Great Barrier Reef biotope - Page 2

tlb80 · 04/07/2015, 07:14 PM

Tank is cycled and I managed to get 80lbs. of live rock. Went through a huge explosion of algae. I have been able to hold it at bay for the most part with a few mexican turbos, nassarius, scarlet leg hermits, brittle starfish, and a coral banded shrimp. More CUC on the way. Now it is time to seriously discuss what fish should go in this 40gal breeder. Keep in mind that I only intend to keep fish that are found on the Great Barrier Reef and are reef safe. Also, I plan on keeping less than a dozen fish and none of them shall exceed 4 inches when fully grown. I have a few ideas listed below but I would like to see what everyone here has to say.

2 True Percula Clownfish
3-4 Green Clown Goby
1 Flame Angel or Coral Beauty Angel
1 Prickly Anglerfish Echinophryne crassispina (havent really narrowed this down)

Need more ideas and I need some bottom dwellers.

Thanks and happy reefing

dendrite · 04/07/2015, 08:34 PM

function wise the reef octopus 100 would fit the bill as a protein skimmer, but have you seen it? It's pretty big and ugly sitting in the tank and hanging on the back. The piping and pump also take up a fair amount of in tank space, and makes it difficult to take out and clean. Do yourself a favor and use the 10 gallon as a sump and get yourself an in-sump model

stingeragent · 04/07/2015, 08:59 PM

Have you gotten lights yet, or are you planning on doing a fish only from the GBR? I just joined this thread but think you made a wise choice going with a 40 over a 10. Algae explosions are the norm. Don't try and pre combat with livestock early on. You may just make things worse. It's gonna take a good 6months to a year for your tank to realize stabilize itself. If you introduce some bubble algae get that crap out asap, but typical algae blooms will pass. The more stuff you put in a new tank to rid the algae, the waste will get higher and give what your trying to beat more things to grow with.

tlb80 · 04/08/2015, 03:47 PM

In my deal with for the live rock the guy gave me some old equipment that I havent spent any time researching yet. He gave me a single chamber RO filter and a HOB skimmer. I am going to look into those 2 items and put information on here about them. I am running an Aquatic Life LED unit for lighting, here is a link: http://www.aquaticlife.com/light-fixtures/edge-led#1
I have the 36" model, it seems to be doing a good job but I dont have anything in the tank right now that requires high amounts of lighting. Keep shooting me ideas, I like learning and hearing about everyone's thoughts, successes and failures. Thanks so much and happy reefing.

gotnoclue · 04/08/2015, 04:34 PM

Reading through the product info these seem like planted freshwater lights. Anyone else cause I could be very wrong.

IDreamOReefin · 04/08/2015, 04:56 PM

Good choice going with the larger tank. Keep an eye on that coral banded shrimp, he could decide to "clean up" the other members of the clean up crew. People have had mixed results with them.

tlb80 · 04/08/2015, 06:13 PM

The light came about through a series of conversations. The first came with a guy at the LFS here in Cincinnati that I have become a frequent flier of and good friends with the guy. The other conversation came from the guy who got me started in the hobby, he has been using these lights and has had great success on his tanks. I thought I would try. The coral banded shrimp, so far, has found a home and stayed there. He does not come out of his hide very often or least while I am watching. We will see.

stingeragent · 04/08/2015, 06:42 PM

Thats definitely not gonna work for corals.Has less than 50 watts

04/07/2015, 08:59 PM	#28
stingeragent Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 1,032	Have you gotten lights yet, or are you planning on doing a fish only from the GBR? I just joined this thread but think you made a wise choice going with a 40 over a 10. Algae explosions are the norm. Don't try and pre combat with livestock early on. You may just make things worse. It's gonna take a good 6months to a year for your tank to realize stabilize itself. If you introduce some bubble algae get that crap out asap, but typical algae blooms will pass. The more stuff you put in a new tank to rid the algae, the waste will get higher and give what your trying to beat more things to grow with. Last edited by stingeragent; 04/07/2015 at 09:08 PM.

04/08/2015, 04:56 PM	#31
IDreamOReefin Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Reno Posts: 76	Good choice going with the larger tank. Keep an eye on that coral banded shrimp, he could decide to "clean up" the other members of the clean up crew. People have had mixed results with them. __________________ For us it is a tank upgrade, to them, it is, the apocalypse. Current Tank Info: Freshwater 55 that revolves around my spotted Perch. 28gal bow front saltwater for sexys and a pod nation.

04/07/2015, 07:14 PM	#26
tlb80 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Southeast Indiana Posts: 13	Tank is cycled and I managed to get 80lbs. of live rock. Went through a huge explosion of algae. I have been able to hold it at bay for the most part with a few mexican turbos, nassarius, scarlet leg hermits, brittle starfish, and a coral banded shrimp. More CUC on the way. Now it is time to seriously discuss what fish should go in this 40gal breeder. Keep in mind that I only intend to keep fish that are found on the Great Barrier Reef and are reef safe. Also, I plan on keeping less than a dozen fish and none of them shall exceed 4 inches when fully grown. I have a few ideas listed below but I would like to see what everyone here has to say. 2 True Percula Clownfish 3-4 Green Clown Goby 1 Flame Angel or Coral Beauty Angel 1 Prickly Anglerfish Echinophryne crassispina (havent really narrowed this down) Need more ideas and I need some bottom dwellers. Thanks and happy reefing

04/07/2015, 08:34 PM	#27
dendrite Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: denver Posts: 493	function wise the reef octopus 100 would fit the bill as a protein skimmer, but have you seen it? It's pretty big and ugly sitting in the tank and hanging on the back. The piping and pump also take up a fair amount of in tank space, and makes it difficult to take out and clean. Do yourself a favor and use the 10 gallon as a sump and get yourself an in-sump model

04/08/2015, 03:47 PM	#29
tlb80 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Southeast Indiana Posts: 13	In my deal with for the live rock the guy gave me some old equipment that I havent spent any time researching yet. He gave me a single chamber RO filter and a HOB skimmer. I am going to look into those 2 items and put information on here about them. I am running an Aquatic Life LED unit for lighting, here is a link: http://www.aquaticlife.com/light-fixtures/edge-led#1 I have the 36" model, it seems to be doing a good job but I dont have anything in the tank right now that requires high amounts of lighting. Keep shooting me ideas, I like learning and hearing about everyone's thoughts, successes and failures. Thanks so much and happy reefing.

04/08/2015, 04:34 PM	#30
gotnoclue Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: ohio Posts: 99	Reading through the product info these seem like planted freshwater lights. Anyone else cause I could be very wrong.

04/08/2015, 06:13 PM	#32
tlb80 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Southeast Indiana Posts: 13	The light came about through a series of conversations. The first came with a guy at the LFS here in Cincinnati that I have become a frequent flier of and good friends with the guy. The other conversation came from the guy who got me started in the hobby, he has been using these lights and has had great success on his tanks. I thought I would try. The coral banded shrimp, so far, has found a home and stayed there. He does not come out of his hide very often or least while I am watching. We will see.

04/08/2015, 06:42 PM	#33
stingeragent Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 1,032	Thats definitely not gonna work for corals.Has less than 50 watts