Was Supposed To Be A Fowlr.........

[guppy_man]

My initial idea for this tank was for it to be a FOWLR, but seeing as i had afew easy to look after corals on my live rock and FOWLR's are kinda boring, i decided i may aswell get some more.

This tank has changed so much since my last topic that i posted. It has also fully cycled and i have added 3 blue hermit crabs and one red legged hermit crab.
More clean up crew will be added
The maroon clown is not staying, it's a mates that had a run in with a wrasse. I'm looking after it for now until he can pick it up to re-home. (Should be going tomorrow)
I've also added an LED moon light strip, i tried taking a good pic of it on but the room is too bright even with all the curtains closed, so ill have to do it later when its dark.

FTS

New mushroom coral, any idea on the type? Cost me £29

Still unsure on this mushroom?

Best shot i could get of the blue hermits

Red legged hermit (Probably get 1 or 2 more)

Still unsure?

These are growing too, the lightly brown colored things. Not sure what they are.

The maroon clown with battle scars. It's going tomorrow.

The moon strip, £10 ebay

I think im going to leave this rock setup like this, one im actually happy with (for now)
What do you think?
Any feedback would be appreciated

 

[SaltNoob]

This is looking great!! I am unsure on identifying most of those actually. Lljma and others who read a lot of coral books are good at identifying though. Do you have any snails!?

What are your plans for this tank? What kind of fish? And what is your lighting?

-Tyler

 

[guppy_man]

I bought 2 turbo snails, and theres numerous stomatella snails, and others that i'm yet to i.d.. all but the turbo's came on the live rock.

Plans are:

A pair of normal clowns that i will get this week once the maroon has gone. A kind of goby (yet to decide) Any help with gobies would be great, past experience with certain types? I was thinking a pistol shrimp too, paired with a goby.
I have a question... do all types of goby pair with pistol shrimp or are there certain types that only pair?

Any other small species i can look at?

Lighting: At the moment i only have 1 T8 marine glow 18W with the moonlight. But i have a spare starter unit that i'm not using. I will mod my hood so that i can get another 18W marine bulb in there, 36W in total.

Im still learning about coral, and was looking at just getting soft corals that don't need direct feeding.


I'm enjoying the salty side so far

 

[lljdma06]

How big is this tank?

Even with 36W, you'll need more light, unless you don't progress beyond mushrooms. Now, mushy dominated tanks can be stunning as well. You don't always have to have a mixed reef, and there are advantages to being species specific.

I told you already I think, the polyp is palythoa. Easy to keep. Should be ok in your tank. They are tough corals.

L

 

[guppy_man]

How big is this tank?

Even with 36W, you'll need more light, unless you don't progress beyond mushrooms. Now, mushy dominated tanks can be stunning as well. You don't always have to have a mixed reef, and there are advantages to being species specific.

I told you already I think, the polyp is palythoa. Easy to keep. Should be ok in your tank. They are tough corals.

L

The tank is 66 liters. I have had alook at all the different 'mushy' types and i think a tank full of them would be quite nice looking. How much more/what type of lighting would i need to vary my coral choices?

Yeh, i remember you saying about the polyp

Thanks

 

[SaltNoob]

Guppy,

As Lljma mentioned you will need better lighting for much more than the mushrooms, certain corals will expand really big trying to get enough light they can even die, leaving the calcified structure behind. Try ebay for lighting! I got my lighting off ebay and literally I spent half of the cost of a similar unit on marinedepot or other similar sites.

Goby fish are fairly easy to keep. There are many varieties, and no they do not all pair with pistol shrimps. There are several that do. Lljma and I have yellow watchman goby's, but hers is grey! They pair very nicely with pistols. The yellow splash in the tank with the blue/green spots looks really great! I like learning about different types of fish by going to liveaquaria.com. They give a basic rundown on tank size required etc. Then when I find one that basically fits the description I google up all the nitty gritty stuff about em and see if they are really worth it. YWG (yellow watchman goby's) are a safe bet. There are other watchman goby's with lots of diff colors. White with orange etc etc.

-Tyler

 

[guppy_man]

Guppy,

As Lljma mentioned you will need better lighting for much more than the mushrooms, certain corals will expand really big trying to get enough light they can even die, leaving the calcified structure behind. Try ebay for lighting! I got my lighting off ebay and literally I spent half of the cost of a similar unit on marinedepot or other similar sites.

Goby fish are fairly easy to keep. There are many varieties, and no they do not all pair with pistol shrimps. There are several that do. Lljma and I have yellow watchman goby's, but hers is grey! They pair very nicely with pistols. The yellow splash in the tank with the blue/green spots looks really great! I like learning about different types of fish by going to liveaquaria.com. They give a basic rundown on tank size required etc. Then when I find one that basically fits the description I google up all the nitty gritty stuff about em and see if they are really worth it. YWG (yellow watchman goby's) are a safe bet. There are other watchman goby's with lots of diff colors. White with orange etc etc.

-Tyler

What lighting would you recommend, that is relatively cheap?

Thanks for the info on gobies, im sure ive seen the white watchmen gobies with the orange markings at my local marine shop. They look cool but i think would blend in with my substrate too much and would not easily be seen. I may look for the yellow type.

 

[guppy_man]

A couple of update pics. The maroon clown has gone, and pair of clowns added. (So hard to photograph)

Pic of the moons, still not a great pic, they look so much better in person

I have decided that i'm going to save up for Aqua rays, or try and get them on the cheap I think the tank as a whole will benefit from this as it is now, and for future purchases.



Cheers, Gethin

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

Same type of clownfish as mine aqua rays are the dogs do dahs btw

 

[guppy_man]

Same type of clownfish as mine aqua rays are the dogs do dahs btw

You have aqua rays?

I want to add a pistol shrimp and goby in afew weeks (when the tank is matured a little more) What do you think i should look into getting at the moment? royal gama, firefish? suggestions welcome

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

I do indeed I have 2x aquaray aquabeam 600 in my 180litre tank with 4x compact t5s serious soft coral keepin hehe. I'm not sure in nano stocking tbh grammas are really small though so I ld think theyd be okay, in sure sum1 will come along and help u out I have a royal gramma colours are just brilliant on them!

 

[guppy_man]

Definitely looking to upgrade soon, but as soon as i do i know that my wallet will be constantly empty with all my coral purchases haha (like it isn't already, and i have only been a salty for a month)


I really like the look of grammas, and i did check your journal out earlier, looks pretty cool too!
My clowns stay to the right side of the tank so the left side looks pretty empty and was thinking if i had a gramma it would hopefully take up residence on the left side and even things up abit.

 

[SaltNoob]

Grammas are awesome! They are so so pretty =) They get a long great with my clowns =)

-Tyler

 

[guppy_man]

Grammas are awesome! They are so so pretty =) They get a long great with my clowns =)

-Tyler

I may have to take a trip to the aquatic shop soon then

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

hmm it says grammas are meant to be kept in 20-30 gallons minimum (which is like around the 90 litre mark) but im pretty sure llj had 1 in her smaller tanks... hmm tough 1 i aint guna make a call here