Reefer 170 Setup for Anemones / Clowns!

[Kinetic]

Too bad you can't see what it actually looks like. I know that some people have received nicely colored ones from regular LA.

Yeah I've been seeing people get a lot of really beautiful mags on LA recently (I'm pretty sure I saw you comment on a recent one as well). I will probably wait to see one in person first though. No need to rush into it, though I'm guessing I'd be pretty happy with one from LA.

I went down to Aquatic Collection today to pickup some PE Mysis and cipro. Got 7 tabs in anticipation. Talked about you too with Joe haha. He said you're the anemone guru of the bay area!

And wow, that red carpet is gorgeous. Still not sold. Looks really great. Not too big, which I think is good. There were a bunch of mocha looking clownfish in the basket with it, but none of them seemed at all interested in it for some reason. Anyway, it looks pretty healthy and nice.

I think its too porous. They don't like anything with holes or deep crevices.

Something like this is good:

Think old school Fiji slab rock.

OK I'll look for a slab like that. How big do you think it should be ideally? I guess with plenty of room to grow, like 10"? That'll take up half my tank haha.

 

[Kinetic]

I've been looking for a flat rock that'll fit my tank, but haven't found anything at a LFS that will work.

I ordered some shelf rock from BRS (5lbs) so we'll see what I get. Hopefully something works, otherwise I'll take an existing rock, rock rubble, and a bunch of epoxy and create something myself.

I decided to get a rainbow BTA for now until I find a H. Mag.

 

[MMOORE0324]

Looking great! Did you ever get your 120 skimmer dialed in?

 

[Jasanden]

Interesting. Is the Mag 12" at the base, or opened up at the top? Or about the same I guess?

He was 12" spread out but like stated by another guy the base spreads out as well. Maybe 8". He's currently at about 6" now. And I agree with the other post stick with the Mag. So much more pleasing to see a clown in its natural host plus they're just beautiful Nems. I do think your better of finding one at a local fish store because they are poor shippers. Once established they are pretty bullit proof. I'll see if I can find any pics.

 

[Jasanden]

http://rs588.pbsrc.com/albums/ss326/jasanden/P1150268.jpg?w=480&h=480&fit=clip
http://rs588.pbsrc.com/albums/ss326/jasanden/P1130554.jpg?w=480&h=480&fit=clip

 

[Kinetic]

Looking great! Did you ever get your 120 skimmer dialed in?

I'm getting there. I have to close the wedge pipe all the way, and I was able to get the skimmer to skim wet. I want to get a balance and so I've been tinkering with it to try to get darker/drier skim, but it's not doing well. The sound is too loud, in my opinion, with the wedge + air requirements. There's a chance the Reefer 170's sump water level is just too low for it to run optimally. I'm doing a water change today and I'll use the water changed out to see if the water levels quiet it down. If not, I'm going to try replacing it with a NYOS Quantum 120 to see if that'll help with noise.

 

[Kinetic]

Today's the day:

Packing list:

Free food! Awesome SA! I already prepped PE Mysis, ON Reef Flakes, but this is going to be great to add to the diversity.

Damn, this is the scary part. I am always nervous. What you want: cutest damn ocellaris the world ever did see. What you don't want: DOA =( =( But the shipping box was awesome and no problems with delivery so should be good...

First one out! WHEW! He's alive and f***ing beautiful.

Next came the mocha caramel. He's not a misbar, just weird distortion from the double bags:

I have a pair of mocha gladiators as well. The idea is that the female will be largest, though not by much, and there will be a quickly set hierarchy for minimal bickering. We'll see. Alpha male might be a tough one to assert:

Fancy White aka Gladiator. Are you not entertained?

 

[Kinetic]

They all made it! Floating for temp. Sustainable Aquatics specifically says not to drip acclimate these guys. I am skeptical but they have quite the reputation and these guys are so healthy. So a quick float and I'll transfer (with fish net) to the display soon after.

All done floating, and added the Fancy White Extreme and the Vivid Fancy first. The Vivid Fancy is a bit larger than I was hoping for. I hope he doesn't become a problem. Fancy White Extreme is the smallest. These guys came together instantly. So funny that they just wanna group together. Cutest damn things ever.

OK, I couldn't keep taking photos between each intro, so here are the rest of the photos. it's really hard to take a group photo of these clowns. It's a circus!

I tried to label them, a few times. I'm actually not entirely sure which one is the fancy extreme white and the fancy white (aka gladiator). They're both amazing. I think the Extreme is a bit smaller. They do look slightly different, but not sure what is more extreme than the other.

That's it for now! More photos once they settle down and I have more time (and patience) to get a good group photo and get good shots of each from the sides.

 

[Kinetic]

Quick unboxing video. I wish I was able to add a soundtrack or do some color corrections. I used iMovie, though if anyone has suggestions let me know:

https://youtu.be/joWXZgoJ67Q

 

[JustAClownFish]

Question:

My concern is a H. Magnifica could outgrow my tank. It could cover the whole tank. If I'm lucky, and can keep it healthy without feeding too much, the size would stay manageable.

I don't mind it dominating the whole thing and killing any corals that just got in its way, but it might not be smart in the long run.

I love the way they look, and I want to make sure the ocellaris I get will accept it as a host naturally, but it might not be practical.

What do you guys think?

My other option is to keep some BTA's and most likely have a bunch of clownfish that host the maxspect gyre pump instead

This setup is really expensive and I wouldn't want to 'waste' it on one anemone that is insanely hard to keep. Also, 8 clownfish in that tank? Wouldn't they eventually kill each other? Honestly, I like the BTA'a idea way more! A whole tank filled with exotic bubbly bubble tips sounds more enticing. In the Reef Hobbyist Magazine, they covered an exotic BTA only tank. They had the craziest colors I've ever seen. Like purple/green and ice blue tips and stuff like that. Or yellow/red.


BTW: May I ask why you chose the Maxspect Gyre? How is the flow pattern of this powerhead? I have one mp10 and can't get a nice flow pattern in my tank. Maybe I should consider another PH so I can use the mp10 for my nano I'm going to set up this weekend.

 

[JustAClownFish]

I just double checked and everywhere online it says don't put more than 2 clownfish in a small tank and they need to be of the same species. Since you have 6 fish they might pair up so you have 3 pairs.

 

[Kinetic]

This setup is really expensive and I wouldn't want to 'waste' it on one anemone that is insanely hard to keep. Also, 8 clownfish in that tank? Wouldn't they eventually kill each other? Honestly, I like the BTA'a idea way more! A whole tank filled with exotic bubbly bubble tips sounds more enticing. In the Reef Hobbyist Magazine, they covered an exotic BTA only tank. They had the craziest colors I've ever seen. Like purple/green and ice blue tips and stuff like that. Or yellow/red.

Well, expensive relatively I guess? My last system was considerably more and, to be honest, not very successful despite that. But you're right, just having one anemone might not be the best. So yeah, going with finding a few BTA's intsead and maybe, just maybe, the ocellaris might take one as a host.

Do a search on clown harems! Yes, there is overwhelming evidence that pairs do best in a specific territory, and our non-ocean sized tanks are definitely small enough to be one entire territory. But, there are a handful of successes with "harems" or "groups" of 5+ that are all young and small, introduced at the same time. Usually, however, they're all from the same clutch of babies. In my case, I'm trying something a bit different, all being from different clutches (except the mocha gladiators). And also, I'm hoping that the mocha gladiators being a pair already will help the top spot (female) already be defined early so aggression for that position won't happen. The alpha male spot might not have a problem either, since the pair is already established. But regular squabbles should be fine. I'm very aware of the problems this can have, and I'm 100% ready to intervene when needed. I'm not going to be in denial of really poor behavior, and am ready for it. The upside is that I may be able to have quite a diverse group that accept a BTA host (though let's be real, they're going to host my damn gyre pump instead).

BTW: May I ask why you chose the Maxspect Gyre? How is the flow pattern of this powerhead? I have one mp10 and can't get a nice flow pattern in my tank. Maybe I should consider another PH so I can use the mp10 for my nano I'm going to set up this weekend.

Well, a couple years ago the Gyre pump had a crazy sale, and I purchasd it. Fast forward a few years and I decided to go with that. I have two MP40s too from my last system, but the gyre has been great. One pump, massive water movement, no dead spots. It's less of "streams" of flow, and seems to actually move the water as a mass with some momentum. So far so good, though I don't have any SPS yet (gotta get BTAs, let them stop walking around so it's not complete genocide). But the water flow is pretty intense. I'm sticking with it for now, and have no indications or problems that I can see right now.

 

[Kinetic]

I just double checked and everywhere online it says don't put more than 2 clownfish in a small tank and they need to be of the same species. Since you have 6 fish they might pair up so you have 3 pairs.

not that my tank is this big, but here is proof that not "everywhere online":
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1259398

smaller:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2601139

 

[JustAClownFish]

Well, expensive relatively I guess? My last system was considerably more and, to be honest, not very successful despite that. But you're right, just having one anemone might not be the best. So yeah, going with finding a few BTA's intsead and maybe, just maybe, the ocellaris might take one as a host.

Do a search on clown harems! Yes, there is overwhelming evidence that pairs do best in a specific territory, and our non-ocean sized tanks are definitely small enough to be one entire territory. But, there are a handful of successes with "harems" or "groups" of 5+ that are all young and small, introduced at the same time. Usually, however, they're all from the same clutch of babies. In my case, I'm trying something a bit different, all being from different clutches (except the mocha gladiators). And also, I'm hoping that the mocha gladiators being a pair already will help the top spot (female) already be defined early so aggression for that position won't happen. The alpha male spot might not have a problem either, since the pair is already established. But regular squabbles should be fine. I'm very aware of the problems this can have, and I'm 100% ready to intervene when needed. I'm not going to be in denial of really poor behavior, and am ready for it. The upside is that I may be able to have quite a diverse group that accept a BTA host (though let's be real, they're going to host my damn gyre pump instead).





Well, a couple years ago the Gyre pump had a crazy sale, and I purchasd it. Fast forward a few years and I decided to go with that. I have two MP40s too from my last system, but the gyre has been great. One pump, massive water movement, no dead spots. It's less of "streams" of flow, and seems to actually move the water as a mass with some momentum. So far so good, though I don't have any SPS yet (gotta get BTAs, let them stop walking around so it's not complete genocide). But the water flow is pretty intense. I'm sticking with it for now, and have no indications or problems that I can see right now.

I'll look into that more! By everywhere I meant all sources I usually obtain my information from. I didn't have success with more than two clowns either.


What you said about the 'streams' of flow is exactly what's annoying me in my tank. I want ocean-like water movement and I think from what I can see on Youtube the Gyre does what you said - move 'masses' of water. It also agitates the surface at the same time. Might be worth a try!

 

[Kinetic]

I'll look into that more! By everywhere I meant all sources I usually obtain my information from. I didn't have success with more than two clowns either.


What you said about the 'streams' of flow is exactly what's annoying me in my tank. I want ocean-like water movement and I think from what I can see on Youtube the Gyre does what you said - move 'masses' of water. It also agitates the surface at the same time. Might be worth a try!

Yeah definitely try the gyre. It isn't void of streams, it's just much more distributed. You can definitely use momentum with MP40's or other powerheads to get a gyre going, or even a pulse mode to create back and forth rocking. I used an MP40 to create waves in my 48" tank back in the day, I could get the water to slosh out of the display =P

But the gyre seems to get the momentum going well with more even flow. I'm actually playing with alternating modes right now (though the alternate flow speed is much less since the impellers are running backwards to their design, but it creates a bit of turbulence for awhile instead of a constant gyre).

 

[D-Nak]

I just double checked and everywhere online it says don't put more than 2 clownfish in a small tank and they need to be of the same species. Since you have 6 fish they might pair up so you have 3 pairs.

They're all the same species. Color morphs don't determine how they will pair. Since there are six fish, one will become female, one will become the dominant male, and other four will be lower in the hierarchy (and may remain "sexless" for a while and may even have slower growth).

 

[D-Nak]

Yeah definitely try the gyre. It isn't void of streams, it's just much more distributed. You can definitely use momentum with MP40's or other powerheads to get a gyre going, or even a pulse mode to create back and forth rocking. I used an MP40 to create waves in my 48" tank back in the day, I could get the water to slosh out of the display =P

But the gyre seems to get the momentum going well with more even flow. I'm actually playing with alternating modes right now (though the alternate flow speed is much less since the impellers are running backwards to their design, but it creates a bit of turbulence for awhile instead of a constant gyre).

For anemone tanks, I definitely like Gyres better. I had tanks with MP40s and you can't put nems right in front of them because the flow is too narrow. With the wider flow of the Gyre, you can actually place nems very close to them, and they are fine. I've also gotten nems stuck in MP40s but never in a Gyre (fingers remain crossed).

 

[D-Nak]

The tank is coming along nicely! And the photos continue to amaze me. The clowns are a nice pick up! I've got my eyes peeled for a magnifica for you. :thumbsup:

 

[JustAClownFish]

Does the gyre stir up detritus? One dude on Youtube whose review I just watched said it creates dead spots and he doesn't have that problem with a vortex due to the even spread wall of water it pushes forward.

 

[Kinetic]

The tank is coming along nicely! And the photos continue to amaze me. The clowns are a nice pick up! I've got my eyes peeled for a magnifica for you. :thumbsup:

Thanks man! I always appreciate your help and input.