If you saving money on the sponges and and shrimp (cleaner) why not throw In some fish food now and then?
well some fish are still capable if nibbling down anemone's, not sure if you're triggers are one of those or not.iHammer;4376929; said:I am using the Shrimps as the base of the ecosystem (and the plankton). Not clean up crew. I want there to be enough of them so that they can breed at a faster rate than they can be eaten. I thought 1200 would be enough and I would add them a few months before the rest so that they can start breeding and get a proper structure in the gene pool. And I didn't think that the Angelfish would eat the sponges at such a fast rate that they would be wiped out. I want the Sponges there so that the angels can eat them. But how many do I need for them to breed faster than they can be eaten?
And I will not be adding Mandarin Fish, but I was quite sure that the Clownfish would be safe since there will also be anemone. And why would any fish bother starting turf wars with a shark? No one has answered my question yet :S Which one of these fish will be capable of being eaten by the shark?
i just think that with the shrimp (the brine especially), fish are hard wired to gorge themselves when food is present and thus would keep depleting the system and you would have to almost constantly restock the populations. just seems like a lot of hassle (and $) to avoid manual feedingsiHammer;4379206; said:I totally agree with you. Why the hell would you hand feed a shark?
And how many Brine/Glass Shrimps will I need to support the whole ecosystem?
I will also not add Sponges.
hmmm,, in that case i will be ridding with most tangs, I would really love to create an ecosystem tank.FLESHY;4380448; said:The number of tangs you have is never going to be supported in this size of aquarium...I dont even know if I would try doing it in a conventional setup. Tangs in groups like these cruise the real reefs leaving them algae free...your little patch of the reef will be cleaned in less than a week I predict with this many tangs. Try maybe one group of twenty in a tank this big, with some supplemental feeding it might happen.
+1 to the fish being hard-wired to gorge themselves...all wild animals know better than to pass up a meal. To the point where they can actually hurt themselves.
i'd just completely forget about the brine shrimp if it were me. i mean 1,000 may seem like a lot but it just really isn't and brine aren't exactly mobile to elude being ate. the glass shrimp may be able to hide in crevices, but tusks/triggers will try their hardest to root em out and i just don't see them lasting to reproduce consistantly.iHammer;4386632; said:hmmm,, in that case i will be ridding with most tangs, I would really love to create an ecosystem tank.
Also, what if I add LOTS of small hiding places small enough places that only the shrimp can get into. Is there any way to somehow make a balanced way for the fish not to overfeed themselves on the shrimps?
Here is the new list:
[WRASSE]
x4 Humphead Wrasse
Size:
x20 Rockmover Wrasse
Size: 30cm
[PLANKTON]
Phytoplankton
Size: Micro
Zooplankton
Size: Micro
[TANG]
x6 Blue Tang
Size: 30cm
x6 Naso Tang
Size: 39cm
x6 Red Sea Sailfin Tang
Size: 39cm
x10 Unicorn Tang
Size: 60-64cm
[ANGEL FISH]
4x Emperor Angelfish
Size: 38cm
4x Queen Angelfish
Size: 45cm
[GROUPER]
x2 Panther Grouper
Size: 50-70cm
[SHRIMP/SNAIL/CLEANER CREW]
x1000 Glass Shrimp
Size:
x1000 Brine Shrimp
Size:
x10 Cleaner Shrimp
Size:
[OTHERS]
x20 Longfin Bannerfish
Size: 25cm
x6 Clownfish (Ocellaris) (+ANEMONE)
Size: 10cm
x6 Clownfish (Black Ocellaris) (+ANEMONE)
Size: 10cm
x2 Picasso Triggerfish
Size: 25cm
x4 Harlequin Tuskfish
Size: 25cm
x10 Giant Puffer Fish Arothron Stellatus
Size: 120cm
Potato Cod
Size: 150-200cm
Although I am still not sure what to do with Triggerfish. How many is it possible to keep, how dangerous are they (to humans). And same thing with the Giant Puffer Fish.