new to reef, 40 gal hex help.

[Bsixxx]

Hi,
setting, or trying to set up a mini reef tank. I think it's 37-40 gallon hex tank?
Anyway i have never tried to set up a reef tank, but I do have some large FOWLR tanks. This is going to be a centerpeice tank for my room. And I have some questions on what types of corals, and anenomes i can keep in it?
I'd also like to keep fish other than damsels,gobies and clown fish if possible.

Anyway i am interested in the following types, any suggestions how to keep them would be greatly appreciated...


Setup so far is, 37 gal hex tank, 10 gal wetdry w a quietone 3000 pump and a 150 watt heater inside, tank stays about 76 degrees. only have sand and some rock right now with a little t5 regular light from home depot.

Planned stock:
1x Wartskin angler
4x purple dotty backs
1x Swissguard Basslet
1x mombassa lionfish
1x longhorn cowfish
4x fire shrimp
(not all are planned, just ideas as stock)

Corals
1x Pipe Organ Coral (Tubipora musica)
1x Red Tip Tree Coral (Stereonephthya sp.)
1x Tube Coral (Tubastrea sp.)
1x Orange Tree Gorgonian (Swiftia exserta)
1x Purple Tree Gorgonian (Eunicea sp.)
3x Sebae Anemone yellow,pink,red (Heteractis crispa)
1x Rose Bulb Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor)
1x Haddon's Carpet Anemone (Stichodactyla haddoni)
1x Aussie Spider Sponge (Trikentrion flabelliforme)
1x Blueberry Sea Fan (Acalycigorgia sp.)


think that's it, all the help and suggestions would be awesome, as to how i can get this setup going.
Thanks in advanced.

[Bsixxx]

anybody?

[Heavy Hittah]

What are the approx dimensions of the tank? Maybe we can help you find a better light. The one you currently have probably will be good for only fish.

Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt using Tapatalk.

[Bsixxx]

Originally Posted by Heavy Hittah

What are the approx dimensions of the tank? Maybe we can help you find a better light. The one you currently have probably will be good for only fish.

Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt using Tapatalk.

36" long, middle fron to back is 14" and sides are like 8"

[Moonstream]

Setup so far is, 37 gal hex tank, 10 gal wetdry w a quietone 3000 pump and a 150 watt heater inside, tank stays about 76 degrees. only have sand and some rock right now with a little t5 regular light from home depot.

I dont know how well wet/dry works with reef tanks, but I will say drip trays and bioballs dont seem to have great success. I'd replace it with a noraml 10g sump, a good skimmer (octopus are good), heater, maybe make a section for some macro like cheato. also, in terms of light, you dont mention the number of bulbs you're running? I would say a minimum of 4 to keep ANY anemone, and 6 would be better.

in terms of livestock, I forsee several imediate problems:
1x Wartskin angler these guys dont grow huge, I think 4-6", but they do grow large enough to be a threat to most fish. I would say they do best alone, or with much larger tankmates that in no way, shape, or form could be eaten by them. in a 37, I dont think there are many fish that you could keep with them that would not be in danger of being eaten.

4x purple dotty backs [I]NO WAY do you get 4 purple dottybacks to live together peacefully long-term. these are nasty little fish, terriorial and aggressive, especially to conspecifics. definitely no more than 1, and you'll need to stock other equally aggressive fish.[/B]

1x Swissguard Basslet I highly doubt you'll be able to get one living peacefully with a purple dottyback; swissguards are fairly shy basslets that spend most of their time under shady overhangs and inside caves. they need peaceful tankmates who wont bother them, or they wont fare well.

1x mombassa lionfish these seem to be one of the substantially less hardy of the dwarf lions. I dont know a whole lot about them, as compared to zebras and fuzzies, but they seem to need lower-light tanks, do not stand up well to aggressive tankmates, and have little to no tolerance to poor water quality. if this is your first lion, then perhaps these would not be the best choice.

1x longhorn cowfish certaintly too small for an adult or even a larger juvenile of this species; while a small juvenile would probably be able to live in a tank this size for a period of time while it grew, I would say that because of the likelyhood for stress, and their tendancy to release toxins when under stress that will kill everything in the tank, a too-small tank is not the best place for one of these.

4x fire shrimp I think perhaps a single pair might be better; while not overly aggressive shrimp, the tank isnt very large, and there will undoutedly be some aggression.

of your coral choices, most are non-photosynthetic, namely:
1x Red Tip Tree Coral (Stereonephthya sp.)
1x Tube Coral (Tubastrea sp.)
1x Orange Tree Gorgonian (Swiftia exserta)
1x Aussie Spider Sponge (Trikentrion flabelliforme)
1x Blueberry Sea Fan (Acalycigorgia sp.)
of this group, the only one I have heard of being kept sucessfuly LONG TERM in anything other than a dedicated NPS tank (constant feedings of small-particle often live foods, high nutrient export capabilies, fairly expensive to setup and maintain) would the the tubastrea species. keep under a shadowy ledge or low-light area and target feed DAILY with meaty foods- if not fed daily, you will begin to see tissue regression fairly rapidly. the others wont fare will in a typical reef setup, and will slowly wither away.

the Pipe Organ Coral (Tubipora musica) and Purple Tree Gorgonian (Eunicea sp.) should be okay, granted the gorg you are talking about is one of the photosynthetic species that go by that name, which I suspect it is. be sure it receives high flow, or pest algae will often grow overs its branches, and they prefer higher light.

in terms of the anemones, I see a few more issues:
3x Sebae Anemone yellow,pink,red (Heteractis crispa) Im not sure what you mean by 'yellow,pink,red;' perhaps you're thinking of died specimens? a healthy H. crispa is a dusky tan color with purple/blue tips to the tentacles; I've never heard of/seen any other color morphs. regardless, H. crispa will grow too large for a 37; a fullsized specimen will take up the whole tank in its reach, and 3 certaintly wont fit

1x Rose Bulb Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor) the only one of the three that would likely do well in this sized tank; it will still grow very large, and take up a good deal of space, but IMO would fit in well with a properly lit tank.

1x Haddon's Carpet Anemone (Stichodactyla haddoni) like the H. crispa, it will grow too large, and in such a small tank will likely be able catch and eat many of your fish - haddonis are known fish eaters.

in a reef tank, I'd be worried the frog would get caught in an anemone, and that the lion wouldnt be able to cope with the higher light, and the cowfish is just a bad choice all around IMO; if you want the lion, go lower light with macro and maybe some soft corals, the frog would do okay in a tank without anemones, but you wont be able to keep much (if anything) with him. I would choose between the dottyback or basslet, and stock around that fish. of the two I'd choose the basslet, since they are significantly less aggressive, and the only things I'd feel comfortable keeping with the dottyback would be hawkfish (which means no shrimp, unless you're willing to risk it), clowns and damsels (which you said you didnt want). helfrichi firefish would be great tankmates with the swissguard basslet, and fit the bill of being less common fish. most cardinals would be good tankmates, like banggais and pajamas. so would blennies, of which there are many unusual looking species.

definitely dont mix anemones in such a small tank. if you like rose bubble tips, they are the best choice, hardier than most other species, but still a very delicate animal. wait at least 6 months before adding one, though, as they need well established, stabilized tanks.

for corals, PHOTOSYNTHETIC gorg species might fit the bill, but make sure they are truely photosynthetic, as nonphotos will quickly whither, and often the two are confused, any soft coral, most LPS, zoas and palys would be the best choices.

ETA: a better light fixture for a reef would be either a 36" T5HO fixture (I like currents slimline fixtures myself, use them on quite a few of my tanks) or a MH unit (I have a V2 viper clamp lamp 250watts over my 40 breeder which does a good job).

[Bsixxx]

Originally Posted by Moonstream

Setup so far is, 37 gal hex tank, 10 gal wetdry w a quietone 3000 pump and a 150 watt heater inside, tank stays about 76 degrees. only have sand and some rock right now with a little t5 regular light from home depot.

I dont know how well wet/dry works with reef tanks, but I will say drip trays and bioballs dont seem to have great success. I'd replace it with a noraml 10g sump, a good skimmer (octopus are good), heater, maybe make a section for some macro like cheato. also, in terms of light, you dont mention the number of bulbs you're running? I would say a minimum of 4 to keep ANY anemone, and 6 would be better.

in terms of livestock, I forsee several imediate problems:
1x Wartskin angler these guys dont grow huge, I think 4-6", but they do grow large enough to be a threat to most fish. I would say they do best alone, or with much larger tankmates that in no way, shape, or form could be eaten by them. in a 37, I dont think there are many fish that you could keep with them that would not be in danger of being eaten.

4x purple dotty backs [I]NO WAY do you get 4 purple dottybacks to live together peacefully long-term. these are nasty little fish, terriorial and aggressive, especially to conspecifics. definitely no more than 1, and you'll need to stock other equally aggressive fish.[/B]

1x Swissguard Basslet I highly doubt you'll be able to get one living peacefully with a purple dottyback; swissguards are fairly shy basslets that spend most of their time under shady overhangs and inside caves. they need peaceful tankmates who wont bother them, or they wont fare well.

1x mombassa lionfish these seem to be one of the substantially less hardy of the dwarf lions. I dont know a whole lot about them, as compared to zebras and fuzzies, but they seem to need lower-light tanks, do not stand up well to aggressive tankmates, and have little to no tolerance to poor water quality. if this is your first lion, then perhaps these would not be the best choice.

1x longhorn cowfish certaintly too small for an adult or even a larger juvenile of this species; while a small juvenile would probably be able to live in a tank this size for a period of time while it grew, I would say that because of the likelyhood for stress, and their tendancy to release toxins when under stress that will kill everything in the tank, a too-small tank is not the best place for one of these.

4x fire shrimp I think perhaps a single pair might be better; while not overly aggressive shrimp, the tank isnt very large, and there will undoutedly be some aggression.

of your coral choices, most are non-photosynthetic, namely:
1x Red Tip Tree Coral (Stereonephthya sp.)
1x Tube Coral (Tubastrea sp.)
1x Orange Tree Gorgonian (Swiftia exserta)
1x Aussie Spider Sponge (Trikentrion flabelliforme)
1x Blueberry Sea Fan (Acalycigorgia sp.)
of this group, the only one I have heard of being kept sucessfuly LONG TERM in anything other than a dedicated NPS tank (constant feedings of small-particle often live foods, high nutrient export capabilies, fairly expensive to setup and maintain) would the the tubastrea species. keep under a shadowy ledge or low-light area and target feed DAILY with meaty foods- if not fed daily, you will begin to see tissue regression fairly rapidly. the others wont fare will in a typical reef setup, and will slowly wither away.

the Pipe Organ Coral (Tubipora musica) and Purple Tree Gorgonian (Eunicea sp.) should be okay, granted the gorg you are talking about is one of the photosynthetic species that go by that name, which I suspect it is. be sure it receives high flow, or pest algae will often grow overs its branches, and they prefer higher light.

in terms of the anemones, I see a few more issues:
3x Sebae Anemone yellow,pink,red (Heteractis crispa) Im not sure what you mean by 'yellow,pink,red;' perhaps you're thinking of died specimens? a healthy H. crispa is a dusky tan color with purple/blue tips to the tentacles; I've never heard of/seen any other color morphs. regardless, H. crispa will grow too large for a 37; a fullsized specimen will take up the whole tank in its reach, and 3 certaintly wont fit

1x Rose Bulb Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor) the only one of the three that would likely do well in this sized tank; it will still grow very large, and take up a good deal of space, but IMO would fit in well with a properly lit tank.

1x Haddon's Carpet Anemone (Stichodactyla haddoni) like the H. crispa, it will grow too large, and in such a small tank will likely be able catch and eat many of your fish - haddonis are known fish eaters.

in a reef tank, I'd be worried the frog would get caught in an anemone, and that the lion wouldnt be able to cope with the higher light, and the cowfish is just a bad choice all around IMO; if you want the lion, go lower light with macro and maybe some soft corals, the frog would do okay in a tank without anemones, but you wont be able to keep much (if anything) with him. I would choose between the dottyback or basslet, and stock around that fish. of the two I'd choose the basslet, since they are significantly less aggressive, and the only things I'd feel comfortable keeping with the dottyback would be hawkfish (which means no shrimp, unless you're willing to risk it), clowns and damsels (which you said you didnt want). helfrichi firefish would be great tankmates with the swissguard basslet, and fit the bill of being less common fish. most cardinals would be good tankmates, like banggais and pajamas. so would blennies, of which there are many unusual looking species.

definitely dont mix anemones in such a small tank. if you like rose bubble tips, they are the best choice, hardier than most other species, but still a very delicate animal. wait at least 6 months before adding one, though, as they need well established, stabilized tanks.

for corals, PHOTOSYNTHETIC gorg species might fit the bill, but make sure they are truely photosynthetic, as nonphotos will quickly whither, and often the two are confused, any soft coral, most LPS, zoas and palys would be the best choices.

ETA: a better light fixture for a reef would be either a 36" T5HO fixture (I like currents slimline fixtures myself, use them on quite a few of my tanks) or a MH unit (I have a V2 viper clamp lamp 250watts over my 40 breeder which does a good job).

Ok that is a good response, very informational.
Deffinatly going to take this slow. probably going to start out with the bassalett, and work around him. Going to look for some small protein skimmers as well and try to better up my filtration.