Looking for tank ideas...brainstorming

[bsagecko]

Hello,

Recently obtained a custom 200g tank

looking for ideas on how to set it up...I already have a 150g mixed reef tank.....

I am thinking something very different or just different in subtle ways...This tank will be permanent...and i am building it from the ground up on a somewhat limited budget (ie dont recommend setting up a coldwater tank which requires a chiller)

Any ideas would be great...I am willing to push the limits but not willing to do anything dumb...

lmk what you think

Zack

[Zestay]

cuttlefish farm =)

[100%hydrophylic]

species only pipe fish tank

[khaosinc]

try a coastal planted saltwater tank. Perhaps even plumb it in with your existing setup and it can double as a huge fuge.

Sea grass, some interesting macros, sand some scattered large shells. Perhaps a couple mangroves growing out the top.

[bsagecko]

Cuttlefish would be awesome but they only live for about 1 year and I need this tank to be able to be watched for long periods by my mother and i dont think she could handle that....

Pipefish might work any particular species u would recommend...?

I do not like the coastal planted look...already been there but thanks for the response

[100%hydrophylic]

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=15+267

supposedly dragon faced pipefish are a tad easier but
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+267+282&pcatid=282

but i think the Yellow Multibanded Pipefish looks sexier
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+267+1918&pcatid=1918

idk how good you are with reef keeping but these guys are extremely delicate im pretty sure.

[mat167]

A biotope of some sort would be cool. I was looking into it myself; you might try some of these places for an idea...


1. http://www.reefland.com/rho/0106/add8.php

2. http://bb.wetwebmedia.com/viewtopic.php?f=111&p=19977

3. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=620824

4. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1660630

[bsagecko]

Defiantely keeping pipefish on the list i really like the yellow multibanded...

I also am becomig a lil more interested in the seagrass tank....
Would VHO suffice for the seagrass or are MH/t5 a must for solid growth

Any other ideas?

[magikfly]

Anemone tank!

[fufu]

Eel tank :) or....
Carpet Anemone tank with a bunch of clowns.

[seapug]

Seagrass tank with pipefish, and seahorses and LPS corals could be really cool, but you'd really need powerful lighting to keep the seagrass alive.

[bsagecko]

I have thought about an anemone tank like straight up...but i think that might be a lil bit to much of a hassle...with not much reward...I can keep an nem in any tank...

I dont like eels so.....

I have thought of a like a straight goby/jawfish tank...

Seapug do you think that 3x 250W MH would work for a 200g? with VHO for supplemental actinics...if necessary

[seapug]

yeah 3 X 250 MH should suffice as long as the tank isn't over 30" deep. It may be fine if deeper, but I'm just considering the intensity of light that occurs in seagrass beds under tropical sunlight where the water is usually less than a few feet deep. i'm sure someone here has more experience setting something up like this and may have more knowledge about growing real seagrass in a tank. I would think a DSB or mud substrate will be a must as well.

A jawfish tank could be cool too. I know you said you don't like Eels, but I've seen some garden eel tanks that were REALLY cool displays. Garden eels are quite similar (behaviorally) to jawfish.

[Rich D]

I always thought it would be cool to set up a tank with only a couple species of coral. I always thought a montipora and some sort of staghorn or bali slimer. Every time the montipora gets big enough, frag it and put it somewhere else in the tank. That would tank quite a while and i dont know if your looking for something quicker


The anenome tank would be pretty sick too

[coolwaves]

how about a coldwater tank?

[100%hydrophylic]

seapug dont garden eels require like a 1 to 2 foot thick sand bed? ive only seen them at the GA aquarium and they have an immensely thick sandbed for them. they a really cool though. they have about 15 or so and they all have about 6 inches of their bodies sticking out of the sand. they sway in the current and stare at you as you walk past. any time a fish swims near them they pull their heads back into the sand. they are pretty cute but i think they are also extremely difficult to keep.

[reef10]

octopus?
Seahorse?
Butterfly?
Lionfish?
Parrotfish?
Frogfish?

Pick something you can not have in your current tank.

[seapug]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15701832#post15701832 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 100%hydrophylic
seapug dont garden eels require like a 1 to 2 foot thick sand bed? ive only seen them at the GA aquarium and they have an immensely thick sandbed for them. they a really cool though. they have about 15 or so and they all have about 6 inches of their bodies sticking out of the sand. they sway in the current and stare at you as you walk past. any time a fish swims near them they pull their heads back into the sand. they are pretty cute but i think they are also extremely difficult to keep.

yes, they do require a very deep sandbed, but so would any seagrass-type biotope tank. I've never personally kept them, but based on what I know from tanks I've seen and articles I've read, they are easy to keep as a single species once their basic needs are met (DSB, free from bullying fish, etc.). Definitely not a fish to just toss in any tank, but could be a really cool biotope.

[fufu]

Lobsters...yum

[bsagecko]

I have done some research in the seagrass DSB is a min of 6"...that is doable in my tank

anything beyond that would not work as the tank is pretty shallow....like mid to high 20" range....(not totally sure as i havent measured it since i bought it)......still doing some more research on seagrass biotyopes....if I had a deeper tank i would consider the garden eels as i have been to the GA aquarium and they are absolutely amazing creatures.....

coldwater tanks are out as previously mentioned due to finacial cost and time....


Bubbles~I was thinking something along similar lines...I am really into: acans, monti caps, frogspawns, hammers, rics, zoas, suncoral....

I was thinking like a two or 3 island design with monti caps coming off the sides and then having like different frogspawns and hammer morphs from around the world....and then have the suncoral underneath the monti caps as they grow in...but that is just an idea....

reef i was thinking possibly as well as doing a dwarf lionfish tank w/ corals or frogfish....not sure about coral compability

octopus is out....and seahorses are out as well...the only kind i am interested in are dwarfs and 200g tank of dwarfs would be insane and way to expensive.....

Seapug i like the idea of the garden eels i just cant provide that type of sandbed anything along those lines that you can think of?

Thanks everyone for the replies this is really helping me brainstorm and kinda focus my research...

[bsagecko]

Bump...any more ideas?

As far as seagrass goes does anyone have any good hardcore examples of long-term systems?

[100%hydrophylic]

angler and aggressive tank?

check out this angler and the vid. they act really strange and interesting:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+19+76&pcatid=76
there are cheaper ones though. could put some lions and scorpions in there?

lets see... you could do a massive zoanthid tank with tons of nano fish?

idk much about rays but this one says it can be kept in a 180..... idk if theyl be happy in that size though:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+288+2225&pcatid=2225

and im pretty sure the GA aquarium has a sea grass display. if they dont they have a big one, i know there is one behind the scenes that is a sea grass display with tons of dwarf sea horses.

oh heres an article i thought you might be interested in:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-04/sl/index.php

[username in use]

How about a non-photosynthetic tank. Than lighting could be kept at a minimum, eliminating any real heat issues. You would just need to plop down some cash on a really good skimmer because youll have to feed everything a lot. You could broadcast feed though using a 1" sea swirl. there are all sorts of non-photo things out there that have amazing colors and textures.

[bsagecko]

Hey....

I would really like to have an angler/stingray tank or something along those lines however my mother will be having to take care of this tank for long periods of time like 3~6 weeks at a time and i dont see her feeding live food to anglers and stingrays.....

So that kinda takes away all of the really cool fish like that since they are all primarly live feeders.........

I thought about the massive zoas tank but i see that getting expensive...i think if i was designing a tank under 75g that would be an option...but having a 200g of zoas only seems a lil bit of waste to me

Thanks for the article....I will check out the GA aquarium website and see what info they have for there sea grass display...

Right now I am debating a seagrass tank with limited liverock, some fish...limited liverock...and some inverts/and maybe a select 2~3 corals

Or...a monti/frogspawn/hammer setup with suncoral and acans/rics/leathers but that just seems like another mixed reef tank....

I have thought about an aggressive tank but outside of anglers, lionfish, sharks, rays i dont really find much interesting....

Seahorses and pipefish seem difficult and i cant have any coral in the tank or nems....

I was thinking a mixture:

marcoalgae
sea grass

1x jawfish (blue-spotted)
goby w/ pistol shrimp
various shrimp...(maybe blood, sexy, cleaner)
maybe some firefish
and others that fit in biotope
(basically enough higher lifeforms to provide a bioload for the seagrass/algae to feed off of)

corals i would like some higher end lps...

but there will be a strong focus on open sandbed...

What you guys think about that?

[bsagecko]

I am not very interested in non-photo tanks but thank you for the suggestion...they just seem to be a lil difficult

[100%hydrophylic]

i would think putting corals in a sea grass tank would take away from the grass itself. lets say you put a bright neon green frogspawn in there. lets see.... green grass... greener frogspawn... meh.... but! i think if you find blues and reds, that might look nice. for example:
http://dm.hccfl.edu/cgs2822/07fa63686/jgammons/FinalProject/images/Corals/hardcorals/lps/RedBrainCoral.jpg
i think that would be a nice contrast with the greens of the sea grass. i know there are also purply red macroalgae and saltwater plants but i think a red brain would still be awsome. think this would be some nice contrast in color as well:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?c=2733+8&ddid=71195

[bsagecko]

The lps will not included anything flowie like frogspawn...as i think that will take away from the seagrass just as u have brought to attention

I was thinking like acan lords....painted scoly....trach/loby open brains

I will definately focus on yellow, reds, blues.......as far as coral color

I might do a large leather on a side of large rock on oneside...i was thinking maybe fiji yellow leather but that is just an idea

I really like the dragon's tongue....which is a deep red....and there is another variant that is purple and blue....I figured some basic seagrass with like 3~4 varities....some red/purple/blue marcoalgae along with some ulva....

Then have like 3~10 "choice" lps for the tank....
that along with hte fish/inverts and a dersa clam should be more than enough to have nice accents with the overall flowing feel of the seagrass...I am wanting like a 60~70% focus on seagrass/macroalgae and like 30% on fish/invert/corals/clams...I think it will be a unqiue system....and should be relatively simple as the lighting requirements really seem to be the only big ticket item as most of the nutrient export will happen from the seagrass and the macroalgae...

By the end of this weekend i will try to have a premilary species list with pic examples as well as a pre-lim equipment list....

Still looking into other tank ideas but i think this will be unqiue enough without a huge burden on maintenance...

[100%hydrophylic]

yes, i think it is a pretty good idea. somewhere in the article it was talking about adding more nutrients to the system than normal for the grass much like a planted freshwater tank. just curious, do you know what your going to do about that? like what are you going to add?

[bsagecko]

I am hoping to have a high enough bioload that i wont have to add nitrates or phosphate........however if i do I will add calcium nitrate if possible but I am worried that adding nitrates will harm the inverts/clam/corals so i think i will just let it balance itself out if possible

The feedings will be kinda intense though because of phyto, coral feeding, and fish feeding...i think there will be enough waste to go around esp since i dont plan on having a PS on the system...the only filteration i plan on having is a carbon reactor...filter sock..... probably around 50~75 lbs of live rock and 6" sandbed....I am hopeing that will work....

[100%hydrophylic]

i wish you luck on this system. it seems to go against many general rules of this hobby. make sure and post tons of pics of your build!