REEF & FOWLR in one tank?!

[Coolibabes]

Hi there everyone

I have recently purchased a 10ft X 1.5ft X 2.5ft tank and I was toying with the idea of dividing the tank with a reef setup on the one side and have FOWLR (fish not suited for a reef) on the other eg large angelfish.

Based on the length of the tank I was thinking 3ft for the reef and 7ft for the FOWLR.

I am not 100% sure what to use as the partition.... Should I use a piece of acrylic and drill holes in it (for water ciculation) or should I use an egg crate or even just stack up a combination of Live Rock and base rock.

The partition would prevent the non compatible reef fish from entering the reef section and yet I would be able to run the same (reef) filtration. I would be saving on lights as I would only set up the reef lighting on the reef section.

This way there would be no need to setup a seperate FOWLR tank. Have the best of both worlds on one tank.

Any thoughts?

[reeferaddiction]

sounds like a cool idea but if i were to do it i would make it so that each side was a different system. for the most part a fo type system with large messy fish creates water conditions that are unfavorable in the reef. the acrylic idea would probably be the best way to achieve this separation. another thing to think about is that you have "reef" lighting on one side and regular florescent lighting on the other will make for an odd looking display. kind of like this tank, note the differance in color due to using different types of lighting.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/20697Whole_Tank_2.JPG
in my opinion i would take full advantage of a tank that size there are so many cool large fish you could keep in a 10ft tank. i think that cutting iit down to 7ft will greatly reduce the amount and size of fish you could keep. if you do decide to make it one system you must invest in a massive skimmer that can handle the bioload of a large amount of fish to keep the water quality ideal for corals, but i think it may be tough even with a large skimmer. jmo good luck and congrats on the chance to have a huge tank.

[sunfishh]

It depends on what you want to keep on each side Coolibabes. I think you will have to completely divide the two tanks if you want SPS on one side and a queen trigger on the other. It may not be nessecary if you want less extreme organisms. Personally I would choose the second option so that I could take advantage of the larger water volume.

[JustinReef]

I would use a more natural looking rock wall to divide the tank and do easy care corals so that you do not have to keep water params too perfect. Although it is possible to keep large fish and still have great water conditions for corals. I have done so with my reef that is home to 2 large puffers among other fish. Using a big skimmer, loads of macro algae, Ozone and water changes, my tank has undetectable nitrate for the past 3 months. So it is possible.

As for lighting, I have my tank under T5's and a 250 watt MH on only ONE side of the tank. I have to disagree with the above post about it not looking good...it just has to be done right and it looks great! That example above in the pic does look kind of bad but if you do something similar to what I did which is have the MH angled diagonally across the tank from one end, it creates a very unique look. Very natural too. Instead of light coming just from above. Mine creates many really cool shadows.

Just get creative and try to do things different! It usually works out in the end.

[Coolibabes]

Thanks for all the feedback guys.....much appreciated.

I was reading though Wet Web Media and came across the following article. http://wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_3/cav3i1/Baffles/baffles.htm

What are your thoughts on using this method to divide the tank.

What are your suggestions on filtration and circulation if I do go ahead and divide the tank?

[mattsilvester]

ok - I'm gonna come out and say what I think, and what I would prefer personally........ I'd rather go with one or the other - to be honest - I think that the mix and match aspect of things will at some stage lead to a compromise that makes the other a difficult option....... i.e. the big fish will make a true "reef" difficult, because of waste, and as a result you'll always be betwixt and between in your coral and fish choices, inspite of having the divider in place...... whcih incidentally is going to spoil the look of the tnak, in my view.

You are obviously open to ideas and thinking outside the box just by suggesting this....... so why not consider a so called "aggressive reef"....... settle on a compromise between slightly less destructive fish, and slightly more hardy corals...... you will ultiamtley end up with a large tank with some spectacular fish set against the backdrop of a reef setting........

Depending on how far down the road you want to go with corals, then there are alot of choices...... you are going to need a huge skimmer etc. if you are going for the "combi" option anyway........

In reality, there are very few fish that cannot be kept with at least some type of coral....... you just need to put alot of planning and thought into it....... one of my favourite "famous" Fish & Reef tanks, quite similar in size to the tank you are proposing, is Terry Siegel's tank. Amoungst others, he has a large majestic angelfish, a large trigger, butterflies and several large tangs - all housed in a tank with SPS & LPS corals....... I would much rather that set up, all bit it a compromise than a "2 in 1" type set up......

In my view, both possibilites present a compromise:
The "2 in 1" requires compromise in looks, and will require a compromise in stocking if they are linked, and will reduce some of the potential fish choices and combinations, by reducing the tank size by 30%.
The large fish & reef tank will mean a compromise in fish and coral combiantions......

The latter is a much more simple, and a far better long term propositon, in my view - and this would be my preference........

I am of course not saying, or suggesting that you idea is a bad idea or will not work...... I am just saying that I would not like it personally for the above reasons :D

[Ranzan]

as long as you have a skimmer that is extremely oversized skimmer and good filtration i dont see a problem just gota keep up good water quality

[HookedOnReefing]

I don't see a problem with your idea either. As long as you keep in mind that, depending on your stocking levels, you CANNOT skimp on your filtration system.

You will want to employ vigorous water moving apparatus in both the reef section as well as the predator section so that detritus is kept in suspension at all times and skimmed by a large protein skimmer. I would wet skim a system like that. A nicely sized beckett skimmer would do the trick. Readily available in large sizes and affordable and easy to dial in to skim very wet.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The fact that some people may or may not like your proposed system based on aesthetics alone should not be a deterrent to you.

[mattsilvester]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11945789#post11945789 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HookedOnReefing
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The fact that some people may or may not like your proposed system based on aesthetics alone should not be a deterrent to you.

Indeed HookedOnReefing - you are exaclty right.

Coolibabes please do not think I was trying to deter you from you idea. I was / am merely saying that I wouldn't fancy it, and gave my reasons why....... just in case there are some things I have thought about or mentioned that you may not have considered........ My comments are based purely on how I would feel about the whole thing......

THere is nothing wrong with your idea at all...... if it fulfils what you are looking for, and you can provide the filteration etc. required, then go for it! I see no actual problem with it........

Please don't let me deter you in any way, unless I have rasied a point that would bother you which you hadn't already considered......

Best wishes :D

[KafudaFish]

I think that this could be an interesting tank and could work well. As it has been said, if you like it go for it.
Any ideas of what you want to keep?
As far as dividing the sides of the tank and it looking more natural than just acrylic I have 2 suggestions:
1. Make a concrete or hydralic water stop/sand wall using the eggcrate as a base. This would become liverock with algae and would be another place for your corals on your reef side.
2. Take different diameter pvc pipe, cut length-wise, and cover as in #1. This would allow for flow back and forth. The only downside might be migration of smaller fish back and forth.
Something like this:
( (
)
( (
but making sure the ends overlap.
I hope you decide to do this. The good thing is if you decide to go one method over the other it would not take much to remove the walls.

[Coolibabes]

Thanks everyone for all your expertise.

I am realy not sure what coral I am going to keep, but this being my first reef setup, I will start with the hardy ones, which I am reading on constantly in order to make an educated decision. Your suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

As for the fish, I would like to keep at least two big angels maybe the Emperor Angel(Pomacanthus imperator) and the Annularis Angel(Pomacanthus annularis).

About four or five tangs i.e. Yellow Tang( Zebrasoma flavescens), Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma veliferum), Chevron Tang (Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis), Purple Tang (Zebrasoma xanthurum)

Other occupants...Marine Betta(Calloplesiops altivelis), Longnose butterfly (Forcipiger flavissimus), Lunare Wrasse(Thalassoma lunare)

Are the above occupants to many for the FOWLR section?

[Coolibabes]

Oh I forgot, for fish in the in the Reef section, I would like to keep maybe one or two percula clown fish(Amphiprion percula), a mandarin (Pterosynchiropus splendidus), two purple firefish (Nemateleotris decora) and an Flame angel (Centropyge loriculus), cleaner shrimps, hermit crabs etc....

Am I going overboard?