live stock

camanuch

Member
hey guys looking for some live stock opinions.
For some clarification what are LPS, SPS, soft corals, hard corals. New to the reef. Also I know I want to keep some clowns and some cucumbers.
Thanks for the help.
Lighting is 4t5ho's. 39watts each
30 gal tank
Approx. 70lbs LR
20lbs LS
 

cafero702

Member
Originally Posted by camanuch
http:///forum/post/2575764
hey guys looking for some live stock opinions.
For some clarification what are LPS, SPS, soft corals, hard corals. New to the reef. Also I know I want to keep some clowns and some cucumbers.
Thanks for the help.
Lighting is 4t5ho's. 39watts each
30 gal tank
Approx. 70lbs LR
20lbs LS
im rather new to reef but in my opinion your set up sounds awesome all the LR and the lights.
and hard corals are anything with a hard skeleton like brains acropora clams
soft corals are like polyps leathers etc.
hopefully someone will comfirm this im rather new to reef also
 
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cmaxwell39

Guest
Softies are anything that does not have a hard skeleton as was stated. Some examples would be zoos, leathers, green star polyps, mushrooms, etc. These are often considered some of the easiest corals to care for and most of the time require the least amount of light.
LPS stands for large polyp stony corals. These corals have their own skeleton and have large fleshy polyps. They require a little more light than softies and some are a little harder to care for. Some LPS do not like a lot of flow. Examples would be brains, acans, candy canes, frogspawn, etc...
SPS are the hardest to care for. A lot of them require an intense amount of light and a very high rate of flow in the aquarium. They also require near perfect water chemistry. Examples would be montiporas and acroporas as well as some others.
Clams are actually not a coral but have similar needs to SPS corals. Anemones would also fall here.
 

camanuch

Member
Originally Posted by cmaxwell39
http:///forum/post/2575797
Softies are anything that does not have a hard skeleton as was stated. Some examples would be zoos, leathers, green star polyps, mushrooms, etc. These are often considered some of the easiest corals to care for and most of the time require the least amount of light.
LPS stands for large polyp stony corals. These corals have their own skeleton and have large fleshy polyps. They require a little more light than softies and some are a little harder to care for. Some LPS do not like a lot of flow. Examples would be brains, acans, candy canes, frogspawn, etc...
SPS are the hardest to care for. A lot of them require an intense amount of light and a very high rate of flow in the aquarium. They also require near perfect water chemistry. Examples would be montiporas and acroporas as well as some others.
Clams are actually not a coral but have similar needs to SPS corals. Anemones would also fall here.
as for water flow i have two koralia #1's at 400gph each
and im not sure about my HOB filter. not really counting that in my flow.
the thing is im not sure how much the rock with slow the flow down...
im so confussed on what i can keep and what i cant keep.
i want to start easy and work my way into the harder stuf. but low flow medium light..... im not sure i have that. i think but i may be wrong is that i have a high flow rate and pritty strong lights for this tank set up.
 
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kikithemermaid

Guest
Chromis are good starter fish, and they school. Not my favorite, but that's just me. A percula clown might be nice, or a royal gramma.
 

camanuch

Member
thanks. i will keep that im mind. i really want to go with mostly corals. a few fish but definately like 80% coral 20% fish. just trying to find out as much as possible.
 

camanuch

Member
i got a question for you guys can a red and puple firefish goby be together in my tank
here is what im thinking:
2 perc clowns
2 firefish goby's (1 red 1 purple)
1 six line wrase
1 blenny (not sure which one yet)
still working on coral. will put up a list tonight with possible corals to see what everyone thinks.
 

clownfish11

Active Member
the sixline can get pretty aggressive and for the blennie unless you really want a blennie i would do a yellow watchman goby...but everythings sounds good cept the sixline there pretty agressive as i said before
 

camanuch

Member
ok thanks i dont have to have a 6 line wrase. a watchman goby the 2 perc clowns and the 2 firefish sounds good. thats 5 fish. can i add one more or is that enough for this sise tank?? and if i can add one more what do you recommend.
 
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cmaxwell39

Guest
Originally Posted by camanuch
http:///forum/post/2575960
as for water flow i have two koralia #1's at 400gph each
and im not sure about my HOB filter. not really counting that in my flow.
the thing is im not sure how much the rock with slow the flow down...
im so confussed on what i can keep and what i cant keep.
i want to start easy and work my way into the harder stuf. but low flow medium light..... im not sure i have that. i think but i may be wrong is that i have a high flow rate and pritty strong lights for this tank set up.
You have ~25-27x turnover. That is pretty strong flow, although it is not insane (I have seen some on here with SPS dominated tanks that run 50-60x turnover.) You probably have places in the tank that are considered high flow and places in the tank that would be considered low to medium flow. The corals that don't like the real high flow you will just have to find those places where the flow does not get to as well such as behind rocks structures and in corners.
As far as your lights, it sounds like you have plenty of light for your tank. Especially if your T5s are individually reflected. Sounds like you should have a good set up for keeping a large variety of stuff.
 

camanuch

Member
Originally Posted by ClownFiSH11
http:///forum/post/2578689
ummm since your doing a reef i would say thats enough, but how much filtration do you have?
i have a biowheel 350 rated for a 75 gal tank. i also have 70LBS of LR, 20LBS LS and a protein skimmer rated for a 150gal tank
 

camanuch

Member
Originally Posted by ClownFiSH11
http:///forum/post/2579218
okay then im sure you could pull off 1 more fish with the others you listed minus the sixline....
so i know i want to keep the 2 clown fish.. everything else can be changed. trying to find the best overall fit fora reef tank. i also will have some cucumbers so the fish will have to get alsong with that as well..... any ideas or changes..
 

clownfish11

Active Member
take the cucumbers out cuz i think if they die they release deadly poisen which could cause a crash or death to all your livestock///
 
A

azul1994

Guest
IMO i would stick to 5 fish in a 30 gallon.
How about,
ocellaris clowns x2
firefish goby
fairy wrasse
cherub/pygmy angel
 
T

tizzo

Guest
well camanuch, I skimmed this post but every time you add to it, I like you.

Your set up seems...responsible. Your questions and concerns...same. That fact that you like corals over fish, well that just tells me your gonna be an awesome reefer one day.
BUT right now, slow down and by that I mean... Get your fish, let your tank go through it's mini cycles, make sure they are comfy, check your water parameters often and learn how to and what to and when to adjust them. Keep a stable temp, and see if that goes well for you for at least a few months. Then add an easy coral. (zoas) Then another. (xenia) Then trade them to a little more difficult. (hammer or frogspawn) watch them and see how they do. You may be happy with just that, but if you wanna push forward then do so. Just do it slowly so you do not mess up and lose a lot of money and get all discouraged about reefing.
Good luck though.
 

camanuch

Member
Originally Posted by Tizzo
http:///forum/post/2579315
well camanuch, I skimmed this post but every time you add to it, I like you.

Your set up seems...responsible. Your questions and concerns...same. That fact that you like corals over fish, well that just tells me your gonna be an awesome reefer one day.
BUT right now, slow down and by that I mean... Get your fish, let your tank go through it's mini cycles, make sure they are comfy, check your water parameters often and learn how to and what to and when to adjust them. Keep a stable temp, and see if that goes well for you for at least a few months. Then add an easy coral. (zoas) Then another. (xenia) Then trade them to a little more difficult. (hammer or frogspawn) watch them and see how they do. You may be happy with just that, but if you wanna push forward then do so. Just do it slowly so you do not mess up and lose a lot of money and get all discouraged about reefing.
Good luck though.
thanks tizzo i appreciate that alot. and thanks to everyone who has posted. i am a little anal when it comes to being prepared. i want to get my fish in the tank first. thats why i am trying to come up with a plan of action. then exicute that plan. after that is all done then i will start to tackle the coral. was looking into some zoos, xenia, mushrooms,leathers, and some rics to start off with. but first things first is the fish...
azul - thanks for the input. i really like that mix.
clownfish11 - i didnt know that they release poison if they die. so they are out. i will just have to break it to my GF
 

camanuch

Member
hey guys did a parameter check this morning:
ph - 8.2
amm - 0
nitrites - .25 (down from like 2)
this is starting to go great. i started ghost feeding on 4-25-08. thanks for all the help
as soon as the nitrites are down to 0 i will do a 50% water change and then add CUC. dont think i am going to go with any crabs.
nasarius snails
turbo snails
2 fighting conches
hows that sound. thanks
 
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