Reef to FO. Help Please.

[IcantTHINKofONE]

Ok so I have a 220 gallon reef tank with two 80 gallon refugiums. I run an aerofoamer skimmer with a mag 2400 and my return pumps are two mag 1800s. I use RO/DI water and have a hang on the back canister filter on one of the refugiums. Both refugiums as well as the main tank have Deep Sand Beds. I have a calcium reactor and lots of marshall island and fiji live rock. I am tired of my reef and have no time to keep it going so I want to sell off my corals and go Fish Only. I am hoping to keep a volitan lion, a sowflake eel, maybe a ribbon eel, some nice angelfish/butterflies, maybe a trigger or a puffer. Not all of those but some kind of combo of all those. A few questions though:

1. Can I keep the Deep Sand bed in the main tank with the fish I mentioned above?

2. Should I keep my calcium reactor going just to keep my live rock pretty?

3. Any extra equipment you would suggest? I'm not going to use bio-balls for filtration, just the live rock in the tank and fuges and the macro algaes in the fuges.

4. Any other advice? comments?

Thanks in advance,
-Nick

 

[tangir1]

>..2. Should I keep my calcium reactor going just to keep my live rock pretty?

With low calcium demand, it is probably an over kill. If you don't mind, two part additives should be more economical than a reactor that runs 24/7.

 

[Anonymous]

If you end up going towards a more aggressive tank, make sure you have lots of current, especially around the base of the rock structure. Lions, eels, etc. are messy eaters and will leave not only a lot of waste, but 'debris' from their meals. If it's not filtered out in some way (mechanically removed from tank or processed by cleanup crew) it'll lead to algae blooms and whatnot.

Also you're probably going to have to cross ribbon eels and most butterflies off your list. They (the ribbon eels especially) seem to be extraordinarily picky when it comes to food sources and water quality, both of which are difficult to maintain in a FO tank.

 

[Anonymous]

I would actually strongly recommend keeping the 'fuges going (that's too bad you're breaking down a good setup, but I totally understand what you're talking about), but you may wish to use more macroalgae for nutrient export, rather than the DSB methodology.

Also, since you're a reefer, I'm going to suggest instead of a snowflake, a Zebra moray. I love Zebras.

 

[Anonymous]

Also, since you're a reefer, I'm going to suggest instead of a snowflake, a Zebra moray. I love Zebras.

Zebras are okay, but they're common. I REALLY miss my tessalatus. :drool: Now he was a beautiful fish!

 

[Anonymous]

Oh PF!

 

[HClH2OFish]

Bit off topic, but you seem to know about eels...I saw a species at our LFS that wasn't marked. They were really busy so I didn't ask his species.
He is green...small right now (8") and looks *exactly* like a Chinese dragon...

What is it???

 

[Fl_Seagull]

The Albuquerque, New Mexico aquarium had several green ones in their display. They were huge. Like 8" in DIAMETER and closer to 4 FEET long. Can't remember the name.

 

[Anonymous]

Bit off topic, but you seem to know about eels...I saw a species at our LFS that wasn't marked. They were really busy so I didn't ask his species.
He is green...small right now (8") and looks *exactly* like a Chinese dragon...

What is it???

Got a snout that doesn't look like a 'normal' eel? Out and about and pretty aggressive looking? It's known as a green wolf eel, but isn't really a true eel at all. Extremely aggressive and a sight hunter (morays are scent hunters). Watch your fingers around him.

 

[Anonymous]

The Albuquerque, New Mexico aquarium had several green ones in their display. They were huge. Like 8" in DIAMETER and closer to 4 FEET long. Can't remember the name.

Probably Giant pacific green morays. They'll close in on 10ft fully grown. I've only seen one even close to that big--Shedd aquarium in Chicago has one about 7 ft or so. Their skin is actually blue, but they have an extremely thick yellow slime coat to help them wriggle around rock crevices, so they appear green.

 

[Anonymous]

Scientific name, maybe? On that green wolf eel? I would love to see a picture of one, but I dont know what to search under for wetwebmedia.com...

 

[Anonymous]

http://petsolutions.com/product.asp?pn=122600L

Congrogadus subducens

 

[Anonymous]

Good call, Marina. I knew they were closer related to blennies than eels. Jeez, 18" max. I've never seen one bigger than 10" or so. I'd hate to run across one of those buggers at full size. They're mean little snits, that's for sure. And like I said, they're sight-hunters, so as you move around you can just feel them watching you and tracking you. 8O Heh.

 

[Anonymous]

I think they're actually dottybacks, not blennies.

 

[Anonymous]

Yup. In the family Pseudochromidae...
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pseudoch.htm