65 Gallon Reef

[GavinAquaria]

I’ve only ever kept nanos but am now working on setting up a 65 gallon cube (25x24x25) that I recently got. So I have a few questions and was hopping for some help. 

 

1. I want to have a zoa garden, a euphyllia garden and possibly a RBT anemone. I was wondering what the best light for it would be. I’ve been looking at either two AI Prime HDs or a Radion XR15. What would you recommend? Any others?

 

2. I want to have a few fish that like pods and was wondering if a 5 gallon HOB refugium would suffice for my size tank or if I should have a 10 gallon tank as my refugium (will have a separate sump). The fish are a pair of ruby red dragonets and a black leopard wrasse. 

 

3. I want to have a pair of clownfish and am debating between maroons or ocellaris. Would the maroons be too aggressive in a 65? Which would you recommend?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

 

 

[Humblefish]

1. I'm not a lighting expert, but what you're proposing doesn't require very intense PAR. I think one XR15W would more than get the job done.

 

2. IMO; you are going to have a tough time supplying enough pods for a pair of dragonets + a leopard wrasse in a tank that small. A 5 or 10 gallon refugium just isn't going to cut it. I'd stick with just the wrasse because at least you can supplement feed that if you run low on pods.

 

3. Go with the ocellaris pair; avoid maroons.

[GavinAquaria]

15 minutes ago, Humblefish said:

1. I'm not a lighting expert, but what you're proposing doesn't require very intense PAR. I think one XR15W would more than get the job done.

 

2. IMO; you are going to have a tough time supplying enough pods for a pair of dragonets + a leopard wrasse in a tank that small. A 5 or 10 gallon refugium just isn't going to cut it. I'd stick with just the wrasse because at least you can supplement feed that if you run low on pods.

 

3. Go with the ocellaris pair; avoid maroons.

Thanks for the help. I haven’t had much experience with pod eaters so wasn’t really sure how hard it would be to have multiple. 

[Daniel91]

1. Agree with humble - even a prime could be sufficient.

 

2. It probably won’t cut it for all of them if it’s the only thing they eat but should your dragonnets eat pellets and frozen, then it’s a great supplement - I personally would not bet on it.

 

3. People stick with ocellaris but IMO boring... Maroons are gorgeous but god damn aggressive - so just beware 

[Wonderboy]

It is most definitely possible to keep multiple pod eating fish in a setup this size. You should absolutely go with more volume wherever possible if you plan to try; so, the proposed 10G sized refugium would be significantly more sufficient. Be sure water flows from 'fuge to DT without intervention from mechanical filtrations if you plan to have any. To make sure my pod-eating fish are fat, I watch both 'fuge and DT glass to keep track of the pod population and respond by feeding frozen food with a gel binder in it like xantham gum or pectin (so it doesn't fall apart - I make my own, but there are commercial options) directly into the refugium. The frequency is weekly, plus I throw some new life spectrum pellets in there once in a while. I have been keeping a ruby red and dragonface in a 10G+fuge really fat and happy for some time now; so I think you can do it, and also you likely won't have to feed your pods as much to maintain a sufficient population since you will have much more pod-predator-free surface areas in general. I really want to keep a black leapard one day, too   :]

[GavinAquaria]

1 hour ago, Wonderboy said:

It is most definitely possible to keep multiple pod eating fish in a setup this size. You should absolutely go with more volume wherever possible if you plan to try; so, the proposed 10G sized refugium would be significantly more sufficient. Be sure water flows from 'fuge to DT without intervention from mechanical filtrations if you plan to have any. To make sure my pod-eating fish are fat, I watch both 'fuge and DT glass to keep track of the pod population and respond by feeding frozen food with a gel binder in it like xantham gum or pectin (so it doesn't fall apart - I make my own, but there are commercial options) directly into the refugium. The frequency is weekly, plus I throw some new life spectrum pellets in there once in a while. I have been keeping a ruby red and dragonface in a 10G+fuge really fat and happy for some time now; so I think you can do it, and also you likely won't have to feed your pods as much to maintain a sufficient population since you will have much more pod-predator-free surface areas in general. I really want to keep a black leapard one day, too   :]

I don’t really want to risk it having the Ruby dragonets so I think I’m just going to stick with the black leopard wrasse. Thanks for your input