Stock suggestions for 5.5' shallow reef

[shiftline]

I'm in the process of building/planning my shallow reef tank

Tank will be 66"L x 20"w x 18" tall. (90-100g ish)

Contents from my current 30g will be moved in:
2 perc clowns
1 banggai Cardinal
1 azule damsel
1 blue line cleaner
1 fire shrimp
Various other little critters

I'm debating what to add for stocking to the larger tank. The tank will be trimless so in looking for fish who are not known to be jumpers

Possibly a few green Chromis for a little school and possibly another banggai or two

I was also debating a yellow tang, hippo and a dwarf angel.. Any suggestions?

[Myka]

I'm all like, "Oooo another SPS reef!" (sticks) But I think you got auto-corrected from "stock" didn't you? :D Want me to fix?

[shiftline]

Sure please. Haha. Autocorrect fail. But yes there will be lots of sps as well ;)

[Myka]

Sure please. Haha. Autocorrect fail. But yes there will be lots of sps as well ;)


Haha. Ok, good to hear. :)

[Aquattro]

The tank will be timeless

I'm going for that look too :)

[Myka]

:lol: Autocorrect got you THREE times!!!

[shiftline]

I love the long shallow look. I have a fusion 30l now and love the look of the tank but crave more space for coral and fish

Older more spacious shot of the current tank
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12/31/6c91859e19256bfa9bcb9d1cc6b34909.jpg
More recent overcrowded shot from 30 seconds ago
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12/31/f8428f2ba15916047e7929d24775fd31.jpg

New tank design
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12/31/822f297f477f350cad51b65d66c87fdb.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12/31/e5c8a35f4783faa57685d7ccb0fae76a.jpg

[Myka]

Possibly a few green Chromis for a little school and possibly another banggai or two

I was also debating a yellow tang, hippo and a dwarf angel.. Any suggestions?

I like the dims of the new tank! :) Consider getting black glass installed on the overflow end. It look better than acrylic, doesn't attract algae like acrylic, and doesn't scratch like acrylic. It's basically nothing like acrylic - which is a good thing. :D

Bangaii won't get along long-term unless they are a pair. A third one will get beaten to death. I think the YT and Hippo are too common for my liking - everyone has those two. A YT isn't so bad though - at least they help keep the rocks clean. Hippos don't do much. For yellow in my tank I have a Yellow Coris. He's a good worker. I'm bored of Dwarf Angels too. I'm really into a Wrasse thing right now, but they are certainly bad jumpers. I like Firefish and Jawfish too, but they are also bad jumpers. I like jumpers, so I'm not a good help. :(

[shiftline]

Hah sadly there is a lot of cool jumpers! But I'm fairly set on rimless.

So for banggais. If I get one of the opposite sex should I be safe for a pair? (Pretty sure mine is a female. 1 vent)

As for the new fish I'm open for anything (current fish are obviously getting moved over)

I was thinking 5 or so Chromis as it would be nice to have a school. I generally prefer more small fish opposites to one or two large ones.. But I'm completely open to options.

[Myka]

You just like the look of trimless? I think it's a PITA.

If you want a shoal of something, Anthias are your best bet. Chromis usually become 2 -same with Damsels (I've always been a fan of yellowtails your Azure is nice too but can be a jerk). Finding a male Bangaii should be easy as I've found most are males. As long as you have a male and a female they will get along.

[shiftline]

My current tank is rimeless and I just love the look. Much cleaner.. That and if I'm selling the wife on a giant tank in the living room.. Estitics are a huge part of it

I hear mixed things on Chromis being peaceful vs taking each other out. Are anthias jumpers?

[Myka]

My current tank is rimeless and I just love the look. Much cleaner.. That and if I'm selling the wife on a giant tank in the living room.. Estitics are a huge part of it

I hear mixed things on Chromis being peaceful vs taking each other out. Are anthias jumpers?

How about a eurobrace with polished edges and no trim? Are you polishing the rest of the tank? Polishing is an important aspect of aesthetics imo. I have a one-piece eurobrace on mine and it's all polished, it's pretty slick looking. I got some rounded plastic corners made on a 3D printer (I can hook you up with those...rounded or not) and the screen fits flush with the eurobracing. Let me know if you want to see some pics.

I think if the tank is big enough Chromis can live in bigger groups, though IME your tank is kinda on the line for that.

[shiftline]

I would to see some pics!

I have a buddy with an eurobraced tank and he always complains that it's a pain to clean the algae from under the brace.
Why is it that you think rimless is that much of s pain over eurobraced?

The new tank will be 5/6" starfish. All visible edged polished

[Howie]

I have both, a tank that's rimless and one that's a one piece euro. I will never do rimless again, it's a pain to clean. Trying to get algea scrubbed off near the top results on splashes on the outside ect...lol but they do look pretty.

[shiftline]

Hopefully this will help but my light has a spread of 18" and I made the tank 20" so less light would hit the glass and hopefully less cleaning

[Geo]

Wondering how you polish a 5/6" Starfish? Tiny little buffer? :wink:

[shiftline]

Damn autocorrect! Haha. 5/8". Aka 15mm starfire aka low iron :)

[shiftline]

So any other nice or interesting fish suggestions?

[mihaivapler]

Bangaii won't get along long-term unless they are a pair. A third one will get beaten to death. :(
+1.i had 3 of them in my tank and they got along as babies but a soon as they mature they will start pair up and the other one is chased down until they kill him,sometimes if you are not lucky and you end up with 2 males they will fight as they mature..

[shiftline]

Well I'll be sure to only get one of the opposite sex then!

With green Chromis I keep reading mixed opinions on safe in groups or not

[mihaivapler]

Well I'll be sure to only get one of the opposite sex then!

With green Chromis I keep reading mixed opinions on safe in groups or not
I have 6 of them for about a year now, don't see them fighting

[shiftline]

How big is your tank mihaivapler?

Yellow tags are great algae eaters

Are there any other pretty ones that serve useful purposes in the reef?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Kole and Tomini tangs are also good algae eaters IME. I have a bulldozer of an urchin that is also very good at eating algae, but watch out for little frags cause it's not very graceful in its movements around the live rock.

[mihaivapler]

How big is your tank mihaivapler?

Yellow tags are great algae eaters

Are there any other pretty ones that serve useful purposes in the reef?

It's a 6' tank, 135 gallons..pretty much all tangs will keep your tank algae free but my favorite tang is a desjardin sailfin tang, IMO one of the most beautiful tang out there....

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

It's a 6' tank, 135 gallons..pretty much all tangs will keep your tank algae free but my favorite tang is a desjardin sailfin tang, IMO one of the most beautiful tang out there....

Yes, but these get very big and so may not be as suitable long-term compared
to smaller tang species.

[mihaivapler]

Yes, but these get very big and so may not be as suitable long-term compared
to smaller tang species.
It's true, another tang that I have and is a big algae eater is the lavender tang,it stays smaller, is about 4-5".the only thing is not to be disappointed when you first see it al the lfs because it is very easy to stress and will turn yellowish but as soon as you put it in the tank will colour up nicely

[kien]

Trying to get algea scrubbed off near the top results on splashes on the outside ect...lol but they do look pretty.

+1 ! I had to tank sit a rimless once. OH EM GEE! I spent most of my time cleaning the front glass from all the saltwater I spilled over the rim every time I tried to clean the inside of the tank with the magnet scrubber. I eventually clued in and learned that I had to go much MUCH MUCH slower cleaning the inside of the tank to avoid spillage. That was just as annoying. With my euro-braced tank I just power through cleaning the inside of my glass and let the water splash up against the eurobrace. Thanks me a fraction of the time to clean compared to the rimless tank. I would never ever get a rimless tank myself :-) In fact, I personally feel that every tank should have a mesh net over it. Even supposed non-jumpers can inevitably jump out of the tank. I've seen tangs, triggerfish, angelfish all jump out of a tank. The shallower the tank the more likely they will jump. I realize it's not a "clean" look to have a mesh screen covering the tank, but you can hide it by making a canopy, which I realize is also not your aesthetic goals :lol: At any rate, we are all full of opinions :biggrin:

[shiftline]

Ohhh it's not that bad. You really only need to go slow on the top few inches. Already on my 3' 30g tank I used to have a mesh lid on but removed it the past few months as I just love the open top and top down views

[TimT]

Something to consider with your tank is that Anthias, Wrasses and Gobies all will jump.
Sailfin tangs(Yellows and Sailfin's) can get to 8" in a tank. Much larger in the wild.
For Angels the Genicanthus are a good bet in a reef tank as they don't eat corals. Female Bellus is one of my favourites.
Chromis can be very problematic. Picking on each other... going missing etc.

I like the Blue Star Allen's Damsel. Way more colour and they do school a bit. I had a school of 18 in my sps tank and they were gorgeous.

Orange spot Rabbitfish are a good herbivore too.

Cheers,
Tim

[shiftline]

The female bellus is a beautiful angel. Blue star Allene are also very nice looking. Are they aggressive or fairly peaceful?

[TimT]

The Blue Star Allen's are more peaceful with each other than Green Chromis are. That being said... I did get attacked the odd time when sticking my hand in a certain area of the tank.

[mihaivapler]

In fact, I personally feel that every tank should have a mesh net over it. Even supposed non-jumpers can inevitably jump out of the tank. I've seen tangs, triggerfish, angelfish all jump out of a tank. The shallower the tank the

+1 i lost a 6" hippo tang,found it few days later under the couch,2 clowns and a chromis..

[shiftline]

I lost a purple fire fish and a pistol shrimp. Rest of my fish (flame angel , 2 clowns, azure damsel, banggai Cardinal has all been safe. ). My blue line cleaner warse jumped into the rear sump once a few months back but haven't had a issue since


I actually bought clear mesh for the potential of a top. Just avoiding using/building one :)