Nocturnal reef

KafudaFish

KafudaFish

Cyprinius carpio
Team RC
I am not sure if this is the right place to post this but.....

Has anyone ever kept a "nocturnal reef"? I thought of this because I have always been interested in nocturnal behavior and I am suffering from insomnia right row so many thoughts pass through my head. Also because moon lights are so popular it would be a simple thing to do.
If I attempted this design what species of fish and inverts are more nocturnal? I know squirrelfish are but any others? This would be in a 50 gal tank btw.
Any suggestions would be great.
 
Lps stonies are the corals for you: many change shape at night and send out sweeper tentacles (bubble, galaxia), open into anemones (candy cane) and generally feed at night, excepting the euphyllia, which close up. Snails are active at night and trochus put out additional feelers. A ghost eel is a night hunter (but fragile, and eats other fish).
 
That does sound interesting. I probably do not have the proper lighting on my 50 (pc) but I could do it on my 95 with T5's. Any fish suggestions?
 
This would be very hard to do. Almost everything in the ocean that is active at night are predators. They hunt the peaceful fish while they sleep. And most othese guys get BIG. Requim Sharks for example are active at night. But also grow far too large for your average aquarium.

In short, is it possible to do it? Yes. Would it be ideal or look the way you wanted? Probably not. Would it be worth while? No, not really.
 
There would have to be different species of fish, corals and other inverts that are active during the night. If you look at any night pictures on reefs there is activity. If I did a FOWLR then I would do predators.
I do not know what it would look like so I do not have a standard to compare it to therefore I probably would not be disappointed. This would be as much an experiment as anything else.
Why would it not be worth while? People keep all types of reef life that are extremely cryptic and inactive. I think seahorses are interesting due to their breeding behavior but really am not interested in keeping them.
So if it was worth while, what suggestions please?
 
Not worth it because you will go through a lot of stress of researching and attempting to find animals in the aquarium trade that are nocturnal. Then, you have to stay up late enough to see it all ;) I guess I should rephrase it as moderately worth it.
 
No problem and did not take it in any negative way. This "idea" started because I am going through a round of insomnia and thought it might be relaxing to watch a reef at night rather than TV or looking here on RC until 6 am.
Travis are you the guy who made DIY rock with cement and rock salt?
 
I read the thread myself a couple of weeks ago. I am interested in doing it on my 50 and my pico tank that I will set up. This way I can control the shapes rather than relying on the LFS.
It was 4 parts RS and 1 part cement right? Have you tried 3:1 for more strength. I would like to do a rock wall using this technique rather than piecing together a bunch of LR frags or buying cermic reef walls for $100+.
How much water, 1 part? Did you add the salt after you mixed the cement and water or all together at once.
Funny how you get off track on your own thread.
 
It's really eyeballed, I'll be honest. It's between 3:1 and 4:1. The RS and Cement are put in together, crudely mixed up, then water is added. I just add a little water. If it's too watery, I add cement. If it's too dry, I add water.
 
As for your question, pinecone fish from Japan are really nice and noctural also flashlight fish, I never saw those for sale but I have seen pinecones. They may have to be ordered.
Paul
 
I have seen pinecone fish at the Tennessee Aquarium and remember seeing a picture of them about 20 years ago. I have always thought they were interesting and I watched the pair for about 20 minutes. They are extremely passive and barely move. I doubt too many places would have flashflight fish available either. I can't see them as a high demand item.
Paul I have always enjoyed reading your posts and am glad to see you take the low tech. approach to the hobby such as your reverse UGF. I plan on doing that on my 50 when it is empty. I also like how you make PVC rocks.
 
Paul, true but if I was the first to invent a waterless reef aquarium and then market it I would make millions.
I could charge 10x the price of a water filled one.
Travis, yeah those would be cool to own. The price tag is scary though. They do list a few other species along with the flashlights so I will do some more research about them. Perhaps if I do this, I will post a thread and others will think it is pretty cool too.
 
Just run a red light. Most sea creatures can't see it and act like they are in total darkness. It's really cool the stuff you will see: worms sending out feelers, sweeper tenticles, swimming pods and worms. It's really cool!!!!!!!
 
There are plenty of inverts I only see around my tank at night. Both my Linkia and serpant sea star are only active at night. Same goes for my tiger tail cucumber. These are slow moving creatures, so they're not so entertaining.

My suggestion would be to simply change the light cycle of your reef. Turn the lights off during the day, and run then at night. If you home and cant sleep, that might help.

G/L to you. I know insomnia can be hard to deal with.
 
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