Well I've done it...

[AtomHeart]

Tonight I purchased an All-Glass 120gal. Megaflow tank, a custom black 36" high stand, an ADHI model 45 acrylic refugium, and a Blue Line 40HD pump.

I'm having it delivered on Friday, and I'll then start the task of plumbing it with PVC pipe, and setting up my electrical system.

Still got a long way to go, but this was the first big step to getting into reef keeping. It's been a dream all my life, so I'm so excited I think I peed my pants a little. When its all done, the tank will be mostly soft and stony corals, but as for livestock, I'll want 2 clark's clownfish with host anenome, 1 male and 2 female mandarin dragonettes, 7 chromis' of some sort, a 6 line wrasse, a whole mess of clams, and a ton of shrimp and crabs.

I can't wait to have my own patch of reef in my house, to relax me any time I want. It's going to be quite a dream come true. Just wanted to give everyone a big hello. Wish me luck.

[Lenny718]

Best of luck with the new tank! Be sure to post some pics when its up and running

[nikon187]

I wouldn't do 2 female mandarines. They can be quite territorial, I have seen an established female kill a new male. There also isn't a whole lot of food for 3 in a 120

[sps1-2-b]

Welcome to Reef Central and this hobby of reefing. Very rewarding and frustrating at times. A bitter sweet feeling.

[Tylt33]

Go slow with your livestock. Keep in mind things you put in will be almost impossible to get out. Read up on 6 Lines. There are a lot of nasty ones. Read up on Chromis'. Not many people like them. Read up on Shrimps and Crabs. Know which ones will thrash other things in your tank, and which ones won't. Many people have a "nothing with hands" policy for their tank. And most importantly, welcome to the bittersweet hell that is Saltwater aquaria

[Adamc1303]

Welcome! You will soon become an addict!

[crvz]

Welcome! As pointed out, there are a lot of pros and cons of the things you want to add, so be certain to research everything before adding. Three mandarins, for example, will likely not work. And I'd much sooner do a canary wrasse than a sixline. But all in all sounds like a great project. Good luck!

[AtomHeart]

Ah, I had read that the males were the territorial ones, and that the rule with mandarins was only one male per tank. I'm ok with going down to two.

I will go very slow, not adding any more than one fish species per month. Money if nothing else will ENSURE that I go slow with everything on this tank project. I wanted to go smaller for budgetary reasons, but realized that my fish and I would both be much happier with the end product if I went with 120 gallons. So now the cost of everything has escalated, and therefore the process has slowed.

I had chosen the 6 line wrasse only because it was listed in several books as the only one that will clean clams of their parasitic snails. Are there other wrasses that will do that?

Thanks for the welcome guys. I'll start a thread somewhere once I have some pictures of the set-up sequence.

[texhorns98]

Welcome to the party, pal!

Be sure you wait on the Mandarin (even with one). You're going to need anywhere from 8-12 months of developing your pod population for him or her to eat! I'm not sure about the wrasse question, but liveaquaria.com has their wrasses sectioned out for FO and reef safe...pretty cool.

[michellejy]

Congratulations

Make sure you have a really good skimmer and a phosban reactor. You might need to run carbon as well since you want to have soft and stony corals together. The soft ones are generally easier to keep and faster growing, but they can also be aggressive.

Also check out the sponsor forums, for sale forums, and your local club forums. You can get some great deals on everything including livestock.

Oh, one more thing. Some wrasses will compete with mandarins for food, so don't be afraid to ask if you don't know. There are so many helpful people on this site.

[plateboy3293]

Mandarins are very hard fish to keep considering they only eat pods except for a select few that eat frozen foods. The sixline is a competitor for copepods so I would leave out the sixline and one of the female mandarins. If the tank is 6 ft you could go with almost any type of tang. Cardinals are an alternative to the chromis if you want schooling fish.

[AtomHeart]

The Mandarins will be the last things to be added, most likely. If no six line wrasse, I'm concerned that the clams in the tank will have snail problems. Is there a wrasse that will clean the clams but not eat pods? The tank is 48 x 24 x 24, but I could go with a smaller tang of some sort in there, especially if no wrasse goes in, or only a small one.

What do people find undesirable about Chromis? They seem very docile, and peaceful.

[crvz]

Originally posted by AtomHeart
Is there a wrasse that will clean the clams but not eat pods?

What do people find undesirable about Chromis? They seem very docile, and peaceful.

First question, the answer is nope. if they're looking for small critters to eat, such as pyramid snails, they'll also enjoy pods, worms, and anything else about that size. Still, I'd pick the wrasse over the mandarins, but I know some folks get into the hobby just because of the mandarin. I still like the canary wrasse, but don't just take my word for it.

http://wetwebmedia.com/halichoeresbestart.htm

Regarding clams, though, if you quarantine them and ensure they don't have the pyramid snails upon introduction, you're safe to forgo a wrasse in any case. I do think they make great additions to the tank, but you could easily have a strong competition with the mandarins if you have to have both.

Second question, the chromis are rather impersonal and overly common. I've tried a bunch before, and it seems the groups wither down until only 2-3 remain, and then they don't do anything. There are better fish to chose, in my opinion (say 3 anthias, for example).

[AtomHeart]

What about a Valentini Toby in this tank? Or the Saddled Filefish that mimics it? Or both, if I'm going to forego the chromis? Would they get along with most of the other inhabitants?

[nikon187]

The toby puffer will more than likely pick at certain corals

[plateboy3293]

Skip on the puffer for reasons stated above. Not sure about the filefish but I would guess no. Anthias and Banghai cardinals are both schooling fish. Anthias move around alot and the cardinals stay more in one spot and move slowly unless startled.

[AtomHeart]

Thank you all for the advice. Anthias sound like a good way to go for my school of color.