nano but not-nano suggestions?

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this is something that's not even in the 'planning' stages yet - i'm just looking for ideas.

i've got a 240g tank along a wall in my living room, with plumbing going thru the wall to the garage where there is a 100g sump, 55g refugium, skimmer, chiller, heater, etc...all the necessary goodies are located out there. not too far from the 240, and along the same wall, there is a room divider bar type thing, dividing the living room from the kitchen area. this area is just begging for a tank.

i would have room for anything from a 5g to a 40g, and since it's along the same wall, i would likely put another hole in the wall, and run this tank to the same common sump as the other system. realizing of course this makes it anything but a nano (unless a 10g tank with a 400g support system counts ;^), i still figured this might be the best place to ask a few questions.

i really don't have any set expectations of what to put in this tank, other than maybe housing some things that i can't keep in the larger tank.

i'm curious what the small-tank officianados would want to keep in a set-up like this.

i've considered:

mantis tank
moving all the sps from the larger tank (about a dozen anemones in the larger tank...they don't move much, but it's likely just a matter of time)
fish-only with a few of the crustacean crunching fish i can't keep in the main tank

but as of yet, don't really have my mind set on anything. what will go into it will determine what tank i buy, how it's plumbed, etc - just looking for suggestions. if you had a setup like this, what would you want to put into it?

 

[Illuminati]

Before I saw your suggestions I was thinking mantis.

Another cool option might be a total regional reef. You could get some Tampa Bay live rock, and stock it with things from www.etropicals.com and www.sealifeflorida.com, your own little slice of the ocean off the Florida coast
Just an idea.

 

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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9222383#post9222383 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by colinadam

Another cool option might be a total regional reef.

ooooo - i like that.

a 'clownfish environment' might be kinda cool, too. i know it probably makes me a sucker, but i've got a soft spot for the clowns.

 

[Illuminati]

Ever heard of Onyx Clowns? Check out www.rods-reef.com, he's in IL and sells baby onyx clowns. Maybe a pair of those, talk about unique.

 

[hahnmeister]

I have the large reefs, but some things I love to watch were getting lost... so like you, I started a desktop nano for small critter display.

In it I have:
Boxing Crabs (2)
Porcelain Crabs (the blue/purple with red stripes kind, not the anemone kind x4)
Sexy Shrimp (3)
Green Clown Goby (2)
Frilly Arrow Crab (1)
assorted hermits (5)

These guys all get along, and they are all much easier to watch than when I had them even in a 20g. Now I can see my little dudes doin their thing all day, and I dont worry about losing them in a larger tank.

 

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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9222835#post9222835 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by colinadam
Ever heard of Onyx Clowns?

yah, i'd seen a pile of juvies last time i was down at inland aquatics in terre haute...i have a pair of black ocs in another tank, but the coloration on these is unique enough to merit consideration. the small size gives them a leg up on what potential tank size i'd need to house them, too (vs, say maroons or tomatoes). being in a separate tank, i'd be able to get them a slightly more aggressive anemone than i'd ever consider in the main tank.

i think part of the draw towards maybe doing a clown tank for me...i'd like to see a clown actually host in an anemone. i have a pair of clowns in one tank hosting in a conch shell, and ignoring everything else...and in the main display, i have 3 clowns that ignore the dozen or so RTAs in favor of hosting in a pile of mushrooms ;^)

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9223854#post9223854 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hahnmeister
I have the large reefs, but some things I love to watch were getting lost...

all too true...i see my pistol/watchman goby combo about once a month...going with an invert/kooky crustacean tank would be entertaining, and if i keep the tank size small enough, i might actually see the little buggers. i have 1 porcelain in the 240 that i hardly ever see, but i also have an anemone crab - luckily he picked an RTA right up front and center so i always get to see his antics.

lots of good ideas here...may end up going w/ 2 20s so i don't have to narrow it down to just one idea =^)

 

[hahnmeister]

I have the mantis tank as well, so I can understand that too.

I also used to have a harlequin shrimp setup, with a tank full of starfish next door to feed them.

Other things I have always wanted...

Small Octopus nano

Sargassum/Angler nano

Jawfish Nano. Right now I have two tiger jawfish in my fuge with 6" of sand... good for now, but I would like to give them a tank with corals, not macros.

 

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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9224298#post9224298 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hahnmeister
I have the mantis tank as well, so I can understand that too.

about the only thing that gives me even a moment of hesitation, on a mantis tank...i don't know if i'd have it in me to actually feed the sucker. i was lucky enough to spectate Tim the Supermantis plying his craft on a teddy bear crab...it was equal parts amazing and brutal. i know it's an absolutely arbitrary distinction on my part, as...well...almost everything i feed my tank's critters now was at some point alive, but i'm also the type to give an emerald crab a name. seeing something like that torn limb from limb on a regular basis might be more than i am bargaining for. mantis are truly neat little critters tho, so i can't say as tho i'd rule it out, either, tho.

I also used to have a harlequin shrimp setup, with a tank full of starfish next door to feed them.

what type of stars and about how much cost was involved in keeping the harlequins fed? harlequins are another thing on the 'i'd like having them, but there's no way i could put it in the main tank' list.

Small Octopus nano

would definately be entertaining, the short life span potential is kind of a turn off, tho

Sargassum/Angler nano

yeowsa - i don't know as tho i'd ever even heard of a sargassum...a quick image search later, i'm interested - that'll be one to research.

Jawfish Nano. Right now I have two tiger jawfish in my fuge with 6" of sand... good for now, but I would like to give them a tank with corals, not macros.

yah, i think if i do go with something that isn't overly aggressive (be it anemone, mantis, etc) at least 1 jawfish is a given. i have a pearly jawfish in the 240, and again i was lucky enough for him to pick a hidey-hole right up front and center. the little guy is 2.5 inches of constant entertainment.

 

[hahnmeister]

Ah, well, if you are lucky enough to have one happy in the main tank, no need for another jawfish. Im trying my hand at breeding them though... thats why I thought two in a nano would be cool. Something tells me that I have two females though... Ill have to trade one in for another and hope I end up with a pair sooner or later.

Sargassum... yeah... its a neat angler. There is a LFS by me that keeps getting in 'itsy bitsy' anglers... like 1-2" long at most, including sargassum from time to time. Not much entertainment value except when feeding as they arent very active... but they do allow for tank with corals and the works.

The harlequins looooove blue linkia stars, but I would feed them chocolate stars and other random stars from the LFS. I would keep the starfish in a fuge in the sump though... put them in the main display for a few hours for the harlequins to take a limb... then place the starfish back into the sump. This way I saved alot of money on not constantly buying starfish. Once and a while I would have fun by putting an olive brittle star in with the harlequins... watch them try to eat each other!!! (olive brittles are known predators... had one catch a wrasse and eat it on me!). The harlequins would try to slice off a limb, and the brittle would try to eat them right back... it was a riot! I would say a pair will go through a starfish a week. I had a setup with the LFS in this regard... they would see what starfish I could get a dozen of at a time for cheap and get them for me. Then I would take them home and keep them in the sump until feeding time.

One time, one of the harlequins made it through the overflow and into the starfish fuge...
I think it died and went to heaven. I came home to find 4 random starfish limbs that had been taken off but not even eaten. It had too much to choose from.

 

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hmmm...i've had a hard enough time keeping blue links alive for longer than a week. i'd be a bit leery of running out of chow for them. i haven't had problems w/ fromias, but i doubt i'll be able to get them at a reasonable price. i'll have to check w/ the LFS to see if they might be able to do something similar to what you had worked out. it'd be a bit of a hassle, but the harlequins look interesting enough to be worth it.

was it your experience that they'd eat pretty much any starfish, or were there any that they took a pass on?

Ah, well, if you are lucky enough to have one happy in the main tank, no need for another jawfish.

heh...well, if 'need' entered into it.... ;^) i just think the little buggers are entertaining. i hadn't contemplated 2 in a small tank, as i'd read they tend to be rather territorial - have you noticed anything in that department? haven't been able to find much info on raising a spawn, either - are they similar in requirements (rotifer/brine/etc) as clowns? if so, that'd be a plus towards doing jawfish...if i can get them to breed, i'm already culturing rotifer/brine for clowns.

 

[GobyJohnKenobi]

A hexagonal tank with a rose bubble tip and an onyx clown on a central pillar of live rock with fluorescent green mushrooms around its base. 150 W pendant light.

 

[hahnmeister]

They can operate in a pair rather well... at least did so for me. They might be territorial, but even in nature they are observed working in tandem to coral their lunch.

As for starfish, they just prefer the meatier legs. They dont seem to go after brittle stars unless really hungry, and dont go too nuts over serpent stars either. But most of the rest they go after readily. It might be hard to get starfish for them, but at least at that they arent too picky. They just really seem to savor the Linkia types, but its not a must-have. In nature they have been seen taking on just about any starfish.

 

[chrisstie]

Seahorse\pipefish?

 

[hahnmeister]

Oooo... thats one I forgot. My uncle has a 40g with seahorses, pipefish, etc. Its pretty cool.

 

[burton14e7]

octopus tank with a 35 hex and some tonga branch. Interacting with them has been one of the coolest experiances. You know when they're looking at you because they mimic your colors.