natural reef (or as close as i can)

[benjamin]

After having a few chats with jason and lindsay at my lfs about how my tank was running, we came up with a few ideas on how to have an sps tank that isnt just about colour. So between us we are trying a few things out, to try and make tank as natural as possible in a small area.
The tank is only 35g but jason has built a new double decker sump that should up the system to 50g.( ill get a photo of it when its installed).
The lighting is 250w 10k and the sump will house a refugium, a cryptic zone and a MCE 300 skimmer.
The fish at the moment are 2 clowns (which i would rather have out but the kids wont let me), 3 damsels ( which will be added to) and a yasha goby. The thought is to have lots of small fish to help feed the corals with their poo and to help the tank look bigger.
Today the scaping has been changed and a few sps added. But its very early days yet, as this is a long term project may take a while to show its appeal.
Its a bit of an experiment so we dont know how it will go and ill try and update each time month or 2.
This is the tank before the change,

and this is today, and yeh it looks worse in some ways but it should look a lot better in a few months. i really dont want the clowns as they ruin the perspective, so ill see if i can talk the kids round,lol. i will be adding more yellowtail damsels, maybe a yellow wrasse and one or two more small gobies

 

[Dre]

Your yellow tail damseles may not tolerate your new yellow tails.Nice clown by the way.

 

[benjamin]

yeh that is a worry but i was thinking of putting in about 10 more, so that may spread out the aggression a bit

 

[Dre]

yeh that is a worry but i was thinking of putting in about 10 more, so that may spread out the aggression a bit

A royal gramma or a fairy wrasse would be nice those damsels can be aggesive especially the males 13 is too much for that size tank take it from me maybe if you had no rocks in there.They are very territorial another one of my favorite fish i have some spawning at the moment.

 

[ClosetFishGeek]

Nice....Good luck with your setup....I agree with dre....13 is way to many for your tank....

 

[TOTAL AQUARIUMS]

Besides 13 being too many (as they do grow) why waste the room on damsels? I always try to steer people with small tanks away from damsels. There are sooooo many small fish that can fit in smaller tanks comfortably that to stock it with damsels is bloody mad. But, I also lump yellow tangs into the "why waste the space in your tank" group, so I guess if damsels make you happy, then damsels make you happy.

 

[sjsoto]

my daughters love the clowns i have as well... didnt really like them but after a while i was starting to like them also... go with the royal gramma i have one and adds color to tank nice fish to have.../

 

[benjamin]

ok thanks guys, maybe ill try another 5 damsels instead. this tank is a bit of an experiment so this is why im not stocking common, or the usual, fish , if you see what i mean.
grammas are nice though so maybe

 

[sjsoto]

what is the purpose of experiment? im intrigue...

 

[benjamin]

to try and have an sps tank that doesnt have too many species and without trying to get the colours too 'fake'. i see a lot of sps tank that look the same and, imo, unrealistic. fine if you like that sort of thing but i want to make mine a bit more natural looking if possible.
that sounds like im putting down other sps tanks but i really dont mean it like that. i know there is a lot of skill and work in keeping any reef tank, let alone an sps tank

 

[Dre]

Most of us here are trying to imitate nature to some point i don't think having a small tank housing many small marine fish is natural at all IMO.been there done that.Good luck.Oh what happen to the clowns gorgeous pair.

 

[benjamin]

i knew i should have kept my mouth shut. its not just about the fish. no worries, thanks for the help

ive still got the clowns at the moment but ive got a feeling they will go at some point.

 

[sjsoto]

keep experiment going.... dont keep mouth shut, share info with us:inlove:

 

[benjamin]

a few more corals added over the last few days, with a bit of adjustment of the ones that were already in. starting to take shape very nicely. and i have removed the clowns which makes the whole picture look a bit bigger imo.

 

[sjsoto]

i see what you meant by removing clowns.... tank does look bigger without them... whats your sps list... how are you doing with parameters?

 

[sjsoto]

what supplements are you using? if any...
it is my understanding that enclosed areas such as tanks, supplements tend to be used quite fast and corals wont perform without the addition of supplements...

 

[cowfish]

I like it. Not the way I want to go with my tank, but it looks very natural - like some reefs I saw in Bonaire. You could add some gorgonians for a little splash of color without forsaking the tank's original intent.

 

[benjamin]

thanks, suppliments at the moment are calcium and magnesium to keep the levels up as they should be. on this size tank i dont think i will add a calcium reactor.
food for the corals is powdered phyto and gamma nutraplus.
sps are turbinaria, montipora, acropora, seritopora and pocilopora.

a gorgonian or 2 are on the list as i agree they look very nice. so far there isnt much colour, but that is the idea until i add one or 2 colourful corals plus a couple of clams.

also the fish will be adding to the colour and as there will be a few fish the feeding will be high to help produce more fish poo to feed the corals. its just a case of keeping a sharp eye on the water quality as i go.

 

[tomtoothdoc]

very interesting take on this. keep us posted of the progress. you are certainly correct about not being like every other sps tank.....cool idea.

 

[benjamin]

got the sump fitted today. everything went very well without too much tinkering needed to stop noises.
water enters the refugium in the top section, overflows down into the bottom section where it is a cryptic zone for sponges and squirts ect.
thanks again to jason for designing, building, delivering and helping fit the sump. much appreciated m8.
the light for the refugium is a 6500k household energy saving bulb, with a tinfoil takeaway dish for a reflector.