Please advise on planned additions to tank

[michael_t]

I am adding fish and inverts to my tank and would like advice and helpful hints. You will see my tank stats at the end of the post.
Want to get a BTA for my Percula Clown fish.
A Coral Beauty
A Mandarian Dragonet
A Deep Sea Red Gorgonian
A Green Mushroom Polp
A Umbrella Polp
This will be my first forte in to corals and anemones. Advice and suggestions welcome. I selected these corals because they are pretty and they are in stock at SWF.com.
I have researched the Mandarian Dragonet and don’t think I have a ton of pods so I plan on getting some rubble LR and making “homes” for pods in and around my LR. Then seeding the tank with a bottle of pods. I have no sump.
Other than that I don’t have any specifice questions. Want to know if I have a conflict with any animals here.
Thanks,
Michael
Here is my tank set up…
Tank age: In new location since April ’06.
Since initial set-up Year and a half
Tank stats:
65 gal (I think) Jebo R3100 Acrylic Tank
Dimensions: 39 3/8” (L) X 19 5/8” (W) X 19 5/8”
1 x 1200 Maxi-Jet power head
1 x 900 Maxi-Jet power head
120 Coral Life Super Skimmer
25 lbs (or more) of Live Rock
Illumination: 4X35W 6400k Jebo lights
Came with wet/dry trickle filter and ceramic bio media (now in quarantine tank)
Fish:
Yellow Tang (Maggie), Clown (Crusty), and a Lawn Mower Bennie (Plucky).
Cleaning Crew:
Scarlet Hermit Crab : 20
Blueleg Hermit Crab :20
Nasssarius Snail :10
Emerald Crab : 5
Coral Banded Shrimp :1
Sally Lightfoot Crab : 1 (MIA)
Turbo/Astrea Snail :20
Water test reveals everything A-OK with nitrates at 12. (Had a problem in the past.)

 

[nick76]

Looks Good, id just make sure u get a Refergium for your pods to breed in.

 

[ryanhayes9]

if you want anenomes those lights wont do. IMO they meed hig output t5's or hetal halides. i have 216 watts of t5 over my 55 gallon

 

[michael_t]

Thanks Nick76. Glad to hear it.
On the lights.
I have been researching lighting lately and want to upgrade but the price is just way out of my reach right now.
So, I disassembled my stock Jebo light cover (which is slowly rusting away) and discovered that the ballast is labeled for 55 w bulbs and not the 35w that came with it.
The original bulbs are 16” long and the 55 w I found are 21”. I am going to replace the rusting metal place with plastic and re-drill the holes for the 21” 55 w bulbs!
There is no reflector as of now. How do you think Aluminum foil would work?

 

[jdragon]

i've heard that anemones will eat mandarins. I read it in my marine fishes book. I was going to look into it more too, as i'm doing a reef tank now, and i really want an anemone, but i really want a mandarin too.
even 4x55 watts is not enough for an anemone IMO. It's best to wait for the anemone until you have proper lighting.
other than your mandarin/aneomone conflict, everything else looks good!

you have to make sure you have enough flow near the gorgonia. If algae develops on it, i'll smother it to death.

 

[michael_t]

I upgraded those lights (DIY) and will post a new thread discussing it.
JDragon, I will look into the Anemone and mandarin conflict a little more. Anemones should eat anything. I wonder if Mandarins are just stupid and swim up to them!?!

 

[imurnamine]

Wow! I am IMPRESSED with all of the research you have done!
Very good work. Especailly on the Mandarin Dragonette!
Also, on Metal Halides. I got one on the big auction site that was like-new with a two year warranty. 400 watts, whole ballast and everything that it needs to run, for $121.00!

 

[jdragon]

hmmmm. namine, that's really really cheap for a MH setup... just make sure to keep an eye on it, cause it sounds like a scam to me. if not then wooo hooo!!!

and michael, mandarins just skim through the LR constantly and will rest in place a lot. It know it seems kinda weird that an anemone would eat one. That's why i'm looking into it too, but i swear i read it in a book somewhere. I meant to look it up in that book over the weekend, but i forgot, sorry! I'll remember to look tonight.

 

[imurnamine]

I think the only reason that I won the auction is because it went off around 3:00 a.m. and everyone else had went to bed, but not me!

 

[michael_t]

I got my order! Yeah!
I am drip acclimating everything now.
I seeded my tank with pods for the Mandarian by buying a bunch of macro algae from my LFS refuge and placing it in a in-tank fuge.

 

[nigerbang]

I would buy about 50 or 60 more lbs of LR..

 

[acrylic51]

Good research on the Mandarin, but would still advise to wait a bit even though you seed the tank with pods.....Let them get well established first and the tank really stable....