Planning for fish in my first reef.

tannersmith200

tannersmith200

Member
If I were in your shoes which I was you at one time years ago, I would research the fish that I found attractive. Everybody here has good suggestions but you should do you.
But since you ask...
What kind of reef are you planning on? I guess that depends on your light source and flow to some degree. I love SPS corals so I like green chromis and anthias. I have a bicolor angel and he hardly ever nips at corals or my clams. He has never done any damage to my inverts in any way. Ocellaris clowns are great. I have a pair black and white. I also have a powder blue and an achilles tang. They are awesome. I have a queen and emperor angel. They live in my 200g tank. It not really big enough but I plan on moving up to a 450g tank next spring so thats me.
They coexist very well with my corals and inverts and each other.
Good luck and do your homework, not just someones opinion.
Oh yeah and also QT your new fish and add them not at once but here and there over a couple months or so.
Viel Glück!
 
cryptics

cryptics

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by tannersmith200 http:///forum/thread/385042/planning-for-fish-in-my-first-reef/20#post_3392108
If I were in your shoes which I was you at one time years ago, I would research the fish that I found attractive. Everybody here has good suggestions but you should do you.
But since you ask...
What kind of reef are you planning on? I guess that depends on your light source and flow to some degree. I love SPS corals so I like green chromis and anthias. I have a bicolor angel and he hardly ever nips at corals or my clams. He has never done any damage to my inverts in any way. Ocellaris clowns are great. I have a pair black and white. I also have a powder blue and an achilles tang. They are awesome. I have a queen and emperor angel. They live in my 200g tank. It not really big enough but I plan on moving up to a 450g tank next spring so thats me.
They coexist very well with my corals and inverts and each other.
Good luck and do your homework, not just someones opinion.
Oh yeah and also QT your new fish and add them not at once but here and there over a couple months or so.
Viel Glück!
Thank you for your response!
My tank is about 2 1/2 months old at this point and is a 90g with a 30g sump. My lighting is 2 250w MH with Phoenix 14k bulbs and 2 54w T5's ATI Blue+ bulbs. I also have 3 blue moonlight pods (2X1w LEDs) set up to a reefkeeper on a lunar schedule. My lighting schedule is 9 hours for T5's and 7 hours on the MH. About a third of my sump is a refuguim with live rock, chaeto and red mangroves. It has a 45w (I think) plant growth bulb on it.
I don't plan to do any sps for at least a year to get the tank established. Even after that time not sure how much I will do. I love LPS, Zoas/pallys and softies (at least for now). I am dealing mainly in frags right now that I am mainly getting off of local reefers. I have multiple Zoas/pally frags, a small toadstool, a green acan, a few heads of frogspawn, 10+ heads of Duncans, some pure green clove pollups, a blasto frag, a war coral which seems to split daily :), a ric (love these) and a large long tenticle plate coral. My only fish at the moment are a pair of ora misbar clowns 1'' and 1 1/2'' and a yellow watchman goby. All the fish came from fellow reefers I knew and had been in the tank at least 3 months without disease. I am getting a 29g tank from my brother in law that I am setting up as a quaranteen tank. I will hopefully have this this week.
I picked up the The Conscientious Marine Aquarist: A Commonsense Handbook for Successful Saltwater Hobbyists last week and have been reading that. Also been googling around about the different fish. I do find opinions help though. They lead you in directions you may not have thought of. Plus most people on boards like these are in the same boat as yourself or are where you want to be. It is helpful to find out the journey they took and the mistakes they made on the way. For instance with the Golden Angel, I had never thought of that fish until mentioned here. In my brief research about it (not planning on adding for months so just started) I had never seen anything about it needing sponge in their diet. That is something that I really have to look into to see if that is something I can provide. If I can't it won't be bought.
I am trying to do the research. I learned the hard way that so called experts that are trying to sell you something may not have the best intentions or knowledge. I kept hardy fish only tanks for years and loved puffers. I was told by numerous people (LFS employees) that to change it up some but Krill is the best thing to feed them. I had three die because they just stopped eating after months. I finally did some research on my own and found out that a primarily Krill diet can cause puffers to develop lockjaw. I do my own research now because three living things that I was responsible for died because I was lazy. Through research I also found out the LFS (since forced out of business) kept their salinity at 1.20-1.21 because while stressing the fish it made their colors come out. Fellow reefers though I find to be a great source of knowledge and help. People addicted to this hobby tend to be very helpful and go out thier way to help you avoid the mistakes they made and I hope I can help others avoid the mistakes I am sure I will make :)
 
cryptics

cryptics

Member
BTLDreef,
I did copy you with the Saddleback and actually the Leopard also
I was reading your thread and was like ohh what do they look like, googled and went ooohhh they look cool :) BTW someone is selling a male Leopard on MR that is established and eating like a pig. He is asking alot for it but may come down. Take a look at least you know he will eat.
With the Leopard should I hold off for awhile? I was going to add the two wrasses at the same time probable in about a month or so. I was going to set up the QT tank this weekend. I was planning on using LR from my refuguim plus I would have to grab more (you still have some?) and fill it about half way with water from the main tank. It is a 29g and i have a HOB CPR bak pak with skimmer and a medium CPR HOB refuguim. I was going to fill the BakPak with LR rubble rather than the filter floss. Once it is ready I was going to try to find the wrasses.
I am actually leaning towards the Bartlet's right now because if I don't do the Leopard and either do two Linespot or a Linespot and either a carpenter or McCosker's then I think with the saddlebacks I will have too much red. Plus they are cool looking
Didn't know about the sponge diet of the Golden. How hard is this to provide? Can it be in frozen fod form or do they need a good sponge population on the LR? I really would like to get this guy but won't if I can't keep it healthy.
I am limited with Tangs for a 90g. I think the Kole is my best option.
The only reason i am on the fence with the Mandarin and the Butterfly is I want to see how the tank is at that point. I want to see how crowded and whatnot.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
I might buy that leopard wrasse. People are complaining about the price, and it is high, but worth it if it's eating and healthy. It's impossible to find a healthy male, especially that size, lately.
 
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