Planning Has Re-started

[jkrekord]

Hi.
Alright, as some may be aware a while ago i had been planning to make the switch to marine, but i hit financial trouble and the plans crumbled. Well now the financial troubles are sorted, and the saving has begun. This means that hopefully i can get the tank and begin by the end of this year, which although it seems a long time, well it is'nt really that far off. So the tank is to be 4' x 2' x 2' giving me a total volume of about 100 UK gallons. Plus i will be running a sump, im unsure what size sump i will have, but that is something i will work out in the future. I intend to use a Tunze pump (cant remember which size, will work that out next week) along with the correct control box thing for that pump. As for lighting my plans is to use 2 deltec razors giving me 4 bulbs, 2 blue 2 white, and i was thinking of going for the 54 watt ones (could of be 59 watt cant remember lol). Also i would have a little pico pump which i have put to one side at work, cant remember the details but its seems pretty powerful and is only gonna cost me like a tenner.
My planned fish stock at this stage is as follows...
1 x Royal Gramma
An established pair of Banggai Cardinals
1 x Flame Angel
2 x Occelaris or Percula Clowns
1 x Tailspot Blenny
1 x Scooter Blenny
1 x Mandarin
1 x Neon Goby
1 x Blue Cheek Goby
1 x Purple Firefish
1 x Yellow Tang

Im aware their are probably a few issues there, but the main one im aware of is the mixing of a Scooter Blennie and Mandarin due to the fact they both feed on copepods, but they are like 2 of my favourite fish and i think i'd be planning on around 35 kilos of live rock along with some ocean rock which will eventually turn live anyway. Also i would be using a mix of live sand and coral sand. Could i pull the mixing of these 2 fish off? And yes i would definatly be adding them only when the tank was very mature (a year to 18 months)
Another issuse is that i read on the fish index of this site that Tailspot Blennys could have a compatabilty issue with Cardinalfish, why is that?

As for corals the shorlist i've built up so far is as follows...
A coral labelled as a medusa coral which i dont have a clue what it is, i will try an get a photo.
Several Zoanthids, but a variety of different colour types.
Ricordea Yuma
Sun Coral
Mushroom Anenomes
Kenya Tree Coral
Frogspawn Coral
Bubble Coral
Fox Coral
Yellow Polyps
Open Brain Coral



So what do you think? Please give feedback on my plans so far.

 

[BigC]

Not an expert on the fish compatibility of your chosen species as I only researched my specific needs at the time. But everything else sound OK on paper, on the lighting side of things you might want to consider the new AquaRays from TMC. I saw them working on a display in a shop on Saturday And they gave the glimmer look like MH's do, They are compact and light output is good, they come in various spectrum combos. Plus they'll save you money in the long run (easy on juice)
Regards
BigC

 

[jkrekord]

Yeah they do look good, but im just gonna stick with T5's. To be honest thats just my personal preferance.

 

[SkiFletch]

I see one possible stocking problem... The flame angel may decide he likes the taste of some of your corals and start nipping. And getting a flame out in a tank that big is gonna be a PITA. Not a wise choice for a reef tank if you ask me.

Everything else sounds good. May I suggest a tank like a 40 or 50 breeder size (36x18x12 or 36x18x16 LxWxH) for your sump. Gives you room to use an external pump (which is smart for that size tank, still gives you lots of sump room, and should be easy to work in.

Are you going with pre-made or DIY stuff for your stand/hood?

 

[jkrekord]

Yeah i was worried about that with the Flame Angel, but they are just so flippin gorgeus lol. Suppose i will reconsider that.
I will definatly go for that size sump then, cheers for that tip, greatly appreciated. I will do some research into external pumps, but something i would like to put on there is an external filter, the reason being, i figure i can use rwaphos an carbon with it, and also switch it to the quarentine tank when required meaning in theory i wouldnt have to keep the quarantine tank running unnecceasrily all the time?
The hood and cabinet are to be pre-made.

 

[SkiFletch]

You sure can use an external filter on the sump. I'd just use a small reliable one though for your QT purposes, no need to have a big one taking up space and making your life miserable. I actually keep my QT running all the time cause I'm so picky about QT. I almost always have something in there. I go 4-8 weeks on fish and 4 weeks on corals in QT before transferring them to the display.

Do take care if you use pre-made hoods and cabinets as I've seen many models (especially stands in the UK) that are very cheaply made and restrictive for the size sump you could fit under them. Most stands I see over there have thin walls and center braces for support of the thin walls. And those center braces make it tough to put a sump in there

 

[jkrekord]

The main issue with haveing the QT tank running all the time is unfortunatly my dad, which means my life will be so much simplet if i just run it when required lol.
I think the cabinet should be ok, i will check tommorow though wen i go to gt paid.
With regards to not haveing a Flame Angel, is there anything else you can reccomend?

 

[SkiFletch]

If you want some larger sized colorful fish, I'd suggest wrasses, other tangs, or anthias in a tank that big

 

[kj23502]

Yeah i was worried about that with the Flame Angel, but they are just so flippin gorgeus lol.

I just bought a tank of the same size and am having an extremely hard time scratching the flame off my fish list as well However, I feel it is best.

I just saw my first flame in person in my lfs...omg They are as beautiful in person as in the pics I've seen...DARN IT!!

Maybe we'll have to do another tank

 

[SkiFletch]

Can we say MTS

 

[kj23502]

LOL In my house i have a 10, 29, 55, 75(picking it up this weekend), 120 and a 125 gallon tank Not all set up tho. only 3 are set up atm.

 

[jkrekord]

I have MTS, unfortunatly due to the father i cannot satisfy it thanks to his awful ont tank rule lol, couldnt afford rent on anywhere acceptable though.
Yeah i will definatly look into Anthias and Tangs... perhaps a Scopas Tang? Not to sure about Wrasses as i've read somewhere they dont mix very well with Dragonets?