Upgrade time- FOWLR & Reef or Reef all the way??

[silentstorm]

Greetings Everyone,

Great to see all the big tanks out here & with all that inspiration, really excited to say am ready for mine! Well it all comes down to this: 1st New Home = Time for bigger tank.

I currently have a 180 mixed tank in my apartment. Here is my big confusion:
I am torn between having a full blown reef & at the same time cry when it comes to certain fishes when they cant be kept in the reef (butterflies & angels, etc) & in general have a lot of fishes (which makes reefing harder)... so..
Should I get a 300-400ish gallon tank (that's the range I can afford/want to be) & have a mixed reef (mostly sps) (fight water quality & also have less fishes) .... or have 2 tanks, a big one for the fish only... and a slightly big one for the reef (still be under 400ish for DT)..?

Like to get the best of both Worlds! :dance:

I know most have reefs & probably wanted both...but it all comes down to 'if you can keep 2 tanks , go for it'... but other than space being a factor (I still have to convince my wife about 2 tanks, which really depends on size & placing..:headwally ... what else?

More maintenance? (am thinking all my water changes from reef can go into the fish only - anything wrong?)
my fish only can have a big bioload.... & my reef can have more corals & less bio load to deal with..less dosing..

Will I regret not having one big reef in the end??

Anyone who has gone through the same thought process, wanna share your opinions? what did you end up with..?
Please feel free to share your thoughts...

 

[dave.m]

Man, did you pick the wrong forum to ask that!

Two 400 gallon tanks, one each of reef and FOWLR is the obvious answer. You would want to at least skim the water from the reef before introducing it to the FOWLR to keep it clean and maintain oxygen levels, I would think.

Dave.M

 

[nuxx]

I'd go mixed reef...

... unless there are just a few fish you have to have that will not place nice with coral and inverts.

I'm going mixed reef, but I'm putting some fringe fish in:
Crosshatch Triggers
Bandit Angel
YB Regal Angel

Planned on testing the angels our in a frag tank first...

 

[Socaltoaz]

I had the same issue when deciding. While still waiting for the final decision, I will most likely go mixed reef myself.

My main thing is that I love certain fish- angels and such but my kids will kill me if I don't get them Nemo and some anemones.

Two tanks would be marvelous but not an option.

 

[tc2007]

If I had the resources to do it, I would keep a larger (longer, 8ft) FOWLER tank for all the "forbidden" fish and a smaller (135DD cube?) reef tank for all the SPS, smaller / cooler fish, inverts etc. that do not need a whole lot of space and you need to be closer to them appreciate the beauty of it. The smaller tank would be rife with small marine life and would be interesting to watch from all sides!

 

[silentstorm]

Man, did you pick the wrong forum to ask that!

Two 400 gallon tanks, one each of reef and FOWLR is the obvious answer. You would want to at least skim the water from the reef before introducing it to the FOWLR to keep it clean and maintain oxygen levels, I would think.

Dave.M

Ha ha... Would love to have 2 400 gallon tanks... and the next thing would be my wife killing me & feeding to the fishes :fun2: !!

Yeah I was thinking the reef tank will be skimmed & dosed and I can use that water for the fowlr water changes... Although the water will be depleted of cal & Alk..it shouldn't be a prob for the fish...

If I had the resources to do it, I would keep a larger (longer, 8ft) FOWLER tank for all the "forbidden" fish and a smaller (135DD cube?) reef tank for all the SPS, smaller / cooler fish, inverts etc. that do not need a whole lot of space and you need to be closer to them appreciate the beauty of it. The smaller tank would be rife with small marine life and would be interesting to watch from all sides!

You read my thoughts... A 8 foot tank with lots of fishes...colorful... & a smaller cube with very less bio load which will help maintain water quality & can have smaller cooler fishes... Gobies, jawfish... & focus on corals...

Let's see if I can convince my wifey..:hammer:

 

[ace_92101]

Why not make the 400 gallon a Fowlr and keep the 180 as a mixed reef? You'll be able to keep most fish in the 400 and still enjoy the corals in the 180.

 

[silentstorm]

Why not make the 400 gallon a Fowlr and keep the 180 as a mixed reef? You'll be able to keep most fish in the 400 and still enjoy the corals in the 180.

Wouldn't mind doing that but the total water volume will be way out of my budget..! maybe a 300 fowlr & 120 reef.. or 240 fowlr & 180 reef..

The new house is ready... I have a few locations in mind ...need to get that figured out 1st.. I'll get a pic of the floor plan posted & the tank locations am considering.

 

[ca1ore]

Look at it this way: with a reef tank, there are X things you'd like to keep but cannot; with a FOWLR, there are XXX things you'd like to keep but cannot. Seems pretty straightforward to me.

 

[nuxx]

Look at it this way: with a reef tank, there are X things you'd like to keep but cannot; with a FOWLR, there are XXX things you'd like to keep but cannot. Seems pretty straightforward to me.

Even the things you can't keep in a reef tank...

You "can"... just might lose a coral type here and there or some types of inverts.

 

[silentstorm]

Look at it this way: with a reef tank, there are X things you'd like to keep but cannot; with a FOWLR, there are XXX things you'd like to keep but cannot. Seems pretty straightforward to me.

True that... Ideally, I would love to have one huge reef tank... with coral colonies & have all the non-reef safe fishes too... and just like nature, the fish nipping the corals won't affect the colonies too much (cause they are big & powerful enough to grow back quickly)..

My only problem with that is... I cant afford to that level. And the biggest reason I am thinking about a smaller reef is to go economical... no huge dosing/ supplements required... easier to maintain water quality... and at the same time, did not want to miss a big tank & the fact that my family loves fishes more than corals... hence have a big fowlr. easier to maintain than the reef & better for the wallet.

 

[Socaltoaz]

So do a search for a user Copps. I have been reading about his tank and he keeps coral and tons of angels. Gives me hope.

 

[jjk_reef00]

When I retire in 50 years I want to do this:
Huge FOWLR as big as you can afford. Then a 60-150 gallon cube to grow out corals.
I place the corals in the FOWLR and see which ones last
With that said, I've received multiple fish from aquaph because they started destroying corals so keeping certain fish with certain corals is likely a matter of luck.

 

[dave.m]

From what I have seen in tanks here on RC it is the size of the tank that matters. Really big tanks in the hundreds of gallons are best suited for large fish. Once fish have enough room to move and are well fed they tend to do less harm to the invertebrates.

Dave.M

 

[Socaltoaz]

800 gallons for my display tank. Gonna get me some fish and corals once it's set up.

 

[dave.m]

Check out hedgedrew's thread in this forum to see what kind of large angels and butterflies he successfully keeps with SPS.

Dave.M