29 gallon: R.E.E.F Tank

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

56 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

The clowns and stuff might be okay although its possible it may effect growth and their long term health, not sure..... but a leopard wrasse needs at least daily feedings if not twice a day or would probably de-condition. This fish is much more active and has a higher metabolism. 

 

Some fish types can not survive on twice a week feedings in a nano. Ideally multiple small feedings a day are better than one large one. It is more natural. 

 

Every other day would be my minimum and no high metabolism fish. 

 

Will a fish fed twice a week or fed low quality foods like brine be as disease resistant or as vibrant as a fish fed multiple times with a varied diet? I would think not. 

 

I hate when I see people cut feedings back to something absurd because they have algae, that is not acceptable for keeping fish imo. Find another way to control algae or have less fish so you have less mouths to feed.

 

 

 

Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll start feeding every other day

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

15 hours ago, Tamberav said:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-02/rs/feature/index.php

 

In aquaria, fish that naturally feed consistently on small particulate material throughout the day are being forced to exist on bulk feedings once a day or with less frequency. Under such conditions, the animal is going through continuous cycles of near starvation followed by satiation followed by near starvation… This cyclic feeding simply must have a deleterious effect on the fish. Under such situations one could expect lower than normal growth rates, higher stress, increased susceptibility to disease and possibly problems with nitrogen metabolism. During the periods of low food availability the fish would potentially metabolize excessive amounts of protein, resulting in excessive ammonia production. Something similar would be seen with the sessile animals on the rocks of a reef aquarium. Here the food intake is likely intensively periodic with significant periods of non-nutrient input. Growth will also likely be reduced and the animals stressed.

 

Ok, I’m sorry, I’ll feed every other day then 

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

Didn’t mean to say that twice

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

So I just did a 30% water change in the tank to help combat the cyano. Much larger of a water change than my usual water changes, so hopefully this will make a difference.

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

I took some pictures with my macro lens, but I don’t think I’m using it right, the pictures weren’t as good as my usual ones.

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

And these were really nice close ups with just my phone. You can see every detail.

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

[Tired]

Very pretty, but you're going to have problems with one of your clowns when it gets bigger. The one with the darker face looks like a maroon clown, and they get about 6" long and are VERY territorial. You could maybe, maybe manage to keep one in a 30gal, but not with other fish. You should swap it for another clown of the other species (either ocellaris or percula, I'm not 100% sure how to tell the difference) so they can pair up, as those do best in pairs. 

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

12 minutes ago, Tired said:

Very pretty, but you're going to have problems with one of your clowns when it gets bigger. The one with the darker face looks like a maroon clown, and they get about 6" long and are VERY territorial. You could maybe, maybe manage to keep one in a 30gal, but not with other fish. You should swap it for another clown of the other species (either ocellaris or percula, I'm not 100% sure how to tell the difference) so they can pair up, as those do best in pairs. 

I’ve been told that, but I would rather keep the gold nugget maroon. He’s probably my favorite fish in my tank. He’s been in the tank with the percula for about a year and a half now and they have never fought once. They are always together and I believe they have paired up. I may have just got lucky, or it hasn’t been long enough for the clown to mature yet.

[Tired]

It's nowhere near mature, and you are going to have problems when it is. If you want to keep it, you're going to need to get a bigger tank before it can get much larger, and you're going to need to get rid of the percula. Young clownfish will school with non-clownfish (you see this a lot with chromis in reef tanks), so that's probably what's happening, but it won't last when the maroon starts to get older. Especially since, as it's going to quickly become the largest in the tank, it's going to be a (more aggressive) female. 

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

1 minute ago, Tired said:

It's nowhere near mature, and you are going to have problems when it is. If you want to keep it, you're going to need to get a bigger tank before it can get much larger, and you're going to need to get rid of the percula. Young clownfish will school with non-clownfish (you see this a lot with chromis in reef tanks), so that's probably what's happening, but it won't last when the maroon starts to get older. Especially since, as it's going to quickly become the largest in the tank, it's going to be a (more aggressive) female. 

I’ve read on multiple different sites that any maroon is just fine in a 30 gallon tank. Normal clowns need at least a 10 gallon, but maroons would be fine in a 30 gallon tank. I read that it takes a maroon clown like my own about a year for it to start developing into an adult clown. I believe mine is beginning to develop into an adult, you can tell by the gold on his head. I’m gonna keep him until I actually start to see him act up. I’m not about to take him away from his home and punish him for him not doing anything. That’s like punishing someone for their future actions that they may or may not do.

[Tamberav]

It can probably live with the gobies since those chill on the bottom, you probably just need to re-home the other clown someday. My clowns didn't turn into mean bastards until age 4ish or something. 

 

I personally wouldn't be adding any more fish with it though, because when it is an actual adult, its going to kill shit that gets in its way in a 30g. You could probably keep a pair of maroons in a 30g with just the two gobies. It would look great with a ORA gold lighting.

[Tired]

30 gallon tank on their own, yes. 30 gallon tank with other fish is pushing it, they're territorial. 

 

You're not "punishing him" by rehoming him, either into a larger tank or into someone else's tank. It's a momentary stressful situation from the move, then it goes back to its existence as a fish. It doesn't think "oh no, I'm away from my tank and in a new place, I want my old place back", it's a fish. They move territories in the wild when conditions aren't suitable, or when they see something better. Moving it into a bigger tank without things it sees as competition, i.e. threats/stressors, is a good thing to do.

 

And it's not a matter of if it becomes aggressive, it's when. Maroon clowns are aggressive as adults, period. 

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

36 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

It can probably live with the gobies since those chill on the bottom, you probably just need to re-home the other clown someday. My clowns didn't turn into mean bastards until age 4ish or something. 

 

I personally wouldn't be adding any more fish with it though, because when it is an actual adult, its going to kill shit that gets in its way in a 30g. You could probably keep a pair of maroons in a 30g with just the two gobies. It would look great with a ORA gold lighting.

Yea, I may consider that option in maybe a year. I’ll wait till he gets 2 years old at least 

[Tired]

I would really get that percula out, now. What's better: potentially getting rid of the percula a bit too early, or waking up to find it half-dead because your maroon clown got its hormones in and objected to its presence? 

[Ratvan]

@EthanPhillyCheesesteak, just remember at the end of the day all we can give you is advice and opinions. 

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

4 hours ago, Ratvan said:

@EthanPhillyCheesesteak, just remember at the end of the day all we can give you is advice and opinions. 

Yea, I know, I’m just not ready to get rid of a fish I’ve had for so long. It’s almost like owning a dog for me and then having to get rid of it. He means something to me, I put a lot of work into him and this entire tank and I hate to see him leave. Could I possibly just put him in my 10 gallon tank? It’s a pest tank and it does have a crazy crab in it, but would it be better than this tank?

Put the perc in the ten gallon 

[Ratvan]

4 minutes ago, EthanPhillyCheesesteak said:

Yea, I know, I’m just not ready to get rid of a fish I’ve had for so long. It’s almost like owning a dog for me and then having to get rid of it. He means something to me, I put a lot of work into him and this entire tank and I hate to see him leave. Could I possibly just put him in my 10 gallon tank? It’s a pest tank and it does have a crazy crab in it, but would it be better than this tank?

Put the perc in the ten gallon 

You certainly could do, if it were me I would only separate if you see evidence of aggression. And yes Perc out into the 10 if you needed too

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

37 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

You certainly could do, if it were me I would only separate if you see evidence of aggression. And yes Perc out into the 10 if you needed too

Yea, once I see aggression I’ll move him to the ten. He would be ok in a 10? I know that it says that percs are ok in a 10, but he’s about an inch and a half long. Would he still fit?

[Ratvan]

4 minutes ago, EthanPhillyCheesesteak said:

Yea, once I see aggression I’ll move him to the ten. He would be ok in a 10? I know that it says that percs are ok in a 10, but he’s about an inch and a half long. Would he still fit?

Yeah he'll be fine in a 10, i'd be tempted to pair it off in the 10G and keep it simple with rockwork and nems

Many places say 10 for a single but I tend to overfilter and keep on top of WC's so I am less concerned with bioload than I should be

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

10 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

Yeah he'll be fine in a 10, i'd be tempted to pair it off in the 10G and keep it simple with rockwork and nems

Many places say 10 for a single but I tend to overfilter and keep on top of WC's so I am less concerned with bioload than I should be

Yea, I may do a pair. Could I do a black and white clown with him? Or just a regular perc? 

I really couldn’t put anything else in the tank tho could I? If I had two clowns? I would almost rather have one clown and maybe a goby 

[Ratvan]

2 minutes ago, EthanPhillyCheesesteak said:

Yea, I may do a pair. Could I do a black and white clown with him? Or just a regular perc? 

I really couldn’t put anything else in the tank tho could I? If I had two clowns? I would almost rather have one clown and maybe a goby 

As long as the other is also a Perc I dont think the colouration matters

Pair of clowns and a Goby would be okay in the 10, you'd need to stay on top of water parameters though.

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

12 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

As long as the other is also a Perc I dont think the colouration matters

Pair of clowns and a Goby would be okay in the 10, you'd need to stay on top of water parameters though.

Yea, I’ll consider that route

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

Also, just to see everybody’s opinions, I’m going to an LFS this weekend, which corals should I get to really make my tank stand out and pop? I was thinking a frogspawn maybe, but what else do you think? They have almost any coral you can think of at this LFS, but which one should I get? Should I get a colony of something?

[Tamberav]

Ricordia mushrooms are very bright and you can mix colors.

 

Frogspawn or hammers are nice too and give you some height.

 

I wouldn't put a goby in with those crabs btw.