My Second Venture Into The Salty Side :)

[seffieuk]

I woudn't get any crabs Truck

If your fish are all Juvies then it will be ok which ever order you put them in

Don't go with one clown, it is lovely watching them grow, interact and develop their gender, am also looking forward to seeing if they host one of the corals


list looks good

you gone off the assessor then?

Don't forget your snails (I know the hawk is supposed to kill them but if they are biggins they will be fine)

Seffie x

 

[Truck]

I woudn't get any crabs Truck

If your fish are all Juvies then it will be ok which ever order you put them in

Don't go with one clown, it is lovely watching them grow, interact and develop their gender, am also looking forward to seeing if they host one of the corals


list looks good

you gone off the assessor then?

Don't forget your snails (I know the hawk is supposed to kill them but if they are biggins they will be fine)

Seffie x

what not even crabs as part of the CUC?

2 clowns it is then when the tank matures a may go for a bubble tip anemone ? any advice or info?

yeah snails ive seen astrea and nassuras (SP?)

 

[STD]

I woudn't get any crabs Truck

If your fish are all Juvies then it will be ok which ever order you put them in

Don't go with one clown, it is lovely watching them grow, interact and develop their gender, am also looking forward to seeing if they host one of the corals


list looks good

you gone off the assessor then?

Don't forget your snails (I know the hawk is supposed to kill them but if they are biggins they will be fine)

Seffie x

what not even crabs as part of the CUC?

2 clowns it is then when the tank matures a may go for a bubble tip anemone ? any advice or info?

yeah snails ive seen astrea and nassuras (SP?)

Hermits are fine - well the little ones anyway

 

[Truck]

so im lookin at possibly

2 percula clowns
1 flame hawkfish
1 royal gramma
1 pyjama cardinal (i know )

CUC
skunk cleaner shrimp
3 astrea snails
3 nassuras snails (SP?)
3-6 red scarlet reef crabs?

 

[Truck]

whats a good brand of reef salt to use?

i have seen instant ocean and TMC and ive been looking at H2 ocean pro*

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

Truck,
As for salt, all brands have their good and bad points, but I have found Instant Ocean to be a good consistent salt.
Fish wise, the flame hawk is a brilliant fish and full of character, mine sits on the tunze stream clip and watches everything I do. I also have a pair of perc's, a 6 line wrasse and a tomini tang. I have the same size tank as you, and I know that I am overstocked technically but everything gets on great and I am upgrading in the near future so the fish will get split into 2 tanks before anyone gets all uppity about it!!
I have both turbo snails and hermit crabs in my tank and the hawk doesn't even look at them, and the hermits are small enough to be viewed as mouth sized for him. The only thing I would say is that nem's are not really suited to the average marine tank, as they can and do become shredded by the powerheads.

 

[rabbut]

so im lookin at possibly

2 percula clowns
1 flame hawkfish
1 royal gramma
1 pyjama cardinal (i know )

CUC
skunk cleaner shrimp
3 astrea snails
3 nassuras snails (SP?)
3-6 red scarlet reef crabs?

I realy am un-easy with the Hawk. I've seen a small hawkfish at work take a fish it's own size, and they are a pred in the wild... Unless the clowns are large and the hawk intorduced as a Juvi, I realy wouldn't put it past him to try for an expencive lunch. Percs would fit into an adult hawks mouth, by large clown I'm talking Maroon Clow size... Likewise with a gramma. I'm sure a Hawk would be capable of taking a gramma when adult... Same with the cardinal. Realy, even if you are keeping it well fed, you want to stick to fish larger than an adult Hawk if you are going to get one With a Hawk, the shrimp is deffinately on the menu. Many hawk owners feed glass shrimp to theirs, so a Skunk Cleaner is deffinately "at risk" IMO.

All the rest of the plans look good.

Don't buy Aquaone salt if you are reefing. The first lot I tested had low levels, this lot has even lower. (Mg 800ppm, Ca 320ppm, Alk is OK at 8 dKH, but I like it higher... for this last lot). Reef crystals is supposed to be worth a look for hard coral reefs As, if and when I get an RO unit, that would/will be the brand I use IO is good according to some sources, poor according to others...

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Truck]

so im lookin at possibly

2 percula clowns
1 flame hawkfish
1 royal gramma
1 pyjama cardinal (i know )

CUC
skunk cleaner shrimp
3 astrea snails
3 nassuras snails (SP?)
3-6 red scarlet reef crabs?

I realy am un-easy with the Hawk. I've seen a small hawkfish at work take a fish it's own size, and they are a pred in the wild... Unless the clowns are large and the hawk intorduced as a Juvi, I realy wouldn't put it past him to try for an expencive lunch. Percs would fit into an adult hawks mouth, by large clown I'm talking Maroon Clow size... Likewise with a gramma. I'm sure a Hawk would be capable of taking a gramma when adult... Same with the cardinal. Realy, even if you are keeping it well fed, you want to stick to fish larger than an adult Hawk if you are going to get one With a Hawk, the shrimp is deffinately on the menu. Many hawk owners feed glass shrimp to theirs, so a Skunk Cleaner is deffinately "at risk" IMO.

All the rest of the plans look good.

Don't buy Aquaone salt if you are reefing. The first lot I tested had low levels, this lot has even lower. (Mg 800ppm, Ca 320ppm, Alk is OK at 8 dKH, but I like it higher... for this last lot). Reef crystals is supposed to be worth a look for hard coral reefs As, if and when I get an RO unit, that would/will be the brand I use IO is good according to some sources, poor according to others...

All the best
Rabbut

do you reckon a tank bred specimen would make things better? as ive seen so many people do it with sucsess, bearing in mind in captivity they only get to 8cm max , more often less? if not its a red fire fish
i may have to find another candidate, which is a good and bad thing lol

EDIT:

clown gobies
dracula gobies

LOL

 

[rabbut]

TB specimins may be less prone to hunting their tank mates, particularly if well fed Percula clowns are going to get between 7 and 12cm, so the male may be at risk still. If well fed, that mix may work, but if the hawk gets hungry enough and temptation passes... The female would just about be safe...

 

[Truck]

sounds like ill be going for a fire fish or clown goby, unless i go for a bigger species of clown but i think that would be pushing it tbh

 

[shibby]

flame hawk for the win still, there usually alright ive kept it with small fish before and shrimp, the annoying ones are longnose hawks or whiskers as i like to call them when they munch through the shrimp.

i would get true percs they are sweet ask tmc for true percs there awesome, these are the clowns ive kept with a flame hawk.

firefish are ugly fish though

your stocking list is actually exactly what i had planned for my 125 weirdly exactly the same royal gramma, true percs n a flame hawk. i think i actually included a nice wrasse as well.

 

[Truck]

flame hawk for the win still, there usually alright ive kept it with small fish before and shrimp, the annoying ones are longnose hawks or whiskers as i like to call them when they munch through the shrimp.

i would get true percs they are sweet ask tmc for true percs there awesome, these are the clowns ive kept with a flame hawk.

firefish are ugly fish though

your stocking list is actually exactly what i had planned for my 125 weirdly exactly the same royal gramma, true percs n a flame hawk. i think i actually included a nice wrasse as well.

cool thanks been looking at lighting etc and i think i might take the starter back and the lamps and when the time comes ill invest in a 150watt MH mounted on the tank (how heavy are they? a series 4 pendant arcadia )

its looking like this:
2 true perc clowns
1 royal gramma
maybe a flame hawk
and i may have a clown goby instead of the hawk

and 1 fire fish (smaller one)

so 5 in total

will i be able to grow anything under a 150 MH? i like the shimmer effect too.

for filtration i may fill a TT ex 600/1200 with rowaphos and some phosphate remover and lots of mech.

this tank is a long way off yet as i want to finish my planted scape, and i need some dosh, so i will be building my kit up slowly starting next week on my day off, ill probably get some salt and maybe a few test kits, i will start with the fish and a few softies and CUC.

what order should i add fish from the proposed list? i thought this, after my spike add CUC ? how many( previously i added it all after my spike) then two weeks later the fish.( two clowns)

what test kits will i need as i only have fish and i have

saliferts:
ammonia
nitrite
nitrate
PH

 

[seffieuk]

saliferts:
ammonia
nitrite
nitrate
PH




I'm with Shibby here, get the fish as juvies and the snails and shrimps as big boys - I have not had any problems with Freddy my scarlet hawk and he is getting a big boy now! To be honest, I wouln't really care if if he helped himself to some snails, but don't think it is going to happen as mine are huge! As for the clowns and dracula goby he pays them no attention at all

Seffie x

 

[Truck]

saliferts:
ammonia
nitrite
nitrate
PH




I'm with Shibby here, get the fish as juvies and the snails and shrimps as big boys - I have not had any problems with Freddy my scarlet hawk and he is getting a big boy now! To be honest, I wouln't really care if if he helped himself to some snails, but don't think it is going to happen as mine are huge! As for the clowns and dracula goby he pays them no attention at all

Seffie x

thanks seffie, would it be worth getting a PO4, Mg and Ca test?

 

[rabbut]

Phosphate is needed for a reef, Mg and Ca are only needed if you want hard corals. If you do get hard corals, you want an Alk test kit aswell

If you look at UR in the lighting section, you will quickly realise that the Acadia units have a nice high failure rate... They are bulky bits of kit also Have a look at AquaOne units, loads of work's customers use and love them. D&D are worth a look also (many consider them the mother of all Halide makers in the UK)

The Clowns and Hawk fish are hardy and should be fine in a new tank. Gramma's are hard as nails also I'd probibly do CUC after the spike and waterchange, followed by the Clowns the following week, then the gramma 2-4 weeks later and the hawk/goby a couple of months after the Gramma

All the best
Rabbut