Mavrick813;4888502; said:
Ok, so the G/F has been begging me to set-up a marine aquarium for YEARS. She knows I'm buttoning up the Oscar tank and has started dropping hints again. I noticed that I have room behind our sectional to put a 35G hex in the corner. Just so happens I have one in the basement. Seals are in good shape just needs a proper cleaning.
So my questions.
- Will a 35g hex be able to support a decent coral set-up. The G/F is in love with Clown Fish. The more the merrier in her opinion. I am under the impression Clowns are territorial. So, can clowns be housed in this size tank? If so; how many, what species?
- I have a Fluval 404 filter that I was thinking about throwing on Ebay. I also have a CFS500 sitting here. Would either of them make good filters for this tank? If so which one, and how would you set-up the media?
- Right now all I have is the tank, I plan on building the stand since I don't really have any love for the stand's i've seen at the LFS. I would also be building a hood for the tank. I'm thinking I could design the hood to sit 8" higher then the top of the tank. Is a 20" hex by 8" high, enough room to cram the lighting requirements needed for a decent Clown fish set-up.
- I know the G/F oohs and ahhs over Anemones, Starfish (Chocolate chip, and Red knobbed. Are any of these things even someonething I should consider with this kind of set-up?
- Lastly, I was wondering about Inverts, and Shrimps, Lobsters or Snails. What kinds of things would a small tank like this be able to support.
I'm including a couple of pics I found on the internet of things I know she'd like. Please help me identify the things I am going to need in order to make this a reality so i can start compiling a shopping list.
Thanks for any input you can share
Mike
Hi Mike.
I will start by saying that Hex tanks really aren't ideal for saltwater setups because they are so tall compared to the footprint area. That leaves little surface area for oxygen exchange and creating good flow with powerheads. You can however be successful with this tank as the first picture shows, you will just have to work a little harder.
Pretty much all clowns are territorial except for Ocellaris clowns, particularly the tank raised ones. So if you want to keep more than 2 clowns you will need to get this type. Pretty much any other clownfish pair(male and female) will be fine in this setup. It will just depend on which type if you plan to have any other fish.
You can use the Fluval 404 for this setup. Regular maintenance and cleaning of the canister will be necessary(like once a week). I would put in a filter pad/floss and some carbon(you won't need bioballs or ceramics if you get live rock which I strongly suggest). Others may recommend using Purigen or other media to help keep water quality up.
I would add at least one powerhead(I would do 2 powerheads) to this setup to keep water moving around and not create a dead zone on the bottom with such a deep tank. This will also be helpful in agitating the surface of the water which will be necessary since there isn't a lot of surface area there.
If you are planning on having corals you will need some pretty strong lights with a tank this deep. A Metal Halide would be needed for some of the more light needing corals. You will want to factor the lighting needed into building the canopy/hood you are planning.
You can't keep corals and those types of starfish together because the starfish will eat the corals. I would also say not to put an anemone and those starfish together either.
An anemone would work in this setup, but I wouldn't do it will corals because there isn't a lot of space if the anemone decides to move. If it moves it will kill everything in its path coral wise. The other thing here is that anemones aren't the easiest things to keep and I wouldn't recommend them to a saltwater beginner(don't know how much experience you have).
You should decide between having clowns that host an anemone or clowns that don't host but also have corals in the tank.
As far as inverts, you could do a shrimp or two(I would recommend a cleaner and a peppermint shrimp, they aren't aggressive like some shrimp) and some snails and/or hermit crabs. I would stay away from the lobsters because they get big and eat everything they can get their hands on as far as other inverts and fish.
I would also recommend that you build something out of acrylic rod, pvc, or zip ties for stabilizing a stack of rock in a setup like this so water can still flow around and not fill the tank. This will also prevent the stack from collapsing.
