[John Hamilton]

Just wanted to introduce myself. This is my first experience with a saltwater tank; I had a 135gl ten years ago. I have always wanted a saltwater setup and finally have one. We just moved into a new home and have a spot for an entertainment center and forwent the T.V. for the tank. Just enough room for a 175gl bow front. It has a wet/dry system and a protein skimmer. I may change it for a refugium, this I want to make. Oh yeah, An Anemone for the Clownfish.



I really want to focus on Dwarf Angels with a few others thrown in. For angels I am going to go with the Flame, Potters, Eibli and a Coral Beauty. For the other fish I would like to replace the Royal Gramma and add an Oblique-lined Dotty back, a couple Chalk Bass, and a couple of Dartfish. I don’t think that this will over do the tank.



There are some other fish that I would really like to have from the Wrasse and Goby family but I’m afraid they will eat my critters in the sand. I am trying to stay with a more natural system and less mechanical.



Here's what I have now.



10 Green Chromis, now 3.

1 Royal Gramma “DEAD”.

5 Yellow Tailed Damsels.

1 Spine-Cheeked Anemone fish aka Maroon Clown.

15 Emerald Crabs.

7 2” Cleaner Clams

10 Scarlet Hermit Crabs, some dead.

6 Baby Bristle Worms.

12 Baby Hawaiian Turbo Grazers.

12 Nerite Grazers.

12 Adult Strombus Grazers.

36 MicroHermits.

6 Reef Amphipods (40 specimens.)

Long Feather Caulerpa.

Short Feather Caulerpa.

6 Adult Trocus Grazers.

24 SandBed Clams.

12 Spaghetti Worms.

A lot of MiniStars.

150lbs of live rock.

3” of sand.

And one stowawy I can't get a look at but seems benign.

[Ninong]

Hi and welcome to Reefland!

Originally Posted by John Hamilton

1 Spine-Cheeked Anemone fish aka Maroon Clown.

If you ever do get a host anemone for this one, the appropriate anemone would be the Bubble Tip Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor). Purchase only a captive-bred clone. This species is difficult to pair up because of their aggressiveness, so be forewarned. It's possible, but not easy. You will want to purchase a new Maroon Clown that is much smaller than the one you have and pray that the new one submits to the resident fish very quickly.

15 Emerald Crabs.

You probably have way too many of these guys. Also, as they get larger their diet changes and they become predatory. Do a search on the board and you will see what I mean.

7 2” Cleaner Clams

I'm not sure what these are???

10 Scarlet Hermit Crabs, some dead.

Scarlet Reef Hermits have yellow/gold eyestalks. I have some of these. I think they're cute but I wouldn't get too many.

6 Baby Bristle Worms.

Excellent idea! Within six months you will have six dozen bristle worms and some of them will be more than 6" long. Excellent scavengers.

12 Baby Hawaiian Turbo Grazers.

Probably too many because they get quite large as adults. Not all of your snails will survive. My Baby Hawaiian Turbo Grazer was murdered by one of my unordered "micro" hermits after it achieved incredible hulk size.

12 Nerite Grazers.

Good. Primarily nocturnal. They like to hang out near the surface during the day.

12 Adult Strombus Grazers.

Cute except that they aren't Strombus maculatus as claimed. In fact, they aren't Strombids at all. Not to worry. They are nice little grazers and capable of reproduction in reef tanks.

36 MicroHermits.

Most of the ones that I received didn't stay micro sized very long. I eventually succeeded in removing every single one of these terrorists.

6 Reef Amphipods (40 specimens.)

Amphipods are great. They will multiply like crazy but it would have been better to add them before adding any fish to give them a chance to multiply first.

6 Adult Trocus Grazers.

Excellent grazers.

24 SandBed Clams.

I started out with 27 of these. All of them were dead within four or five months in spite of my frequent additions of D.T.'s live phytoplankton to the tank. I doubt that they can survive in typical reef tanks.

12 Spaghetti Worms.

I started with six of these. Within a year I had at least 36. I have no idea how many I have now. I have one every inch or two on the surface of the sand bed. I like them. Hermit crabs and some fish may nip their buccal tentacles but this doesn't kill them, just gives them a haircut. BTW, they are almost certainly hair worms and not spaghetti worms but that's not important.

A lot of MiniStars.

Excellent little hidden scavengers. They multiply like crazy. You will never see them unless you move something.

[John Hamilton]

Thanks for the info.

[dougc]

Welcome aboard.

You don't mention what kind of lighting you have, but you will need strong lighting to keep an anemone. The quadricolor is the way to go. In a FOWLR, you won't have to worry about the anemone wandering about, which is a concern in a reef tank.

5 yellow tailed damsels? How long have they been in the tank together? They can become terrors. New additions to the tank are especially likely to get harassed. As the saying goes, "If damsels were as big as sharks, the sharks would be afraid!"

A fish tank in leiu of a TV. That's my kind of thinking. I actually refer to my 210 gallon tank as the HDRT (high-definition reef tank).