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My 65 gallon reef

W

WarmSoda

So, I've had this 65 gallon for a while and I just converted into a saltwater tank about a month and a half ago. The tank is pretty bare in terms of life, containing only 25 snails, a couple hermit crabs, a retarded CBS (I hate him SO much...), and a spotted mushroom coral. Because my tank is sparse in life, it's seems to be doing good. But my plans will shake things up some!

Before I talk about my livestock, let me post my equipment:
Light: 6 bulb T5 light fixture
Flow: Two Koralia 2's and a Rio 2500 (return pump)
Sump: Empty (no bio-media) 10g Wet-dry turned into a modge-podge refugium with chaeto.
Live Rock: 90 lbs of Fiji standard. No coralline growth.
Parameters: All seem to be in shape for a reef tank; Calcium, Alk, Nitrate, Ammonia etc.


As far as fish, I plan on having a lone one-spot foxface, a clown (maybe a pair) a pair of chromis and maybe a kole/powder-brown tang. If I feel -down the road when I feel I can add him- the tang will not have enough room to swim then I pass on him up for mandarin or anthias. I understand this isn't a light stock, but I really feel this isn't to heavy (please tell me if you think it is).

For corals, I plan on having plenty of SPS; my favorite! I want to keep as many coral as I can, making sure to have some soft (the mushroom counts, I suppose) and a few LPS.

So, that's my plan. Any sound advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
blange3

blange3

Good luck on the new project!

I'm not a stickhead, but the SPS crowd will probably chime in and say you need more flow and a skimmer. What kinds of SPS are your favorites?

So you have 90lbs of rock, but what is on the bottom? If you are focusing on SPS and do crank up the flow, you'll probably going to want to go bare bottom. How am I doing here, Merv? ;D

As far as the fish load goes I would pass on the tangs, or at least stick to the Kole or a Tomini. A tang, a foxface and a pair of clowns is where I would stop, but I like light bioloads. If your want a few more fish, I would swap the tang for a couple of smaller fish. There are a lot of cool blennies and gobies to consider. Also give the fairy and flasher wrasses a look; but make sure the top is covered. Save the mandarin until the tank is at least 6 months or older. The mandarin will need a well established source of live food living in the rocks.

I have found that focusing on a particular group like SPS or LPS or softies yields the best results. If SPS is your thing, especially some of the more demanding acros, then you will need more flow than most of the LPS like.
 
W

WarmSoda

Oh, I forgot. I have a RemoraC Pro HoB Skimmer.

I thought I would need more flow. Should I dump one of the k2's and upgrade to a k3/4 or just add another k2? I total didn't even think about the sandstorm that would arise from this.

Thanks for the info on the fish.
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

If you just add another K2 you can sort of crash them into one another flow wise to create more turbulance since they are not controllable. That is what I would do(did) for what it is worth.

And I agree with all the stuff Bill said too.
 
C

concept3

Nice touch fellas with info! Randomized flow will work best to keep SPS, especially when they start getting really huge and start blocking flow. I find that placing certain powerheads on either timers or some kind of wavemaker will help eliminate dead spots, as well as pointing them towards the front glass or each other. In time, your sand will compact, so you shouldn't have much of a problem with the sand shifting, but this make take some time. Playing with the powerheads will eliminate this as well.

if you end up going with another powerhead, try this:

keep one powerhead on each end of the tank crashing against the front glass or into each other.

take the third one and place it to blow across the tank towards the center (this powerhead should preferably by much stronger, maybe a 3 or 4?), but keep it on a timer, maybe to turn on for 8 hours during the day, off at night.

this should mimic the randomized flow you would normally get in a reef in the day and night phases
 
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