your tank; such as the sand bed, rock dwellers/perchers, water column hoverers/floaters, and the constant foragers. Also keeping in mind amount of bio-load of fish you put in vs. the kinds of coral you are planning to keep.

Blennies
Gobies
Clowns (non aggressive ones like percs)
Basslets
Dartfish
Hawkfish
Small pigmy angel such as the cherub or flameback (put in last if you go this direction as they "can" be a bit Territorial).

Good info and ideas at below site (not necessarily recommending, but many have had good luck with LA.com/DD). I only mention it for the accuracy and knowledge of each specimen listed on their site. I often times will go here for a quick reference check.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/...fm?c=15+2124&s=ts&count=24&start=1&page_num=1

Good luck!

 

[Willster]

This isn't my first reef tank, however it is my first try with SPS corals. For fish I've decided on:
5-green chromis
2- purple fire fish
3- Dragon-face Pipe fish and
3- flame cardinals

For Inverts/coral, I am still undecided. I know for sure I want Frogspawns or Torches,Monti-Caps, Some open brains, and Green star polyps to be on an "island" to themselves. My knowledge on SPS is limited to the Montipora, but I'd love some Acros.

I will be supplementing my tank monthly with pods (I've had sea horses before, never pipes) as well as live mysis shrimp to seed a population into the tank. It will be a 20 gallon high, Led lights, with a 10 gallon sump. I will have a very heavy skimmer, and a 24hour photo period on the sump/fuge. If you have any suggestions, please let me know

 

[kalosbios]

Hello,

Sounds like a fun project--one thing though:

. . .and a 24hour photo period on the sump/fuge

I would not advise a 24 hour photo period for any organism that normally functions on a mixed (light/dark) photoperiod. You're likely to have better long-term results by keeping more toward a natural cycle.

Reverse cycles seem to get very good results, overall, in terms of ph buffering at night.

Have fun!

Gordon

 

[TjwBlake]

I may be wrong... but that seams like a massive # of fish for a 20 gallon.

 

[Willster]

I'll take your advice on the reverse Photo period

and as for the number of fish, all of them stay relatively small. I would rather go by my past experience with groups than to abide by the number per gallon rule etc. I've found that fish that need to be kept in groups live less stressed and longer than individuals. I am also running a skimmer on my tank that I used for my 130 system, as well as using a 10 gallon fuge. But, all advice is taken in consideration, and all the fish will not be added at the same time. So if I am content with how it looks, I'll stop But I agree, the "numbers" seem scary.

On a positive note, tank was drilled today, stand is finished, and I'll begin setup tomorrow livestock will begin being filled in starting in march (rock and sand are cured) Anyone have any coral suggestions?

 

[RikoTeki]

I have a clown goby in my 12 gallon and love it. He's very interesting to watch.

 

[Willster]

Stand is now finished and moved in, Lights will be mounted tomorrow, and plumbing will be done as well

 

[abaralnek]

13 fish in a 20g? thats a little much..

 

[Willster]

13 fish in a 20g? thats a little much..

Again, the fish stay small and are more comfy in groups. The bioload isn't huge and one of the cardinals will be removed once they pair up.

 

[rajkovich207]

Hey bud I'm not trying to be mean but anything more than 5-6 fish in a fully matured tank, we're talking years down the road, is pushing it. Even if your running a huge Skimmer and a fuge full of macro algae you won't pull off 13 fish. They may only get on average 3" long, but that is long, they are not 2D, and chromis get rather plump and for a lack of a better term "tall". These fish won't even be able to swim around. You are just going to end up dumping LARGE amount of money into stock and items trying to keep your tank from crashing. A lot of these beautiful fish are ripped out of the ocean and stuffed in a box. imagine you were stuck in a small house with 12 other people and you could never leave. You sleep where you eat and you eat where you go to the bathroom. You will not make it very long will you?

 

[Willster]

Note also that this is the 'ideal livestock'. Upon further looking, I have stumbled across the possum wrasse which I like. It'll be 'ideally' with the school of chromis, the fire fish, and the flame cardinal pair. The dragon faces will be put into the 75 since I have recently removed all livestock previously.

 

[Willster]

The lights:

They alternate Royal Blue/Cool White on both rows. I am very satisfied with the lighting color!:spin3:


Original Rockscape:

Sorry for the bad photos, but you get the idea of what was going on

The tank as it is:

The lighting is a little blue, but you get the idea. I started out with two piles on either side, but decided to remove about 6 pounds of rock from the display and make it how it is now. Because I used live sand from a tank thats up and running now, and rock that was previously dried, I had no cycle :celeb1:

Corals will go in as soon as my LFS gets more in... they never seem to have anything at all...smh Also, the possum wrasse is due no later than mid of March

 

[Willster]

Made an order for some corals today . Excited even more for tomorrow

 

[thecaptain]

zoos are always a good starter

 

[Willster]

zoos are always a good starter

I've had many many corals before weather it be my own tanks or aquariums in the lfs I worked at so they're not my issue lol. I went with some monti frags just to test out the lights. They're being dripped now. Pics once into the tank

 

[Willster]

Anyone know any other aquaculture companies that sell frags? Pacific east is one I won't be ordering from again. All corals came in bleached. And for the price they were all way too small. One of the monti frags was supposed to be 1 inch. Well it ended up being smaller than the 3/4inch frag plug. Anyone else have this kind of trouble from them?