I have a 44 gallon pentagon tank with a floor space of 20" Length X 20" Depth X 24" Height. I plan on making it a beautiful reef tank during the next several months. For filtration I'm going to have 60 pounds of live rock, hopefully the select lalo Live Rock from drsfostersmith, and live sand, with a protein skimmer ( not sure on model yet). I would like to have several inverts, they are: An arrow crab, 2 halloween hermit crabs, 6 dwarf blue leg hermit crabs, 1 banded coral shrimp, 1 peppermint shrimp, cleaner shirmp ( AKA scarlet skunk), blue tuxedo pincushion urchin, A fighting conch or two, 6-12 bumble bee snails, 5 super tongan nassarius snails, a Feather duster, 1 or 2 super colored corcea clams, a brittle or serpent sea star ( any reccomendations?), and 1 or 2 other species of star maybe blue linckia and thats it for inverts. Then for the fish species I was looking at: 1 Royal Gramma Basselet, 3 Catalina Gobies, 3 Purple Firefish, 1 Coral Beauty Angelfish, (Could I do a Yellow Tang, Powder Blue Tang, or Achilles Tang in the tank?), 1 Yellow tail Damselfish, 1 Fridmani Pseudochromis, and a species of filefish that I saw in a TFH magazine I think that could be kept in a reef tank no problem. I don't want anyone to think that I'm just selecting random fish and inverts, but I have spent quite a bit of time looking for fish and inverts that I think are pretty peacefull and can coexist, but if you see any problems please let me know. Now the parts where I REALLY need help is lighting and coral selection. I would like to get several really beautiful corals, but I have no idea how far apart you are supposed to space each one, and whether or not they can coexist. Some corals I really like are: the short tentacle plate coral, white bubble coral, favites brain coral, Green fluorescent mushroom coral, Ricordea mushroom blue/green caribbean, tree corals, super colored polyp colony, German Acropora, Blastomussa merletti, Green Birds Nest Coral, Red Candy Cap Coral, Purple Passion Tree Coral. I have never understood all of the different types of lighting and really anything about them, but they're a nessecary evil for the reef tank, so does anyone have any advice? If you need the Scientific names for any of these don't research it you have done enough work reading this so just let me know and I'll get it.
I'm going to try my thread on this sub forum
- Thread starter Kobi9019
- Start date
not to be rude, you didnt do your hw. angles are NOT REEF SAFE. you have way too many inverts.
let me break it down for yah:
that one damselfish is mean fish so you better do some rethinking
powerer blue tang is a beautiful fish in my 75, of course it cant even fit in my 75 gallon all his life.
angle, tangs needs to thrive or they'll die with stress
for corals, you gonna need to do way learn hw than fish, cause they need more caring than fishes! good luck
let me break it down for yah:
that one damselfish is mean fish so you better do some rethinking
powerer blue tang is a beautiful fish in my 75, of course it cant even fit in my 75 gallon all his life.
angle, tangs needs to thrive or they'll die with stress
for corals, you gonna need to do way learn hw than fish, cause they need more caring than fishes! good luck
yea sorry I typed that listing all of the potential fish that I liked, I'll try and clarify it some. I know the powder blue tang needs a 125 gallon tank so it would be a fish to purchase if I was 100% positive that I would be getting a bigger tank, since we're on tangs is there any that could live in the 44 pentagon for life? Probably not, but it would be nice if there were. I know that the Dwarf angels are not reef safe and I am still considering doing a FOWLR tank. As for the damsel I thought that they were one of the more peaceful of the damsels, which is why I listed him. As for the inverts I have no idea how many you could keep to a tank and I was hoping that someone could clarify that for me as well as my question on corals. Sorry for the confusion that's what I get for typing it off the top of my head. Thanks for your help
Definately, there are no tangs that can live in a 44g for life. Most say 90g minimum for an adult & if they saw how large they get in the wild, folks wouldn't even say a 90. 1 1/2-2lbs LR/gal.
Flame angels are reef safe just expensive. The filefish will more then likely have try of all your corals. No chance of a tang. Dottybacks and gramma shouldnt really be mixed although if diff colours may be ok. And dottybacks shouldnt really be mixed with week fish like firefish in a tank that size. Grammas will probs be ok with them though.
Not all flames are reef safe. Depends on the individual fish. Try getting one out of a fellow reefer's tank, to be sure.
take off catalina gobies off ur list too, they require cooler water temps and will not thrive in a tropical temperatures, also choose ur crabs and starfish carefully, some crabs arnt reef safe and may eat ur fish, most starfish generally dont do well in a aquarium. between an brittle and serpant, go with brittle, serpants has a higher chance of eating ur fish. banded shrimps will kill all other shrimps, hermits crabs will kill all ur snails for their shells, look up scarlet hermits, they are less aggressive. i would say a bristle tooth tang can thrive in a 44 gallon but some people would tell u different, but because its a pentagon, i would say no. many filefish arnt reefsafe or invert safe. if u going to start off with clams, u should start with derasa and squamosa clams, they do not need as much lighting as croceas, but get alot larger and will outgrow ur tank. as for corals, start off with mushrooms and lps, sps require way more lighting and clams and sps dont do well together because of their water needs, but it is possible.
I recently bought the simple guide to the mini reef by jefferey kurtz and I'm in the process of reading that right now. I've thought about it some more and here's the updated list of fish and inverts. 1 Royal Gramma Basslet, 3 Purple Firefish, 1 Zebra Barred Dartfish, 1 Yellowtail Damsel. Any other species that you can sugguest? For inverts I would like to get 1 Fancy Brittle Sea Star, 1 Blue Linckia (I would add several months after the tank has been cycled), 1 Orange linckia Starfish, Some Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, 1 queen conch, 10 Nerite Snails, 10 Nassarius Snails, 15 Mexican Turbo Snails, 20 Cerith Snails, 1 or 2 Blue Pincushion Urchin, Is there a limit to the amount of inverts you can add to a tank? I would love to house an arrow crab, but I can't right? If there are any problems please let me know. Thanks for your help.
Most angels are not reef safe, however if you have good growth and find a tank raised specimen your chances of coral nipping being a problem are small. Plenty of people keep them in reefs with very little / no problems.
There are some that are just little hell raisers, however, lol.
There are some that are just little hell raisers, however, lol.
I would also skip the bumble bee snails they eat corals and soft corals. The linkia are very hard to keep alive in new tanks! They are very sensative to water param changes and only eat bio film. The arrow crab will eat hermits and probably the shrimp.
I would start out with soft coral they are much easier and it will give you time to get used to supplimenting water with calcium, iodine etc. No coral should be able to touch any other coral that's not a clone. They do engage in bio-chemical warfare never having signed the Geneva convention. You should probably decide if you want hard corals or soft.
hth
Max
I would start out with soft coral they are much easier and it will give you time to get used to supplimenting water with calcium, iodine etc. No coral should be able to touch any other coral that's not a clone. They do engage in bio-chemical warfare never having signed the Geneva convention. You should probably decide if you want hard corals or soft.
hth
Max