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blackburnd

Guest
Ok so in the not so distant future I will be setting up a 90gal corner tank. I orignially planned on a fish only, but am now contemplating some coral. I particularly like the zoos. I have not decided on all equipment, and am looking for some ideals/help.
I plan to use live rock and live sand.
Equipment
92gal corner tank W/predrilled overflow
Wet/dry filter with refugium, and skimmer (name brand uknown)
No ideal on heaters 1 or 2?
3 Koralia G2 powerheads
Unsure on pump (gph and namebrand)
No ideal on lighting
Fish
Mated pair of Clowns
Sixline Wrasse
Green Clown Goby
Watchman Goby
Blue Hippo Tang (under review)
Mandarin Dragonette
Inverts (Looking for info on the shrimps)
Pistol shrimp of some kind
5 Peppermint shrimp
2 Cleaner Shrimp
Dwarf Hermit crabs (no clue how many)
Turbo Snails (again not sure how many)
Pincushion Urchin
Tell me what you think. I will take advice to heart because this will be my second tank, last one didn't last long.. Long story..
Thanks in advance.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
LOL..here is my 1 cent
2 heaters...in case 1 breaks you are better off
3 powerheads...Koralias 2's and 3's
If you want corals and an anemone Metal halide lighting ....(or at least T5HO at least a 6 bulb unit)
I am the most undecided person here....lol...so as far as your livestock...WOW IDK
I don't think a lot of those shrimp can go together though...Ithink you have to pick one or the other
 
small triggers

small triggers

Active Member
I agree with meowzer on the equipment...
as far as a return pump it needs to be at least 10x the tank gallons for GPH so around 900+
fish, if you really want corals, do not get an angel...
the mandarin will have to wait till last and atleast 9 months in...
the tang will get to big eventually, so will the foxface, and possibly the butterfly...so if you want these plan to upgrade
and most of all
HAVE FUN and spend lots of money,, its fun getting all set up
 
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blackburnd

Guest
Originally Posted by small triggers
http:///forum/post/3131416
the tang will get to big eventually, so will the foxface, and possibly the butterfly...so if you want these plan to upgrade
and most of all
HAVE FUN and spend lots of money,, its fun getting all set up
The mandarin will likely be my last fish.
The size thing frustrates me.. Almost all the places I look online lists all three of those fish minimum tank size to be 70gal. So I thought they would be ok.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Be very careful with the "minimum" tank thing
research the fish itself.....not what the place selling it says
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
It's not about the gallons of the tank... It's about the dimensions. Because you plan for a corner, you will have some size restrictions and also restrictions on how many fish you can have. In a regular long 90 gal, you could have a lot of bigger fish that are longer, because they would have more room to spread out and swim.
In a small corner tank, certain fish could suffer from atrophy if they don't have good long areas to swim in, and by long area, I mean at least a straight line of 4 feet or so... And the bigger they get... the more room they need. I would say, that list is a lot of fish and I would consider picking off about 6-10 fish, especially the larger ones. Also, I would not get some of those shrimp, as they will turn into predators when they get bigger, and when they are in such closed quarters.
Also, I would have the mandarin be on of your middle fish, not the last fish. When you first set up the tank, seed it with pods and wait a bit, and get other fish. I would make the Mandarin as a middle fish because they are VERY docile and couldn't hurt a fly. Though they can hide, more aggressive fish might get territorial if they are the last to join the tank. If it is established before the semi aggressive and aggressive fish, the mandarin will be left alone.
With the clown fish, don't get the maroon. The percs are by far the nicest and very easy going. The maroons are nice but they bit when you put your hand in the tank, so most people say, and can easily bully other fish. They are very territorial. They also grow to be quite large and will take up alot of the corner tank's valuable space. Plus, once they're in, they're NOT COMING OUT... this is true for any fish.
Other than that..... At this point... not much else to say.
Oh- might want to plan for a chiller... it'll be an extra cost of about 200-500 bucks and it may be necessary if you want to have the proper lighting to have corals.
 
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blackburnd

Guest
Originally Posted by rlablan
http:///forum/post/3131571
It's not about the gallons of the tank... It's about the dimensions. Because you plan for a corner, you will have some size restrictions and also restrictions on how many fish you can have. In a regular long 90 gal, you could have a lot of bigger fish that are longer, because they would have more room to spread out and swim.
In a small corner tank, certain fish could suffer from atrophy if they don't have good long areas to swim in, and by long area, I mean at least a straight line of 4 feet or so... And the bigger they get... the more room they need. I would say, that list is a lot of fish and I would consider picking off about 6-10 fish, especially the larger ones. Also, I would not get some of those shrimp, as they will turn into predators when they get bigger, and when they are in such closed quarters.
While I dont necessarily disagree with what you say I have a question. I understand that you need more live rock in a coral tank correct? So does this technically take up some of my room for fish? And as far as the number of fish am I able to do more fish without the coral?
 
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eric b 125

Guest
you will need more LR if youre going to go reef, but for a few corals you dont have to go all-out on the rock. it will take up swimming room for the larger fish, but if you aquascape right, you can use it to provide hiding spots. having corals means you have to keep the water pristine, whereas with a FO you can slack a bit in your parameters. the more fish you have, the more filtration you will need to accomodate the coral's needs for high water qualitiy.
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
the coral won't take up the space, or the LR... it's just that bigger fish need longer areas to swim in. It's not an issue of coral or LR if it's placed in the middle of the tank for the othr fish to hide in/on.
If you want a FULL BLOWN reef, then yes, more live rock, more live sand as well... that's a whole nother ball game though. If you just want like some star polyps, zoos and some shrooms... those are all easy to take care of... don't need tons of light (especially the shrooms) and you could have a really nice, peaceful setup. That would be a setup that could have lots of color, and lots of texture, and just stack the LR in the middle of the tank, leave all walls exposed for maximum swimming space. I think that would be pretty nice, IMO.
Still think you might want to rethink the stock list a bit and get rid of ATLEAST 4 fish, if not more like 6 or so.... that's just me, if it were my tank.
 
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blackburnd

Guest
Ok thanks for advice seriously. I not trying to say you are wrong. More like trying to maximize my fish

I really enjoy the look of the coral, but was willing to sacrafice it if I could get more fish out of it.

So I guess I need to do some down sizing.
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
The best way to maximize compacity would be to not have a corner tank... You can still get alot of fish, just smaller, and then upgrade later.
Also, you will change your mind through out and things that you wanted to be will fall by the wayside, because you find things that you like better... It's a hobby. Have fun with it, and kind of let loose.
I would def. get some corals, shrooms, and zoos and stuff don't take up any room, because they aren't branching. You don't have to have a FOWLR or a reef.... you can have a bit of both.
That's what my tank is, for now, and I enjoy it and add corals and fish when I see fit.
Just make sure you research every fish and look for problems before you put them in the tank. You should be safe that way, and the boards will be here to help you too.
 
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blackburnd

Guest
Following changes made to original post.
Removed Angelfish
Removed Black Back Butterfly
Removed Foxface
Removed Royal Gramma
Removed Camel Shrimp(s)
Anyone got any more info on the shrimps I have listed?
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
lol yeah, I almost bought one too...
Always look around and see what other people's experiences are. That alone is worth it's weight in gold. I have learned from other people and there fore and bypass the issue all together. I have my huge fish books here, I am gonna start looking up some of the things on your list, and I'll post up the info I find in the text. I don't really know anything off the top of my head that jumps out, but I am sure we will find out.
 
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blackburnd

Guest
Any books you suggest? I have one book, but it's a little out dated. I thought about getting Marine fish for dummies, and the Conciencious Marine aquarist.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
The conscientious marine aquarist by Fenner is a very good one....and also Marine Fishes by Scott Michael...that ones tells you about the actual fish
I personally don't know about any others besides them
 
rlablan

rlablan

Active Member
I have a marine atlas that seems pretty good and I also have 101 best saltwater fishes (also with species to avoid) and I have a book called "the marine problem solver" (Or something like that). There is one more book that I really like, it was a collaborative effort with a write and that guy, julian sprungs. It's called 'The book of the marine aquarium'.
All really good books.
 
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blackburnd

Guest
Ok so I have decided on some things, and done a little research on some things and have some questions.
I have decided I would like to have some zoo's, and shrooms, and maybe some star polyps..
I have been reading up on the "algae scrubber" type of filtration, but have not finished the thread. So I don't know if there is an unhappy ending

So I have questions now..
If I run a sump with this "algae scrubber" and that is all will that work? If not what else do I absolutely need? Keep in mind I am still researching corals and will be an absolute coral beginner.
Thanks. If I need to move this to the Coral tank area let me know.
 
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