How to re-ignite the passion with an IM10?

[TatorTaco]

Just returned from the LFS where I turned in quite a bit of misc coral frags from my mixed reef IM20 and took pretty much everything out of my IM10.
 

Now, I have a fully cycled and ready to go IM10 and I don’t have a CLUE what to do with it. I’m completely directionless. 
 

Should I just continue ghost feeding until I’m inspired by something?

 

If you’ve ever been in a similar situation, what did you decide to do with your 2nd or 3rd tank?

[Tired]

Rock flower anemones and/or macroalgae are pretty cool. Or a Caribbean biotope.

 

I'd say you should browse places you can get fish and inverts, and see if anything catches your eye. 

 

Or, hell- order some live rock from one of the places that ships you the really lively stuff, see what comes in on that. Maybe you'll get a mantis shrimp.

[TatorTaco]

Thanks for the suggestions @Tired  

 

I’ve always wanted a mantis!

[Tired]

You'd need a pretty small mantis for a 10gal, and it's probably better to buy one than to get rock and hope. Though, IMO, the rock is worth it anyway- there's so much cool stuff. I believe KP Aquatics sometimes stocks the smaller mantises that would be suitable. I again suggest macroalgae, since they'll absorb some of the nutrients from the mantis' feedings. Pop in a few durable corals, up high where the mantis doesn't reach them, and there ya go. Hell, make it a mantis-centric biotope. 

[TatorTaco]

I’ve ordered from them before a few times- once for a mantis but it didn’t last a week. I’ll check them out again. 

[growsomething]

Keeping it cycled till you really know what you want is a good idea. Then you won't have spent money on things you need to get rid of to create your new idea.

Having said that, while at the lfs last week they have a basket each of ricordea and rfa.  That looked so cool i wished I'd have done my IM10 all ricordea. Surprisingly, 20 of them under the right lights is stunning.

[TatorTaco]

I tried to do a ricordea dominated tank already in this tank and they all eventually melted. 😞 maybe I just had my AI Prime too high?

 

@billygoat, whatcha think about about a Nuvo 10 full of KPA’s ricordeas and a gorgonian or two? Maybe add a small school of masked gobies? Do you think it’d get boring with the lack of diversity?

[Wingy]

It's about what you like, what is pleasing to your eye.  Diversity or lack of it won't make the tank exciting or boring if you like what is in there.  You could have a tank of GSP or Xenia or rocks or plastic decorations that bubble.  If it makes you happy, if you want to simply watch it, then it is perfect.  

[TatorTaco]

2 hours ago, Wingy said:

It's about what you like, what is pleasing to your eye.  Diversity or lack of it won't make the tank exciting or boring if you like what is in there.  You could have a tank of GSP or Xenia or rocks or plastic decorations that bubble.  If it makes you happy, if you want to simply watch it, then it is perfect.  

This is true. I’m just going to keep my damsel in there and keep it running until I come up with a better plan. 

[ninjamyst]

Make it a theme tank.  I pay more attention to my BTA nano tank than my big tank now.  Ricordea theme is nice but not for IM 10.  Ricordea better for a shallow tank.  For a tall tank, gorgonian will be nice.  Or a BTA tank or torch tank.  Something with vertical growth and movement.

[billygoat]

10 hours ago, TatorTaco said:

I tried to do a ricordea dominated tank already in this tank and they all eventually melted. 😞 maybe I just had my AI Prime too high?

 

@billygoat, whatcha think about about a Nuvo 10 full of KPA’s ricordeas and a gorgonian or two? Maybe add a small school of masked gobies? Do you think it’d get boring with the lack of diversity?

I definitely don't get bored with my tank, and I have pretty much nothing other than what you describe. 😅 But if you've done it before with the Rics, that might not be as appealing for you. They sure are beautiful when they get settled down and start to grow, though.

 

Have you tried a macroalgae tank before? It's a whole different beast. Much more challenging and interesting than I expected it to be.