Keeping and Swimming With Sharks?

snyder810

Gambusia
MFK Member
Mar 20, 2008
759
1
18
Ohio
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?
well some fish are still capable if nibbling down anemone's, not sure if you're triggers are one of those or not.

as for the turf war thing i didn't mean they'd pick a fight with the shark, rather Large Angel vs. Large Angel or Tang vs. Tang etc... you always run that chance of major fights breaking out amongst those species, granted the massive size of the tank reduces those risks greatly.

as for the shark eating other fish i cannot help as i've never maintained one and therefore don't truly know what they are capable of in terms of eating others.
 

snyder810

Gambusia
MFK Member
Mar 20, 2008
759
1
18
Ohio
iHammer;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.
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 feedings

With so many tangs and such i think it'd almost be more reasonable to try to establish a major crop of fast growing algae on which they could feed, but even then they would probably be capable of clearing it out in short time.
 

FLESHY

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2006
5,542
20
92
Central Wisconsin
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.
 

iHammer

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 23, 2010
122
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0
Melbourne, Australia
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.
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.
 

yogurt_21

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 5, 2009
1,087
1
0
AZ, USA
stock list sounds kinda astronomical in price where are you going to get the stock from?
 

FLESHY

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2006
5,542
20
92
Central Wisconsin
How big is this tank...I think someone said 5000g? Lets talk about a couple things.

First by humphead wrasse do you mean Cheilinus undulatus? Because he is going to get to be 8 feet long. Not only that, but you have a lot of things in a relatively small closed system that would be living alone on a much larger patch of reef. There are never going to be 8x humphead wrasses on any reef, anywhere. Same with the rock movers. These are solitary animals for the most part.

You would be better served to keep tank size the same and go with 5 hippo tangs or something and a smattering of VERY SMALL FISH! The size/quantity of fish you are suggesting is still ridiculous. Not trying to be mean, I want to see this happen. Just trying to help. You can pm me and I will give you a phone number to talk about things. I have some experience with massive aquaria...about the same size that you are considering.
 

FLESHY

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2006
5,542
20
92
Central Wisconsin
Sorry for double post, but you also have to consider how you are going to light and feed anemones in such a large display. Some animals such as the clowns and the Picasso triggers are definitely going to have territoriality issues with one another. The angelfish, if kept at all, should be kept without con-specifics, even in a tank this size.
 

snyder810

Gambusia
MFK Member
Mar 20, 2008
759
1
18
Ohio
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.
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.

as far as triggers/puffers being dangerous to humans it depends what you term dangerous. it's like this they have strong jaws and teeth, they can take chunks of flesh out, and i'm sure the big puffer could do much worse if it really wanted to. although i don't think they're known to be as aggressive as triggers.
 

iHammer

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 23, 2010
122
0
0
Melbourne, Australia
I don't know why there were 4 humpheaded wrasse in there, list mistake.

[WRASSE]

x1 Humphead Wrasse
Size:

[PLANKTON]

Phytoplankton
Size: Micro

Zooplankton
Size: Micro

[TANG]

x4 Blue Tang
Size: 30cm

x4 Naso Tang
Size: 39cm

x4 Red Sea Sailfin Tang
Size: 39cm

x6 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:

x10 Cleaner Shrimp
Size:

[OTHERS]

x10 Longfin Bannerfish
Size: 25cm

x4 Harlequin Tuskfish
Size: 25cm

x1 Potato Cod
Size: 150-200cm

x1 Whitetip Reef Shark
Size: 160-180cm

And I also want to know what kind of small schooling fish can I use as a bottom of the ecosystem fish, kind of like the glass shrimp. So that there is more variety of food for the larger fish and there is less pressure on the snails and there is more feeder fish/animals.
 
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